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India
Joined August 2008
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YOU'RE BORN. YOU SEE PANTS STYLES GO FROM BAGGY TO SKINNY BACK TO BAGGY EVERY 10 YEARS FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE. YOU DIE. THE END
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My dear friends, please, I hope to demand your absolute attention to this matter:
In 2018, my junior from St. John’s Medical College, Bengaluru, Dr. Randall Sequeira (middle in the pic), trekked up a steep, bauxite-rich plateau in Odisha to hold a monsoon health camp in the indigenous Kutiya Kondh village of Kutrumali.
In a piece he wrote then titled "Kutrumali’s Demons," Randall described sleeping under a dripping school roof in freezing fog, borrowing utensils from a local health worker to cook khichdi, and waking up at 6 AM to a line of tribal mothers. He wrote with heartbreak about treating malnourished toddlers with protruding bellies and visible ribs, listening to stories of stillbirths and chronic fevers, while noticing the shiny new solar lights installed by a mining conglomerate eyeing the aluminium ore beneath the villagers' feet.
Comparing his small medical team to hobbits sheltering in the night, Randall worried about the outside forces coming for that fragile village.
Randall stayed with the tribal/ adivasi community to serve them. After St. John’s and an MD in Internal Medicine from SMS Jaipur, he gave up every comfort of urban medicine to live in Kalahandi, recognizing that clinical prescriptions are meaningless when indigenous communities are stripped of their forests, water, and dignity.
On the night of October 16, Odisha police picked up Dr. Randall Sequeira and Dalit activist Laxman Naik at 11 PM from his home in Bhawanipatna. A gentle physician who has spent years trekking up hills to save tribal children is now locked in Rayagada sub-jail under frivolous but draconian charges (attempt to murder, dacoity), simply for standing with Adivasis peaceful protesting the mining of their sacred hills in Sijimali and Kutrumali.
thewire.in/rights/randall-se…
Odisha Govt. said it will cut down forests to connect tribal villages. But it was a way to bypass green laws and fast track London based Vedanta’s, and Adani's mining plans. Local organisations estimate that around 45 villages depend on these hills and would be affected.
reporters-collective.in/trc/…
The state has answered with repression rather than dialogue. In the last three years, at least 43 police cases have been filed and over a hundred Adivasis and Dalits, both women and men, have been incarcerated in Odisha jails. For example, from In March and april 2026, 8, 2026, to April 8, 2026, within one month, 24 people were sent to jail, 217 were made accused, and the number of “others” total 1,140. An activist who was not named in the original FIRs, but has since been implicated in about 12 cases, so that bail in one case is followed by arrest in another. This pattern of capture and releases have been used to crush rational dissent.
Dr. Randall understood that being a good doctor means understanding that prescriptions cannot compensate for the denial of land rights, that surgery cannot undo displacement and that no medical can substitute for the basic infrastructure a government has failed to provide.
thehindu.com/sci-tech/health…
To my fellow medical fraternity, and every citizen with a conscience: a kind physician who embodies the highest ethics of our profession is being criminalized to clear the way for bauxite mining. Please do not let his voice be buried in a sub-jail.
Amplify this, demand due process, and demand the immediate release. Please sign in this form to show solidarity: forms.gle/o2Rj2Uu3tXaoWu9dA
If anyone can help out in this situation please reach out to Medico Friend Circle - mfcindia.org/
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“The estimate of the total amount of rubble in Gaza is 61m tonnes. It is approximately 20 times the amount of rubble generated in all wars across the world over the last 18 years”
theguardian.com/world/2026/s…
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467 trees to be cut in Prabhag 29 (Karvenagar- Erandwane) - residents up in arms!
A plot of land at the end of the lane off Karishma Society road ( the lane with Siddharth Towers) is an urban mini forest withe 100s of trees, some of which are heritage trees. An old well from the Peshwa era is also found here.
Apparently, a DP road is planned through this forest - on one side a HUGE mall by Gravity Constructions is coming up. On the other side 2 acres has been reserved in the DP for a 'vruddhashram' - this too is a mini forest, with 100s of trees.
On 17th September residents heard the sound of trees being sawed, and by the time they went to the site, already 40 - 50 trees were cut, including two trees that are more than 50 years old.
They were told that PMC Road dept was cutting trees to build the DP road. However, further questioning, meetings with the ward officer Mrs Tambe and examination of the tree docket, raised many red flags.
A few residents wrote to the Ministry of Environment directly and quite surprisingly an immediate email was send by the Minister to PMC and the collector to stop the cutting till all proper permissions were granted. However the cutting went on secretly even after that, continuing well into the night which is illegal, till angry residents stopped the work. Unfortunately another 20 or 30 trees were cut by then
A meeting was held with all 4 local nagarsevaks and two meetings were held on site with MLA Dr Medhatai Kulkarni.
The questions raised by citizens are
1. The docket shows that the tree cutting permissions were given in 2023, after which there were repeated extensions. This is illegal. Under the MH Tree Act, the validity of permission for tree cutting is 3 months, which in this case expired long back. Such extensions are not legal - new permissions have to be granted after a new hearing (incidentally there were no public hearings in 2023 either)
2. The plot with the mini forest was suddenly barricaded before the cutting - and the barricades do not belong to PMC, which certainly can't afford such swanky barricades. Who barricaded this forest?
And why are security guards from the neighboring under-construction mall sitting here guarding the space?
It is a public space after all.
3. The 200 odd trees in the reserved amenity space for 'vruddhashram' have also been marked and numbered - but neither the PMC, nor the nagarsevaks can explain why they're numbered or who has done it, even though this too is public land.
4. The trees in this forest are of good native species like Chandan, Kala Shirish, Pandhra Shirish, Putravati and others - some had nests on them when they were cut (which is illegal under the Tree Act). What has PMC done with the wood? Chandan wood for eg is very valuable
5. Why did the tree cutting go on even after the MoE ordered a stay? Why did it go on after 6 pm, which is illegal. Floodlights have been attached to a large tree as proof that tree cutting went on at night. Why this secrecy and urgency.
Again, neither PMC nor the nagarsevaks nor the ward officer have any answers
As far as I know, there doesn't seem to be any real purpose for this DP road - all surrounding areas are already connected by broad roads and there is no heavy traffic in this residential area to warrant a connecting road. The only purpose for this road that one can guess, is that it will provide a back access to the Gravity Construction mall.
The vrudhashram plot also needs some investigations - will the trees here be cut too? Where are the permissions? PMC certainly isn't building an old age home here - so who exactly has this public plot been given / sold to and what will come up here?
This is a beautiful urban mini forest with precious native species trees - instead of destroying it for some useless access road, both this and the vruddhashram amenity space should be converted into a biodiversity park with walking tracks. @Medha_kulkarni @mohol_murlidhar @ChDadaPatil
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The Election Commission of India is under fire like never before.
The SIR has struck 13 crore names off draft rolls, putting the EC at the centre of intense public debate over its role in deciding who gets to vote — and who doesn’t.
HOWEVER, what nobody knew: through that same period, some of the sharpest questions were being asked from inside.
Out today, after months of work. Our #ExpressInvestigation 🧵
(1/10)
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Yes, absolutely. Crackdown on the rickshaw drivers. And then on shopkeepers, swiggy Zomato blinkit delivery workers, students, migrant workers, IT employees. Anyone who has the audacity to live in Pune without speaking flawless, Pune certified Marathi!
Forget the potholes, the traffic mess, the garbage on the road, visual garbage (flex hoardings), broken footpaths……rickshaw drivers not knowing Marathi is the emergency we have chosen to fix.
Pune RTO Cracks Down on Non-Marathi-Speaking Autorickshaw Drivers, 95 Checked and Notices Served to 10 Drivers
Read in detail here : punekarnews.in/pune-rto-crac…
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Remember to treat your body like a data center.
Consume as much literature and water as possible.
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The #HCMTR has conflicts with the Metro in Pune at 12 locations, including the very complicated University chowk and Paud Phata.
What's the point of joint meetings NOW of PMC, MSRDC and MahaMetro "to avoid future redesigns, repeated road excavation and higher construction costs" for sections of the metro that are already complete?
At this stage only some ad hoc redesigning can resolve the inevitable structural conflict.
The mind boggles to think of what this late stage design will mean for the HCMTR crossing the Metro, flyovers and the underpass ramps at the University chowk.
The HCMTR was notified in the DP in 2018, why was it not considered in the Maha-Metro design at the University chowk then itself?
Looks like we are in for another decade of traffic jams at the University chowk once HCMTR construction starts 😖
Also at Symbiosis on Senapati Bapat road where HCMTR ramps as well as BB road flyover and underpass have been designed by 2 separate consultants in the same section - without any coordination.
As an aside - at a meeting with Envirosafe consultants who prepared the DPR for the #BalbharatiRoad, we asked them where they plan to do the mandatory compensatory plantation after cutting 3k trees for the road across Vetal tekdi slope, which has no space left for any additional plantation
They said very brightly - 'in the 2 meter space between the 2 parallel 15 m roads'. We said -' but isn't this where the HCMTR pillars have been designed by STUP?'
They looked confounded for a few seconds and then - "but at least you will have the trees till the HCMTR construction starts" !!!!
And THIS is how different PMC agencies 'co-ordinate' with one another and how structural conflicts are 'resolved' 🙄🙄🙄🙄
hindustantimes.com/cities/pu…
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With @navalMH and @Dev_Fadnavis in a desperate hurry to build the #HCMTR in Pune, it's high time people understand the true implications of this project to their daily lives and commutes.
This is VERY important - so please read the 🧵carefully to see whether your house or work place will be impacted
Please share this widely for maximum reach
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En Finlandia cambiaron los materiales sintéticos (caucho sintético, asfalto, plástico...) de los patios de las guarderías por suelo forestal, césped, musgo y arbustos; y los niños mejoraron su sistema inmune en sólo 28 días: mayor diversidad microbiana, más células T reguladoras, aumento de marcadores antiinflamatorias y mayor equilibrio inmunológico.
A los 2 años los beneficios persistían y se observaron mejoras adicionales: menos bacterias patógenas como Streptococcus en la piel y menor abundancia de bacterias asociadas a inflamación en el intestino.
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✅ Update: Ganeshkhind Road Tree-Saving Campaign ✅
In March-April 2026, Parisar & activists basically me and @mhemachari pushed PMC for a better design on Ganeshkhind Road (Phase 2: RBI Office to Shimla Office Chowk).
Key moments:
• Site visit with HOD Roads Mr. Bankar — he acknowledged shoddy footpaths from Phase 1.
• 16 Apr: Met EE Mr. Waghmare & DE Mr. Kumbhar during RTI hearing — clarified Tree Act provisions for alternative design (not route).
• 29 Apr: Joint site inspection with PMC engineers, contractor (Nikhil Constructions) & Parisar team. Walked the full stretch, highlighted Metro constraints (stations every ~750m, pillars at 12m from median).
Our Proposal (IRC-compliant):
• Consistent 12m Motor Carriageway (4 lanes) + 7m slip lanes at flyovers
• Rest for NMT: 4.5m+ footpath + 2m cycle track + 2m MUZ
• Saves maximum (all 529) trees while ensuring smooth traffic & better pedestrian space
Progress:
• 30 Apr: EE Mr. Waghmare updated HOD Mr. Bankar — plan found workable. HOD agreed. Proposal submitted. Contractor to revise drawings.
Next Ask to PMC: Written acceptance of this alternative design strategy to save trees & build a people-friendly road as per IRC & Court orders.
We’re hopeful but vigilant.
Will keep pushing till it’s on paper!
Will save GK Road Trees.
#SaveGaneshkhindTrees #Parisar #SustainablePune #TreeAct #ChaloPMC
Y retweeted
this is why magical realism thrives in Latin America
This Post is from an account that no longer exists. Learn more
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I don’t really understand the maths it takes to send humans behind the Moon and bring them back safely. And the more I sit with that, the more it genuinely messes with my head even tho my love for physics and my knowledge of physics is astounding to a point
Somebody had to work out a path where the Moon’s gravity is pulling you in, the Earth is pulling you back, and you’re moving just fast enough and not slow enough not to get trapped by either. They had to figure out the exact angle to come back into Earth’s atmosphere too. Too steep, you burn up. Too shallow, you bounce off and drift into space. And they had to get all of that right at the same time, for real people sitting in a small metal capsule about 400k kilometres away from home.
Nothing in that system is standing still.
The Moon is moving.
The Earth is moving.
Even the Sun is pulling on everything. And still, some people looked at all of that motion, all of that chaos, and turned it into numbers you can follow. Go here.
Adjust here.
Come back here.
And unlike nepa light, it infact works.
There’s also that moment in the journey where the crew passes behind the Moon. No contact with Earth. No signal. Just silence, with a massive rock blocking everything they’ve ever known. The only reason they can stay calm in that moment is because someone, somewhere, did the maths and proved they’ll come out the other side.
I don’t know what it feels like to trust something that much. To put your life in an equation when you’re that far away from everything.
But I do know this for sure, whatever that level of thinking is, whatever it takes to reach it, it might be one of the most extraordinary things human beings have ever done...
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The 110th birth anniversary of the amazing Bismillah Khan. At one point, no Indian wedding would be complete without his magical shehnai playing in the background.
When the Indian flag was was unfurled at Delhi's historic Red Fort on 15th August 1947, Bismillah Khan was performing!
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Imagine telling the world that you're liberating the women of Iran and one of the first things you do is blow up a school full of girls. Extraordinary.
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To understand the full Oikos plan, do watch this video and see how PMC and our political leaders thrust an expensive, destructive plan on Pune when it could have gone with a more aesthetic, climate resilient one at a fraction of the cost.
google.com/search?q=river+re…
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Madhav Gadgil, the pre-eminent ecologist, has just passed away. He was a top-notch academic scientist, a tireless field researcher, a pioneering institution-builder, a great communicator, a firm believer in people’s networks and movements, and friend, philosopher, guide, and mentor to many for over five decades. Trained at the very best universities in modern science, he was at the same time a champion of traditional knowledge systems - especially in biodiversity conservation.
His influence on public policy has been profound going back to his crucial role in the Save Silent Valley Movement in the late 70s and early 1980s. His intervention to protect forests in Bastar was crucial in the mid -80s. Later, he gave shape to a new direction to the Botanical Survey of India and the Zoological Survey of India. During 2009-2011, he chaired the Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel and wrote its report in a most sensitive and democratic manner that remains unmatched in both substance and style.
He had studied biology at Harvard under E. O. Wilson, who had been hailed as Darwin’s Heir. Although inspired by Wilson, Madhav Gadgil - unlike most others who went to study abroad - came back to India to build its own research capacities and capabilities, guide students, engage with local communities, and make a difference to policy. In all of these he succeeded more than admirably. Luckily three years back he was able to bring out his delightful memoir, which is at once educative, entertaining, and enlightening.
Madhav Gadgil’s life was devoted to scholarship in the noblest sense of the term. He will remain an iconic and inspirational figure.
Speaking on a personal note, in the twenty-six months I was Environment Minister during May 2009- July 2011, I turned to him every other day for guidance and advice. And our conversations were not confined to matters related to ecology. We spoke often of his father Dhananjay Gadgil, one of India’s greatest economists and author of that classic The Industrial Evolution of India in Recent Times, first published in 1924. We would also speak of the intricacies of the Indian monsoon, since his wife Sulochana was an authority on the subject.
Nation builders come in different forms and varieties. Madhav Gadgil was definitely one of them. Above all he had the hallmark of a true scholar— he was gentle, unassuming, and exuded empathy and humility behind which was a vast ocean of knowledge and learning.
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>food delivery app owner proposes an ancient, already debunked gravitational theory of ageing to "promote" his zero-evidence based wellness product that looks like a fat band-aid stuck to the temple.
>doctors and scientists including me call it out and warn people about misinformation packaged as "wellness".
>food delivery app owner messages me personally which he denies here.
>said food delivery app owner then asks me to come on Zoom (so he should have messaged me right?) to discuss his thoughts and opinions to which I say it's a waste of time one-on-one, but he should show evidence to his claims on Twitter for everyone's benefit.
>food delivery app owner disappears, only to appear on India's best third rate podcast to claim that I was a waste of his time and he has lost respect towards me.
>they have Brian Johnson just shy of drinking his son's blood in the US, while we have tech bros nearly making us swing down like bats to help us live longer.
>the future of wellness is cooked. Never delivered. Definitely not in 10 minutes.
instagram.com/reel/DTH3GJojQ…