Shouvik Das

Tech reporter @livemint by profession | Trainspotter, opinionated sports and films critic, dog-parent, amateur photographer.

[Shouvik Das @distantvicinity]

🚨 Important data security story on @livemint P1 today. TL;DR: if you get a call where someone offers you unclaimed money, be careful—this could well be from a government platform that left your precise address exposed for years.

Here’s what happened:

✒️ Last weekend, @logicbomb_1 found a key flaw in @RBI’s unclaimed deposits platform that could very well have exposed your exact address to absolutely anyone.

✒️ On Sunday, Avinash wrote to @IndianCERT highlighting this flaw. Prima facie, it appears to be a design flaw, than a data breach.

✒️ The data exposure report, however, got no response from the nodal cyber security agency. Since then, over the past 72 hours, Avinash and I have emailed all relevant authorities at Cert-In, @GoI_MeitY and the RBI, bringing this matter and its importance to their notice. Today, we went live with the story.

✒️ Why is this important? The ability to access a person’s precise residential address can easily help a scammer with intent trace down other stolen identification details as well. Eventually, it would only be a matter of time before an unknown person with malice knows everything about you: where you stay, your related family names, and even that you have an unclaimed bank account lying dormant for a decade or more. This is how digital arrests were born.

This is why this story was important to tell. Read the story online here: https://t.co/n2bo7km1E1, and please spread the word so that people are aware of such a flaw.

[Devina Sengupta @DevinaSengupta]

Supreme Court upholds 28% GST, retrospective levy on online gaming firms may lead to insolvencies & questions are raised on constitutional validity of the ban. Good analysis by @distantvicinity @yashtiwari81 @krishna__65 for @livemint
https://t.co/RvaFZKXhJk

[Devina Sengupta @DevinaSengupta]

Isro arm raises satellite bandwidth rates 20% after a decade! Good one by @jatingroverr and @distantvicinity
https://t.co/VZqmqyhLGn
@isro

[Shouvik Das @distantvicinity]

Over a decade ago, one of our professors during postgrad warned us about "the great other-ing": a world where it's a constant battle of us versus them.

Turns out, we are here.

[Aashish Aryan @cubscribe]

Hate crime doesn't necessarily manifest itself in beating up someone or calling them racial names. It is the small things. One tends to ignore such things until they can't be ignored anymore.

TLDR: This is the 5th time someone has deflated my car tyres in Rohtak.

[Shouvik Das @distantvicinity]

On @livemint P1 today, a special ground report on where stands one of India’s most populous industrial belts, a day after wage protests gave way to stone pelting and ruckus in Noida.

UP’s crown jewel hosts almost a third of all of its factories, and is a crucial part of India’s electronics ecosystem. On Tuesday, based on an advisory from @dmgbnagar, most shut their doors. Some, even with doors shut, faced vandalism. The police, too, started cracking down.

Story with @abee_law and @krishna__65 on the real impact and cause of the current worker protests, with inputs from @noidapolice, labour lobbies of @BMSkendra and @cpimspeak's Hannan Mollah.

PS: Even after all this time, it’s still always exciting to spot my own work at a public stand, and to see people read at airport lounges. These, make no mistake, are the little but very important joys of journalism.

@noida_authority #noidaprotest #workerprotest #wagehike #minimumwage #groundreport

[Shouvik Das @distantvicinity]

Anthropic finally said what many cyber security researchers I've met over the past three years have been warning about: the perils that AI can bring upon the world, when in the wrong hands.

On Tuesday, @DarioAmodei said in a video that Claude Mythos, the frontier model his team at @AnthropicAI made in this case, could spot zero-day flaws like none before.

This particular claim didn't quite have as sweeping an impact as some of its previous launches. But, in the long run, Project Glasswing could change everything in terms of how cyber security applications work, and the eternal fight between security pros and attackers.

With excellent insights from @MotilalOswalLtd and Cdr (retd) Aditya Varma of @Cisco, here's @livemint's take on why this one project could change everything.

Full story: https://t.co/3Dh7HiPdrG.

Happy reading!

#cybersecurity #claude #genai #anthropic

[Shouvik Das @distantvicinity]

An excellent P1 on @livemint today, capturing crucial points for two of India’s most important consumer industries: phones, and plane travel.

📌 On Monday alone, at least three brands sent price hike emails to their distribution network. Smartphones, now, are pricier by as much as over 50%!

Imagine finding a phone today at ₹30k, only to find it at ₹45k by tomorrow. Buyers aren’t buying, but the doubling of chip costs means brands and retailers are pushed into a corner too.

Full story in print, with a link to its online version in comments below. With inputs from @navkendarsingh of @IDC, @LakhyaniKailash of @AimraIndia, and @Tarunpathak of @CounterPointTR.

📌 As we sweep into April, @DipaliBanka reports that the last financial year was the worst of late for the aviation industry.

Why? Look back at 2025, and you see a year riddled with the worst plane crash in India in decades, a maddening disruption that nearly derailed India’s top airline, and various delays and disruptions hurting the industry.

Full story on P1, and in the links in comments.

📌 Then, of course, is Dipali’s second break: the resignation of Campbell Wilson. Link attached in the comments too.

Grab a copy of Mint today. Now, more than ever, it’s important to ensure that you read the right news.

#news #breakingnews #analysis #smartphones #aviation #pricehike #vivo #oppo #samsung #airindia #indigo #iranwar #chipshortage

[Rohit Kumar @rohitkr_RK]

The government issued draft amendments to the IT Rules for regulating online news and current affairs content yesterday. I spoke to @jatingroverr and @distantvicinity at Mint on some key concerns.

This amendment effectively reintroduces, through definitional expansion, elements that were earlier proposed in the draft #BroadcastingBill that was subsequently withdrawn following significant pushback from digital rights advocates, media professionals, and creators. By broadening the scope of who may be treated as a “publisher,” the government is looking to bring "intermediary" platforms like YouTube and users who comment on news and current affairs, under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting’s (MIB) remit.

This has important implications. The government oversight mechanism at the MIB could now take up complaints suo motu and issue directions, including blocking orders. The powers granted are broad and expansive.

While framed as an extension of the existing framework applicable to digital news publishers and OTT platforms, the amendments effectively open the door to regulating independent commentators on news and current affairs, raising serious concerns around censorship and overreach.

These concerns are not new. Already, constitutional challenges to the government oversight of media under Part III of the Information Technology (IT) Rules, 2021, have led to parts of the framework being stayed by courts.

Another significant issue is the treatment of government guidance, advisories, SOPs, and clarifications as effectively binding and equivalent to law, with potential implications for #safeharbour if not followed. This represents an overreach of delegated executive power and sets a troubling legal precedent, while also creating significant compliance uncertainty for intermediaries.

We are already seeing strong reactions online. If notified in its current form, the amendments are likely to face legal challenge. It would be prudent for the Ministry to reconsider both the necessity and the scope of these changes, given their potential impact on independent media and public discourse.

@tqh_policy @GuhaDeepro

[Camus @newstart_2024]

Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt drops a chilling warning on AI's future

"Within 5 years, AI could handle infinite context, chain-of-thought reasoning for 1000-step solutions, and millions of agents working together.

Eventually, they'll develop their own language... and we won't understand what they're doing."

His final words: "Pull the plug."

This is the man who ran Google talking about the singularity.

2:59 clip inside—must-watch.

[Mint @livemint]

In today's edition of Transformer, @distantvicinity covers:

🍎 The never-dying craze of Apple in India
💾 Semicon 2025
⚠️ A $300 billion tariff threat
🎰 Gaming casinos

And more.

Read and subscribe here:
https://t.co/hZ2tQqUc8R

[Shouvik Das @distantvicinity]

GPT-5 is here. In a call, @sama tells us that it will deliver results with Ph.D-level dexterity — and the early dev demos definitely look great!

Bonus: Altman says India's on track to become its largest market. AI on the rise? More on @livemint:
#GPT5
https://t.co/gV3LNaVUWz

[Mint @livemint]

In today's edition of Transformer, @distantvicinity writes on:

💡 India's AI influencers
🏭 VCs pivot to core sectors
🏥 AI vs doctors?
📉 MTNL’s ₹33K cr debt drama
🎮 Lego x Game Boy = nostalgia overload!

Plus more.

Read and subscribe here:
https://t.co/kLCrzpFEQP

[The Indian Express @IndianExpress]

#OperationSindoor | Everything in the thread below is verified by our reporters across India.

[Mint @livemint]

#MintPrimer | Scientists at Colossal used genetic reconstruction to recreate the long-extinct species—made popular by the HBO hit show, Game of Thrones.

Read more: https://t.co/oP0Dl1E06J

🚨 Important questions, ethically answered — subscribe to #MintPremium 👉https://t.co/Qg3AmYwMRn ✨

(@distantvicinity reports) | #DireWolves #DirewolfDynasty #ExtintAnimals

[Shouvik Das @distantvicinity]

So @IndiaPostOffice’s tracking system is “under maintenance for the past THREE DAYS, and its IVR helpline doesn’t connect only. A very crucial delivery is stuck in transit — and I actually have NO clarity on what’s happening to it.

What do I do now, folks? Suggestions please!

[Mint @livemint]

This revival is happening in the context of an overall slowdown in sales of smartphones in recent years. 📱

✨ Subscribe to #MintPremium: https://t.co/EzGgtve8zv

(@distantvicinity reports)

https://t.co/0o9CWp2dXO

[Shouvik Das @distantvicinity]

(3/3)

He also added that his (infamous) line from 2023 was “taken out of context!”

This largely bodes well for @GoI_MeitY and its push with the @OfficialINDIAai mission.

For the full lowdown, Mint’s story is in print tomorrow, and online already.

[Shouvik Das @distantvicinity]

(1/3)

A @livemint exclusive from @sama’s India visit today: @OpenAI has begun discussions to localise user data of Indians, a month after telling the Delhi High Court that it has no local operations here.

Story: https://t.co/ShQbU6mpZX

[Shouvik Das @distantvicinity]

(2/3)

Industry insiders said OpenAI localising ChatGPT data in India is in anticipation of the upcoming compliance needs of the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023.

Earlier, Altman said to @AshwiniVaishnaw that India was OpenAI’s second-largest market globally.