The Government of India blocks Telegram app access till NEET re-exam ơn 22 June 2026. And this is sparked a very interesting debate all over the country.

Authorities said organized cheating networks allegedly used Telegram to sell fake access to exam papers, spread misinformation and fabricate evidence of paper leaks. And there has been an arrest too.

Pratapnagar police arrested 19-year-old Akash Chaudhary from Bhilwara, Rajasthan, for distributing and selling counterfeit Re-NEET question sheets via social networks. Chaudhary ran the scheme through Telegram despite the platform’s restrictions, bypassing them with a US VPN. Police caught him after he launched a Telegram channel called “Paper Mafia” to market the fraudulent documents.

Telegram was quick to react to this. Telegram HQ tried making snarky sarcastic posts like “why don’t you ban water since people drown” and the founder Pavel Durov claimed that 150M people in India have lost their livelihood because of the Telegram Ban. Meh.

Telegram moved Delhi HC who further upheld center’s ban of Telegram till June 22. The Centre basically called Telegram ạ bad hub for actors. They pointed out that Telegram is basically a hub for illicit activities, largely because of two features it offers which are restricted in other messaging apps like WhatsApp and Arattai:

• The ability to hide your phone number – which means forwarded messages and others cannot be as easily traced back to you,
• The ability to add 2 lakh people to a channel or group, where on WhatsApp for example it’s limited to 1024 people.

The above two features alone – and this is my opinion – does make it easier for Telegram to sell shady stuff at scale. And from my own experience – in a year I get added to atleast twenty Telegram channels I never signed up to, and almost all of them are crypto scams.

So, I lean towards believing the Government when they say Telegram is a hub for bad actors, slightly more so than other apps.

There’s more here – Telegram does not have a back door, which is why Government prefers WhatsApp and other messaging apps. And that’s not to say that the Government looks favourably on WhatsApp.

There is a fair bit of crying foul from Telegram. But, there’s also an element of the Government being quick to enforce a cetain power seemingly without adequate consultation or cause. The ramifications of this action will be beyond June 22nd, and let’s see what they are.

The Jio IPO is Almost Here

Latest news in the steps leading to the Jio IPO which is going to be the biggest IPO of the year – and of India till date. The IPO is going to be a fresh issue of 27 crore shares. IPO papers may be filed before the AGM ơn June 26 (UPDATE – they were filed on 19 June).

Jio also announces plans for “premium” 5G tier, alongside AI-powered service bundles to provide guaranteed, uninterrupted high-speed data. This is probably like Airtel’s “Priority Postpaid” which is supposed to offer “better” 5G. As far as I know, 5G is 5G. What is premium or better 5G?

Starlink’s India Troubles and Jio Opportunity

Days after Starlink said it was in active talks with the Indian government, it has run into a new regulatory issue involving its laser inter-satellite link (LISL) technology, which enables data to travel beyond national borders. While Starlink has already secured a satellite communications licence, it is still waiting for final security clearance. The home ministry has also effectively paused approvals after reports that Starlink terminals were used in Iran amid ongoing geopolitical tensions.

Jio also further reported to develop Starlink competitor – an LEO satellite constellation. Something we talked about earlier, but is not fully confirmed yet.

India’s Soverign “Voice AI” is having a moment

Gnani.ai has launched Prisma v2.5, ạ local/sovereign speech-to-text model spanning 12 languages and trained on 14M hours of proprietary Indic speech data. Small win for sovereign AI who will be ready to compete with global voice AI giants like ElevenLabs and Wispr Flow.

In other news, Bengaluru-based NeoSapien introduced the Neo 1 wearable AI pendant in March 2025. It acts as a conversational assistant that listens passively, transcribes meetings, and creates notes and action-item reminders. This week, the Neo 1 also made its debut in the US, and the company expects 30% of its device sales to come from the American market.

On a related note, here’s a cool list from Moneycontrol that talks about the (current) soverign AI models of India.

Remember when Arnab Goswami had a debate with BlueMachines AI? Know what happened after the debate? Nothing.

Headlines

• Tata Electronics’ Hosur manufacturing plant (that makes iPhone components) faced a shutdown threat from the Tamil Nadu State Pollution Control Board. The warning was that of a forced ​shutdown unless Tata Electronics was able to explain why government inspections found that wastewater discharge had contaminated open wells in ​adjacent agricultural lands. Later this week, Tata Electronics announced that the State had dropped its scrutiny of this plant. Guess they explained satisfactorily?
• Razorpay files Confidential IPO papers with SEBI. The IPO is expected to raise more than 5,000 crores.
• Meesho acquired B2B commerce startup Kirana Club for 200 crores. Kirana Club is a 5 year old technology platform and B2B community network for kirana retailers.
• Ambulances are now eligible for PM E-drive incentives, in an effort to boost overall EV adoption.
• Meta might invest in or buy Cred. According to reports, Cred is now valued at $4bn and Meta is thinking of becoming a major investor, or push for a full acquisition. I can understand why – Meta wants to control more payments. Or so I think.
• Ola banned in Chandigarh for six months – kinda. Chandigarh’s State Transport Authority suspended Ola’s aggregator license for six months as Ola allegedly failed to provided insurance for drivers and violated notified fare structures. Ola also is said to have ignored multiple show cause notices and had abandoned its registered local office without notifying authorities.
• Ola Electric seeks to settle with SEBI ơn ạ probe into alleged misleading disclosures.
• Zerodha, Groww, Angel One and Upstox habe received regulatory approval to offer international and US stock investing via GIFT City. Service will be launched after completion of testing, expected to take 2 to 3 months.
• Adani partners with American manufacturing giant Jabil (pronounced Jay-Bill) to build AI data centre infrastructure in India.
• Singapore HC stays Byju’s jail sentence. Big relief for Byju in the case brought about by Qatar Investment Authority.
• According to the June 2026 Ericsson Monthly Report, Indians are consuming 37GB of mobile data per month. This is expected to go Upto 70GB in the next 5 years.
• IndiGo launches a cab service. The launch of “Cabs with IndiGo” is part of IndiGo’s plan to build a complete travel ecosystem and make end-to-end travel easier for customers. Powered by Mojoboxx, the service includes pre-booked rides with clear pricing, no surge charges, and free cancellation until pickup time.
• GTA VI pre-order starts 25 June. Did you know that more than 1,600 Indian developers contributed to GTA VI?
• EY Global Delivery Services (GDS) has opened the ey.ai Centre for Reimagination in Bengaluru. Covering 40,000 sq. ft., this immersive space is designed to speed up enterprise AI transformation and is supported by a larger $1.4 billion global AI investment plan.
• Wipro intends to educate 10,000 professionals on Claude artificial intelligence models throughout the coming 18-month period. This facility will create and implement AI-driven business solutions utilizing Claude technology across various sectors. The Center of Excellence sits within Wipro’s Bengaluru innovation campus and represents an element of the organization’s wider AI-first approach.
• HMD and LAVA launched new budget phones in India. Just remember to check where they are really made.
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi today virtually inaugurated the foundation stone laying for the HCL-Foxconn joint venture project, India Chip Pvt. Ltd., at the Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority in Jewar, Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh.

Two more things…

One is on a continuing theme of Indian YouTubers being intimidated by companies for telling the truth. Here’s Techno Ruhez receiving a legal notice from BytePe, which is a phone subscribtion website that quite frankly looks very shady.

And in a bit of global news, Sundar Pichai faced protests and walkouts from students at Stanford University, where he was giving a speech to graduates. This is over Google’s Project Nimbus contract with Israel. This is a $1.2 billion contract where Google provides cloud infrastructure, AI capabilities and data storage to Israeli public sector organizations, including thể IDF. And y’all know what the IDF is obsessed with. Microsoft cancelled ạ similar contract with the IDF.

Five Finds of the Week

This week’s theme is pets. Here are three (not five) pet-related gadgets that I use to make my dog’s and cats’ lives slightly easier, all costing less than ₹5,000:

• This stainless steel pet fountain
• This pet tracker (works better than an AirTag or any android equivalent)
• This pet camera that’s the cheapest and best

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