policy observer

Not very serious.

[policy observer @gobetvc]

@HassShad Lol. Learnt to drink sand

[Troll Football @TrollFootball]

A short story

[Felipe Leme @LEME12]

Ancelotti, você prefere colocar o Endrick pra jogar ou virar um urso viado?

[Eminent Intellectual @total_woke_]

I was talking to some people engaged in push back on Chinese propaganda and even they were thinking Shi Nong Gong Shang system was not real.

IT WAS

They thought it was not discriminatory

IT WAS. Some castes were not allowed to take exams, ride horses or wear silk. Marriage impossible. Govt would forcefully break such a marriage

They thought it was not hereditary

IT WAS. Some castes were not allowed to take any exams so they were stuck in their occupations

It was not driven by idea of purity

IT WAS

Professions such as dealing with dead bodies were outcastes. They were called Jianmin. They were completely cut off from all opportunity & even local police who death with them were also termed Jianmin.

Just because leftist academia has tried to whitewash this and it's baked into AI doesn't mean it's not true. Just do your own research.

[Dr. Ligma @PruritusAnii]

Years of online racism against indians and didnt utter a word. Indians reply back and the bhadwas come to defend their masters. No media is as anti national as the indian one.

[do'o kappa @viprabuddhi]

Neo-rich Indians are insanely entitled, istg

They want benefits of industrialization without working zilch for it

When Germany was industrializing, people were clocking in 10-12 hours daily on an avg

Indians work 8-9 hours daily today by comparison

You doing a desk job for the same is much easier by comparison

[Adika @Adikastakes]

Football Twitter was already the greatest section of the internet but this translate feature has made it one of the mankind’s greatest discoveries 😭

[policy observer @gobetvc]

@ThirdChief They ran out of beer on day 4. Did not take the whole week.

[🎱 @FCB_Wyzz]

Saw a Brazilian tweet about Endrick and Ancelotti but couldn't translate it

[breanna 🇺🇸🇩🇪 @txgermanbre]

It took the Scots three days to conquer Boston and changing their public drinking policy.

[Hugo Hélin @helinhz]

Les mots "Endrick", "Ancelotti" et "à l'origine en portugais"

[Nic @Nic111392]

Most embarrassing?

[衝撃映像ちゃんねる @worldsokuho]

女子アジアカップでとんでもないフリーキック😱🇮🇳

凄すぎる・・・

[Trick Fla da Depressão @trickfladadepre]

Endrick: "Eu sou alérgico, por favor não fumem perto de mim"

Ancelotti:

[policy observer @gobetvc]

There's generally a lag in such western corp trends. By the time folks realize its out of fashion in the west, there will be some new thing.

[Kartik @calm_sutra]

Purely anecdotal but I find that pride nonsense is still going strong among corporates in desha while the mothership of said corporates in the West are in “we won’t make a big deal this isn’t 2022” mode.

[🇪🇸🇦🇹 @gaspismo]

Es el mejor video que he visto en mi vida

No entiendo como hemos vivido tantos mundiales sin esta red social

[Mihir @elmihiro]

I hope people understand that these utterances, the India Today cover photo, etc. are all attempts at damage control.

[Vfynn_🥷🏼 𐙚 @Vfynn_]

🚨🗣️NEW: Zlatan Ibrahimović on FIFA’s new mouth-covering red card rule: as Almiron was given a red card for covering his mouth in the game between Paraguay and Turkey

“I have seen football at its highest level, the real football. Not this watered-down version they are serving us now. What happened with Almirón? A straight red card for covering his mouth? This is not football anymore. This is a circus run by bureaucrats in suits who have never felt the fire of the pitch.”

“Covering your mouth is now a red card? What is this, Big Brother on the field? FIFA wants to read lips, punish thoughts before they even become words. Next they will put muzzles on players like dogs. Players cannot even talk, cannot even breathe passion without some VAR robot or referee deciding your emotions are illegal. This is dystopian. Football is dying.”

“This rule was born because some players cry every week. One incident in the Champions League and suddenly the whole world must change. But elbow a man, break his leg, or spit — sometimes you get a yellow and a pat on the back. Two-tier football. Protect the protected, punish the rest. I have played in every league and I have seen it.”

On the softness of the modern game:
“Maradona would be sent off in the tunnel. Roy Keane? He would laugh at the referee and walk off with a smile while the stands burn. Pepe would have collected five reds before half-time. Today? Players are becoming actors, not warriors. They fall, they cry, they hide behind rules. Where is the masculinity? Where is the character? Football is not ballet. It is war. And they are turning it into a polite conversation with red cards as punctuation.”

“I, Zlatan, have scored goals that made stadiums shake and said things that made opponents tremble — without hiding. This generation is being raised soft. If you cannot handle words on the pitch, how will you handle life? FIFA is not protecting football. They are burying it. And one day, the real fans will rise and say: enough. Bring back the game.”

[Normal Guy @Normal_2610]

IAF ordered 83 Tejas Mk1A jets in February 2021 for ₹48,000 crore (later 97 more for ₹62,370 crore - total 180 jets)

First 3 jets were contractually due by March 2024, Then 16 per year after that - HAL was supposed to complete all 180 deliveries by 2032-33

What actually happened? - timeline of broken promises. Every single deadline has been missed:

Feb 2024 (original) → missed
Oct 2025 → missed
March 2026 → missed
June-July 2026 → missed

Now the latest estimate is October-end 2026. As of today (June 20, 2026) - zero jets delivered to IAF, Not one

TWO real problems (not just engines)

Problem 1 - GE F404 engines (the visible excuse)

GE Aerospace was late shipping F404-IN20 engines. Global supply chain issues post-COVID, HAL has 6 GE F404 engines and more than 20 airframes sitting in inventory as of May 2026.

So the engine problem is partly solved now - engines are coming in, Brand new GE F404-IN20 engines were expected to start arriving from November onwards under a revised schedule, HAL used the engine delay as the main public explanation for years

But What ThePrint reporting exposed - HAL consistently cited engine delays as the principal reason behind slippages, but the problems run much deeper - engine issue merely became the most visible explanation masking wider integration and systems-related delays

Problem 2 - Software integration (the real blocker right now)

Mk1A has an Israeli EL/M-2052 AESA radar (made by ELTA, an Israeli company). It also has an Indian-made Electronic Warfare (EW) self-protection suite (DRDO-developed).

These 2 systems need to work together through integrated software - the radar needs to talk to the weapon firing controls, and both need to talk to the EW jammer

HAL new CMD Ravi Kota informed the IAF that crucial integration work, including linking the Israeli radar with the weapon firing controls and the electronic warfare suite, was still incomplete.

West Asia conflict (Israel-Gaza-Iran situation) also reportedly slowed down software deliveries from the Israeli side. HAL former CMD DK Sunil had acknowledged delays in receiving software for the Tejas programme amid conflict in West Asia.

On top of radar-EW integration, weapon integration is also pending - HAL is still integrating the Astra beyond-visual-range air-to-air missile, a laser-guided bomb, and the ASRAAM short-range air-to-air missile

HAL vs IAF fight - this is the key dynamic

HAL told IAF - take the planes now in their current form, we'll fix things later through software updates. They proposed a capability concession framework.

Under this arrangement, the aircraft would be handed over without complete integration of all contracted systems, with pending software updates and refinements to be incorporated in subsequent upgrades.

Air Chief refused. His logic (which is correct) - IAF will not accept an aircraft which cannot be used in a conflict if it happens a few months after induction

IAF did agree to some compromises though. They categorized all pending problems into three buckets -minor, major, and not acceptable.

IAF is now willing to accept some deficiencies categorized earlier as major - so they're being flexible. For example, if the contract said that a certain aspect of flying would be automated but the IAF is now told it will take more time and the pilot will have to operate it manually for now, the force is willing to compromise on that

But the red lines (non-negotiable) are - missile firing capability must work, and EW suite must function. Without these, the jet is just a flying body - it cannot fight.

What the Government is doing right now

On June 9, 2026, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh chaired a high-level review meeting specifically on Tejas Mk1A delays. meeting was attended by CDS, Air Chief Marshal, Defence Secretary, and HAL new CMD Ravi Kota

HAL also got a new CMD - Ravi Kota, known as the LCA Man because he's worked on the Tejas program for years. Kota has prioritised Tejas Mk1A delivery as HAL top objective

Defence Secretary has publicly said he has full confidence the jets will be delivered within the current financial year (before March 2027). He said the product is about 90% complete.

Israeli software iterations have been completed and final trials are on. Flight testing is actively happening.

Is this a disaster? How bad is it really?

It is bad, but not catastrophic. Why it's bad - IAF is down to around 30 fighter squadrons against a sanctioned strength of 42. That's 30% shortfall

MiG-21s have all retired. Jaguars, MiG-29s, and Mirage 2000s are aging out from 2029 onwards - that's roughly 250 jets that need replacing.

Every month of Mk1A delay means IAF combat strength keeps declining with no replacement coming in.

There is a growing perception within sections of the defence establishment that many of HAL earlier public assurances were more aimed at maintaining HAL stock price than accurately reflecting programme realities.

That's a damning assessment.

Why it's not the end of the world - jets are physically built, 20+ airframes exist. Engines are arriving, remaining work is software, which is fixable - it just takes time.

Israeli and Indian teams are actively working on integration. Flight testing is happening, new HAL CMD (Kota) seems more honest about timelines than his predecessor.

October 2026 delivery looks realistic this time - acceptance trials take about a month, so if integration is confirmed at the next review meeting, first deliveries could happen by Q3/Q4 2026.

Where India is truly stuck?

India doesn't have an indigenous fighter jet engine. Period. Kaveri engine program failed. So for every Tejas variant, India depends on a foreign engine supplier (GE for F404, and GE F414 for Mk2).

This is a structural dependency that won't go away for at least 10-15 years, software integration problem is also structural - when you buy radar from Israel, EW from India, and engine from USA, making three countries systems talk to each other is inherently harder than buying everything from one supplier.

But India has no choice - it doesn't make all these systems domestically yet. What GOI will likely do -Push hard for first delivery by October 2026 (the current realistic target).

Accept some concessions on non-combat features to speed things up, but hold the line on weapons and EW functionality.

Once first delivery happens, ramp up production using the three assembly lines (Bengaluru + Nashik) to hit 16-24 jets per year - Lets hope :)

For the longer term, the AMCA (5th gen fighter) program has notably NOT been given to HAL - it went to a new structure, which signals GOI is losing patience with HAL monopoly on fighter production

Just think about this, Connect the Dot the panic inside the Room, Going Private from Space to Defence India is doing the best things in last 4 year

Still Procurement & Other timeline, Bureaucratic reform is slow inside defence but I feel this is good start for Private player -- just connect the dots ...

[Liberal Conservative @libconservative]

hahahahaha