Investigator Senior Researcher @unirostock 🇩🇪 Former Research Associate @UWMadison 🇺🇸 alumnus @IiserMohali 🇮🇳
Rostock, Germany
Joined June 2017
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Rajat Garg retweeted
to the most respected finance minister. i have a doubt. please find time to answer me.
you say that the venue for a debate is the parliament.
you say that my home minister, amit shah has offered a special session to debate.
you say that if rahul gandhi - the leader of opposition, wants to debate my prime minister, he should come to the parliament.
ma'am, let's start by pointing out some facts.
jul 20 - the parliament session opens. narendra modi, the ever so hon'ble prime minister - addresses the media - outside the parliament. he asks for a fact-based debate.
jul 24 - Amit Shah's National Honour Bill is introduced in Rajya Sabha, by Nityanand Rai, who is MoS for home affairs. Jairam Ramesh asks "Where is the Cabinet Minister". This is present in the RS Transcript.
jul 29 - Rahul Gandhi, the leader of opposition - asks "why is the Home Minister not here today?". This is also present in the LS Transcript.
jul 30 - Rahul Gandhi asks "why Shah is so scared of coming to Parliament"
aug 4 - Amit Shah, is seen in the parliamentary complex. at an NDA Parliamentary Party Meeting. He Doesn't enter the house. as per reporting from Navbharat Live.
aug 6 - Mallikarjun Kharge, in Rajya Sabha, asks "Why is the Prime Minister not coming? Why is the Home Minister not coming?" as Per Kerala Kamudi - this is consistent with the RS transcript.
aug 11 - congress MP Manickam Tagore attacks the absent home minister. as per reporting by the ANI.
aug 12 - Amit Shah says to the media, "have been coming to Parliament regularly since the Session began; I sit in my chamber."
talking to the media, at around 12:30 PM, Amit Shah offered "If the Opposition wrote to the speaker, there would be a debate from 3 PM wednesday (12 aug - the same day) to 3 PM thursday (13 aug - the next day)
this was roughly a 2 hour window to submit the letter.
he further said "I will sit in the House; I will listen to everyone and respond to every point."
Rahul Gandhi said "We are not interested in listening to his lecture, Who shot those students? Who blinded that student? Who ordered the lathi charge?"
this referred to the Pellet Shots fired at the Student, Sahil Lochav. He asked about the Lathi Charge that happened in the protests on July 20th.
The Opposition wanted a statement from Shah about this, Shah wanted them to submit a letter to the speaker, in a window of roughly 2 hours - after not being present for 17 straight settings. with no recorded appearance.
aug 13 - Lok Sabha sits for 4 minutes. 11:00 AM to 11:04 AM. The National Song, Vande Mataram, is played. and then, the house is adjourned sine die. Both ever so honourable Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Shri Amit Shah were present on these days. for the 4 minutes.
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Respected Finance Minister Ma'am,
These were the facts I have pointed out. I have not said anything that was my own opinion. I have not framed the facts in a way that support any party. My facts were gathered by scraping Documents from the LS and RS portal, OCR'ing the PDFs, then parsing them and then Aggregating News Sources. - and pointing out facts from them. Cold, Hard, Records.
I have not asked any questions yet - which I will do now.
I am a human. I have evolved Pattern Seeking skills.
I spot a pattern here. I see that for the entirety of the Monsoon Session, Prime Minister Modi, and Home Minister Shah, did not utter a word on the record of the Lok Sabha. They were not present in the house except for the last 4 minutes, on the last day.
Shah says "He was sitting in his cabin",
Ma'am, I don't think debates happen when you sit alone in a cabin. It happens on the floor, where the other side can ask questions too.
I don't see a meaningful debate happening in an environment like the Parliament. I say this with utter disappointment.
If Parliament is the venue for debate, why did the two most senior members of the government not speak there once in 19 sittings? And why was the one offer to debate made to the press on the 18th day, with a deadline of a couple of hours?
Why are there "offers" even? I think it is your responsibility to be in debates because that is your entire job.
As you say, "Demanding answers also carries an obligation to hear them." -- Well, were Amit Shah or Narendra Modi, hearing the Questions being asked? They were not in the house even.
Please Answer my Doubts. I would be very obliged if you do so.
Regards,
Sarthak
Rahul ji, you ask the Prime Minister to choose a venue for a debate. There is already one: Parliament, where you happen to be the LoP.
Just yesterday, Home Minister Shri @AmitShah offered a special session to debate SIR and EVMs. Why not show the same enthusiasm for a debate in Parliament that you show while issuing challenges on social media?
Demanding answers also carries an obligation to hear them.
There have been several occasions when you and your party have walked out of Parliament while the government was responding to your allegations. How do you claim to be so eager for a debate when you don’t even stay to hear the other side?
It doesn’t stop at walkouts. You and the INDI Alliance have repeatedly disrupted proceedings, leading to entire sittings being washed out. If you are so keen on debating, why not allow Parliament to function in the first place?
And then there’s the mock Parliament you recently held at the Congress President’s residence. Frankly, that was more a ‘mockery of Parliament’ than a ‘mock Parliament’. You found the time and enthusiasm for that exercise. Surely, the real Parliament deserves at least as much.
You speak endlessly about protecting democracy and the Constitution. But that respect should also reflect in how you treat the institutions they have established.
As for the issues you frivolously raise, bring specific allegations and evidence to back them up. Simply throwing together a long list of accusations doesn’t make your case any stronger. As LoP, you are expected to show some seriousness and responsibility.
You say, “Daro mat.”
Then bring the facts, face the scrutiny and stay to hear the answers. In the House, uphold the standards of debate you demand from others.
Rajat Garg retweeted
ONCE UPON A TIME THERE WAS A GREAT COUNTRY CALLED INDIA.
( FIVE stupid phrases that we use that are helping destroy it).
By Sanjay Jha
My dear fellow Indians
Once upon a time, there was a great country called India. It had a glorious past, extraordinary people, limitless potential and a promising future. Frankly, it was never perfect. No country ever is. But there was hope. There was freedom. We could breathe.
Then something went horribly wrong. Of course, I am not blaming everything post-2014 alone. But the acceleration of the decline got a definitive momentum. No, it wasn’t just the politicians, albeit the bulk of the responsibility lies here. Or the bureaucrats who sold their souls. Like good ole Gyanu Ji. Or the multi-billionaires who appear to have mistaken the national assets for their family inheritance.
It was also us. Yes, you and me. All of us, in varying degrees.
We Indians have perfected five phrases that explain why a country capable of sending spacecraft to the Moon and Mars still struggles to fix a pothole on Earth. I live in Mumbai, ask me about it. We have the richest municipal corporation in the whole of Asia, by the way. Anyway, let’s cut to the chase.
Here are the five national disasters masquerading as everyday wisdom.
Read the full piece on my Substack: sanjayjhabombay.substack.com…
Rajat Garg retweeted
BJP tried slandering this genZ girl by calling her ‘Babar ki Virasat’. Look how she came up with an extraordinary ppt presentation.
You just can’t beat GenZs..
Vastaguna huyiyaa!!
Rajat Garg retweeted
Students deserve justice.
An independent SC monitored high powered committee must be constituted to probe brutalities against our students.
Rajat Garg retweeted
That's pretty bad for an IIT Director actually. And I'm just a researcher in a trust hospital, spending my own money for research without the government support that IITs get.
Rajat Garg retweeted
आंदोलन को रोकने के लिए मेट्रो बंद करना बैड आइडिया है। इससे लोग कार चलाएँगे और E20 को लेकर आंदोलन होने लगेगा।
Arrogance at its peak. When those in power post a video with such an insensitive tone, it tells you their mindset. !!!
Rajat Garg retweeted
शांतिपूर्ण विरोध एक अटूट और मौलिक अधिकार है।
भारत के निर्दोष छात्रों पर हमला करने के आदेशों का आँखें बंद करके पालन करने वाले हर पुलिस अधिकारी और सरकारी कर्मचारी ये बात ध्यान रखें:
संविधान ही आपका मालिक है।
सत्ता हमेशा के लिए नहीं रहती।
जवाबदेही ज़रूर तय की जाएगी।
Peaceful protest is a sacred and fundamental right.
Every police officer and govt official blindly following orders to attack India’s innocent students should keep in mind:
The Constitution is your master.
Power is not permanent.
Accountability will follow.
Rajat Garg retweeted
Gujarat से आया पिता, बेटे को 1 महीने पहले खोया…Sonam Wangchuk को उठाने पर क्या बोले?
Rajat Garg retweeted
प्रधानमंत्री मोदी भारत के इतिहास के सबसे युवा-विरोधी प्रधानमंत्री हैं - इतने युवा विरोधी कि एक नाकाम शिक्षा मंत्री धर्मेंद्र प्रधान का इस्तीफा भी नहीं ले सकते।
152 पेपर लीक। 7.5 करोड़ छात्र पीड़ित। और सज़ा एक दोषी को भी नहीं। सजा किसे मिली? मेहनती युवाओं को।
और जब इन बच्चों ने शिक्षा के जायज़ सवाल उठाए - तो जवाब में मिली लाठी और हिरासत। लीक करने वाले अपराधी आज़ाद - और वाजिब मुद्दे उठाने वाले छात्र घसीटे जाते हैं, पीटे जाते हैं।
यह सरकार सिर्फ़ युवाओं को नाकाम नहीं कर रही - उनपर टूट पड़ी है।
Rajat Garg retweeted
मुख्यमंत्री Fadnavis जी!
जिसको कुत्ता नहीं पूछता उसी जनता का पैर पकड़ कर आप लोग वोट माँगते हैं। सरकार की आलोचना कब से राज्य की आलोचना हो गया? सवालों का जवाब नहीं है तो Shoot the messenger!
This is concerning. Whatever limited support govt was providing to students pursuing fundamental science is being withdrawn. I myself am a beneficiary of INSPIRE SHE scheme, and know many people from our batch including myself who may not have been able to continue in science
Concerning🧵 #DST #InspireSHE #IISER
After stopping KVPY, @IndiaDST has silently discontinued INSPIRE-SHE scholarship for BS and MS students. This is a nightmare for fundamental science in India. Students were uncertain about this until a certain student from IISc filed RTI. 1/n
Rajat Garg retweeted
Good morning. This is urgent, for public information.
The second paper on cow research funded using India's public money under the SUTRA-PIC (Scientific Utilization through Research Augmentation - Prime Products from Indigenous Cows program) has undergone exhaustive post-publication peer review.
The paper was published in Applied Biochemistry and Biotechnology last year. The authors are from Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) BHU-Varanasi and Birla Institute of Technology (BITS)-Pilani.
This is the paper: link.springer.com/article/10…
This study was done in Uttar Pradesh and the total amount of public money given was INR 31,04,162. The authors studied cow urine of different breeds and found "special" components in the cow urine that they claim will have major use applications in healthcare, technology and engineering.
They are wrong. The paper is a third-rate publication with poorly performed and grossly misinterpreted and falsified results of basic analytical chemistry. An official email for Expression of Concern and investigation into scientific integrity has been mailed to: @SpringerNature Ethics Team and Journal Editors-in-Chief (personal email) - Matthew P. DeLisa PhD
at Cornell University, Ye Ni PhD at Jiangnan University and Benedict Okeke PhD at Auburn University.
Here is the lay summary of the paper's forensic analysis:
Lab contamination has been (un)intentionally ignored by authors. The researchers mistook common lab contaminants, like plastic chemicals and solvents, for natural cow urine compounds. They failed to run basic control tests to catch these obvious errors.
Impossible chemicals claimed to be found in cow urine by authors. The paper claims to have found impossible synthetic chemicals in the urine, such as a banned pesticide, human prescription drugs, and toxic metals. This shows the authors blindly trusted computer software without checking if the results even made biological sense.
Fake health claims made by the authors. The authors boast about the amazing health benefits of over twenty different chemicals, claiming they fight cancer and bacteria. However, none of these specific chemicals were actually found anywhere in their own data or in the urine of various cows they tested.
Contradictory results are all over the place. The written text of the paper directly contradicts its own data tables. The researchers claim to have found certain groups of chemicals, like steroids, that are completely missing from their actual results.
Terrible referencing throughout the paper. The study's citations are completely mismatched, scrambled, and duplicated. They even cite unrelated plant studies and reviews on toxic chemicals to support their claims about the "benefits" of cow urine.
Zero statistics and flawed setup degrade the conclusions. The study lacks basic statistical analysis, sometimes testing as few as one cow per breed. They also failed to separate the cow's breed from its age, diet, or location, making their "breed-specific" conclusions totally invalid.
Misleading graphs are plastered all over. The graphs that are supposed to show specific, individual chemicals actually show messy mixtures of dozens of different compounds. These graphs look suspiciously identical to each other, raising serious concerns about image manipulation.
Thanks to the Government for destroying the scientific fabric and the rational temperament of its science instituitions. We wont forget.
Such a beautiful and well articulated response. ❤️
सवाल : प्रेसिडेंट ट्रंप ने PM मोदी की तारीफ़ एक मज़बूत नेगोशिएटर के तौर पर की। क्या इसका मतलब है कि भारत पिछले 12 साल में आखिरकार दुनिया के मंच पर आ गया है?
विदेश सचिव विक्रम मिसरी का जवाब : “जब मैंने पिछली बार चेक किया था, तब भारत पिछले 7000 सालों से दुनिया के मंच पर उपस्थित है। कोई एक ख़ास मुलाकात इस उपस्थिति को लेकर क्या कर सकती है क्या नहीं मैं इसके बारे में कुछ नहीं कह सकता लेकिन मैं आपको आश्वस्त कर सकता हूँ कि दुनिया के मंच पर हमारी मौजूदगी बहुत बहुत लंबे समय से है”
शानदार प्रोफेशनल डिप्लोमैटिक संदेश 🙌
Rajat Garg retweeted
लोहे के पेड़ हरे होंगे
#BREAKING: Major Action by Modi Govt on the CBSE related controversy. CBSE Chairman and Secretary shunted out, transferred. Inquiry committee constituted to probe the procurement of On-Screen Marking (OSM) services by CBSE.