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23 August 2024 at 4:29:04 pm

Robot Dog, Paper Tiger

The Galgotias University fiasco reveals how dishonest branding can make a mockery of India’s AI ambitions. Delhi India’s ambition to become a global artificial-intelligence (AI) power ought to rest on something far less glamorous than summits or shiny exhibits, namely basic credibility. That asset took a needless knock at the India AI Impact Summit in Delhi, where the Uttar Pradesh-based Galgotias University found itself embroiled in a contretemps that has roundly embarrassed the nation. The...

Robot Dog, Paper Tiger

The Galgotias University fiasco reveals how dishonest branding can make a mockery of India’s AI ambitions. Delhi India’s ambition to become a global artificial-intelligence (AI) power ought to rest on something far less glamorous than summits or shiny exhibits, namely basic credibility. That asset took a needless knock at the India AI Impact Summit in Delhi, where the Uttar Pradesh-based Galgotias University found itself embroiled in a contretemps that has roundly embarrassed the nation. The object at the centre of the controversy was a robotic dog named ORION (short for Operational Robotic Intelligence Node). According to the university’s own promotional material, the robotic dog was the star attraction at its pavilion and interacted live with delegates and demonstrated applied robotics and intelligent systems integration. Visitors assumed it was a product of the institution’s AI-driven Centres of Excellence, itself promoted as part of a Rs. 350-crore push into advanced technology. However, it turned out that the robot was a commercially available Unitree Go2, manufactured in China and sold online for a few lakh rupees. Worse, reports suggested that the original manufacturer’s branding was still visible on the device, leading to a raft of accusations that imported hardware was being passed off as indigenous innovation. Faced with an online backlash, the university insisted it had never claimed to have built the robot. However, this proved difficult for the varsity to disown once scrutiny began. To make matters worse, videos of the robotic dog were amplified by government social-media handles, lending the display an air of state-sanctioned achievement. It suggested that India’s AI push was already yielding sophisticated, home-grown hardware. Within a day of the controversy, Galgotias University was reportedly asked to vacate its stall at the AI Expo. This embarrassment was eminently avoidable. Indian universities routinely rely on foreign platforms as teaching aids, just as their peers elsewhere do. American engineering students cut their teeth on Taiwanese semiconductors while European robotics labs routinely use Japanese hardware. Chinese universities themselves build on American software frameworks and open-source tools developed abroad. Exposure to imported technology is not a confession of weakness. What distinguishes serious systems from performative ones is not the origin of the hardware, but the honesty with which it is presented and the intellectual value extracted from it. In the world’s leading universities, off-the-shelf tools are dissected, stress-tested and improved upon. The learning lies in the code rewritten, the papers published and the incremental advances pushed into the public domain. Indian higher education, particularly in its fast-expanding private sector, too often reverses this logic. Under pressure to attract students, climb rankings and impress regulators, institutions substitute branding for substance. ‘Centres of Excellence’ proliferate faster than serious research output. Memoranda of understanding are announced with fanfare, while citations, patents and reproducible results lag behind. This creates a more delicate problem of dependence without discernment. China’s growing penetration of global education and technology markets is real, strategic and unapologetic. Chinese firms aggressively market low-cost, sophisticated hardware to universities worldwide, embedding their platforms early in the learning cycle. Western firms have done the same for decades. The danger in the uncritical adoption of foreign hardware combined with rhetorical nationalism. When imported technology loudly rebranded as indigenous, the result is not self-reliance but self-deception. The contrast with China itself is instructive. Chinese universities are ruthless about separating demonstration from development. Foreign tools are used extensively but credit, authorship and ownership are policed with care. The aim is not to impress visitors at expos, but to dominate standards bodies and supply chains. India’s AI race will not be won in expo halls or summit pavilions. It will be decided in classrooms that teach mathematical foundations rather than buzzwords. When Indian institutions exaggerate, it weakens the credibility of genuinely good work being done elsewhere in the system. It encourages scepticism among global partners. And it reinforces a lingering suspicion that India’s technological rise is more rhetorical than real. If ‘Make in India’ is to mean anything in the age of artificial intelligence, it must begin with intellectual honesty. Otherwise, the country risks being quietly dismissed in a very serious race.

Knives out in legislature

Updated: Mar 21, 2025

Disha Salian

Mumbai: Death of celebrity manager Disha Salian in 2020 once again rocked the Maharashtra legislature on Thursday. While cabinet ministers Nitesh Rane and Shambhuraj Desai demanded that Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aditya Thackeray be arrested in the case, BJP MLA Amit Satam in the assembly and another BJP member Chitra Wagh in the council demanded that the report of SIT to probe Salian’s death be made public.


Incidentally, amidst repeated disruptions in both the houses, some members from the treasury benches were seen speaking in favour of Aditya Thackeray, while Shiv Sena (UBT) members like Adv Anil Parab were seen supporting the BJP members’ demand that the report of the SIT probe be made public. In addition, there were allegations and counter allegations and personal accusations among members from the treasury and opposition benches which led to heated debate on occasions.


The opposition termed the attempts from the treasury benches to link Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aditya Thackeray’s name in the case, as a ‘conspiracy’.


“I think this matter has gone to the court. We have no idea what he (Disha’s father) has said, but Aaditya Thackeray is a mature leader, a young leader. The Bharatiya Janata Party is conspiring to defame him by putting pressure on him. We don’t need to answer to this conspiracy. The court will answer,” Ambadas Danve said.


Earlier in the day, when the house gathered for the business, Minister of State for Home appraised the assembly of the status in this case. “SIT has been formed to probe in the case. Their report has not been received as yet. However, the government shall act according to directives from the court,” the minister told the house.


Another BJP minister Nitesh Rane, however, said that since Satish Salian has levelled allegations against an MVA minister, that leader be treated like a common person and that everybody should be treated equally before the law. Shiv Sena minister Shambhuraj Desai too supported the demand. “Since the allegations are grave, the person in question should be immediately arrested and the case be investigated,” he said.


Later, while speaking to media in the legislature premises, Rane asked Uddhav Thackeray to come clean on the issue. “If they say that we are politicizing the issue, Uddhav Thackeray should also tell the people why he had called, not just once but twice, to the then union minister Narayan Rane urging him to save his son?” Rane said.


He also accused the opposition of shying away from coming clean on the issue. “If they feel that we are not telling the truth, they should say so in the house. But they are shying away from doing so. Bhaskar Jadhav, who is always aggressive, was nowhere to be seen when this issue came up in the house. Sunil Prabhu too escaped the house under the pretext of a phone call. I challenge them to say that whatever I said on the issue is wrong,” Rane said.


He also said that Aditya Thackeray should resign on moral grounds till his name is cleared in the case.


BJP MLA Amit Satam demanded that the details of the SIT probe be made public so that the people would know if the probe is headed in right direction.


Interestingly, while the ruling parties were targeting the opposition in the case, senior BJP leader Sudhir Mungantiwar surprised all with his unexpected support to Thackerays. “I do not have any evidences in the case. But if her father has made any fresh allegations that needs to be investigated thoroughly. The assembly can discuss the issue at length tomorrow. In the meanwhile, members like Rane, who seem to have some evidences in the case should hand them over to the investigating agencies and help the probe,” he told the house.


Shiv Sena’s Sanjay Gaikwad and Sheetal Mhatre too toed the line and demanded that more and more evidences should come forth.


Similarly, when members of treasury benches were pushing for revealing the details of the probe till date to the public, Shiv Sena (UBT) member Anil Parab supported the demand. “Doing that shall conclusively prove the innocence of Aditya Thackeray,” he said.

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