Siddharth Agarwal

People deserve rights, freedom, and protection whether or not the majority understands the concept. Similarly for the environment. Laws are designed to ensure dignity, equity, and justice. We cannot leave things to organic behavioural change only, when systems are broken.

I really wish the prime minister travels to more countries at the top of the press freedom index. Weird behaviour enabled and made acceptable by India's godi media at full display here. Just no applause.

If only throwing of toxic chemicals, untreated sewage, plastic bags, & the such into the Ganga hurt religious sentiments. But that would mean the need for self inquiry, a reduction in consumption, discomfort, and asking questions to the powerful. Manufactured otherness is easier

Wah kya scene hai!

Wah kya scene hai! indianexpress.com/article/expres…

And it becomes amply clear why the IAS lobby wants to get rid of RTI. It’s not the politicians but the bureaucrats who stand to gain the most by the watering down or removal of acts like RTI - a full carte blanche to go back to 1980s style corruption with no checks or inquiry.

Had filed RTI for list of employees & those hired on contract with Andaman Adim Janjati Vikas Samiti (AAJVS). Info denied stating "relates to 3rd party & is treated as confidential". Filed 1st appeal. Got notice for in-person appearance when they know I am not based in Port Blair

Researchers (especially university folks) asking questions on DM needs to stop as they're avoiding any formal requests to people who they want information / support from. You can start a conversation in DMs, but your questions must always come formally.

🌳Prints For Progress - a personal initiative where every month I'll put up a photo print for sale. 50% of proceeds will be donated to an Indian organisation. More details in slide 1. 🕸️For May 2026, I've chosen the amazing @internetfreedom 🔗Buy here: rzp.io/rzp/pfp-may26

After spending a large chunk of the last year trying to prove their identity and changing the party in power for magical economic mega growth, citizens of Bengal now have the opportunity to continue their penance through the practice of austerity. Logical discrepancy pro max.

@ShripadManthan No no. First you follow.

Agree fully. The 7 points in PM's appeal are sensible under even regular circumstances, but Let them show by example. Also, things like increasing use of public transport don't happen overnight. They needed govt to give priority over the years which is not there.

Placing on-record here that @aranya_kfd did not allow the Kuruba community in Nagarahole to hold an event in Murkal inside the tiger reserve to commemorate 30 yrs since the successful resistance against Taj to build resorts in Murkal. The event also aimed to discuss forest rights

We are doing another webinar on charging infrastructure this Friday at 4pm! Please fill the form to get the meeting link. Need to be a premium subscriber to ExpWithEVs to attend. No recording, chatham house rules. docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAI…

An Interview on Inter Linking of Rivers in general with focus on Ken Betwa Riverlink Project. sandrp.in/2026/05/05/int…

योगेंद्र जी का सौम्य पर टू द पॉइंट विश्लेषण।

Yes, BJP has received a mandate to govern in West Bengal. And TMC had lots against it - including SIR, anti-incumbency, agencies, & their own performance. But the language of hate for the residents of Bengal has seen a sudden spike. Can you really work for the people you hate?

We didn't think that one of our fellows from the @moving_upstream fellowship will end up creating a song from their walk. But @SariyaVandita did just that. Experience this song from the desert river Luni! @sidagarwal @PaulSalopek @mohitmrao youtube.com/watch?v=oVGaUW…

Search is full of ads and wrong answers. Every other email is an ad. Prime Video charges you and shows ads. Paramount? Ads. Peacock? YouTube? Hulu? Ads followed by more ads. Netflix full of ads. Meta and X, every other thing is an ad. Pinterest is nothing but ads. AI is in everything. AI finishes sentences incorrectly and won’t stop. AI reads your email and search history to target you with more ads. Every time you open an app or visit a site there’s an update making it worse. In a hurry? First, click here to agree to terms you don’t have time to read and must accept. You need an account to do that. Change your temporary password. Enter your 2FA code. Check your email and enter that code. Now use a passkey. Your password is too simple to remember. Change it. No, not like that. Now log on. Enter your 2FA code. Check your email for a code… Welcome back! We’ve updated our terms of service and privacy policy (you have none). Subscribe to the site. Subscribe to Netflix. Subscribe to toilet paper. Subscribe to these groceries. Pay a membership fee for the right to subscribe then tip your driver who delivers the subscriptions your membership lets you subscribe to. Time to work? We’ve got to update your laptop and will slow down everything you do until you agree to update. But first, click here to agree. Update installed — your laptop’s broken now. It doesn’t matter, since your boss just replaced you with AI. Go to your phone to complain on social media. Wait, your phone needs an update so we can add more AI. Click here. Oh sorry, your phone can’t handle this update. Now it’s useless. Go get the newest phone. Here’s a text from a friend, an email, a voice mail they left three days ago but you didn’t see until now because of sync problems with the cloud. It’s their GoFundMe. Their MLM. Their Patreon. Never mind, you didn’t respond to their text within 9 minutes and now you’re no longer friends. They blocked you. Make new friends. Download this app to find people in your area. In your neighborhood. On your street. Two doors down from you. Do you know this person yet, we think you’d get along. You need an account to use this app. That username is taken. Enter a password. Not that one, you used it on another site. You need to be connected to WiFi to download the app. Allow the app to connect to other devices on your network. Allow the app to access your contacts, know your precise location, store your credit card details. Oops, sorry, we got hacked now all that info is available on the web. There’s a class action suit. You can join. It’ll take a decade to get your $3.73 share of the ten billion settlement. We’ll send it via PayPal or deposit it to your bank, just tell us those details. Oh no, another hack. That info is circulating now, too. Here’s a spam call, a spam email, a spam text. Why are you angry? Why are you talking about getting rid of your phone? Why don’t you like AI, it lets us make all of this easier? Do you know how ridiculous that sounds? This is progress. You’ll be left behind. Do you want to be left behind? Do you???

Does anyone know why Assam election results will be declared after a month? Aren't the unhackable EVMs electronic and instantaneous?

Aadhaar is Schrödinger's card: If you have it, it is utterly useless. If you don't have it, all hell breaks loose.