This Week in Tech India (TWITI) #10 of 2026

I’m writing this right after the T20 World Cup final which India won – so I’m happy at the moment.

But I’ve been furious over the last couple of days. Furious like many, many Indians. At the audacity of the Trump Administration thinking they can bully India.

It’s bad enough that you kill innocent people halfway around the world and claim you’re doing it for security (even though the wold world knows now that you’re a racist pedophile who’s bullied into committing such atrocities). But to think that the US can give India a “waiver” to buy Russian Oil “for 30 days” because of a situation that they caused. “To enable oil to keep flowing into the global market”. And this was announced by the US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on X nonetheless.

Just see this BS announcement for yourself:

There are so many things wrong with that announcement I don’t even want to get into it. I wish Bessent takes his expectation that “New Delhi will ramp up purchases of U.S. oil” and shove it up his boss’ pichvada.

Okay we’ll see if and how the Government responded to this. The Russians have already said that India will have to purchase Russian oil at full price, no discount.

But the Old White Men Are Worse

That is enough to rile a patriot like me up. But in another statement from a US Government figure, deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau (Land-au, get it? hehe) said this week that the US “won’t give India the same economic advantages it gave China that allowed Beijing to emerge as a major competitor”. He said this addressing the Raisina Dialogue, where PM Modi was present. And this statement was apparently made to emphasize that the so-called trade deal that the US negotiated with India is to keep Washington’s interests in mind.

It is obviously very infuriating that these old Trump-worshippers think they can come to India and say such a thing to Indian lawmakers. But arrogance aside, what are the economic advantages the US has apparently given China?

Apple, Tesla, and others are manufacturing in China (and now India) because the level of skill in the US is simply not good enough. Tim Cook himself said so – see this video if you don’t believe me.

So really, there is no ‘economic advantage’ the US has ever given China. If anything, China has given the US economic advantages. Apple became the most valuable company in the world because they manufactured in China.

It would be good for someone to publicly remind Land-au that his own President was embarrassed by his own Supreme Court last week, when the US Supreme Court ruled that Trump’s stupid tariffs are illegal and had to be rolled back.

This is what happens when you have narcissistic old white men running an entire country. And before you call me racist – remember, it’s not racism if it’s against white people.

What a bunch of losers running America. Seriously. My American friends tell me that what we see in the news about what’s going on in the US – actually, on the ground, it’s far worse.

And Land-au chose to keep talking, saying “We are ready to work with India to ensure its energy needs are met in the short and long term. The US is well positioned to support India as it diversifies its energy sources,” he said, adding that energy is an important area where both the countries can expand cooperation.

So the US has stolen Venezuelan oil – and is now trying to steal Iranian oil – and wants to sell this stolen oil to India at stupid prices?

FUCK OFF!

The whole world now knows that Trump is not the real boss of the American Political Class. It’s another old white man, who tries to popularly go by Bibi.

Sigh. If only our Government gives a strong response that comes from a place of courage (EAM Jaishankar said something about us deciding our own rise). Although, it seems that the Government is adopting “Strategic Patience” in response to this stupid trade deal negotiation. Just imagine if the US gets embarrassed by Iran in this conflict, what a great position India will be in. I hope it happens, because it will feel sooooooooo good!

But what do I know about politics and diplomacy? I only know about tech, and that’s what I talk about. Let’s see what happened this week in Tech India.

The More Expensive Electronics Are Here

Okay, new phones were launched by Samsung (Galaxy S26 series) and Apple (the iPhone 17e). Apple also launched a new iPad and MacBooks. Globally.

But where they apply to India – as they apply all over the world, is that their launch prices are more expensive. And it’s not just because of inflation. It’s clearly because of the RAM shortage, even though Apple or Samsung won’t admit it.

Just take a look:

Sure, the base storages are increased and there are overall spec bumps. But an increase from last years’ models by more than 20% is not inflation. It is RAM shortage.

So, if you want to buy a new phone, it would be good to either buy it now (and buy last year’s model not the latest model) or wait for atleast couple of years till this RAM shortage is sorted.

Rapido Launches Long-awaited Food Delivery App

It was announced in August 2025 (see TWITI #33 of 2025) and has finally launched in Bangalore this week.

Well, before the full launch, Ownly had been operating in a limited pilot phase since August 2025. The app went live on the Google Play Store but only in selected neighbourhoods such as Koramangala, HSR Layout and BTM Layout. Now, the service covers the entire city of Bengaluru.

The promise is that unlike Swiggy and Zomato, Ownly does not charge a commission to restaurants. This would sit well because the National Restaurants Association of India (NRAI) accused Swiggy and Zomato of charging high commissions, and was actually in discussions with Rapido for finalizing the Terms and Conditions for Ownly.

Ownly extends to Rapido’s existing delivery partners (known as Captains) also promises that Captains keep 100% of fares. Hopefully this is true, so gig workers (I’ve said this many times recently) won’t have to go on strikes to draw attention to their rights.

WhatsApp May Launch WhatsApp Plus

WhatsApp may soon introduce an optional paid subscription plan called WhatsApp Plus. This is expected to offer extra customization features including new themes, icons, stickers, and the ability to pin more chats.

Will they offer added privacy? Lol, never.

Flipkart Lays Off Atleast 500 Employees

They’re saying it’s related to annual performance review.

Flipkart has asked 400-500 employees, about 3-4% of its workforce, to leave based on performance reviews, according to a report. Okay it is not unusual to ask employees to leave as a result of low performance, but 3 – 4% is high (it’s usually capped at 2% of workforce).

Is it to get ready for IPO? Who knows. The company did say that they are focusing on hiring senior-level staff ahead of the IPO.

Let’s remember that while the company has been around for more than a decade, only in December 2025 did it move headquarters from Singapore to India, effectively becoming an Indian Company only then.

Jio’s IPO Readinss Hits Regulatory Roadblock

The most anticipated IPO of 2026 is still Jio’s IPO. But this week it was reported that a rule change from the Government could actually remove a roadblock for Jio’s IPO plans. Under current rules, any company launching an IPO must sell at least 5% of its shares to the public. Reliance, however, wants to sell only about 2.5% of Jio, half the required minimum. SEBI however, in September 2025, approved an amendment which allows very large companies (which Jio obviously is) to lower the limit to 2.5% which it wants. However, the Government to formally gazette the rule change before it can take the next steps of appointing bankers officially and filing a draft IPO prospectus with SEBI.

In another bit of news, JioHotstar said it has recorded 65.2 million peak concurrent viewers and 619 million views during the India vs England semi-final of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026—making it the most streamed live event in the world.

Sarvam AI Launches Startup Program

Sarvam AI – which I call the poster boy of AI in India – is launching its own startup program. This is despite Sarvam itself, arguably, still being startup status.

The initiative, Sarvam says, is for early stage companies looking to develop applications using Sarvam’s model and infrastructure.

Government Freezes TV News TRPs Reporting for Four Weeks

Amid Iran war coverage, to warn for sensationalized news coverage.

The Union Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) has ordered the Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) to immediately suspend the publication of Television Rating Points (TRPs) for all TV news channels for a period of four weeks or until further directions, citing concerns over “unwarranted sensationalism and speculative content” in media coverage of the ongoing US/Israel‑Iran conflict.

That’s it for now! Don’t forget you can see the weekly TWITI video on by YouTube channel, or listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. And if you’d like to receive the weekly news roundup directly to your inbox, subscribe to me on Substack. This is all free so share with a friend. See you next week!