sjoshi

Wanderer, IT Leader, Political atheist, wannabe Green ...not necessarily in order

[Mayukh @mayukh_panja]

I want to do a public service announcement for people who are desperate to come to Europe. I have seen many, many desperate Indian students doing 12 hours of delivery/ restaurant / gig work, extremely underpaid and abused in Berlin and this really bothers me.

Please don’t take out huge loans and go
into debt to get admitted to third rate private universities here. You will face extreme hardship, both mental and financial, for little to no reward.

There many universities in Germany which are essentially visa mills. They sell you a dream- that if you manage to somehow get to Europe, you will be financially sorted for life and there will be an abundance of job offers for you to pick and choose from, once you graduate.

These universities are very scammy, have a low barrier to entry (you can more or less buy a seat), and extremely low teaching standards. Students who come here are forced to take up underpaid and often illegal gig work to survive and they are easy targets for shady companies.

And then they realize that their university degree is pretty much worthless. Both in Germany and in India.

If you do want to come to Germany, apply
to the state run universities here. These are usually cheap but very competitive and have usually quite high standards.

Please don’t take out a 30 lakh loan, or sell family land to fall for a scam. If something sounds too good to be true, it probably is not true.

Also the Indians on X who are relentlessly advising young people to get out of the country by hook or by crook, should perhaps exercise some caution knowing that there are impressionable young people out there who might do stupid things.

[sjoshi @sjoshi]

@maheshklandge cc @OfficialPMRDA @aparanjape @CollectorPune

[sjoshi @sjoshi]

@maheshklandge Mahesh Dada this is good. But please audit the condition of the roads upgraded for the 2026 race. The contractors have not painted the steel frames of the wire mesh railings put up on the route, they will rust and decay in this monsoon. Also many unscientific speedbreakers!

[Dr. Sudhir Mehta @sudhirmehtapune]

#India now spends more human effort preparing for exams than its entire manufacturing sector spends making things.

Read that again. It is not a metaphor. It is arithmetic.

Estimated 25,000 crore man-hours a year → young Indians preparing for exams (2.5-3 cr aspirants, 4 hrs/day, 10 months).

Estimated 10,000 crore man-hours a year → ALL of Indian manufacturing combined. Registered factories (1.85 cr workers, ASI 2022-23) plus informal manufacturing (3.06 cr workers, NSO ASUSE 2022-23).

We are pouring more than TWICE as many human hours into preparing for exams as we spend making everything India manufactures. Against the organised factory sector alone, it’s nearly SEVEN to one.

We are out-working our own economy. At rejection.

Look at the odds:
UPSC selects 0.2% of applicants. SBI PO ~0.2%. RBI Grade B under 0.1%. JEE: 16 lakh chasing roughly 10,000 IIT seats.

97 of every 100 serious aspirants fail. Not for lack of effort. The math was never on their side.

Meanwhile the coaching industry collects Rs 58,000 cr a year (EPW), mostly from middle and lower-income families. A fee paid, largely, for the privilege of being rejected.

This is not a failure of our youth. It is a failure of pathways.

The answer is not fewer aspirations. It’s more jobs, more vocational pathways, industry-linked credentials employers trust, and far more room for entrepreneurship.

A nation of 1.4 billion cannot build its future by making millions compete for thousands of seats.

[Amit Paranjape @aparanjape]

.@PMCPune

Please stop these standard template answers (on DMs) -

The issues are very well explained. If they can't understand them in spite of the photos and description - then we have a bigger issue. The ward officer needs to review these complaints and follow up, and get them fixed.

(The issue below is about broken footpath (for months) - with clear location, photos provided)

cc @navalmh @MDNagpure

___________________

"Sir/Madam,
We apologize for the inconvenience caused. Regarding your complaint please contact concerned officer ABC at XYZ...

Thank you.
9:25 AM"

[Klotzen, nicht kleckern! Anil Kelkar @DerMovingFinger]

It would appear that those who break the rules are a far bigger vote-bank than those who want safe streets, and hence the politicians may have given instructions not to bother with traffic rule violators.

[sjoshi @sjoshi]

Insights on why the Indian Political system encourages caste and is dirty - the flaws of the FPTP voting system and Proportional representation by @thinkschoolbot

https://t.co/RtBOoQ0SFu

[meowism @notevensaee]

truly an interesting and comprehensive project! everybody must check it out.

[Shivakumar Jolad (ಶಿವಕುಮಾರ್ ಜೋಳದ್) @shivakjolad]

One of the least systematically documented aspects of Indian history is the world of the Princely States. At the time of Independence, nearly 40% of the territory of the Indian subcontinent and almost one-fourth of its population lived under princely rule. If we focus on present Indian boundaries, nearly half (48%) of India was under the control of the 560 odd  Large, small and tiny princely states, estates, and Jagirs.  While people know large states like Hyderabad, Jammu and Kashmir, Mysore, and Gwalior, there were hundreds of tiny states- some less than 1 sq mile!.

We are happy to share what is perhaps the first comprehensive digitized database of 594 princely states, estates, and jagirs of India based on the Memoranda on Indian States (1939).
https://t.co/WQXmIxYhVv

@indiastatestory

[Chandrashekhar Dhage @cbdhage]

NHAI should first complete pending work around Pune.
All elevated corridor should have start building by now. Almost 5-6 years gone.
Regarding Pune Mumbai think about transit solutions like RRTS or adding extra capacity of railways.

[Amit Paranjape @aparanjape]

Congratulations Prof. Vasi.

[Amit Paranjape @aparanjape]

'Your Weather App Can't Predict Rain Because It Was Never Built For India'

https://t.co/LGOGrFqd5C

Most 'weather apps' use foreign weather models and don't utilize IMD models (which are very good for our conditions)

Some good work by Pune technologist @AbhijitVaidya in trying to address this...

[Shreyas Mahajan @shreyasmahajan1]

@aparanjape No matter how many times you raise these issues, they will remain unresolved for decades. Traffic police is mostly non existent in the city. They r present at some junctions, but not on a daily basis. They are only visible when VIP visits r scheduled. They don't care abt the city

[Amit Paranjape @aparanjape]

#Pune Yesterday evening on the busy M.G. Road and Laxmi Road... same old issues -

1. Hardly any traffic police presence (except a few at a signal on M.G. Road). Traffic barely moving.

2. Plenty of cars, rickshaws double/triple parked (or 'standing' with driver in it) illegally - blocking the road. No action against these. (Note - the traffic police at the signal were focused on the signal - not paying attention to the double/triple parking nearby).

3. Other encroachments blocking traffic and pedestrians.

4. One-way violators (two wheelers) amidst this crazy traffic.

Where are the traffic police? Where is the enforcement? Note - I am talking about the busiest and important shopping hubs in Pune. If this is the state of Laxmi Road and M.G. Road... you can imagine about the others.

@PMCPune @PuneCityTraffic @PuneCityPolice @CPPuneCity

[anand mahindra @anandmahindra]

Those irreplaceable moments in life.

When a tradition is handed over.

Yezdi Forever…

( @yezdiforever is a @MahindraRise brand)

(And yes, they will wear helmets when on the road..!)

[Ramesh Srivats @rameshsrivats]

If convoy sizes can be cut down overnight, then why were we waiting for an energy crisis to do it?

[Shilpa Godbole @godbole_shilpa]

Pune’s disastrous traffic situation is a classic case of the broken window effect.
The system has collapsed because small violations became normalised.
Every single day, thousands break basic traffic rules with absolutely no fear of consequences.
And why would they? Traffic police are barely visible & enforcement is practically nonexistent.
Admin washes their hands off by saying Punekars have no regard for the traffic laws.
It’s easy blame the people for all civic failures!

[Shankkar Aiyar 🇮🇳 @ShankkarAiyar]

A good start would be limiting the cars in ministerial cavalcade.
It's a symbol of VIP Culture and Corruption.

[sjoshi @sjoshi]

@RujutaDiwekar @CWHimalaya Stunningly beautiful

[Smita Deshmukh🇮🇳 @smitadeshmukh]

I have two Medha Patkar stories.
At the height of Narmada dam agitation, the Greens had a meeting at a place at Grand Road (don't remember the address). The setting was simple for the cameras, yet the Greens were serving her expensive bottled water and gourmet food. A sharp contrast to the cause she claimed to represent.
I once went to her house (guess Chembur) and her assistant guided me from front entrance - a stage - old furniture, a single fan, the image of a humble servant of the people. But the back entrance? Fancy, exclusive, and reserved only for a select few.
​The back door always tells the real story.😂