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Jan 25 • 10 tweets • 3 min read
One thing about Modi's #NewIndia is how it keeps falling behind the rest of the world in tech, while fooling itself it's at the cutting edge cos Whatsapp says.

Take RFID based tolls. Was cutting edge 20 yrs ago. Now being replaced in the West.

India just getting into it! 🤦🏽‍♂️🤷🏽
Even tho EZpass etc in the US will be around for a while, they are so George Bush era tech!

In US, Europe, East Asia, cutting edge tech is image processing + online payment. Cheaper and easier than be RFID. And more flexible. And just generally smarter in smartphone era.
In many new systems, cameras just photograph and record license plates. Drivers can have tags OR they can pay toll online within a few hours OR a slightly more expensive toll bill comes in the mail.

Much easier than forcing everyone to buy RFID. And cheaper.
Rest of the world is about to start transitioning to 6G and here Modi is holding events with sycophantic Telco CEOs about how India is about to revolutionize governance with 5G. 🤷🏽

OTP, captcha, QR codes, all 00s tech being treated as cutting edge in India.
Oh wow, it's even worse

Oh yeah, this. I never felt toll collection was too big a problem in Maharashtra in the first place. The Fast Tag was a solution looking for a problem, rather than vice versa. Enthu cutlets wanting to inject tech so they can boast about having tech.

I have ridden or driven on the Mumbai Pune expressway for as long as it has been in existence and I NEVER remember tolling being the main bottleneck. Of course if there's a lot of traffic, tolling will SEEM like a bottleneck. When it's the vehicle volume that's the problem.
The per transaction time I saw on the expressway in the cash days was barely a few seconds. Way more efficient than cash toll collections in the US.

So exactly why this tag was even introduced was a mystery. And the horrible execution is no surprise given Modi govt record.
Oh yeah. Indian govt tech is basically Infy 2005 bench tech.

All other countries have much better apps and simpler tech experiences without their leaders randomly dancing around taking credit. Good infrastructure is that which you barely notice.

Ah yes, of course. The Chinafication of Indian privacy.

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More from @gauravsabnis

Gaurav Sabnis Profile picture
Jan 26
Some people are pointing out a few apparent inconsistencies or errors in the #HindenburgReport and asking "then can we trust anything in there"?

That's binary cable news debate logic, not actual investor logic. Actual investors don't think like debate judges. They are careful.
Actual investors, analysts, media people who report on this, will all do their own fact checking, cos all of it is extensively cited and verifiable.

If they see 10% wrong 90% right, they will focus on the 90%. Not throw it all out cos of a few errors. Makes no sense.
People in India are not realizing how much weight Nate Anderson carries in the US investor community AND the serious mainstream media. A New Yorker or Atlantic or Rolling Stone or NYMag longform on Adani must parallely be in the works, working with Nate during the investigation.
Read 15 tweets
Gaurav Sabnis Profile picture
Jan 26
I hope my longtime followers recognized the virality of this ad as an example of something working exactly as intended, right? You think a Starbucks or Tata ad copy makes it to print without a single person saying "ajji will be like, too expensive!"

The whole point only! Image
There isn't one universal definition for this practice. Some call it Bait Advertising. Others call it Outrage Advertising.

Where you purposely put something in the ad that will give a lot of people the opportunity to make a smug joke or outraged comment about it on social media.
Starbucks does not care, nor will it ever care, if you make fun of its price as too high.
Read 17 tweets
Gaurav Sabnis Profile picture
Jan 26
Haha, they are suing a short seller for telling the world why they are taking a short position. 😂😂😂

If they seriously file suit in the US, there will be so much more stuff that comes out in discovery!
Journalists also breathlessly report vague impulsive legal threats from billionaires as if they are real threats.

The last thing Adani wants is the Discovery process of a lawsuit in the US.

Remember that Musk wanted to avoid it so bad, he eventually bought Twitter in the end.
A quick explainer for folks who aren't sure what exactly a "short seller" is.

A short seller "borrows" a share from a long seller and sells it off instantly. With the promise to return the share in the future.

Both sides bet. Short sellers that it will fall, long ones opposite.
Read 25 tweets
Gaurav Sabnis Profile picture
Jan 26
Exactly! Those of us who remember him as the unlikely small fidgety nasal but charming outsider class clown Abhi and watched him become the top dog just because of his presence, this likeability, his niceness, and his legendary interviews. To go after him is a telling choice.
SRK is what used to be considered the "model Muslim". Doesn't wear his religion on his sleeve, Hindu wife, ergo mixed kids, playing roles of every religion, profession, social class. He played so many 21st century Indians, even defined us in many ways.

Sanghism's worst nightmare
Shahrukh is just Shahrukh.

I loved reading his interviews in the 90s. What an interesting and entertaining dude, fully loving the life he was living. Dilkhulaas guy!

Sanghis can't handle a success story like SRK cos it cuts at their core ideology of Muslims = not Indian.
Read 9 tweets
Gaurav Sabnis Profile picture
Jan 26
WOW! This is quite a thorough report!

Question for RSS is how long they keep their wagon hitched to him.

They brought him on par with & then ahead of Ambani. But Ambanis afaik don't do outright fraud, just regular cutthroat crony capitalism. This has political downsides.
If the Indian govt doesn't come out strongly as a neutral regulator and arbiter, and instead acts like Adani sympathizers, it sends a massive signal to the global financial community and WILL hit investments. Cos the stuff in this report is well beyond business as usual.
I know I know the official line from Adanis and many on the Sanghi side stanning him is that this is some biased report, hitjob, same old whataboutery, and sure, that will win you cable news or Whatsapp arguments.

But the financial community will take note. Esp rating agencies.
Read 27 tweets
Gaurav Sabnis Profile picture
Jan 25
The most global and local and glocal cuisine is "Chinese food". Every country has its own versions. No two are the same.

Here's a thread with a collection of tweets about all the time we ate the localized Chinese food in all these countries we visited.

First Mexico!
It was my very first meal after landing in Antigua cos it was the closest quickest thing that night.

In Finland, it was a buffet very close to Helsinki town center. Probably the most Panda Express like of all the countries I tried it in.

Read 9 tweets

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