Avantika Shrivastava

Strategic communications for social impact. Fmr Uni of Edinburgh scholar. Tweets on Rare Diseases, Disability, Welfare/Public Policy in India. Views personal.

[Avantika Shrivastava @avshrivas]

Ahead of International Day of Disabled Persons, I am launching a new project!

#ProjectUnlabeled is born of two simple ideas - all bodies are beautiful, and diverse bodies matter.

#disabilityawareness #disability #rarelives #wethe15
https://t.co/Y91BZuKeAp

[Avantika Shrivastava @avshrivas]

One such barrier to access is in my colony. When I asked the colony's caretaker, his response was - by installing barriers we're preventing motorcycles (delivery agents) and cycles from using the ramp to enter walkways.

IMO that's just bad planning

[Avantika Shrivastava @avshrivas]

There's a trend I'm now noticing in Delhi's public places. Steel bars/ barricades are being placed on ramps. What's the point of building a ramp then? No wonder we don't see many wheelchair users in public.

@rampmycity any thoughts on solutions?

#DisabilityTwitter

[Avantika Shrivastava @avshrivas]

There's still gratitude to be found here. Why?

Because there's promise of progress with new medical innovations.

#DisabilityTwitter

[Avantika Shrivastava @avshrivas]

The one thing that I should've done more in 2024 is work on bringing out voices of #rarewarriors. In b/w a full-time job, managing my own health and a new household, #raredisease advocacy took a backseat.

We can't have it all! But here's what I'm grateful for:

[Avantika Shrivastava @avshrivas]

There was a moment in the year where hopes were dashed. For any rare individual, the promise of treatment/ cure is where our mind's permanently parked.

I got news that the treatment my rare community was praying for, for years, failed to bear results finally.

[Avantika Shrivastava @avshrivas]

Arghhhhhh!

[Deedy @deedydas]

EXCLUSIVE: Star Health is a $1.4B revenue insurance company whose CISO sold ~31 million Indians' data from salary to PAN card to a Chinese hacker for $43k.

Ever wondered how these things happen? Here's a breakdown of the events "allegedly" with video proof.

1. Amarjeet Khanuja, CISO of Star Health, reaches out to xenZen through a referral from denol on encrypted chat app Tox on July 6, 2024.
2. xenZen says yes and they negotiate and land on $28k for customer data on Monero (crypto). CISO doesn't know Bitcoin is a bad idea for this nor has ever used escrow.
3. CISO sends hacker login credential and an API endpoint w/details on their proton mail. Hacker sends money and gets it.
4. On July 20, CISO says I can also give you all the claims data. They agree on $15k and repeat the above.
5. Five days later, hacker says his access was revoked and CISO says "You've taken 5TB and I want $150k now because senior management wants a cut."
6. Hacker asks for a refund and gives final warning.
7. xenZen posted a sale listing on BreachForums for diplomatic passports of India (unrelated).
8. Sep 25 is when the starhealthleak website drops with 2 Telegram bots for customer and claims data.

From private sources, xenZen says he's bought and sold data from Indian companies before. Attached is video evidence which is unlikely to be spoofed.

The media did not care until I posted about it yesterday. Star Health responded by legal threats against Telegram and Cloudflare and a forensic investigation.

People in power in India (and perhaps elsewhere) will sell your data in a heartbeat. Why? No one seems to care.

[Avantika Shrivastava @avshrivas]

Feels like a personal loss, doesn't it?

[PrayRona @PrayRona_]

Listen to this gorgeous Ay Hairathe Aashiqui cover by Parth Chandiramani and Apoorva Krishna. This stripped down version really highlights the very many different musical styles Rahman weaves into the original - ghazal, carnatic, even celtic! ❤️

[Avantika Shrivastava @avshrivas]

@Phogat_Vinesh You've given hope to so many women and girls! No medal can compare to what you've done.

[Avantika Shrivastava @avshrivas]

6. #Disability can be temporary/ permanent. Can happen to any1 at any point in life. Ask yourself - Would you throw out a person from your life or think less of them if they were disabled? What if this was you?

#DisabilityPrideMonth
@armanaly

[Avantika Shrivastava @avshrivas]

In light of recent comments, here are some facts:

1. Disabled people exist in workplaces + belong there.

2. The extent of disability is not the same for all PWDs. Don't assume.

3. Disability is not always physical. Invisible disabilities, such as chronic pain, are a reality.

[Avantika Shrivastava @avshrivas]

4. Disability can largely be managed. Ableist viewpoints and a society unwilling to make changes make a person disabled or unable to do things.

5. Disability is not inability. Disabled folks live like 'normal' folks, just differently.

6. Disability urges us to empathise.

[Avantika Shrivastava @avshrivas]

RT @ncpedp_india: The perennial elitist / majoritarian bias?

Days after India's top cricketers mocked disabled and disability, a senior IA…

[Dr Satendra Singh, MD @drsitu]

Dear @SmitaSabharwal ji, yes, there are many surgeons with disabilities even in India 🇮🇳. In fields like urology, gastro surgery, and plastic surgery.

So, when you next see a person with disability, presume COMPETENCE!!

[Sidharth Santhosh @avgtendencies]

Met many visually impaired Panchayat Development Officers in Karnataka who spend lot of time managing citizen grievances in the field - & do it well.

Officers need strong training adjusted for their context, a team that supports them & a system that is empathetic. Not biases 🙏🏼

[Nipun Malhotra @nipunmalhotra]

Deeply disturbed by Mr @amitabhk87's suggestion to scrap Disability quotas due to a few abusers. We need stringent scrutiny and punishment for those who misuse these benefits, not closing ranks on genuinely disabled

[NCPEDP @ncpedp_india]

Union Budget 2024: Will the 7th address by Finance Minister @nsitharaman on July 23, 2024, under the Modi 3.0 government, be a feel-good budget for the disability sector?

Our ED, @armanaly, lays down comprehensive expectations from the disability sector, emphasising the need for dedicated budgets in central and state schemes to ensure targeted funding for disability inclusion.

Read an incisive piece in @HindustanTimes 👇

@narendramodi @PMOIndia @FinMinIndia

https://t.co/5xjWrI7pTF