Latest news with #NITRourkela
Indian Express
17-05-2025
- Business
- Indian Express
Unsung Heroes: How Babu Pooniawalla's crusade against fake loan apps is saving millions
In a small village in Churu, Rajasthan, 33-year-old Babu Pooniawalla wages a global war against fake loan apps from a modest setup with a patchy 4G network. What began as a curious investigation in June 2023 has transformed into a relentless mission, with Pooniawalla identifying 22,000 fraudulent apps and facilitating the removal of 17,000 from Google Play and Apple App Store as of today. His journey—from a computer science graduate to a digital vigilante—highlights a David-versus-Goliath battle against a sprawling scam ecosystem that preys on the vulnerable. He, along with his team in Bengaluru, is working on an app and website that identify and flag fake apps. Pooniawalla's early life was shaped by academic rigour. A strong student, he cracked the JEE exam, securing admission to NIT Rourkela in 2009 to study Computer Science. 'I didn't know what I wanted to do. I thought I should take up a government job. But my parents motivated me to take up computer science engineering,' he says. After graduating, he dove into the startup world, developing mobile apps for companies like Core, Entrip, and Slack, focusing on messaging features. His career took him to the corporate sector for two-and-a-half years before he shifted to the Delhi NCR region, joining a health-based startup in 2017 that connected patients to doctors on a virtual platform. He then joined Hike Messenger, enhancing the product's camera features. By 2018, Pooniawalla was part of the initial engineering team at IND Money, a fintech startup in Gurgaon, where he developed financial mobile apps. His curiosity about the fintech domain grew, leading him to consult for wealth and investment firms, including Wealth We, until mid-2024. But a darker side of the app ecosystem soon captured his attention. In 2023, while developing apps for the Apple App Store, Pooniawalla stumbled upon a disturbing trend: fake loan apps. 'I heard about these fake loan apps that many users were falling prey to. It was regressive—despite the rigorous app store publishing process, fake loan apps were thriving,' he says. His research revealed a grim reality. Many apps bore unfamiliar names, lacked credible teams, and operated under fake developer accounts. A tweet he posted about the issue gained traction, but the stakes became personal when he learned of a man in Kerala who died by suicide after taking a loan from a flagged app. 'Had it been removed, he might still be alive,' Pooniawalla says. His findings were staggering. In July 2023, 27 of India's top 200 most-downloaded apps—15%—were fake. In Google India's finance category, 32 out of 200 apps showed similar red flags: shady names, dubious logos, and no credible information. Some of the fake loan apps include RupeeFlow, Master Kash, Leaf Cash, EE-Cash, MM9 Wealth, and Verifile IND, among others. 'These apps were running ads, amassing millions of downloads in just three to four months,' he says. Loan apps became his primary focus, revealing a cat-and-mouse game with scammers across India, Indonesia, Thailand, Brazil, and the Philippines. What started as a hobby turned into a passion. 'It angered me—why was nobody holding Google and Apple accountable?' he asks. Pooniawalla's efforts exposed a systemic issue. Scammers exploited loopholes, often misusing corporate identities to make their apps appear legitimate. 'Scammers have deeper pockets than VC-funded fintechs. Fake loan apps are a nightmare for genuine lenders, fuelling artificial competition in the digital space, increasing customer acquisition costs, and stealing real users,' he says. Over two years, he flagged 22,000 apps—5,000 in the last 12 months alone—mostly loan and trading scams. Google removed 12,000, and Apple 5,000, but 5,000 remain active. 'They keep resurfacing. Why aren't they fixing this?' he asks. His work hasn't gone unnoticed by scammers. Some have also reached out via LinkedIn and Twitter, offering bribes to stop him from exposing their apps. 'In Indonesia, scammers struggled as I disrupted their operations within minutes of them publishing fake loan apps online. They also ordered me not to take down these apps,' says Pooniawalla. However, he states that they adapted, finding new ways to exploit systems through UPI, PDF readers, SMS tools, among others. Despite the challenges, Pooniawalla remains motivated. 'I see the effect—one or two apps come up occasionally now. But I will take down each one of these fake apps,' he says. Last week alone, he flagged 500 apps, with 400 removed. In mid-2024, Pooniawalla left consulting to build solutions with his other partners. He is developing a tool akin to Truecaller, set to launch next month, that analyses app links in real-time to detect fraud. 'I'm trying to automate it—identify 10,000 apps a day using AI to spot scammer patterns,' he explains. His focus now includes data-stealing scams like PDF readers, illegal betting apps, fake trading apps impersonating SEBI-registered stock brokers, crypto scams, fake dating and video call apps, and data-stealing apps that target Indian consumers despite legal restrictions. Reflecting on the broader impact, Pooniawalla notes the human toll. 'Consumers are losing trust. The vulnerable are driven to suicidal thoughts,' he says. He urges Google and Apple to act: 'It's 2025—five years since these scams peaked. They need to acknowledge the problem and solve it. It is time for a collaboration where we should work together to fix this. It is Covid-19 in digital form .' His message to victims is empathetic: 'Don't argue with scammers. Report them, and don't feel you're alone.' From Churu, Pooniawalla's fight spans nine countries, undeterred by language barriers or poor connectivity. 'The language of scammers is the same worldwide,' he says. Sanath Prasad is a senior sub-editor and reporter with the Bengaluru bureau of Indian Express. He covers education, transport, infrastructure and trends and issues integral to Bengaluru. He holds more than two years of reporting experience in Karnataka. His major works include the impact of Hijab ban on Muslim girls in Karnataka, tracing the lives of the victims of Kerala cannibalism, exploring the trends in dairy market of Karnataka in the aftermath of Amul-Nandini controversy, and Karnataka State Elections among others. If he is not writing, he keeps himself engaged with badminton, swimming, and loves exploring. ... Read More
Indian Express
29-04-2025
- General
- Indian Express
JEE Main 2025 Results: NIT Rourkela to host CSAB 2025 and DASA 2025
The National Institute of Technology Rourkela (NIT Rourkela) will be coordinating the Central Seat Allocation Board (CSAB 2025) for the academic year 2025-26 to facilitate admissions of Indian national students to undergraduate programmes at 31 NITs, 1 IIEST, 26 IIITs, 3 Schools of Planning and Architecture (SPAs), and 36 Other Government Funded Technical Institutes (GFTIs) under the umbrella of the 'NIT+ System.' While NIT Rourkela will lead the NIT+ System, IIT Kanpur will lead the IIT System, and both these institutes will co-host the 2025 edition of the Joint Seat Allocation Authority (JoSAA). The activities of JoSAA 2025 will start in the first week of June 2025. Aspiring candidates can visit websites – and for more details. NIT Rourkela confirmed that there shall be six rounds of seat allocation in the 2025 edition of JoSAA. Like previous years, CSAB will also organise CSAB-Special rounds of seat allocation to fill the vacant seats resulting after all rounds of JoSAA 2025. This year, CSAB-Special will be of three rounds. CSAB will coordinate the Supernumerary Round of seat allocation for students from Union Territories such as Andaman & Nicobar, Lakshadweep, Daman & Diu, and Dadra & Nagar Haveli in selected NITs. In a notable development, NIT Rourkela has also been entrusted by the Ministry of Education (MoE) to coordinate the Direct Admission of Students Abroad (DASA) 2025 for the admission of Foreign Nationals to undergraduate programs in NIT+ System. NIT Rourkela has also confirmed that CSAB-NEUT rounds for candidates from North-East States and select Union Territories will begin in June 2025, under AICTE's reservation scheme for regions lacking such facilities. It is estimated that over 14.5 lakh JEE Main qualified candidates will be competing for approximately 40,000 seats across all the participating institutes, including 20 per cent seats reserved for female candidates. The entire seat allocation process, from registration and choice filling to seat allotment and document verification, will be conducted online. DASA 2025 registration and process DASA seat allotment will be based on JEE Main ranks and preferences. The process will include three rounds of seat allotment, the details of which shall be available at the DASA website – Apart from the standard government norms, the seat allocation in all the above schemes for UG admission to NIT+ System will be based on the ranks secured by the candidates in JEE Main 2025. A multi-lingual helpdesk in Assamese, Bengali, English, Hindi, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Odia, Tamil, and Telugu languages has been established at the CSAB 2025 headquarters at NIT Rourkela to assist the candidates during the entire process of CSAB 2025. In addition, a total of 53 Help Centers (at least one in each State/ UTs) have also been established to assist the candidates. A dedicated helpdesk at NIT Rourkela will also be operational to support Divyang (PwD) aspirants. Furthermore, help documents in immersive reader format will soon be made available to enhance accessibility for PwD candidates.
Yahoo
14-04-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
NIT Rourkela researchers unveil eco-friendly seafood packaging in India
A team of researchers from the National Institute of Technology (NIT) Rourkela in Odisha, India, has introduced a seafood wrap made from biodegradable materials. This packaging is claimed to have been designed to track the freshness of seafood by detecting changes in potential of hydrogen (pH) levels. The solution aims to offer a functional tool to improve food hygiene, reduce spoilage, and minimise food wastage. The project is overseen by Professor Preetam Sarkar of the Food Process Engineering department at NIT Rourkela. Researchers used starch derived from kodo millet to form a film that assesses seafood quality. It works by identifying spoilage-related volatile amines and changes colour accordingly. The film comprises three key natural ingredients: kodo millet starch, gum tragacanth, and beetroot peel extract. Betalains in beetroot contribute to the film's colour-shifting ability by reacting to pH variations. These organic materials make the packaging sustainable, safe, and highly responsive. The film presents visible changes to signal the state of the food without requiring any contact-based inspection. Discussions are underway between the research group and seafood businesses to trial this technology, with an aim to evaluate how the packaging performs outside the laboratory. Early feedback and testing will guide potential commercial use. Sarkar was quoted by various media houses as saying: 'We first extracted starch from kodo millet by soaking, grinding, filtering, and drying the grains. 'The beetroot peel extract was prepared separately and then combined with the starch, gum tragacanth, and a small amount of glycerol to cast the films. These were dried and tested for their pH-sensitivity and effectiveness in monitoring seafood freshness.' In a lab setting, the estimated manufacturing cost of the film is around Rs900 ($10.45) per kilogram. Industrial production could lower this cost to a range of Rs400 to Rs600 per kilogram. That cost range may make the innovation financially practical for large-scale use. "NIT Rourkela researchers unveil eco-friendly seafood packaging in India" was originally created and published by Packaging Gateway, a GlobalData owned brand. The information on this site has been included in good faith for general informational purposes only. It is not intended to amount to advice on which you should rely, and we give no representation, warranty or guarantee, whether express or implied as to its accuracy or completeness. You must obtain professional or specialist advice before taking, or refraining from, any action on the basis of the content on our site.
