subruk

[Karthik 🇮🇳 @beastoftraal]

Reality check: Prices frozen 4 years since April 2022. Crude dipped/stabilized lower in 2023-25. Zero pass-through to consumers (just a ₹2 cut in March 2024 before polls). Govt pockets savings on the way down, hikes on the way up. Consumers get neither relief nor fairness. Classic BJP spin.

[subruk @subruk]

@Kaju_Nut I faced this thing last year. The prices/flights that were available in other aggregators weren't available and it costed much more.

Ended up flying via bombay which was cheaper even with the extra leg.

[subruk @subruk]

@thecodemarathon Yes, please let me know how to try.

[SirKazam {blu tik} @SirKazamJeevi]

International Brent Crude oil prices
(per barrel)

Pre Modi
2004: $38
2008: $97
2012: $111

Post Modi
2014: $99
2016: $44
2020: $42
2024: $80
2026: $64

did your Govt make you pay more for petrol when international oil prices went up and less when international prices came down?

[subruk @subruk]

If you are interested in pursuing a post doc under this program, please reach out.

[Anusandhan National Research Foundation @ANRFIndia]

𝗖𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗽𝗼𝘀𝗮𝗹𝘀 | 𝗔𝗡𝗥𝗙–𝗡𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗣𝗼𝘀𝘁𝗱𝗼𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗿𝗮𝗹 𝗙𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗼𝘄𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽 (𝗡𝗣𝗗𝗙) 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟲

𝗔𝗽𝗽𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗪𝗶𝗻𝗱𝗼𝘄: 15 Jan. – 17 Feb. 2026

𝗙𝗼𝗿 𝗱𝗲𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗹𝘀: https://t.co/msG1Z1yNSx

#ANRFIndia #NPDF2026

[subruk @subruk]

Anrf npdf call is going to open soon. If you are interested in working with me or any colleague at cse iith, feel free to reach out.

[CSE IITH @cse_iith]

Join CSE department at IIT Hyderabad for your ANRF National Postdoctoral Fellowship (NPDF)!

The ANRF NPDF program (https://t.co/cI8KQ1TgA6) is aimed to identify motivated young researchers and provide them support for doing research in frontier areas of science and engineering. The call opens on 15 January and closes on 17 February 2026.

Why CSE IITH?
1. 30 faculty members having expertise across various domains in CS (https://t.co/zo7V1iyqkD)
2. Great infrastructure
3. A dedicated office space for the NPDF fellow
4. Possibility of involving B. Tech. and M. Tech. students in research projects
5. Can associate with ongoing or new cutting-edge research projects

Connect with our faculty early so that we can build an excellent proposal!

@IITHyderabad #research #postdoc #CSE #ANRF

[Press Trust of India @PTI_News]

STORY | India sets its own air standards; global rankings not official: Govt

The government on Thursday told Parliament that global air quality rankings cited by various organisations are not conducted by any official authority and that the World Health Organisation's (WHO) air quality guidelines serve only as advisory values, not binding standards.

Responding to a question in the Rajya Sabha on India's position in global indices such as IQAir's World Air Quality Ranking, the WHO Global Air Quality Database, the Environmental Performance Index (EPI) and the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) metrics, the Environment Ministry said no official country-wise pollution ranking is carried out worldwide.

Minister of State for Environment Kirti Vardhan Singh said the WHO's guidelines are meant to help countries set their own standards, taking into account geography, environmental conditions, background levels and national circumstances.

READ: https://t.co/of8Bm9Ombk

[subruk @subruk]

@CSSeelamantula Good to see you at Calicut.

[Ashwin 🇮🇳 @ashwinravi99]

This is a team that can get all out for 37, win a pink ball test match at the Gabba, chase down 320 odd for a win at the Headingley and now tracking down 530 with some solid character at Christchurch.👌👌#wivnz

They are such a talented cricketing nation that can excite and disappoint fans in equal measures.

[subruk @subruk]

@CSSeelamantula What??!! 😲

[Internet Freedom Foundation (IFF) @internetfreedom]

IFF's Statement on the Sanchar Saathi App Pre-Installation Directive

The Department of Telecommunications (DoT), specifically its AI & Digital Intelligence Unit (AI & DIU) on 21st November, 2024 has under the Telecommunications (Telecom Cyber Security) Rules, 2024 issued a sweeping Direction mandating the pre-installation of the Sanchar Saathi mobile application on all mobile handsets manufactured or imported for use in India. As a preliminary matter the DoT has yet to by itself disclose the full text of the direction. Initial reports by Reuters revealed it's existence and subsequently it's full text was disclosed by Medianama which form the basis of our statement, which will be followed up by RTI, analysis as well as steps, if required to support a challenge to it in a court of law.

The direction by requiring manufacturers and importers of mobile handsets to pre-install the Sanchar Saathi App represents a sharp and deeply worrying expansion of executive control over personal digital devices. The stated objective of curbing IMEI fraud and improving telecom security is, on its face, a legitimate state aim. But the means chosen are disproportionate, legally fragile, and structurally hostile to user privacy and autonomy. Clause 7(b) is the clearest expression of this. It requires that the pre-installed Sanchar Saathi application be “readily visible” and that, “its functionalities are not disabled or restricted.” In plain terms, this converts every smartphone sold in India into a vessel for state mandated software that the user cannot meaningfully refuse, control, or remove. For this to work in practice, the app will almost certainly need system level or root level access, similar to carrier or OEM system apps, so that it cannot be disabled. That design choice erodes the protections that normally prevent one app from peering into the data of others, and turns Sanchar Saathi into a permanent, non-consensual point of access sitting inside the operating system of every Indian smartphone user.

Viewed through the lens of the Supreme Court’s judgment in K.S. Puttaswamy (2017) that reaffirmed the fundamental right to privacy, this structure cannot pass the proportionality test. K.S. Puttaswamy requires that any intrusion into the right to privacy must meet the standards of legality, necessity, and proportionality. Even if we assume legality and necessity for the limited purpose of checking the genuineness of devices, the order clearly stumbles on proportionality. The government’s own ecosystem already offers less intrusive means to verify IMEI numbers and detect fake handsets such as the Sanchar Saathi web portal, SMS-based KYM (Know Your Mobile) services, and USSD codes all allow a user to perform this task without a permanent app baked into the firmware. There is no technical explanation in the order for why a one-time or occasional verification exercise justifies a resident, non-removable application with elevated privileges that lives on the phone for the lifetime of the device. Forcing a permanent app installation for a sporadic verification function is not a marginal overreach; it is a textbook example of disproportionate state action under the Puttaswamy standard.

The problems deepen when we look at the scope and safeguards. The order invokes “telecom cyber security” as a catch all justification, but it does not define the functional perimeter of the app. Clause 5 of the Directions refers to identifying acts that “endanger telecom cyber security,” an expression so vague that it invites function creep as a design feature, not a bug. Today, the app may be framed as a benign IMEI checker. Tomorrow, through a server side update, it could be repurposed for client side scanning for “banned” applications, flag VPN usage, correlate SIM activity, or trawl SMS logs in the name of fraud detection. Nothing in the order constrains these possibilities. In effect, the state is asking every smartphone user in India to accept an open ended, updatable surveillance capability on their primary personal device, and to do so without the basic guardrails that a constitutional democracy should insist on as a matter of course. IFF is deeply concerned with this direction that sets up a precedent to enforce client side scanning on all smartphones in India and calls for its recall.

As a first step we have filed a RTI with the Department of Telecom not only for a copy of this direction/order but also the underlying justification on how and why it was issued. We will fight this direction till it is rescinded.

[Ponnurangam Kumaraguru “PK” @ponguru]

📢 #SAVETHEDATE 📢 Excited to share that the @Indiaacm 's ARCS & Annual Event will be hosted at @IITHyderabad from Feb 11–14, 2026! 🎉

A big shoutout to #IITH faculty fraternity for helping. 💡 For all friends in & around Hyderabad, Please help us spread the word and #CFBR.
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[subruk @subruk]

@CSSeelamantula Good to see old faces.

[Sitting Idli 🇧🇷 @hegenon]

#Breaking: French Government has requested India to send its topmost experts in uncovering museum heists to uncover the Louvre heist. CIDs Dasan and Vijayan, with extensive experience and a proven track record in heist related investigations, are expected to reach Paris shortly

[Aravind Varier @VarierAravind]

A wonderful thread 🧵 DEBUNKING the claim peddled by many media outlets that the Supreme Court said the Kerala government is responsible for the financial crisis.👇🏻

[subruk @subruk]

@DeathEndsFun @bhaleraosarang I think higher average, 100+.

[subruk @subruk]

@RGIAHyd Thank you for the clarification. Last week when I went to the entry with only carry on, I was not allowed since I was not digi yatra user. You may check with the personnel on ground if the implementation is as per the policies. Thanks.

[subruk @subruk]

@RGIAHyd has the express check in entry (entry no. 1) been made digi yatra only? When I visited rgia last week, there was no one in the queue at entry 1 and still they wouldn't allow me in since I am not digi yatra user.

Can you please confirm if this is indeed the case?