Rishabh Sharma

News Editor @bsindia. Ex @IndiaToday, @indianexpress. My opinions are outrageous so I prefer to keep quiet. RTs ≠ endorsements.

[Business Standard @bsindia]

#HCLTech’s $ 150-million investment provides #SarvamAI with essential capital and credibility, but the success of India's sovereign #AI mission now depends on demonstrating actual commercial viability.

Report by @rishabh21s & Vrinda Goel 👇
https://t.co/tuxuYfQStk

[Sushant Singh @SushantSin]

This is coming from Shankar Acharya, no one less. It is how bad the economic situation is for those who really get the subject.

[Business Standard @bsindia]

India's ethanol push is moving beyond E20, but experts say higher blending must also account for groundwater stress and regional water limits.

#Ethanol #BioEthanol #E20Fuel #Agriculture #WaterConservation | @rishabh21s https://t.co/UaepZw16lA

[Rahul Raj @x_rahulraj]

When Battery PLI was announced Rajesh Exports got it. That time Ather was among very few companies building EV tech in India. Ather was rejected in PLI scheme.

[Ramachandra Guha @Ram_Guha]

My column in @ttindia on the state of the Congress Party and the fate of the Indian Republic: https://t.co/EclidzrtLf

[Business Standard @bsindia]

India has expanded heat action plans and cooling pilots, but weak funding, uneven building-code enforcement and poor city data keep many responses advisory.

#Heatwaves #HeatWavesInIndia #Summer #Heat #ClimateChange | @rishabh21s
https://t.co/Nh8w8aEO8o

[Business Standard @bsindia]

Urban heat islands: Why Indian cities are becoming unliveable after dark

@rishabh21s decodes 👇

#heatwave #ClimateChange #India
https://t.co/7Wdsm5Zsjv

[65thakursahab @65thakursahab]

In short, we're cooked...

Listen to Indian Express Senior Associate Editor Udit Misra.

[Shekhar Gupta @ShekharGupta]

There’s a new epidemic rising… epidemic of brand fakes…

Not just paneer, an ‘industry’ of fake Eno, counterfeit Veet, used oil & more is flourishing in India

Samridhi Tewari @samridhitewari reports for ThePrint

https://t.co/xkTIWMaen1

[Business Standard @bsindia]

IMD's weak monsoon forecast revives a key question why India's push for drip and sprinkler irrigation has not translated into widespread adoption despite years of policy support.

Report by @rishabh21s 👇

https://t.co/d36sEkDfhP

#Monsoon #Agriculture #Irrigation #Economy

[Business Standard @bsindia]

War-risk premiums surge: Can ₹12,980 cr maritime pool steady trade costs?

Report by @rishabh21s & Rimjhim Singh 👇

https://t.co/6Zkt7Gop4k

#MaritimeSector #Insurance #WestAsia #IranWar

Read it on the app: https://t.co/howSwnmzHt

[Business Standard @bsindia]

#India moves to narrow shipping gap as reliance on foreign-flagged vessels persists, with #SouthKorea tie-up spanning shipbuilding, logistics and maritime tech and a ₹2.2 lakh cr plan to add 400 vessels 🚢

Here’s how the partnership could help reduce freight dependence 👇

@rishabh21s
https://t.co/CVm8wUIt59

[Happymon Jacob @HappymonJacob]

The takeaway from the recent geopolitical shifts is this: no external power can engineer India’s rise.

India’s rise can’t be outsourced, nor can its rise be a joint venture.

That job is India’s alone. Partners will come and go.

[Business Standard @bsindia]

A weak rupee, high #oilprices pose a double whammy for India's import bill

@rishabh21s explains how a weaker #Rupee and a war-led jump in crude may make #India pay more for #imports, affecting headline #inflation as well as the #tradedeficit

Read👇
https://t.co/zSVfYbWimo

[Business Standard @bsindia]

RCB and Rajasthan Royals' billion-dollar deals reveal how IPL teams are valued, from media rights and cash flows to brand power, scarcity and future growth expectations.

Report by @rishabh21s 👇
https://t.co/9eOJCPHTHS

#IPL #IPL2026 #RCB #RajasthanRoyals #IPLTeams

[IndiaToday @IndiaToday]

This is the story of two brothers who came from a family that knew the chill of the Eurasian Steppe and therefore worshipped fire. While one travelled south, the other journeyed further southeast. The two brothers have been sharing Gods, beliefs, rituals, and a common linguistic thread for over 4,000 years. | Writes @yudhajit

Read to know more: https://t.co/xwEdG3magl

#Iran #india #history

[Business Standard @bsindia]

#WestAsiaConflict and disruption near the #StraitOfHormuz threaten #LNG shipments vital to India's #fertiliser, #power and #manufacturing sectors, raising risks of supply shocks and higher energy costs.

Report by @rishabh21s 👇
https://t.co/Nqj2ZcVCCM

[vir sanghvi @virsanghvi]

Sharp Edge: The problems at the AI Summit are the problems of today’s India : poor organisation; lies told by third rate ‘educational’ institutions that suck up to the govt; VIP worship; photo ops over substance; the incompetent Delhi police that shut the city down and a total disregard for ordinary citizens

https://t.co/GrkpSKN9eg

[Maheshwer Peri @maheshperi]

I am surprised at the outrage over the Robodog and Orion. Academic fraud is inbuilt into Indian education systems and sanctioned by the powers that be. When India created an incentive structure where business benefits are tied to rankings, this had to happen.

Autonomy, graded autonomy, opening fresh campuses, starting new courses, permission to offer online degrees was all tied to rankings – NIRF or QS.  At a governmental level, the diktat is to get into QS so that India can make big claims, each year. Even the PM tweets when the rankings are declared. Here is an example of how rankings benefit businesses:

“HEI can be entitled to offer online programmes (i.e., entered into the “entitled list” without requiring prior approval every time) if it meets one of the following:
- Valid NAAC score ≥ 3.26, OR
- Rank in Top 100 in the University category of the National Institutional Ranking Framework at least twice in three preceding cycles.

The warning signals were always there. It is just that we chose to ignore as we can continue to make tall claims:

1. When we saw that all the IITs together aren’t doing as much research as a few private universities on their own, we should have questioned the quality of research.
2. In THE rankings, IISc  has a research Score of 51.6 while 5 private universities have a score of 90+. There are 70+ universities that are ranked above IISc in research alone.
3. We have patent filings increasing while patents granted was never increasing. We had four private universities filing for more patents, individually, than the combined IITS added together.
4. In Oct 2024, Chemistry World did an article: Are Indian higher education institutes gaming the ranking system?”
5. In Aug 2025, Nature Magazine wrote: India’s research retraction surge sparks call for reform
6. In Sep 2024, The Print wrote: “India’s research crime is getting worse: Scientists are gaming peer-review system”
7. In Jan 2025, Retraction Watch wrote “The 14 universities with publication metrics researchers say are too good to be true”. 4 of the 14 are from India and all are private universities.
8. In Jan 2026, ToI wrote: “Universities rush to file patents for rankings, few acquire commercial value”

The only way we can achieve a 50 GER target with no corresponding investment is to do away with questioning quality and auditing numbers. We have to enable a few institutions to give online degrees and produce degree mills so that we can claim a 50 GER in 2020. It is systemic and well planned.

I repeat - Academic Fraud is systematically inbuilt into India’s Education system.

[Jay | Indilingo @jaygala223]

Just got back from the @OfficialINDIAai Impact Summit in Delhi yesterday, and honestly, it left a really bad taste. I went as a researcher and someone building an AI startup for promoting Indian languages, really looking forward to Yann LeCun's 3.45 talk on world models in the research symposium. From 3 pm though, security just locked down every single entry for "VIP movement." They told us to walk all the way around the premises. I did it too, like a fool, sweating for 25 minutes, only to get to the hall and hear the exact same thing again: "Abhi VIP movement hai, entry band hai." People who were already inside the venue? I saw them get evacuated too to clear space for the VIPs.

And this wasn't even once. In the morning, when I was walking from Gate 7 to Gate 4, near Gate 5 everyone got stopped, made to turn back 100-150 meters and just stand there for 10-15 minutes because of another VIP movement. Both times, I felt like a third class citizen at an event that was supposed to be for people like me. Never felt so out of place and disrespected at anything AI related. The whole summit is, sorry was, meant for researchers, founders, builders who are grinding in the field every day. Instead we get treated like we don't matter, blocked for hours so some minister or official can pass through.

And don't get me wrong. There were a lot of good things too, the @Sarvam launches were gold (much love and respect to them) and I met amazing startups at the booths building so many good products, but overall it came across way more like a government PR show to tell the world "look, India is doing AI" than a real gathering FOR the AI community.

We have crazy good talent in AI here. If we ever want to be taken seriously on the global stage, we have to drop this VIP nonsense and start giving respect to the actual people doing the work. Not treat us like background noise.

The good thing is that I have understood which events I need to avoid from now on. The ones that actually care about the community over the photo ops are the only ones worth going to. I hope things will be better soon!