Kaushik Balasubramanian

A photograph of Shaniwar wada Delhi darwaza showing the design around the arch, now has almost disappeared. ⁦@asi_mumbai⁩ ⁦

Which is the fort located in Pune? Many would say Shanivarwada or even Sinhagad. But, do you know that there is a fort that was located at Kasba Peth right in the heart of the city? This fort does not exist anymore but its steps and parts of the walls are still visible. The remnants of the fort are located a stone’s throw from the Shanivarwada. During the reign of the Bahamanis, Pune was part of the Junnar pargana. Kasam Beig Shafaat Khan or ‘Bada Arab/ Baria Arab,’ who was an Arab general, was in charge of this region. Around 1460, he commissioned the construction of this fort, known as  ‘Killa- é –Hissar’ or ‘Pandharicha Kot.’ It had three gates of which the one near the present day Shanivarwada was called ‘Konkan Darwaja.’ The remnants of the steps coming down from this gate can be seen even today. The other gate was the ‘Nagar Darwaja’ and there was a third entrance located to the north. The fort may have extended from the banks of the Mutha near the Dhakta Sheikh Salla Dargah to the Brother Deshpande church in Kasba Peth. The fort is said to have been damaged when the Adilshahi general Pandit Murar Jagdeo invaded Pune in the 17th century. I had the opportunity to visit this site recently thanks to my friend @GodboleSandeep #Pune #history #PuneHistory #Marathi #Maharashtra #MaharashtraHistory #Bahamani #MarathaHistory #heritage #PuneHeritage #archaeology For more, read this piece by Saili K Palande Datar: hindustantimes.com/cities/pune-ne…

🇮🇳 Big news from the European Girls' Mathematical Olympiad 2026, Bordeaux, France! India achieves its BEST EVER performance — finishing 6th out of 67 countries 🎉 And… 🥇 India’s FIRST EVER GOLD at EGMO! (egmo.org/countries/coun…) 1/8

Sometimes walking is simplest free and most effective medicine Stressed? Walk. Angry? Walk. Overthinking? Walk. Low mood? Walk. Sleepy? Walk. High blood sugar after meals? Walk. Trying to lose weight? Walk. Joint stiffness? Walk. Poor sleep? Walk in daylight. Want a clearer mind? Walk.

India's Fast Breeder Reactor just achieved criticality at Kalpakkam. Everyone's sharing the headline. Almost nobody is asking: who actually built this reactor? I went through multiple sources to find out which listed companies have verified involvement in this exact PFBR project. Not "nuclear theme" plays. Actual Kalpakkam suppliers. Here are the names👇 1. Kirloskar Brothers: The PFBR runs on 1,750 tonnes of liquid sodium as coolant. Someone had to build the pumps that move all of it. That someone is KBL. Kirloskar manufactured the Primary Sodium Pumps at their 100 year old Kirloskarvadi plant. Three pumps. 135 tons each. Handling 5.16 lakh liters of liquid sodium per minute. Their AVP Ravindra Ulangwar said on record: "We at KBL are the only Indian company to develop such type of critical application pumps." They also built the Secondary Sodium Pumps that sit outside the reactor vessel and cycle the sodium back after heat extraction. Without these pumps, the reactor literally cannot function. KBL has also supplied pump sets for ITER, the international nuclear fusion project. So this isn't just domestic capability. Global validation. (Source: KBL official press release on sodium pump handover) 2. MTAR Technologies: MTAR built some of the most complex precision equipment inside this reactor. -Grid Plate Assembly for the PFBR. 8 meters wide. 80 tons. 1,758 tubes with positional accuracy maintained within 0.1 mm. If even one tube is misaligned, the reactor doesn't work. -Inclined Fuel Transfer Machine. 22 meters tall. 200 tons. This is the system that physically moves spent nuclear fuel out of the reactor building. MTAR designed, manufactured, and tested it entirely in house. -They also supplied the Control and Safety Rod Drive Mechanism and the Central Canal Plug for the PFBR. The control plug alone is 2.5 meters wide, 12 meters tall, 56 tons. And here's the moat: MTAR is the sole qualified domestic supplier of Fuel Transfer Systems for NPCIL's reactors. Vendor qualification takes 5 to 7 years. You cannot buy your way into this position. What's coming next: ~₹800 Cr order pipeline from Kaiga Units 5&6. ₹300 to 400 Cr expected from 5 refurbishment reactors. And 10 fleet mode reactors haven't even been tendered yet. (Source: Investor presentation, Bastion Research analysis) 3. Walchandnagar Industries: The smallest company on this list. And arguably the most directly exposed. WIL executed the entire sodium piping contract for this 500 MWe PFBR at Kalpakkam. Supply, erection, and commissioning of mechanical, piping, and instrumentation for the sodium and miscellaneous systems. Think about what that means. Sodium piping in a fast breeder reactor isn't regular plumbing. Liquid sodium ignites on contact with air and explodes on contact with water. The precision and safety requirements are extraordinary. WIL has been working with the Department of Atomic Energy for over four decades. They're pre qualified by NPCIL, BARC, and BHAVINI for Class I nuclear components, the highest classification that exists. They've also supplied Calandrias, End Shields, Dump Tanks, Fuel Magazines, and Moderator Heat Exchangers for India's 220 MWe and 500 MWe reactors. (Source: Walchandnagar Industries official website) 4. BHEL: The large cap in the room. BHEL supplied the turbine island for the PFBR. In fact, BHEL has been the turbine island supplier for every Indian nuclear plant including Kudankulam and Kakrapar. The PFBR is no exception. The motor that drives Kirloskar's Primary Sodium Pump? That's a BHEL motor. Not a hidden gem, but it would be dishonest to talk about who built Kalpakkam without mentioning them. 5. L&T: Built the reactor vessel and core structural systems for the PFBR. India's only private sector player with nuclear grade heavy engineering capability at this scale. Again, not hidden, but directly involved in this reactor. So why does all of this matter now? Because Kalpakkam isn't the end. It's the beginning. Six more 600 MWe Fast Breeder Reactors are already planned. India's nuclear capacity is going from 8,180 MW today to a target of 100 GW by 2047. The SHANTI Act 2025 just opened nuclear to private sector participation for the first time in India's history. Every single future reactor will need sodium pumps, fuel handling systems, sodium piping, turbine islands, and reactor vessels from qualified suppliers. And nuclear qualification takes 5 to 7 years. The companies already inside this ecosystem today have a head start that no amount of capital can shortcut.

@sjpatil Has been on the list for a while ! Glad you could go.

I visited Iran in April 2025. I gave lot of credit to Indian foreign policy. Can't vouch for the same today. I have studied, worked and lived in US, I have worked in Israel, and visited Iran..... so so happy today for everyone. shrikantemergic.wordpress.com/2025/04/27/ira…

@SandeepUnnithan All we need now is Project 76 on track !

Two huge nuclear milestones this month. April 3 - INS Aridaman- 3rd Arihant class SSBN inducted. National security. April 6- Thorium-based Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor. Energy security. Big steps in a decades-long Indian nuclear journey. Spiral development. #AtmanirbharBharat

@joe_sameer Great going Sameer !

#Sheshnag20 #ComethTheSwarm linkedin.com/posts/newspace…

On the 262nd #Raising Day of the Army Medical Corps, I am eternally grateful to have had the opportunity to do my MD from the Armed Forces Medical College, Pune. As I write in The Real Deal, "...I worked with some stellar doctor-soldiers who had served in the Siachen glacier, been part of Operation Parakram, and commanded hospitals in Jammu and Kashmir in the midst of terror attacks. They were role models par excellence." 🩺🪖 My MD in AFMC also led me to lead the first large scale study to genotype clinical chicken pox strains in India, which eventually led me to becoming a physician-scientist. 🩺👩‍🔬 Grateful, beyond words. 🙏🇮🇳🩺 More in The Real Deal: 👇therealdealinstem.com #IndianArmy #ArmyMedicalCorps

Strait of hormuz right now

#LokeshMachines receives a 10 crore order from @SSB_INDIA for 9×19mm SMG ASMI. @SandeepUnnithan

Vector Technics is launching a 𝗦𝘁𝘂𝗱𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗧𝗲𝗮𝗺 𝗦𝘂𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗺 for teams developing UAVs for drone competitions and research, under which propulsion components will be provided at discounted pricing. 𝗔𝘃𝗮𝗶𝗹𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗼𝗻𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀 • 3115SL 900KV Motor [Datasheet - tinyurl.com/VT3115SL900KV] • 10-inch Tri-blade Propeller Set • 4-in-1 ESC 𝗗𝗶𝘀𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘁 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 • Motor Only - 15% • Motor + Propeller Set - 20% • Motor + Propeller Set + 4-in-1 ESC - 25% Limited engineering support available for propulsion setup and troubleshooting. 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗺 𝘃𝗮𝗹𝗶𝗱 𝘂𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗹 𝟯𝟭 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟲. Student teams can apply using their official student email ID by emailing: Team name, Institute name, Student IDs, Team POC, Competition proof, Drone platform info, Required quantity, Shipping location 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗰𝘁: business@vectortechnics.com

Some Indian Air Force stories stay with you for courage. A few stay for their strangeness, too. Wg Cdr KS Vohra’s mid-air collision off Jamnagar on 15 March 1962 was both. In a sense, the story had begun years earlier, with a dream he could never explain. (1/21) #IAFHistory

No LPG No Problem No LPG No Headache No LPG No Expenses No LPG No Burdens Our Tamil People particularly from ERODE TIRPUR COIMBATORE are all BRILLIANT🤔🥹👏

Bang on advice.

The success achieved by Shahed/LUCAS class LR-OWA effectors has catalysed this vertical across the globe.@NS_FutureReady #Sheshnag150 UAV is the only such operational sys in India. Developed under the aegis of #atmanirbharbharat, this class employs intelligent swarming effects !

@AnchitGupta9 Love it Anchit. Thank you for what you do !

This touched me deeply. “My mother is 93. She is extremely grateful. A big thank you from her.” For all the jokes about X and WhatsApp University, I have to thank both for something genuinely precious. Every time I post about a former IAF officer from a forgotten era, this community carries it forward, often onto WhatsApp, and almost without fail, it reaches the family. It does not take much imagination to understand what that must feel like: to see a father, grandfather, husband, brother, remembered with warmth, respect and admiration. Almost every family I have written about has reached back in some form. That, more than anything else, is the motivation to keep going. Yes, this is about history, documentation, passion, and my love for the subject. But this sits right at the top of the pyramid. #IAFHistory

Engineering careers are built through real responsibility. Designing power electronics for unmanned systems demands precision, discipline, and constant learning. Every circuit must handle load variation, thermal stress, and reliability requirements that missions depend on. At Vector Technics, engineers are trusted to solve real problems and own the results. That trust is where professional growth actually begins.

Indian footballer #BrandMeitei from Manipur Sweety Devi Ngangom appealing people of Indian origin in Australia to watch their World Cup qualifier. Such a pity state of football.

Congratulations team @GalaxEye @thesuyashsingh 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 Wish you the very best for the launch @KRANTII01 @rav26051 @cvkrishnan @CaptDKS @Huma_Siddiqui