AAPI: June 2021

DELHI, 20th JUNE 2021

Index of this Newsletter

INDIA

INDIA & THE WORLD

21. Microsoft gives more power to chief Satya Nadella with board election
22. Power and Peril: Five takeaways on Amazon’s employment machine
23.1. India could see a record equity supply of Rs. 2-3 trillion in FY22: Jefferies
23.2. Amazon, Google and Visa are 'Open' to neo-banking
24.1. 5G momentum accelerating globally; committed to open markets: Ericsson CEO
24.2. Jio accelerating rollout of digital platforms, indigenously developed 5G stack: RIL
25. Infosys brings fans closer to the action at 2021 French Open amid Covid

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DELHI, 20th JUNE 2021

NEWSLETTER, 20-VI-2021

INDIA

– GENERAL POLICY, INFRASTRUCTURES, COUNTRY FINANCES, ETC.

1.1. Andhra Pradesh: CM Jagan plans total revamp of education system with emphasis on digital mode of teaching at primary school

ET Gov. May 28, 2021

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jaganmohan Reddy has initiated steps to totally revamp the education system in the state with an emphasis on improving the standards at an early age of 5-6 years through digital mode of teaching.

The CM instructed the officials to ensure that one primary school in every kilometer radius and upper and high schools within three kilometers.

The CM held a review meeting on the improvements to be made at primary, upper and high school level with Education Minister A. Suresh, Women & Child Welfare Minister Taneti Vanitha and officials on Thursday. The CM instructed the officials to map primary schools in every kilometer radius and upper and high schools within three kilometers.

Teaching capabilities of all teachers should be utilized to an optimum level, he said.

Anganwadi centres will be converted into PP-1 and PP-2 schools and will come under the purview of foundational schools. The government had recently converted 30 primary schools into YSR Foundation schools. At the newly set up foundation schools merging PP-1 and PP-2 and preparatory 1, 2 classes, teaching-learning should be totally digital. A detailed study should be conducted to estimate the expenditure for setting up digital infrastructure on a long-term basis, Jagan said.

Anganwadis will be merged into pre-primary schools and all of them will be converted into YSR Foundation schools. Classes 3, 4 and 5 at the existing primary schools will be shifted to high schools and they will be upgraded with classes 11 and 12 replacing junior colleges. Anganwadi teachers will be promoted to secondary grade teachers and special training will be given to them in digital teaching methods, the CM shared his vision with his ministers and officials.

1.2. India to have 900 million Internet users by 2025: report

IBEF, Jun. 04, 2021

According to a report published by IAMAI and Kantar Research, India internet users are expected to reach 900 million by 2025 from ~ 622 million internet users in 2020, growing at a CAGR of 45% until 2025.

According to the report, the number of internet users in urban areas stood at 323 million, accounting for 67% of the India’s urban population and registered a 2x growth as compared to rural areas. Digital adoption in rural areas of the country registered an increase of 13%, recording 299 million internet users in 2020, accounting for 31% of the country’s rural population.

Mr. Biswapriya Bhattacharjee, executive vice president, Insights Division at Kantar Research, said, “The Indian market is expected to register a greater number of rural internet users than urban internet users by 2025. In line with this, the digital ecosystem would require capabilities to meet the particular demands of rural internet users. Key areas that are expected to emerge as a game changer include Video, Voice and Vernacular.”

According to the report, on daily basis, nine of ten active users access the Internet. On an average, the time spend on internet stands at 107 minutes per day. In India two of five Internet users account from small towns. 33% of the active Internet user account to the top 9 metros in the country. Male internet users stands at ~ 58% and female account for 42%.

According to the report, the key growth driver for internet growth in India rising use of ‘Mobile phones’, with citizens utilizing the Internet for communication, entertainment and social media.

Disclaimer: This information has been collected through secondary research and IBEF is not responsible for any errors in the same.

2.1. Learning from Covid: The data lesson for medical supply chains

ETCIO, May 25, 2021, Praphul Chanda

As we struggle with our COVID response, it is important to ensure that the lessons we learn from this crisis lead to long term solutions.

All of us have woken up to requests for oxygen, Remedesvir or plasma on WhatsApp for more than a month now. Volunteers, NGOs & local governments have been manually tracking and aggregating data about where these medical supplies are available. Though the efforts are commendable and have no doubt saved lives, we must recognize that they fall short of a desirable state. The challenge is that in a crisis, the situation is so dynamic that data about availability of medical supplies is most often outdated minutes after it is shared on social media. Fake data is also a problem despite attempts of volunteers to manually verify it.

In principle, arranging these medical supplies should be the responsibility of the hospitals and medical care providers. But they too are struggling with the same issue. Medical supply chains are designed to operate with regular demand and supply patterns. When demand spikes, hospitals need to adapt their supply chains to cope. They face the same issue: how to find out how much is available where - in real time? This seemingly simple data problem determines how quickly can we make medical supplies available where they are needed, when they are needed.

As scientists, epidemiologists, doctors and medical professionals work overtime to cope with the current pandemic, we must ensure that the tools needed to implement the solutions are available and robust. Since this pandemic broke, hospitals have struggled to cope with the unusually high demand in PPE kits, Oxygen, Vaccines, Remedesivir and Plasma. We must accept that this is the new normal. Hospitals must prepare to deal with sudden surges in demand for a wide variety of their supplies. They must also recognize that in crisis scenarios, local & central governments may need to step in to arrange supplies and set quotas – to do so hospitals may be required to share data about availability & consumption data of medical supplies. The problem is not that this data is not available:

Hospitals, Retailers, Distributors and Manufacturers all maintain data about their inventories of medical supplies. The problem is that there is no way for these organizations to share data with each other in a secure, trusted environment - even if they want to do so. This is where Blockchain as a technology holds promise. Quite simply a blockchain is a digital, secure database which can act as a shared record between multiple organizations in a medical supply chain. A blockchain based medical supply chain solution can enable real-time sharing of availability & demand information of medical supplies among Hospitals, Retailers, Distributors and Manufacturers. This information can be shared with local & central governments as and when needed. Unlike today’s scenario where we must rely on emails, pdfs, spreadsheets, phone calls and WhatsApp to share information & coordinate medical supplies, a Blockchain based solution ensures that data is

1. Verifiable and therefore trusted

2. Shared in real time as needed among hospitals, retailers, distributors and

3. Accessible to only those organizations who are authorized to see it

Controlling access to data may seem counter productive but it is important to ensure that the private sector has control of their data. The use of Blockchain based data sharing in digital supply chains is not just a social good, it is a strategic initiative. In a time of frequent disruptions, supply chains will be as much about supply assurance as they would be about cost optimization. The speed and agility with which hospitals will be able to adapt to supply disruptions and demand spikes will be a critical factor in their success to provide medical care.

Government and regulators can encourage and nudge these data sharing efforts in medical supply chain. We have a precedent in telecom: In 2018, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) created the TCCCPR regulation that outlined a blockchain network to store the telco subscriber consents for data sharing. The writing is on the wall: Medical care has to be a joint endeavor of the private and public sector – for this to succeed at scale, availability of a digital platform to share verifiable data in real time in a secure way is a fundamental need and Blockchain is a technology that can enable this. The author is the founder and CEO of KoineArth

2.2. Use of technology amid pandemic gives rare opportunity to transform legal system: SC judge

PTI, May 24, 2021

Virtual courts, digital workplaces and electronic case management amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic have provided a rare opportunity to embrace technology to transform our legal system, Supreme Court judge Justice Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud said. The use of technology will make the legal system more "efficient, inclusive, accessible and environmentally sustainable", he said.

Justice Chandrachud, also the chairperson of the apex court's e-committee, made the observations while writing the foreword of the manual for use of free 'e-Courts Services' mobile application in 14 languages. The e-committee released the manuals in English and regional languages, explaining all features of the app with screenshots for easy understanding for the common man.

The languages include English, Hindi, Assamese, Bengali, Gujarathi, Kannada, Khasi, Malayalam, Marathi, Nepali, Odia, Punjabi, Tamil and Telugu. The app released recently has already crossed 57 lakh downloads, a press release issued on Sunday said. Justice Chandrachud stressed upon the importance of the free mobile app and highlighted the reach of this citizen-centric initiative. "The e-committee of the Supreme Court has been at the forefront of introducing digital reforms in the field of law. In the past one year, the pandemic has also pushed advocates, judges and litigants to adopt high-tech solutions due to the closure of offices and courts in light of lockdowns and public health concerns. "Working remotely, virtual courts, digital workplaces and electronic case management have become integral to how the legal profession is practiced and conducted. This has given us a rare opportunity to embrace technology not just as an interim measure, but to transform our legal system to make it more efficient, inclusive, accessible and environmentally sustainable," he said. The Justice added that the e-Courts Services mobile application was a step in this direction. "The application will pave the way for optimising our legal system in an ever-evolving digital world," he said. Barun Mitra, secretary, Department of Justice, who has also written the foreword of the manual, highlighted the importance of electronic case management tools for advocates.

3.1. UP is creating country’s longest expressways network: Awanish Awasthi

ET Gov. May20, 2021, Arpit Gupta

The Uttar Pradesh Expressways Industrial Development Authority (UPEIDA) has zeroed in on the target of completing four expressways, approx 1,321 kilometers network

The Uttar Pradesh Expressways Industrial Development Authority (UPEIDA) has zeroed in on the target of completing four expressways, approx 1,321 kilometers network, ahead of deadline to uplift the infrastructure of the state. With these access-controlled expressways become operational — 340-kilometers Purvanchal, 296-kilometers Bundelkhand, 91-kilometers Gorakhpur Link and 594-kilometers Ganga, the state would have country’s longest expressway network of 1,788 kilometers giving a boost to socio-economic development of the region hugely. The second wave of Covid-19 has made a slight impact, says Awanish Kumar Awasthi, Chief Executive Officer of Uttar Pradesh Expressways Industrial Development Authority (UPEIDA) and Additional Chief Secretary, Home, Government of Uttar Pradesh, in an exclusive conversation while talking about the project progress and how UP is on path of creating country’s longest expressways network in the state.

Purvanchal Expressway

The much-awaited Purvanchal Expressway’s main carriageway is expected to become operational by June, as 88 percent physical progress of the project has been completed. Similarly, the main carriageway of Bundelkhand Expressway is expected to be opened by the end of 2021. The total physical progress of the project is currently 58 percent. Purvanchal and Bundelkhand are said to have been two most underdeveloped pockets and neglected regions of the state over decades. The six-lane longest access-controlled Purvanchal Expressway, spanning over 340.824 kilometers, would connect the state capital – Lucknow to the eastern part of the state in Ghazipur. The total project cost estimated at Rs 22,496.93 crore is being implemented on Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) mode. Starting from Chandsarai village, Lucknow, (NH-731), the expressway would end at Hyderia village in Ghazipur, situated on NH-19, 18 kilometers before the UP-Bihar border. “The state government is developing an expressway from the state capital to the eastern region for the development of the remotest eastern region. With the development of this expressway, the eastern region would not only be connected to the state capital but also further to the national capital – Delhi through Agra-Lucknow and Yamuna Expressway,” said Awasthi.

The expressway will pass through districts including Barabanki, Amethi, Sultanpur, Ayodhya, Ambedkarnagar, Azamgarh and Mau. A 3,300-metre-long airstrip is also being developed on the expressway near Kurebhar in Sultanpur to facilitate emergency landing and take-off of fighter planes. The scheduled deadline for completion of this project was October, 2021. Currently, the total physical progress (as on 14.05.2021) of the project is 87%. “I think the main carriageway will be opened by the end of June. Out of a total 340 km stretch, we have completed almost 320 km. Construction of around 20 km is left. Despite the blockade caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, the construction of the expressway is going on in full swing and likely to be completed by December, 2021,” said Awasthi. The construction of the expressway is expected to pave the way for all-round development of the entire state. This will boost the social and economic development of the covered areas as well as the income of agriculture, commerce, tourism and industries. By controlling the entry of expressways, significant savings in fuel consumption and pollution control will also be possible. It will be helpful as an industrial corridor to connect the various production units, development centres and agricultural production areas located in the areas covered by the expressway with the state capital and national capital.

Bundelkhand Expressway

The four-lane (expandable to six-lane) access-controlled Bundelkhand Expressway, sprawling over 296.264 kilometers, will connect Chitrakoot to the 6-lane wide and 302 kilometers long Agra–Lucknow Expressway near Etawah. The expressway will start from Gonda village in Chitrakoot (NH-35/76 near Bharatkoop) and terminate near Kudrail village in Takha tahsil of Etawah district. It will pass through some of least developed and backward districts of the states including Banda, Mahoba, Hamirpur, Jalaun and Auraiya.

Estimated civil cost of the project is Rs 14709.71 crore including land cost. The first milestone work of the Bundelkhand Expressway was scheduled to be completed in June 2021 however the work was already completed in February 2021, almost a year before the scheduled timeline. Awasthi expressed satisfaction on the progress of Bundelkhand Expressway and said our timelines are very good. The total physical progress of the project (as on 15.05.2021) is 58%. The scheduled date for completion of this project is March, 2022. The main carriageway of this expressway is expected to be completed by the end of 2021.

Awasthi further said, “The first wave of Covid had very little impact and we handled it well. But yes, the second wave has made some impact. At some places drivers are infected while some of the labours have gone away and they are not returning. These are small issues which are sorting out. We were hoping to complete the In Bundelkhand Expressway project by December. Now let us see how long the impact of Covid would be there.” If the second wave of Covid had not come, we would have completed the project by December 2021. Our major bridges over the Yamuna, Ken and Betwa rivers are in place. We managed to get environment clearance for Purvanchal and Bundelkhand expressways in a record time. Due to the second wave of Covid, some of the construction work has been affected and this has pushed us back a little; otherwise, we are expecting to complete the project before the deadline, added Awasthi.

Coupled with the defense industrial corridor coming up in the region, Bundelkhand is poised for the big economic development it has always been yearning for. This corridor aims to bring up the state as one of the largest and advanced Defence manufacturing hubs and put it on the world map. The expressway would not only ensure better connectivity between different parts of the state, but the overall economic uplift of the most backward regions of the state. It will drastically cut down the travel time. Currently, there is no direct road link between Delhi and the Bundelkhand region. Once the expressway becomes operational, the travel time between Delhi and Chitrakoot district in Bundelkhand will come down to eight hours from 12-14 hours now via the Yamuna, Agra-Lucknow, Purvanchal and Bundelkhand expressways. Gorakhpur Link Expressway The 91.352 kilometers long four-lane access-controlled Gorakhpur Link Expressway will connect Gorakhpur, Azamgarh, Ambedkarnagar and Sant Kabirnagar. The scheduled date for completion of this Rs 5876.68 crore project is April, 2022. Currently, total physical progress of the project (as on dt. 29.04.2021) is 20%. The starting point of the expressway is Jaitpur (Gorakhpur) bypass, NH-27-27 and ending point is Purvanchal Expressway in Salarpur (Azamgarh).

Ganga Expressway

For the all-round development of Uttar Pradesh, the construction of a fully access-controlled six-lane Ganga Expressway from Meerut to Prayagraj district is proposed. The land acquisition work of Ganga Expressway is going on a war footing. “We are planning to build Ganga Expressway on a public private partnership model. A large number of companies have shown interest in this project, as the technical bid is already out. Once all the technical bids come, we shall invite the financial bids together with the technical bids. The process would be delayed by a month or two,” said Awasthi. Awasthi further said, “We have already acquired 40% of the land and we would have done almost 70% by now if the second wave had not hit the country. But we will move forward and cover the backlog in the next two months.”

Starting on the Meerut-Bulandshahr Road (NH-334) near Bijauli village of Meerut district, the expressway would end at Prayagraj Bypass (NH-19) near Judapur Dando village. It will pass through the districts including Hapur, Bulandshahr, Amroha, Sambhal, Badaun, Shahjahanpur, Hardoi, Unnao, Rae Bareli and Pratapgarh. As many as 529 villages will be covered and about 7800 hectares of land would be required. More than about 2700 hectares of land has been acquired. The foundation stone laying ceremony of the Ganga Expressway was earlier expected by the end of June, 2021 however it is likely to be postponed by a month or two. “Under the leadership of CEO Awanish Awasthi, UPEIDA is in the direction of completing all its projects in a timely manner. Despite the Covid pandemic, the work is going on at a constant speed,” said Durgesh Upadhya, Media Advisor, UPEIDA.

Road Safety Measures

What are the road safety measures taken by UPEIDA in the Agra-Lucknow Expressway projects, explains Awanish Kumar Awasthi saying that there are many aspects that go into building an expressway, road safety being one of the most important aspects. The roads are designed to allow 100 kilometers per hour as the maximum speed. For the safety and security of traffic in Agra Lucknow Expressway, we have implemented state-of-the-art Advanced Traffic Management System (ATMS). The ATMS is constituted of four aspects – high resolution CCTV cameras, Emergency call boxes (ECB), ambulances and patrol vehicles and periodic safety audits.

UPEIDA CEO said, “In the first phase, 152 Emergency call boxes (ECB) at every two kilometers, 50 CCTV cameras, and 10 Speed and Number Plate Detection radar cameras under the Automatic Number Plate Recognition System (ANPR) have been installed on the expressway, which can capture the number plates of the vehicles plying on the road. We have telephone booths at every two kilometers so that if there is any accident, somebody can telephone on the booth also.”

We have deployed 15 ambulances and patrol vehicles for round the clock patrolling of the expressway and providing help to accident victims. In addition to this, the police department has also deployed 27 Dial-112 Vans for patrolling of the expressway. Four ALS Ambulances have been deployed by UPEIDA for help to accident victims. If there is any accident, injured people can be immediately taken to the nearest trauma center by these ambulances. The toll collection agency has additionally deployed 10 patrolling vehicles and five ambulances.

We got the periodic safety audit of the Agra Lucknow Expressway done by IIT Roorkee as well as Central Road Research Institute (CRRI) so there are no black spots on the expressway, as per the new guidelines issued by MoRTH. All of these things have been put in place so that the safety of the expressways is better. Despite an increase of 30 to 40% in the traffic, accidents and deaths particularly have gone down by about 40%.

R P Goel, AGM, PNC Infratech Ltd elaborated on the additional features of Purvanchal Expressway saying that the width of median has been extended upto four meter, 1 meter more than that of Agra Lucknow Expressway, in view of safety of the vehicles. Besides, raised pavement markers (RPMs) are provided all along the expressway for the ease of drivers.

Economic activities in the vicinity of Expressways

The expressways obviously lead to a large number of economic activities. What we have seen in the past is that the moment these expressways come, long chunks of land along the expressways are either being taken up for small medium sized engineering institutions or for large farming mechanisms. Opportunities will also be available for the establishment of Industrial Training Institute, Educational and Training Institute, Medical Institute etc. near the expressway. The areas covered by expressways would be benefited in a social and economical way. Agriculture, commerce, tourism and other industrial development will also get a fillip.

I have seen large farm houses for economic activities coming up in the vicinity of Expressways. People are planting, not the traditional crops but vegetables and fruits too. Our new expressways will also act as a catalyst for setting up of Handloom Industry, Food Processing Units, Storage Plant, Mandi and Milk based industries. The expressways will act as an industrial corridor to connect the various production units, development centres and agricultural production areas located in the areas covered by the expressway with the state capital and national capital. Use of technologies We have deployed an Advanced Traffic Management System consisting of electronic call boxes (ECB), Digital Message Screens, Video Monitoring, Fastag facility and Incident Detection System, GPS based Ambulance Service, etc. Besides, we have used Green Energy (Solar) for illumination purposes. During Kumbh, we used the monitoring devices and cameras. Artificial intelligence was used for mapping the crowd at that time.

One thing that has made a very large impact on the expressways is e-challan. In order to check over speeding of vehicles, we have deployed an e-challan system. If the speed of the vehicles entering from Agra toll and coming out at Lucknow toll is less than three hours, an automatic electronic challan would be issued based on the speed of vehicles between toll plaza situated near Agra and Lucknow.

The exact length of the expressway is about 300 kilometers and average driving speed is 100 kilometres per hour. This has improved our performance very well. Narayan Rao, Vice President, Gayatri Projects Ltd said that the government is quite proactive and decisions are taken at a fast pace. Not only timely payments are being made to the vendors but also the administrative issues are resolved in a record time.

Cost Saving

UPEIDA has been able to save Rs 1844 crore on three of the expressway projects – Purvanchal Expressway, Bundelkhand Expressway and Gorakhpur Link Expressway projects. The project construction work of all three expressways has been awarded through e-tendering. In the Purvanchal Expressway, the minimum tender had come down by about 5.19% from the estimated cost, which has given a profit of about Rs 614 crore to UPEIDA, informed Manoj Kumar Gupta, Chief Engineer of UPEIDA. Similarly, the minimum tender in the Bundelkhand Expressway project had come down by about 12.72 % from the estimated cost. This resulted in a profit of about Rs. 1132 crore to UPEIDA, said Gupta. In the Gorakhpur Link Expressway project, the minimum tender had come down by 3.12 % from the estimated cost, resulted in a profit of about Rs. 98 crore to UPEIDA, added Gupta

Priorities

Our expressways would be the safest in the country. We are taking care of road safety engineering and offering ready access to medical facilities. “I have been reviewing the progress of Purvanchal Expressway, Bundelkhand Expressway, Gorakhpur Link Expressway and Ganga Expressway regularly. Field inspections are also being carried out to check the physical progress. I am happy to inform you that we are doing about 500 crores of work in a month even in the time of pandemic, which shows that Covid has not affected us much,” concluded Awasthi.

3.2. Uber to hire close to 250 engineers in India to expand tech, product teams

ET CIO, 09 Jun. 2021

Uber’s expansion plans are in line with its vision to make mobility and delivery more accessible, and to become the backbone of transportation in over 10,000 cities across the globe, according to a company statement.

Uber today announced it is recruiting close to 250 engineers for its Bangalore and Hyderabad-based teams, as the company continues to expand the scope of operations for its engineering and product work in the country.

The current round of hiring will strengthen the company’s rider and driver growth, delivery, eats, digital payments, risk & compliance, marketplace, customer obsession, infrastructure, adtech, data, safety and finance technology teams, according to a company release.

These roles are currently split between the Hyderabad and Bangalore tech centers. Commenting on Uber’s tech hiring drive, Manikandan Thangarathnam, Senior Director - Engineering said, “Our teams in Hyderabad and Bangalore work on important global mandates, and pioneer various industry-first innovations. In order to serve more people across the globe, we’re expanding our teams and are looking for bright engineering minds so we can collectively solve mobility and delivery challenges across all our global markets.’’

Uber has started reaching out to prospective candidates for building new teams and adding to existing ones, including Uber infrastructure, Eats, Marketplace, Risk and Payments, Uber for Business (U4B), marketing and advertising platforms.

4. Rajasthan moving towards sustainable energy, says energy minister B D Kalla

ET Gov., May 28, 2021

Rajasthan will soon become a hub of renewable energy in the country, as the state is progressing fast on the path of achieving a target of 30,000 MW solar power projects in near future, says B D Kalla, Minister for Energy and Public Health and Engineering Department, Government of Rajasthan

He further said that the hybridisation of renewable power with thermal power is the way forward, as it leads to optimum utilisation of infrastructure: land and transmission systems. It also helps reduce fuel consumption and carbon-emission, which will pave way for the energy sector’s growth.

Rajasthan has created an ambitious framework of policies - The Wind and Hybrid Energy Policy 2019 and the Solar Energy Policy 2019 that aims to achieve a target of 30,000 MW solar power projects up to 2024-25. The policies, recently launched by Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, aims at promoting development of new wind as well as hybrid projects, repowering of existing wind projects and blending of existing wind and solar power plants.

“We have established the first farm-based 1 MW solar power plant on 3.50 acres of farmland in Bhaloji village under Kotputli tehsil of Jaipur under the Prime Minister’s Kisan Urja Suraksha Evum Utthan Mahabhiyan (KUSUM) scheme. This will produce 17 lakh units of electricity every year. Such initiatives would not only help increase the clean green energy but also generate employment in the rural areas,” said Dr. Kalla.

The state has huge reserves of non-farming or barren land that can be used for renewable power projects. The farmers can lease out their unused lands to the private sector for power generation, as renewable power projects require a lot of land area, the minister opines.

The government is also endeavouring to develop 33 district headquarters as ‘Green Energy Cities’ in the next 5 years by installing 300 MW of Solar Rooftop Systems. “We have a total of 10,010 MW capacity of renewable energy in Rajasthan. Currently, our solar generation capacity is 5,552 MW, followed by Wind at 4338 MW and 120 MW of biomass-based projects. There are nearly 3,373 MW capacity projects under implementation at state, of these 722 MW are of decentralised solar projects while 2,550 MW is from major solar power parks,” informed Dr. Kalla.

There are several investment proposals from industry bigwigs under consideration in Rajasthan. Adani Group planned to invest Rs 46,000 crore in Solar and Hybrid Projects of 9,700 MW capacity, Greenko group submitted investment proposals worth Rs 30,000 crore in a Wind-Solar Hybrid power project of 4,500 MW capacity, Renew Power’s estimated investment is Rs 30,000 crore on 10,000 MW Solar projects and JSW’s proposal is worth Rs 48,500 crore in solar projects of 10,000 MW capacity.

The Rajasthan Renewable Energy Corporation Limited (RRECL), has signed an MoU with National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) and Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) to establish Ultra Mega Renewal Energy Power Park of 8,000 megawatts (MW) capacity in the state, which will comprise 4,310 MW of wind energy; 3,760 MW of solar energy and 120 MW of power from biomass.

The minister further asserted, “Our total solar power potential is estimated to be 142 GW that is nearly 19 percent of the country and our wind power potential of the state is also estimated to be around 127 GW. A combination of solar and wind power also helps to improve the consistency of the power supply.”

The impact of Covid pandemic’s second wave has been negligible. “We are ensuring 24x7 power supply in Rajasthan without tripping and six-hours supply to farmers is being done in the day time regularly. We are providing several relaxations and benefits to the consumers. Thus, technology is also being leveraged i.e. digital payments facility has been introduced to pay electricity bills and a mobile app has been developed for the vigilance team etc.,” added the minister.

While the infrastructure is being strengthened, transmission and distribution capacity has also been increased. Before independence, Rajasthan used to generate 13 MW of electricity and today the generation capacity has increased by 22,000 MW. Rajasthan Urja Vikas Nigam Ltd (RUVNL) has also added 1,320 MW capacity to the existing network recently.

“We have started a 660 MW Supercritical Thermal Power Project in Suratgarh Thermal Power Station. Another unit of 660 MW has been synchronised at CTTP. The commercial operation is expected to be commissioned by the end of June or early July. In addition, a 660 MW supercritical unit has been made functional at Chhabra Thermal Power Plant. This will ease power woes of Rajasthan,” he said. As part of reforms, the Union Ministry of Power has proposed a franchisee system in the power sector as part of a larger privatization move in state DISCOMS in the Electricity Act 2003 (Amendment) Bill. Consequently, the Rajasthan government has submitted its observations in the proposed Electricity (Amendment) Bill in this regard.

“Rajasthan's natural environment has always been favorable for renewable energy generation and the policies have helped extend the support required to facilitate the growth of the sector. We are a surplus state in terms of electricity production. Sometimes scarcity in the peak hours remains there but sincere efforts are being made to regularise 24x7 power supply across the state and take this to the last mile. We have taken electricity to 1,34,000 villages by March 2021 and provided connection to 1,40,000 wells. Besides, work on 50,000 new connections is underway. Our policies provide for several concessions for energy projects, along with infrastructure support for the growing sector,” added the minister.

“We are creating a conducive environment for investment in the state of Rajasthan. We have reduced Rs 1 per unit in the tariff for the industries. In context of the prevailing situation, when there is an acute shortage of vaccines, I invite global drug manufacturing and pharma companies and oxygen manufacturing industries to set up their units in Rajasthan. I will welcome them to our state,” concluded the minister with a message - ‘Rajasthan Calling’.

5.1. Indian IT firms set to slash 3 mn jobs by 2022 due to automation: BofA report

Mint, 16 June, 2021

Michael Page survey found that most employees in India are realistic about the demands of automation with 85% of them saying they plan to acquire additional skills.

The automation-driven job losses will help firms save $100 bn in cost

MUMBAI: With automation taking place at a much faster pace across industries especially in the tech space, domestic software firms that employee over 16 million are set to slash headcounts by a massive 3 million by 2022, which will help them save a whopping $100 billion mostly in salaries annually, says a report.

The domestic IT sector employs around 16 million, of them around 9 million are employed in low-skilled services and BPO roles, according to Nasscom. Of these 9 million low-skilled services and BPO roles, 30% or around 3 million will be lost by 2022, principally driven by the impact of robot process automation or RPA.

Roughly 0.7 million roles are expected to be replaced by RPA alone and the rest due to other technological upgrades and upskilling by the domestic IT players, while it the RPA will have the worst impact in the US with a loss of almost 1 million jobs, according to a Bank of America report on Wednesday.

Based on average fully-loaded employee costs of $25,000 per annum for India-based resources and $50,000 for US resources, this will release around $100 billion in annual salaries and associated expenses for corporates, the report says.

"TCS, Infosys, Wipro, HCL, Tech Mahindra and Cognizant and others appear to be planning for a 3 million reduction in low-skilled roles by 2022 because of RPA up-skilling."

"This is a $100-billion in reduced salary and other costs, but on the flipside, it offers a likely a $10 billion boon for IT companies that successfully implement RPA, and another a $5 billion opportunity from a vibrant new software niche by 2022. Given that robots can function for 24 hrs a day, this represents a significant saving of up to 10:1 versus the human labor," says the report.

Robot process automation (RPA) is application of software, not physical robots, to perform routine, high-volume tasks, allowing employees to focus on more differentiated work. It differs from ordinary software applications as it mimics how the employee has worked instead of building a workflow into technology from the ground up and thus minimising time to market and greatly reducing cost over the more traditional software-led approaches.

Offshoring helped the domestic IT sector to grow from around 1% of GDP in 1998 to 7% today, a highly strategic sector for its economy and has also significantly outgrown their Western peers (mainly Accenture, Capgemini and Atos) with annual revenue growth of 18% between 2005 and 2019.

Another key reason for the RPA-driven job loses is that many countries that had offshored their work in the past are likely to bring the jobs back to their own home markets.

Developed countries will also look to increasingly bring back offshored IT jobs and either use native IT workers or domestic software robots like RPA to secure their digital supply chain and ensure future resiliency of their national technology infrastructure, reasons the report.

Software offshoring began in the 1970s and the 1980s when the personal computer began to gain traction when major world players began shifting focus to trade liberalisation.

However, despite such massive automation, major economies like Germany (26% shortage), China (7%), India (5%) Korea, Brazil, Thailand Malaysia and Russia will likely face a labour shortages, warns the report, adding on the contrary South Africa, Greece, Indonesia and the Philippines will have surplus labour for the next 15 years.

According to the report, faster automation is driven by the shrinking talent pool of high-skilled jobs in developing economies, the need for which will only jump, but the global high-skill talent pool is shrinking and exposing outmoded immigration systems.

The report goes onto warn that emerging economies mostly India and China face the most risk of technology driven disruptions which can impact up 85% of jobs in countries like Kenya and Bangladesh.

India and China are at the greatest risk of skills disruption, while ASEAN, the Persian Gulf and Japan are at the least risk. Perhaps the most worrying trend is that emerging market jobs are most at risk of automation because of the low-/mid-skilled nature of sectors like manufacturing, highlighting the risk of premature de-industrialization. India saw its manufacturing peak in 2002, while it occurred in Germany in 1970, in Mexico in 1990.

This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text. Only the headline has been changed.

5.2. Digital India: Railways installs Internet-based video surveillance systems at 269 stations in 10 zones

ET GOV. Jun.01, 2021

As per government data so far work at 31 more stations is in progress and will be completed soon. RailTel has also floated a tender for this work at 456 new stations

In a digital upgrade to boost digital surveillance, under the Centre’s flagship Digital India programme, the Indian Railways has installed Internet-based video surveillance systems at 269 railway stations in 10 zones. The new system can store footage for 30 days.

“We will be completing the work at 756 stations by March 2022. We are installing four types of IP cameras (dome type, bullet types, pan-tilt-zoom type and Ultra HD-4k) to ensure maximum coverage inside Railway premises. This will give an extra edge to the RPF officials to improve security,” RailTel CMD Puneet Chawla said.

According to Railway public sector unit RailtTel, the new systems were installed following a Railway Board order that asked the public sector unit to provide these surveillance systems at all A1, A, B, C, D and E category railway stations, coaches of premium trains and suburban electric multiple unit trains.

“These centralised control rooms will display video feeds from VSS (video surveillance systems) installed by RailTel at stations of respective zones... This project is being executed by utilising the Nirbhaya Fund aimed at providing better safety for women. Currently, 269 stations have been provided with IP-based VSS by RailTel,” the railways said in a statement.

As per government data so far work at 31 more stations is in progress and will be completed soon. RailTel has also floated a tender for this work at 456 stations. CCTV cameras under the system use optical fiber cables and the video feed is not only displayed at local Railway Protection Force (RPF) posts but also at centralised CCTV control rooms at the divisional and zonal levels.

The CCTV cameras of stations and video feeds are monitored at three levels to ensure enhanced safety and security at railway premises. A network management system (NMS) has also been provided for monitoring of cameras, servers, UPS and switches, and these can be viewed from any web browser by authorised personnel, the railway statement said.

Further about seventeen stations under the South Central Railway have integrated VSS Control Room, which was inaugurated on Monday. The other zones which have this facility include East Central Railway, Southern Railway, South Western Railway, Western Railway, West Central Railway, Central Railway, North Eastern Railway, North Western Railway, North Central Railway and South-Central Railway.

- AGRICULTURE, FISHING & RURAL DEVELOPMENT

6.1. A Kerala-based chocolate brand has taken Indian chocolates to new heights by winning Silver in the International Chocolate Awards

Jun. 07, 2021, Uttara Gangopadhyay

Overshadowed by chocolate companies and chocolatiers, India’s foray into the ‘bean to bar’ artisanal chocolates would have remained a closely guarded secret if it was not for the Paul And Mike brand winning a Silver in the International Chocolate Awards this season (2020-21 World Final), the first Indian chocolate company to do so. This Kerala-based brand clinched the position with their ‘64% Dark Sichuan Pepper and Orange Peel Vegan Chocolate’.

The brand is one of the growing band of artisanal chocolate makers who take care of the entire process, from the coco beans to production, a process known as ‘bean to bar’ or ‘farm to bar’. The entire process from growing and harvesting beans to making the chocolate bar is controlled by the manufacturer.

Headquartered in Kochi, the brand Paul And Mike grows and ferments cocoa on their own farms in Kochi and Coimbatore. The company follows precise fermenting, drying and roasting of the beans to enhance the flavours. According to the company, they source wet cocoa beans from progressive farmers in Kerala and Andhra and take care of the entire post-harvest operations as well as use only real fruits, nuts, spices and pure floral distillates. Paul And Mike is backed by Synthite – a USD 200 million natural food ingredients company headquartered in Kochi.

After winning the award, the company said that their ‘stated purpose’ since inception ‘has been to provide the quality of a Pacari for the price of a Lindt.’ Pacari is a shorthand for high quality Latin American chocolates while Lindt is a shorthand for mass produced Swiss-Belgian chocolates.

The company has also widened its bouquet with fruits ranging from exotic Italian Piedmont Hazelnuts or Amazonian Pink Pepper to Indian fruits such as Alphonso, Jamun and Sitaphal; products that are a blend of magical flavours of wine and chocolate. Did you know their 72% Dark Sula Dindori Reserve Shiraz Wine Vegan Chocolate is made from cocoa beans aged in Dindori Reserve wine casks? However, do note that to maintain their standards, the chocolates are made in small batches, and therefore get sold out fast. The chocolates are also sold online and you can book them here.

And if you are curious to know about Paul and Mike, they are two Latin American fine cocoa farmers.

6.2. IFC to lend $150M to Kerala Infrastructure Investment Board

IANS, Jun. 11, 2021

International Finance Corporation (IFC) ,part of the World Bank group, plans a green financing package of $150 million to the Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board (KIIFB).

KIIFB is an infrastructure funding agency wholly owned by the Kerala State and mandated with appraising, financing, and monitoring the construction of a portfolio of the State's infrastructure projects.

The loan tenor is up to 10 years with a two-year grace period. IFC may mobilise around $50 million from parallel lenders. According to IFC, the investment proceeds will be used to finance critical urban infrastructure for Kerala State.

The funds will be deployed across two components: (i) construction of four new water supply projects, and (ii) construction of four hospital expansions which are to be EDGE (Excellence in Design for Greater Efficiencies) certified.

IFC also said the financing is expected to be accompanied by a comprehensive advisory package to: (i) help KIIFB implement the construction of water and hospital expansion projects according to international environmental and social (E&S) best practices and build up its E&S capacities, (ii) certify the hospital projects as green buildings using IFC's EDGE tool, (iii) help KIIFB develop a Green Financing Framework, and (iv) provide KIIFB with guidance and capacity-building for incorporating climate resilience into its operations.

7.1. Govt plans Rs. 50,000 crore ($6,8 bn) programme to boost health infrastructure: Report

IBEF, Jun. 17, 2021

According to a spokesperson, the government of India is planning for a credit incentive program worth Rs. 500 billion (US$ 6.8 billion) to boost health care infrastructure in the country.

The program would offer firms to leverage the fund to expand hospital capacity or medical supplies. Under this program the government would be the guarantor, stated the spokesperson. The emphasis of the program is on strengthening health infrastructure in rural areas specific to COVID-19 related cases.

The increase in the COVID-19 cases in the past months have pushed the government to expand health care facilities and further strengthen the infrastructure. The government’s loan guarantees would add up to the central bank’s efforts in May 2021 to ramp up credit for health care services and offer fresh loans to vaccine producers.

For banks, the Reserve Bank of India announced an on-tap liquidity opportunity worth Rs. 500 billion (US$ 6.8 billion) to expand credit to health facilities and vaccine producers until March 2022.

In May 2021, the government also announced an emergency credit program including airlines and hospitals, worth US$ 41 billion to support them combat the pandemic. That program guarantees loans worth Rs. 20 million (US$ 272.83 thousand) to clinics and hospitals to build on-site oxygen generation plants, with interest rates capped at 7.5%.

There is also further potential opportunity for boosting the overall size of that program.

Disclaimer: This information has been collected through secondary research and IBEF is not responsible for any errors in the same.

7.2. In a big push to tap water supply in rural households in maharashtra, Centre allocates Rs. 7,064 crore grant for 2021-22 under Jal Jeevan Mission

Press Information Bureau, Jun. 11, 2021

To translate Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi’s vision of providing clean tap water to every household, Central government has increased the grant-in-aid in 2021-22 to Maharashtra under the Jal Jeevan Mission to Rs. 7,064.41 Crore, which was Rs. 1,828.92 Crores in 2020-21. Union Minister, Jal Shakti, Mr. Gajendra Singh Shekhawat while approving this four-fold increase in allocation has assured full assistance to the State for making provision of tap water supply in every rural home by 2024.

At the start of the mission in 2019, out of a total of 19.20 Crore rural households in the country, only 3.23 Crore (17%) had tap water supply. During the last 21 months, despite COVID-19 pandemic and lockdowns disruptions, Jal Jeevan Mission, has been implemented with speed and 4.27 Crore households have been provided with piped water connections. With this increase in coverage by 22%, presently 7.51 Crore (39.12%) rural households across the country have tap water supply. Goa, Telangana, Andaman & Nicobar Islands and Puducherry have achieved 100% household tap connection in rural areas and has become ‘Har Ghar Jal’. Following the principle of Prime Minister’s vision of ‘SabkaSaath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Vishwas’, the motto of the mission is that ‘no one is left out’ and every household in a village should be provided with tap water connection. At present, in 62 districts and more than 92 thousand villages,every household has tap water supply.

In Maharashtra, out of a total of 142 lakh rural households, 91.30 lakh households (64.14%) have been provided with tap water connections. On 15th August 2019, at the time of launch of Jal Jeevan Mission, only 48.43 lakh (34.02%)households had tap water supply. In 21 months, 42.86 lakh households in the State have been provided tap water connections. In 2021-22, State has planned to provide tap water connections to 27.45 lakh households,18.72 lakh tap water connections in the year 2022-23and 5.14 lakh tap connections in 2023-24 to achieve tap water supply for every rural household.

The water supply work to provide tap water connection has not yet started in 29,417 villages in Maharashtra. Union Minister, Jal Shakti, Mr. Gajendra Singh Shekhawat has written a letter to Chief Minister of Maharashtra, emphasising the work of providing tap connections should start in all the villages so that the state can provide tap water supply to every household by 2024. He has urged the state to recover the pace of implementation, which was 1.59 lakh tap water connections per month in the last quarter of 2020-21, which has dropped to about 9,800 tap water connections in April and May.

In 2020-21, Rs. 1,828.92 Crore Central grant was allocated to the State but State could not draw Rs. 1,371.69 Crore and surrendered this grant meant for tap water supply in rural areas of the State. This year with four-fold increase in Central allocation (Rs. 7,064.41 Crore), unspent balance of Rs. 268.99 Crore and shortfall in State matching share of Rs. 149.43 Crores in 2020-21, and matching State share in current year, the State has an assured availability of Rs. 14,547.24 Crore under Jal Jeevan Mission for water supply work in 2021-22. Thus, there is no shortage of fund for water supply.

In 2021-22, Rs. 2,584 Crore have been allocated to Maharashtra as 15th FC tied grant for water & sanitation to Rural Local Bodies/ PRIs. There is an assured funding of Rs. 13,628 Crore for the next five years i.e., up to 2025-26. This huge investment in rural areas of Maharashtra, will accelerate economic activities and also boost rural economy. It will create new employment opportunities in villages.

To ensure safe tap water to children in schools, ashramshalas and anganwadi centres in the country, Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi announced 100–days campaign, which was launched by the Union Minister Mr. Gajendra Shekhawat on 2ndOctober, 2020. As a result, States/ UTs like Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Goa, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Andaman & Nicobar Islands have made provision of tap water in all schools, ashramshalas and anganwadi centres. In Maharashtra65,301 schools (76%) and 60,082 anganwadi centres(66%) are provided with tap water connections. Central Government has asked the State to ensure that in next few months, provision of safe tap water is made in all remaining schools, ashramshalas and anganwadi centres for better health, improved sanitation and hygiene of children.

Under Jal Jeevan Mission, the State also needs to accord priority to water-scarce areas, quality-affected villages, Aspirational districts, SC/ ST majority villages and Saansad Adarsh Gram Yojana (SAGY) villages.

Water quality monitoring & surveillance activities are to be given top priority, for which anganwadi workers, ASHA workers, members of Self-Help Groups, PRI members, school teachers, etc. are being trained so that they can test water samples for contamination by using Field Test Kits (FTKs). Out of 177 district and sub-divisional laboratories, only 10 are NABL accredited. State needs to upgrade the water testing laboratories and secure NABL accreditation for them.

Jal Jeevan Mission is a ‘bottom up’ approach where community plays a vital role starting from planning to implementation, management, operation and maintenance. To achieve this, State Government to undertake support activities like strengthening the Village Water & Sanitation Committee (VWSC)/ Pani Samiti, developing of Village Action Plan for the next five years, engaging Implementing State Agencies (ISAs) to handhold and support village communities, carry out awareness among people. So far Maharashtra has 25,926 VWSCs or Pani Samitis in 40,596 villages.

In the year 2020-21, the State had planned to engage 139 NGOs as Implementing State Agencies (ISAs) but could not complete the process. In the year 2021-22, the state plans to engage 104 ISAs each supporting about 300 villages. Such handholding and capacity building plays a critical role in ensuring long-term sustainability and operation &maintenance of the water supply infrastructure for assured water supply to every home.

Jal Jeevan Mission announced by the Prime Minister on 15thAugust, 2019 from Red Fort is under implementation in partnership with States/ UTs to provide tap water connection to every rural household of the country by 2024. Total budget for Jal Jeevan Mission in 2021-22 is Rs. 50,011 Crore. With State’s own resources and Rs. 26,940 Crore as 15thFinance Commission tied grant for water and sanitation to RLBs/ PRIs, this year, more than Rs. 1 lakh crore are being invested in rural drinking water supply sector. This is creating new employment opportunities in villages and boosting the rural economy.

Disclaimer: This information has been collected through secondary research and IBEF is not responsible for any errors in the same.

8.1. Byju's, Google tie up to offer 'learning solution' for schools in India

PTI, 03 Jun. 2021

The Byju's-Google tie-up brings together the simplicity, flexibility and security of Google Workspace for Education and Byju's content pedagogy on the 'Vidyartha' platform to aid effective learning at school.

New Delhi: India's most-valued edtech startup and the world's biggest search engine have come together to offer a "learning solution" for schools in the country, at a time when online education has boomed amid the pandemic. The Byju's-Google tie-up brings together the simplicity, flexibility and security of Google Workspace for Education and Byju's content pedagogy on the 'Vidyartha' platform to aid effective learning at school, according to a statement on Wednesday. This platform is available for free to participating educational institutions. "With a commitment to digital education, Google Workspace for Education will combine Byju's unparalleled pedagogy to empower educators in their journey towards digital transformation," the statement read. Built on the Vidyartha platform, the Byju's-Google partnership will provide direct access to Byju's maths and science pedagogy and visually-rich learning solutions, including chapter-wise slides, data banks, summary docs, handouts, tests, and readymade assignments. Geared to enable convenient learning, the platform also features Google Classroom, offering simplicity, along with a security experience for educators. The significant rise and acceptance of online learning in the last one year has led to the swift digitisation of the education system, Byju's Chief Operating Officer Mrinal Mohit said. "Teachers and students had to adapt to online learning overnight and are now rapidly discovering its potential. Through our partnership with Google, we are aiming to aid this digital revolution and equip our educators with the necessary technological and learning assets to ensure continuity of education." Bani Dhawan, Head of Education-South Asia at Google, said: "With the rapid move to online learning and teaching, educators today are increasingly looking for more meaningful ways to bring their lessons to life, and we hope this offering makes online classes that much more engaging and fulfilling".

Every school that signs up on the Byju's-Google platform will get official email IDs for all faculty, students and admin staff, supported by Google Workspace for Education. The learning solution would facilitate classroom management and help organise, access, and track classroom learning.

8.2. How resilience & iterative innovation helped India Inc power through the pandemic

ET CIO, 10 Jun. 2021, Dhrumil Dhakan

Speaking at ETCIO Spectrum 2021, industry leaders revealed how their firms used different strategies to not just survive but also grow exponentially in the lockdown.

With the pandemic hitting businesses hard throughout the world, the pressure is increasing on technology & business leaders to make the best out of the situation with iterative innovation, which pushes the culture of improving technology to its extent with the limited means that are possible in today’s time. In this environment of uncertainty, the only hope businesses have for advancement lie in the continuous innovation of technology, with limited means and budget, which can act as the stepping stone into the company’s future. Taking the example of various companies from five different verticals to showcase how resilience and iterative innovation has helped benefit them in times of crises, let’s see how companies have used various strategies to cope with the pandemic. The banking sector makes for the backbone of the economy, so it is crucial to see how they have managed for the past year. Speaking on the topic during the Panel Discussion on Unlocking Growth & Resilience through Iterative Innovation at ETCIO Spectrum, Anita Pai, CIO at Yes Bank states,

“The question of whether Yes Bank has been resilient over the last one year, I think, the answer is a resounding yes...if you look at Yes Bank’s particular circumstances when the Covid-19 lockdown began last year, we were just emerging out of the moratorium, which is a once in a...banking industry ever to happen kind of a situation, so we came out of the moratorium with a new board and a completely new team and managed to bring back all our customers and reassure all our customers,” With the banking sector operating throughout the pandemic, albeit with half of its strength, it is critical to take into consideration other verticals like transport services like Uber that have added package delivery and food delivery to their lines of services in the past year. “Couple of things for me that stands out is how we have doubled down on Uber as a platform and delivery growth for our company and our customers...food delivery, grocery delivery has been the growth enabler for Uber in the past year and we are really proud of the pivot we have made in enabling and enhancing the delivery vertical of our business,” Megha Yethadka, Senior Director, Program Management at Uber talks at the panel discussion, of her experience with the lockdown in the past year.

It is interesting to note that while the dire situation seemed like a bane at first, even for a firm from the transport sector that was impacted terribly by the pandemic, has had quite a lot of growth in the past year by foraying into different sections of the business, eg - Uber Connect, Uber Medics, Uber Reserve that have helped diversify their model.

Shifting our attention to one of the hardest-hit industries, aviation, we spoke with Vinod Bhat, CIO at Vistara who stated, “Aviation was hit hard by the pandemic, but the good news is that Vistara had invested in the digital architecture, which was one of the first airlines in India, and one of the first airlines in the world to be on the cloud completely...and we had introduced touchless, paperless boarding about two years, that means our digital transformation had started way back,”

With the proper planning and investment in the right iterative technology, Vistara managed to avert, what could have been a major crisis in the past year. The pandemic helped fastrack the digital transformation process that a lot of companies had invested in.

“So we had two challenges, one is how do we make sure that we adhere to the regulations, to the process compliance for the customers, as well as, for the regulatory bodies and how do we help customers to travel back and still address the safety factor and address the hygiene factor,” Vinod explained on the challenges faced by the company, as well as the industry.

Investing in digital transformation, along with the PCP infrastructure, has helped companies throughout all verticals, one such being FMCG giant, Marico. Crediting more than just investments for their resilience, Uday Raj Prabhu, CIO at Marico says, “The larger reason for being resilient is also an empowered workforce, who are willing to put that extra bit and be extremely agile,”

While the demand for consumer goods has been high, even in the pandemic, the situation called for innovation in their products that enabled them to strengthen themselves even more so than before.

The pandemic may have proved to be a blessing for many, but not one more than the IT sector. Speaking of their excellent growth, Natarajan Radhakrishnan, President & Chief Innovation Officer at HGS Ltd. explains how they managed to make the best out of the worst,

“The proof is in the pudding...if you look at our nine-month results, this has been the best nine months for us ever, and if we look at the customer satisfaction scores, we have unbelievable net promoter scores at the recently concluded customer satisfaction survey, and I just got the employee satisfaction scores a week back and again, record scores,”

“So we did three major things, I would classify them into - technology initiatives, employee-related initiatives, and then the customer connect,” he explains further on how they managed to excel the way they did.

With such nuanced examples of iterative innovation, some being planned way before the pandemic, & resilience in the face of such adversity, it is evident that only through continuous effort & investment in the technology can lead us into the future, whatever field that may be.

9.1. GeM providing increasing market access to seller groups like MSEs, Women SHGs and Start-ups to reinforce the Make in India Initiative

Press Information Bureau, Jun. 17, 2021

Secretary, department of Commerce, Government of India Dr Anup Wadhawan today said that Government e-Marketplace (GeM) is providing increasing market access to seller groups like MSEs, Women SHGs, Start-ups reinforcing the Make in India Initiative and Govt of India’s policy to promote local MSEs.

Speaking to media, he said that presently GeM has over 6,90,000 MSE sellers and service providers onboard contributing over 56% of the total order value on GeM, which is a testament to GeM’s success in not only onboarding but also engaging with the MSEs to help them participate in public procurement. The number of MSEs registered on the GeM platform has increased by over 62% since the last FY (2019-20). And this is a tremendous achievement- considering that there were only around 3000 MSMEs in FY 2016-17.

Since its inception in August 2017, GeM has facilitated 67.27 lakh orders worth 111,113 Crores from 18.85 lakh registered sellers and service providers for 52,275 Govt buyers. Most importantly, 6,95,432 MSE sellers and service providers have fulfilled 56.13% of the total order value on GeM.

Recently, MSME Ministry launched a new Udyam Registration Scheme for all MSME businesses as per the new MSME policy. The new Udyam form has a provision to take consent from businesses for auto-registration on GeM portal. In order to further smoothen the seller registration process for MSEs on the portal, GeM has operationalized API integration with Udyam Registration databases and details of MSMEs, who have given their consent to share their details with GeM, are being auto imported on GeM for creation of their seller profile and notification. As on 31st May 2021, 18,75,427 vendors are registered on GeM out of which 6,98,178 are MSEs and the share of procurement from MSEs on the portal is approx. 57%.

Providing online market access to under-served seller groups has reinforced the “Atmanirbhar Bharat”, “Vocal for Local”, “Make in India” initiative and Govt of India’s policy to promote local MSEs. The GeM platform has ensured effective and seamless implementation of the Make in India policy and the Public Procurement Policy for Preference to Micro and Small Enterprises. In order to provide an impetus to the Make in India initiative as part of the vision of “Aatmanirbhar Bharat”, and to promote local products through the “Vocal for Local” initiative, the Government has made it mandatory for all sellers on GeM to list the Country of Origin while registering new products.

GeM is a dedicated platform for Start-ups to list their innovative products under 10 globally recognized Start-up subsectors was launched on 15th November 2019. At present there are 9,980 Start-ups registered on GeM and 87 of these Start-ups have listed their innovative products on Start-up Runway.

To address the credit access challenges faced by MSMEs a latest functionality also being rolled out specially for SMEs is the GeMSAHAY app. The #GeMSAHAY initiative paves way for frictionless financing by leveraging fintech. MSEs can now get a loan at the point of acceptance of an order on the #GeM platform. It will help in meeting the working capital needs and ensure “access to finance” for MSEs.

One of the major challenges faced by SMEs is access to timely cash-flow based financing, since borrower assessment is typically being done on collaterals. Even though there are schemes like TReDS which facilitate loans, SMEs continue to find it difficult to avail of uncollateralized cash-based loans. These challenges had been reviewed and recommendations were made towards resolving the same by RBI’s UK Sinha MSME Committee through its report in June 2019. The ‘SAHAY’ initiative- a mobile application for lending- comparable to BHIM for the Unified Payments Interface (UPI), was launched to address these issues.

GeM is collaborating with the Indian Software Product Industry Round Table (iSPIRT), a non-profit tech think tank’s volunteer team for the implementation of the GeM- SAHAY project, which has been tailored to meet the specific needs of MSMEs on the GeM platform. Sellers applying for the loan facility will experience a seamless end to end digital experience with a mobile application.

Through the ‘GeM SAHAY’ app, loan disbursement will be instantaneous, instead of the conventional in-principal approval of loan that may very often not culminate in an actual disbursal. This facility will provide GeM sellers who are sole proprietors, with the best loan offers from top lenders in the country including public sector banks, private banks and NBFCs.

The GeM SAHAY platform is ‘lender agnostic’, allowing for any lender, duly regulated by the Reserve Bank of India, to participate and provide capital and smart collection accounts to the Sellers on GeM.

GeM is proactively implementing several functionalities to ensure that payment cycles are kept as short as possible so that MSEs are incentivized to participate in public procurement in large numbers. GeM has designed its payment terms such that Buyers are mandated to make payments within 10 days of acceptance of material. Also, GeM has implemented a process under which if a buyer or a consignee does not take timely actions in accepting / rejecting the material or in making the payments, the GeM system itself triggers reminders and also initiates auto PRC, Auto CRAC and auto payments in the case of General Pool Account payment method. Further a provision has been introduced which will penalize the Buyers in terms of deduction of interest penalty on their funds if they delay payments to sellers against GeM contracts.

GeM was the first e-commerce portal in the country which had started displaying the “Country of Origin” of all products on the product description page prominently for giving its Buyers the right to make informed decision of procurement. Now it is mandatory for all sellers to upfront declare the Country of Origin without which they cannot upload products on GeM.

Going a step further, GeM has also started highlighting the Local Content % on the product description page prominently. So even within the products made in India, buyers can identify products that have higher local content and take informed decision accordingly. Buyers have been provided with a filter in the marketplace to identify and select products from amongst MII complaint sellers / products only. Sellers who do not declare Local Content % while uploading product and creating catalogue on GeM will lose out on business and will not be able to participate in bids in which buyer has chosen to procure only MII compliant products.

Public Procurement Policy for Preference for MSE and Make in India are fully implemented on GeM. In the GeM Marketplace a MII filter has been provided using which the Buyer can filter out all non-local suppliers and restrict its procurements under Direct Purchase and L-1 Purchase from amongst Local Suppliers only.

GeM has been working closely with Ministry of Rural Development, Ministry of Tribal Affairs, Ministry of Textiles, Ministry of MSME, National Bamboo Mission, Ministry of Agriculture to develop “GeM Outlet Stores” and provide online “access to markets” for under-served seller groups in remote rural areas. A dedicated portal showcasing exquisitely handcrafted tribal handicrafts, textiles, paintings and minor forest produce was developed with TRIFED, Ministry of Tribal Affairs and launched on 27th June 2020. Presently, there are more than 4,000 products made by tribal entrepreneurs are listed on the portal. GeM has initiated the seamless onboarding of nearly 18 lakh artisans and 35 lakh weavers/ allied workers with Department of Handicrafts and Handloom, Ministry of Textiles on 17th July 2020.

At present 28,365 artisans and 1.49 lakh weavers have been registered on GeM as sellers and are in the process of uploading their products in the relevant product categories. “ Khadi India” also showcasing a range of exquisitely handwoven natural fibre cloth products from the weavers of India and aims to provide them in rural areas with market access to Government byers. More than 4,100 sellers have successfully registered on the GeM portal. “The Divyangjan Collection” being a unique initiative to showcase finely crafted products made by persons with disabilities/ Divyangjan and aims to provide divyangjan with market access to Government buyers, NGOs working with Divyangjan can list their products in 6 exclusive product categories and in the regular marketplace on GeM.

The Saras Collection is a dedicated portal showcasing daily utility products made by self-help groups [SHG] was developed in collaboration with Ministry of Rural Development and launched on 04th May 2020. Presently, there are more than 3,000 SHGs registered sellers on GeM and have listed approximately 1,000 products on the portal.

A unique initiative of the National Bamboo Mission and GeM, “The Green Gold Collection” showcases a range of exquisitely handcrafted bamboo and bamboo products, handicrafts, disposals and daily utility products, and aims to provide bamboo artisans, weavers and entrepreneurs in rural areas with market access to Government buyers. Approximately more than 1,200 sellers have successfully registered and listed their products on the portal. This initiative seeks to promote the adoption and use of bamboo products among Govt buyers and usher a sustainable rural economy for an Atmanirbhar Bharat.

GeM has dedicated outreach and training teams which provide both offline and online needs-based trainings and webinars to empower all sellers across the country, in their language and customized to their unique contexts. GeM also has a dedicated online Learning Management System (LMS) Portal has been developed where all training resources on using the platform have been uploaded. The chatbot “GeMmy” provides an array of services like a virtual assistant while onboarding any type of seller on to the platform for intuitive contextual assistance.

Disclaimer: This information has been collected through secondary research and IBEF is not responsible for any errors in the same.

9.2. Delhi Development Authority invites suggestions on draft Master Plan 2041

ET Bureau, Jun. 11, 2021

The Delhi Development Authority (DDA) has invited objections and suggestions from the public on the draft Master Plan for Delhi -2041. The plan has already been approved by the authority and has been placed in public domain on Wednesday for 45 days. Master Plan for Delhi prepared by Delhi Development Authority is a statutory document that facilitates Delhi's development by assessing the present condition and guiding how to achieve the desired development. "With focus on tackling pollution and urban development, the Draft Delhi Master Plan 2041 is a roadmap for the future development of Delhi. The draft not only assesses the present condition of the National Capital, it also works as a guideline to achieve the desired development, with equal participation by key stakeholders like DDA, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs and National Institute of Urban Affairs," said Niranjan Hiranandani, National President, NAREDCO.

The draft focusses on 'housing for all'; as also on measures like 'refuge points' and 'self-sustained isolated residential areas' to deal with situations like the pandemic. "The 'new normal' in a world where humankind co-exists with Covid-19 has brought into focus the need to create self-contained and mixed-use areas with decentralized infrastructure, which augurs well for Delhi's future housing scenario. The draft envisages peripheral areas as the new housing zones, as a result of the land pooling and green development initiatives. It maintains focus on urban regeneration and densification in the city centre and around transit corridors as also rental and small format housing. Adoption of mix-use transit-oriented development (TOD) is a positive step," he said. Implementation of the Master Plan is the collective responsibility of all agencies involved in the development of Delhi, including the Central Government, concerned departments of the Government of the NCT of Delhi, service providers, landowning agencies, regulators, and local bodies among others. "We see a tremendous possibility for Delhi to become a world-class city. We are sure this will attract a lot of people to give their value-added comments and suggestions to make this draft a better one. Notwithstanding we would also like to thank the National Institute of Urban Affairs (NIUA) for giving an international flavour by incorporating high-quality concepts like Blue-Green factor, TDR promoting to make face of Delhi at par with any other international city," said Gaurav Jain, Vice President (North) NAREDCO.

The first Master Plan for Delhi was promulgated in 1962 under the Delhi Development Act 1957, followed by the Master Plans of 2001 and 2021, each of which is an extensive modification of the respective previous plan document. These plans were prepared for 20 years' perspective periods and provided a holistic framework for planned development of Delhi. "Endeavour is that the Master Plan will be a more people-friendly document easy-to-read and understood by the general public apart from professionals. A GIS-based plan will be developed which shall enable citizens of Delhi and other stakeholders to know the exact policies and provisions of the draft Master Plan," DDA said in a statement. Primary goals of draft Plan over next 20 years is to make Delhi an environmentally responsible, future-ready city focusing on ease of living, good quality, affordable, clean and safe living environments and efficient mobility options to all, vibrant place for economic, creative and cultural hubs, attracts talent and facilitates livelihood opportunities for everyone, inclusive health facilities and digital city. Other aspects of the Master Plan include provision of good quality green-blue areas for recreation and leisure, enhance Delhi's preparedness for climate change impacts and in tackling pollution and focus on non-ownership, rental and small format housing (particularly close to mass transit) with incentivising new formats like serviced apartments, condominiums, hostels, student housing, worker housing.

10.1. Flipkart strengthens supply chain with 23,000 new hires

IBEF, May 26, 2021

On May 25, 2021, Flipkart, Walmart-owned ecommerce organisation announced that the company has recruited 23,000 employees across capabilities in its supply chain unit since March.

Mr. Hemant Badri, Senior Vice-President, Supply Chain, Flipkart said, “The demand for e-commerce services in rising in India as citizens continue to stay indoor to combat the spread of the COVID-19 virus. This rising demand is pushing companies to ramp-up its supply chain capabilities, resulting in establishing thousands of job opportunities.” He added that all new recruits are eligible for healthcare and wellness initiatives and plans covered by the company.

The non-essential category contribute to > 90% of the orders for the company and it has been expanding its facilities to meet the rising demand for online groceries driven by the second wave of the COVID-19 which is forcing citizens to stay indoors.

The company added that in this quarter it plans to expand its fulfilment centres capacity for grocery by > 8 lakh square feet across cities like Chennai, Delhi, Kolkata, etc.

Through classroom and digital training, Flipkart is also providing training programmes to its direct hires in the supply chain to ensure enhanced awareness about COVID-19 safety.

The company initiated in 2007 and offers > 150 million products across 80 categories. It is estimated to have a registered customer base of > 300 million.

Grocery platforms such as Grofers, BigBasket, have also planned on hiring in the supply-chain segment.

Since February, BigBasket hired ~ 5,300 employees across its warehouse and delivery teams, while Grofers is estimated to have added > 2,000 employees since the beginning 2021.

Disclaimer: This information has been collected through secondary research and IBEF is not responsible for any errors in the same.

10.2. Apple supply chain creates 20.000 jobs in India: Report

IANS, Jun. 11, 2021

Manufacturers including Foxconn, Wistron and Pegatron were all committed to creating certain numbers of job opportunities when they applied to enter the subsidies programme under India's Production Linked Incentive (PLI).

New Delhi: Apple supply chain's shift of operation to India, in line with the incentives provided by the government, has reportedly created around 20,000 job in the country to date. According to a report in DigiTimes Asia, the number could have been higher were it not for the Covid-19 pandemic. Manufacturers including Foxconn, Wistron and Pegatron were all committed to creating certain numbers of job opportunities when they applied to enter the subsidies programme under India's Production Linked Incentive (PLI).

As per the report, if Foxconn and Wistron successfully meet their hiring plans pledged in their PLI application, they will each be adding 23,000 people to their Indian operations by the end of March 2022.

"The headcounts at Wistron's operation in India had been already approaching 10,000 when a riot by workers took place at its plant in December 2020, forcing the company to halt and restructure its systems and operations," the report claimed. Pegatron plans to hire 6,000-7,000 workers in India by the end of March 2022, the report added.

"Pegatron India has not started operations yet as it only decided the location of its production site in India earlier this year".

The number of Apple's suppliers operating in India increased to nine in 2020, up from six in 2018. The growth of headcounts hired by Apple suppliers will accelerate in sync with the number of suppliers shifting their supply chains to India.

In yet another fillip to the Make in India and domestic manufacturing dream of the Indian government, Apple said in March that its flagship and environment-friendly iPhone 12 smartphone will soon be produced in India for the local customers.

Apple started manufacturing iPhones in India in 2017 with iPhone SE. Today, Apple manufactures some of its most advanced iPhones in India including XR, iPhone 11, and now iPhone 12.

Apple's suppliers in India are now utilising solar and wind energy for their needs.

INDUSTRY & MANUFACTURE

11.1. UPMRC harnessing next-gen tech in metro projects: Kumar Keshav

ET Gov. May 24, 2021, Arpit Gupta

We have deployed Digital Project Management System using BIM technology for Kanpur and Agra metro rail projects, says Kumar Keshav, Managing Director of Uttar Pradesh Metro Rail Corporation

In line with the state-of-the-art Lucknow Metro Rail Project equipped with modern technology and advanced signalling system, the Uttar Pradesh Metro Rail Corporation has been making seamless efforts on the Kanpur and Agra Metro Projects – a Mass Rapid Transit System, to ensure sustainable transportation and Mobility as a Service (MaaS) that will help improve connectivity and ease traffic congestion.

Kumar Keshav, Managing Director of Uttar Pradesh Metro Rail Corporation (UPMRC) in an exclusive interview with ETGovernment talks about the project progress and how UP Metro is using technology to create robust mobility infrastructure?

Excerpts: How has UPMRC been leveraging digital technologies in Lucknow Metro? What are your plans on the anvil for Kanpur and Agra?

The Uttar Pradesh Metro Rail Corporation Ltd. (UPMRC) erstwhile Lucknow Metro Rail Corporation has adopted most advanced technologies to create an end-to-end world-class metro rail infrastructure. Digitisation plays a large role in all the metro projects and therefore we have automated several processes.

Technology has been the backbone of Lucknow Metro. Our rolling stock and signalling is fully automated, though driver is there but more like a supervisor. Our trains are ultra-modern, equipped with an advanced microprocessor-based train control management system (TCMS) and operate with the latest communications-based train control technology (CBTC). Energy efficient HVAC (heating, ventilation and air-conditioning) units have been installed in all trains for passenger comfort, apart from digital route maps for route and station identification.

Besides, we have also installed adequate CCTV cameras not only at metro station premises but also inside every metro train and to keep a proper electronic real-time surveillance with remote monitoring from station control and operational control centre. Our security is fully access-controlled and 100 percent operational areas are unmanned and access controlled. The state-of-the-art equipments like Door Frame Metal Detector (DFMD), Hand Held Metal Detector (HHMD), X-Ray Baggage Scanners etc. have also been installed at all metro stations.

The automatic fair collection system of Lucknow Metro facilitates online payments. We have an automatic fare collection system and RF technology based contactless GoSmart Card for seamless journey. Our all metro projects have been planned with high end technologies in all the spheres. We know the number of passengers that have travelled, the revenue earned, the safety problems (if any), etc.

We have also deployed Digital Project Management System using building information modeling (BIM Technology) for Kanpur and Agra metro rail projects. This includes 5-Dimensional Building Information Modeling (5D-BIM) and Common Data Environment (CDE) solution. In India, BIM is now being adopted by Rail and Metro projects for more efficient management and other benefits. Delhi, Nagpur, Pune, Chennai, Hyderabad are using BIM to plan, design, construct, operate and maintain metro projects.

We have implemented a lot of emerging technologies like artificial intelligence, cloud internet of things for women safety and everybody's safety in our metro projects. In addition, we have implemented an ERP system and HR management system in our office. As a result of that, our total operation and maintenance becomes very professional and economical. Our 100 percent drawings are digitised and we are using a 3d modeling system in Kanpur. We have developed a mobile app for the Lucknow Metro too. It provides a complete list and map of all stations, the nearest metro station to your location, gives an idea of how much the fare would be and many other facilities.

I am glad to inform you that Lucknow Metro is the first metro in India to start the sanitisation of metro train coaches with ultra violet (UV) rays.

Can you elaborate a little bit more on sanitisation?

We have taken inspiration from the New York Metro’s experiment to sanitise trains with UV lamp rays. Giving a boost to the Make in India mission, Lucknow Metro, in consultation with an Indian firm, has developed a UV sanitisation apparatus, which works on the UV Germicidal Irradiation disinfection method. The apparatus, certified by the Defence Research and Development Organisation in October 2020, sanitises the entire coach in seven minutes. It is the same apparatus that is being used by the medical industry to sanitise operation theatres and medical equipment. The best part of this initiative is that it is highly economical and reduces the cost to about 1 per cent of the total cost.

How has the Lucknow Metro improved mobility in the city and how do you plan to offer Mobility as a Service (MaaS) in Kanpur and Agra?

The Lucknow Metro project has improved mobility in the city by connecting prominent residential areas, commercial centres, marketplaces, educational institutions and most importantly the rail, road and air transport terminals. It has become city’s lifeline by providing a safe, secure, convenient, hassle-free and eco-friendly mode of public transportation. I strongly feel that there is an urgent need to adopt Mobility as a Service (MaaS) in cities and we will try to implement this in Kanpur and Agra. It can be achieved by weaving traditionally dominant transport modes – auto, rickshaw and city bus along with the Metro Rail into one service fabric using a single digital channel. We are progressing in this direction in Lucknow. Our GoSmart card is aimed to work as ‘one city one card’ facility. People can use the same card to travel in metro, taxi services, bike service to the first mile and last mile connectivity and also to pay utility (electricity and water) bills. Like foreign countries, by combining transportation services from public and private transportation providers through a common gateway to manage the trip and payment from a single account will immensely help to provide end-to-end convenient mobility solutions to travellers. Keeping in view of the same, UPMRC has been laying emphasis on common mobility platforms, apps, payment gateways, mobility cards to use public transport. UPMRC has forged a tie up with HDFC bank for providing services pertaining to finance and resource management. MoUs were signed with Uber for providing last mile connectivity to the passengers and Rapido for providing two wheeler taxi services to the passengers of Lucknow Metro. We also tied up with Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd. (BSNL) for facilitation of customer services for the benefit and convenience of all GoSmart Metro travellers. In a first of its kind integration in the country, an MoU between UPMRC and Nagar Nigam was also signed, which has paved way for GoSmart Metro Card users to pay their House/property tax at TOM (Ticket Operating Machine) counters and Excess Fare Office (EFO) of all the Metro stations of Lucknow.

What preparations have been done to make the Kanpur and Agra metro projects more advance in comparison to the Lucknow metro?

The Kanpur and Agra metro projects are larger in terms of cost than the Lucknow one. Both put together are three times larger. We have awarded a combined tender for rolling stock and signalling systems to build and deliver 201 metro cars and an advanced signalling solution for the Agra and Kanpur metro projects to Bombardier Transportation.

In the first phase, we will be procuring a total of 67 three-car train sets. Of these, 39 trains will be deployed on Kanpur Metro, while the remaining 28 trains will serve Agra Metro. The first metro train set is expected to be delivered by Aug-Sept 2021. The rolling stock will have a modern design, will be lightweight made of stainless steel, with 750V DC drive, variable voltage variable frequency control and regenerative braking.

The rolling stock will have a maximum design speed of 90 km per hour and an operational speed of 80 km per hour. Each train will have a passenger carrying capacity of almost 970 passengers. The trains will have a dedicated space for wheel chairs and seats reserved for senior citizens, differently abled and women. Besides, the trains will be equipped with LED lights to reduce energy consumption with USB charging ports for charging of mobile phones. Separate LCD screens will be installed in order to display advertisements and special/emergency messages.

We give topmost priority to the safety, security and protection of our commuters. Safety and security in and around metro stations will be well taken care of, as we would lay down a wide CCTV network around the existing metro stations and inside the trains.

What has been the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on UPMRC? How it has impacted your ongoing projects?

The Covid-19 pandemic is an unprecedented time which has created a global humanitarian and economic crisis. The operation of Lucknow metro is currently stopped because of the Corona curfew. Last year, metro operation remained suspended from March to September first week as per the government’s order to contain the spread of deadly disease. When we resumed the operations on September 7, 2020, we felt that people were hesitant to take a metro ride and our ridership was around 6,000 per day. However, we had already reached to ridership of 72,000 - 78,000 per day prior to Covid. We continued to offer better services and we reached upto 46,000 by the end of March 2021. It has affected us financially too.

Kanpur and Agra, both projects are very fast progressing but the pace of the progress work has been steady for the last one month.During the first wave, we steadfastly resumed the ongoing civil construction work of the ‘Priority Section’ of the Kanpur Metro project, albeit with necessary precautions and mandatory safety measures in line with the guidelines issued by the governments and the local administration.

We have drawn out a detailed ‘Business Continuity Plan’ and relevant ‘StandardOperating Procedures (SOPs) especially for this purpose.

Kanpur

I am happy to share that we are progressing toward timely completion of Priority Section of Kanpur Metro Rail Project even in the ongoing difficult times. Now, we have moved to the further stages of the Project and we have commenced the works of track, signaling-telecom, electrical and other systems too. Casting of the ballastless track has commenced and the first cross-over has been casted near IIT.

We had begun the civil construction work for Kanpur Metro’s 9 km priority section between IIT Kanpur and Moti Jheel on November 15, 2019. The priority section will have nine elevated stations. The project achieved its first big milestone by erecting the first Pier Cap on March 2, 2020. This milestone was achieved about three months earlier compared to the Lucknow Metro project.

After the outbreak of Covid, the execution of the project especially construction work has got impacted, as a lot of engineers and metro staff got infected by the Coronavirus. We are expecting that the trial run of the priority corridor would start in November 2021 and the commencement of revenue operations on the priority corridor would begin by January 2022.

The entire Kanpur Metro project with 32.5 KM long two corridors is expected to be completed in five years. Under the priority corridor, double T-girders are being used for preparing the base of the concourse level of the elevated metro stations, which is a first in India. It will help in reducing the construction time and enhancing the aesthetic beauty of the civil structure.

UPMRC commenced the erection of double T-girders on July 25, 2020 and in a record time of 7.5 months, it has been able to complete the installation of these girders at all the nine stations. Piling for the entire priority corridor has also been completed. Currently, about 340 of the total 622 U girders have been erected. Finishing works are also in progress and metro stations are taking shape gradually. The civil structure of the first station (IIT Kanpur) has also been completed.

Agra

The Agra Metro project has two corridors connecting all the key points and important tourist places in the city. The first corridor spans 14 km between Sikandara and Taj East Gate with 13 stations (six elevated and seven underground). The second corridor spans about 15.4 km between Agra Cantt and Kalindi Vihar with 14 stations, all of which are elevated. The total estimated cost of the project is Rs 83.8 billion.

Under the first corridor, a 6 km long priority stretch has been marked between Taj East Gate and Jama Masjid, comprising three elevated and three underground stations. The civil construction work of the Agra Metro project is being carried out at a fast pace and around 320 piles have been placed, while 9 piers have already been erected. The civil construction work of the priority corridor was started on December 7, 2020.

Currently, civil work is being executed at 3 km long elevated stretch of the priority corridor comprising three stations (Taj East Gate, Basai and Fatehabad).

Second phase of Lucknow

Lucknow Metro achieved the distinction of becoming the fastest built metro rail project in the country both in terms of completion of construction work and execution. The complete stretch of the North-South corridor from CCS Airport to Munshipulia was inaugurated in March 2019. Meanwhile, the second corridor the East West corridor of the Lucknow Metro’s Phase 1B is also on the table and yet to be approved by the government. It will connect Charbagh to Vasant Kunj and adjoining areas in between. It will also cover all the major densely populated places of old Lucknow.

You have implemented several green initiatives in Lucknow metro project. Is there any plan to continue it for Kanpur and Agra?

I take pride that UPMRC has executed Lucknow Metro, a complete green project, in a record time which is one of the fastest completed metro projects of India. We are certified to internationally recognised standards such as ISO 45001 on occupational health and safety management and ISO 14001 on environmental management. Our all metro stations – elevated, underground and depot – received ‘Platinum’ certified green buildings, this is the highest rating. Exactly on the same lines, we have started work in Kanpur and Agra metro projects.

Kanpur Metro’s Priority Corridor has attained the ISO certificates for environment and safety management. The corridor has been certified with ISO 14001 for environment management and ISO 45001 for safety management. After a rigorous audit by the auditors of United Registrar of Systems, Noida affiliated with UKAS, United Kingdom, Kanpur Metro has achieved this certification.

11.2. '5G' jobs doubled in one year in India; Cisco, Ericsson top recruiters

IBEF, Jun. 11, 2021

According to a report published by GlobalData, a data and analytics firm, between the fourth quarter of 2020 and first quarter of 2021, ‘5G’ jobs positions have doubled in India. Increasing number of organisations are focusing on 5G technologies, along with the government enabling 5G trials and testing. Businesses aim to integrate 5G technologies into current network components and establish R&D to advance services and offer improved customer management solutions.

Mr. Ajay Thalluri, Business Fundamentals Analyst at GlobalData, said, “Between the fourth quarter of 2020 and first quarter of 2021, ‘5G’ jobs positions have doubled in India, job listings have doubled, suggesting rising demand for ‘5G’ expertise. Key positions include engineers specialising in IP networking, networks, firmware, software and automation.”

Since January 2020 , Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (Ericsson) announced 20% of jobs in India, aiming at radio and cellular network prospects. It is also reviewing the security aspects of 5G networks by assessing business strategies and requirements.

Cisco Systems announced an investment worth US$ 5 billion on 5G projects globally, including India. Since January 2020, the company announced > 30% of 5G jobs in India. Cisco's 5G-based recruitment is led by engineers for core cloud and packet core teams to facilitate virtualised cloud services. Job positions also include 5G mobile core projects to transform customer business requirements into product technical requests and use cases.

Corporations such as Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co (HP) and Dell Technologies (Dell) that provide 5G-enabled devices are also focusing on hiring 5G domain expertise. Dell is creating a 5G R&D team in Bangalore to model and create products and solutions for enterprise customers and service providers. HP is also offering cloud-native 5G solutions.

Bharti Airtel plans to partner with the likes of Qualcomm Technologies in 5G/5G NR area and access chipsets. In May 2021, India's Department of Telecom approved proposals of telecom firms such as companies Reliance Jio Infocomm, Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL), Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Idea to conduct 5G trials, by collaborating with original technology providers and equipment manufacturers (OEMs) for end-use and applications.

Key job listings include 5G R&D director, software engineering; 4G/5G customer success specialist (CSS) - mobility; CMS R&D - 5G Micro-services Java Developer Karnataka, Bangalore, 5G systems engineer, embedded 5G/4G cellular RF software/firmware engineer.

Disclaimer: This information has been collected through secondary research and IBEF is not responsible for any errors in the same.

12.1. Tatas reviving Tata Teleservices: Company to cater to SMEs in new avatar

ET Tele., 26 May 2021, Kala Vijayaraghavan & Devina Sengupta

The revamped company will also support Tata Electronics, which was created to tap the SME segment, and its SuperApp digital platform, which will bring its various consumer services together.

Mumbai: Tata Sons is reviving telecom entity Tata Teleservices in a new avatar called Tata Tele Business Services (TTBS), which will cater to small and medium enterprises.

The revamped company will also support Tata Electronics, which was created to tap the SME segment, and its SuperApp digital platform, which will bring its various consumer services together. TTBS has launched Smartflo, a cloud-hosted communication platform targeting SMEs that have a hybrid work culture where people work from home and remote locations. Smartflo can be accessed through mobile phones and desktops.

Tata Sons had written off its investment of Rs 28,600 crore in Tata Teleservices in 2020. The consumer mobile business was transferred to Bharti Airtel but the enterprise segment was not merged with Tata Communications. The company is being rebranded now to tap the SME sector. Tata Communications caters primarily to large enterprises. India is estimated to have about 63 million small and medium enterprises. TTBS will offer services including intelligent call routing, call monitoring and an option for a dashboard to check the number of inbound and outbound calls. The service can be used for banking, insurance, manufacturing, ecommerce, healthcare, fintech and SMEs, which deal with customers in large numbers. Tata Sons has cleaned up the financial mess in the entity and will resume operations on a clean slate, top officials aware of the development said. Tata Sons did not comment. The holding company has put together a top team comprising of officials from Tata Teleservices, Tata Sons and Tata Communications to drive the initiative, a senior official said.

Harjit Singh Chauhan, president of the enterprise business at Tata Teleservices, is heading the revamped entity, which is also looking at the 5G space, where it will offer services to other telecom operators.

“Perhaps the most important part for 5G services will be the enterprise segment. Anybody who concentrates their resources towards that segment is following a sound approach. Its success will also depend on the timing and results of the auction of 5G spectrum as well as how the subsequent market plays out,” said Mahesh Uppal, director at Com First, a telecom consultancy. In 2020, Tata Sons made provisions of Rs 16,439 crore for its closed telecom business, taking the total amount written off to almost Rs 60,000 crore. Tata Teleservices took a hit after its three licences were among those cancelled by the Supreme Court in 2012 for irregularities in spectrum allocations. Later, the company got into a legal spat with its partner NTT Docomo, which decided to withdraw. Eventually, Reliance Jio’s entry in 2016 and a tariff war led the Tatas to sign a pact with Bharti Airtel to hive off the consumer mobile business of Tata Teleservices without any debt transfer.

12.2. Delhi Govt to begin single window facility for EV-charging scheme

IANS, 15 Jun. 2021

The upgraded scheme for installation of charging facilities will involve private and semi-public spaces as well as cooperative group housing societies (CGHS), high rises, Residents Welfare Associations (RWAs) etc.

Taking forward its electric vehicles policy in the city, the Delhi government is set to start a single window facility for installation of charging points for electric-run vehicles in private and semi-public spaces in the city. The upgraded scheme for installation of charging facilities will involve private and semi-public spaces as well as cooperative group housing societies (CGHS), high rises, Residents Welfare Associations (RWAs) etc.

Delhi Dialogue Commission of Delhi Government, which has been supervising the electric vehicle policy after a series of discussion with various representatives involved, including transport and power departments, Delhi Municipal Corporations (MCD), New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC), power Discoms etc, has decided to implement upgraded scheme.

"Delhi will soon get an innovative, single-window process for installation of slow and fast EV chargers. The decision was taken at the charging infrastructure working group to empanel vendors through discoms for smooth roll-out of EV chargers in private and semi-public places," said Jasmine Shah, vice-chairperson of DDC, a think tank of the Delhi government.

Delhi government further informed that institutional buildings like hospitals and commercial spaces like malls and theatres will also be involved in the policy. The government said the initiatives have come considering the growing demands of electric charging stations in individual houses and residential apartments and other private sectors.

The electric vehicles scheme of Delhi government was launched last year aiming to reduce fuel-running vehicles up to 25 per cent by 2024. To promote the scheme, the government in February this year had ordered all its departments, autonomous bodies and grantee institutions to replace their existing fleet of hired conventional fuel vehicles to electric vehicles.

To encourage the people of Delhi to adopt e-vehicles instead of fuel-run vehicles and has also offered a subsidy of 10,000 per kWh to the first 1,000 e-cars or electric four wheelers, with a capping of Rs 150,000 per vehicle.

A subsidy of Rs 5,000 per kWh of the battery capacity up to Rs 30,000 is also to be given on the purchase of each electric two-wheeler, auto-rickshaw, rickshaw and freight vehicle.

13.1. India will see breakthrough application of AI

ET Bureau, May, 29, 2021

Nilekani said this during a fireside chat with Ajay Sawhney, secretary in the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) and Debjani Ghosh, president of IT industry body Nasscom

India will see breakthrough application of artificial intelligence in various areas including the National Language Translation Mission, said Infosys chairman Nandan Nilekani.

Nilekani said this during a fireside chat with Ajay Sawhney, secretary in the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) and Debjani Ghosh, president of IT industry body Nasscom. The interaction was organised by INDIAai, a national AI portal set up by MeitY, National E-Governance Division and Nasscom.

“The work that MeitY is doing on the national language translation mission is a disruptive opportunity,” Nilekani said. “India is unique in the fact that it has such a large number of languages, all co-mingling, and most Indians speak two to three languages and so on.

Creating the world’s best language capability, whether its speech, text to speech, whether its language to language, I think India is well placed to show the world how to do it,” he added. Sawhney, speaking on the National AI Mission - on which MeitY is working jointly with the NITI Aayog - said that the core research would give “not just length but a tremendous amount of depth in coverage in terms of technology,” across various areas/sectors of application. Sawhney also spoke about the creation of a national public digital platform for healthcare, which knits together all healthcare providers on one platform.

13.2. Samsung smart healthcare centre to help govt hospitals fight Covid

IANS, Jun. 05, 2021

Samsung Smart Healthcare centres are equipped with modern Digital X-ray and Digital Ultrasound machines made by Samsung.

New Delhi: To help fight Covid-19 with better equipment and resources, Samsung India on Friday announced new Smart Healthcare centres at government hospitals across the country as part of its citizenship initiative. Samsung Smart Healthcare centres are equipped with modern Digital X-ray and Digital Ultrasound machines made by Samsung. "Samsung Smart Healthcare programme supports the government's efforts to benefit communities with limited access to quality healthcare," Partha Ghosh, Vice President, Corporate Citizenship, Samsung India, said in a statement.

"With these new centres, we now have our healthcare equipment in 142 government hospitals across India. We salute the Covid warriors who have been working tirelessly over the last year to help people," he added. The new hospitals where the centres are located are in cities such as Mumbai, New Delhi, Lucknow, Bengaluru, Bhopal, Ahmedabad, Indore, Keylong, Akola, Jamnagar, Shimla and Palakkad, among others. This addition takes the number of hospitals in the country covered under this citizenship programme to 142. In the last year alone, Samsung ramped up the programme to add 56 new Samsung Smart Healthcare centres in hospitals across 19 states, contributing to Covid-19 management. This included 15 Smart Healthcare centres in the last two months. The company's innovative Digital X-ray machines are being utilised for faster Covid-19 diagnosis at these government hospitals, the company said. Feedback from hospitals indicate that these Digital X-ray machines, which are portable, are extensively being used for in-room diagnosis of patients, it added. The Digital X-ray machines have also helped government hospitals improve efficiency and increase diagnostic capacities, as the output from these machines can be monitored by doctors directly on a computer screen, doing away with physical X-ray films.

14.1. India set to become global flying training hub with 8 new academies sanctioned by AAI

ET Gov. Jun. 04, 2021

This initiative is expected to help the Indian flying training sector become more self-sustaining.

Eight new flying training academies are being set up under the liberalized Flying Training Organisation (FTO) policy of the Airports Authority of India (AAI). These academies will be set up at Belagavi, Jalgaon, Kalburgi, Khajuraho and Lila Bari airports.

The establishment of these eight FTOs is aimed at making India a global flying training hub and to prevent the exodus of Indian cadets to foreign FTOs. Additionally, these FTOs will also be designed to cater to the flying training requirements of cadets in neighboring countries.

Attesting to the perseverance and determination of the team of the Airports Authority of India (AAI) is the fact that they successfully managed to finalize the bidding process amid the challenging period caused due to the second wave of COVID-19. These five airports have been carefully chosen since they have minimal disruption due to weather issues and civil/ military air traffic. This initiative will help the Indian flying training sector in becoming more self-sustaining under the Atmanirbhar Bharat initiative.

AAI had invited bids for establishing the academies in November 2020. The award letters were issued on 31 May 2021 to winning bidders: Asia-Pacific, Jetserve, Redbird, Samvardhane and Skynex. The parameters set for prospective bidders include familiarisation with aviation safety aspects, regulatory mechanisms, experience in the field of training pilots on manned aircraft, the availability of equipment, trainers, etc.

To make FTOs attractive for bidders, AAI reduced the minimum annual rental significantly to Rs 15 lakh. Furthermore, the concept of airport royalty was scrapped to make these ventures business-friendly, the Ministry of Civil Aviation said.

14.2. Government approves four firms under PLI scheme for bulk drugs

PTI, Jun. 01, 2021

The Department of Pharmaceuticals had launched the PLI scheme for promotion of domestic manufacturing of critical bulk drugs.

The government has given approval to four waitlisted firms under the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme for domestic manufacturing of bulk drugs, an official statement said on Monday. The Department of Pharmaceuticals had launched the PLI scheme for promotion of domestic manufacturing of critical bulk drugs -- Key Starting Materials (KSMs)/ Drug Intermediates and Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs).

It envisages setting up greenfield plants in four different target segments with a total outlay of Rs 6,940 crore for the period 2020-21 to 2029-30. All the 215 applications received for the 36 products spread across the four target segments were considered and appraised and selected participants duly informed, the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers said.

Now, four waitlisted applicants who are otherwise eligible have been approved against slots vacated by withdrawal by companies which had earlier been granted approvals, the ministry said. The companies which have been given approval are -- Solara Active Pharma Science Ltd, Rajasthan Antibiotics Ltd, Dhatri Lab Pvt Ltd and Vital Laboratories Pvt Ltd.

The products for which approval has been given are -- 1,1 Cyclohexane Diacetic Acid, Meropenem, Ritonavir and Levofloxacin, the statement said. "With this, a total of 46 applications with committed investment of Rs 5,355.44 crore and expected employment generation of about 11,210 have been approved by the government so far under the PLI Scheme for Bulk Drugs," the ministry said. Setting up of these plants will make the country self-reliant to a large extent in respect of these bulk drugs, it added.

15.1. New age technology in fast-changing landscape

ET CIO, Jun. 03, 2021, Anjana Rao

The immediate future is all about leveraging the power of AI, AuT, IoT, AR and VR to revolutionize most of the industries—be it manufacturing, supply chain logistics, retail, education, healthcare or financial services.

What we witness today is a world that is evolving and adapting itself to the disruptions caused by emerging and changing technologies. The consumers too have been forthcoming in embracing the innovations brought by these technologies to ease our day-to-day lives.

From an era of smart devices to connected devices to connected experiences, we as consumers have played a critical role in making the impact of these technologies more profound by adapting to the tech-led innovations, and being willing to allow the tech enablers to gather more data for improvised and personalized experiences.

The immediate future is all about leveraging the power of AI, AuT, IoT, AR and VR to revolutionize most of the industries be it manufacturing / supply chain logistics / retail / education / health care / financial services. In this article, I will cover a few use cases of these technologies working together to simplify our lives.

Autonomous Things (AuT / AuIoT)

As we all know autonomy is all about the ability to take informed and independent decisions and related to it is autonomous; self-governing. Autonomous thingsare all about adding an edge to automated process orautomated operations by clubbing them with the power of AI to enable informed decision-making and removing human intervention from operations.

Autonomous things have the power of transforming multiple industries like manufacturing, health care, vehicle, defence services, emergency response systems,retail, construction, education etc.

The Indian Agriculture Industry has a large potential to transform itself with the power of Autonomous Things. The farmer community can reap its benefits by innovating the entireagri-eco system with Smart Sowing Vehicles which can sense the perimeter of the farm without the intervention of farmers. It can automate sowing of seeds and cutting of crops, smart vehicles, drones can be connected with weather forecasting systems and can be enabled to inspect, monitor, spray insecticides, and buying and selling recommendations can be enabled via farmer’s app. Crop insurance also can be enabled, and claims too can be settled with the help of autonomous things.It has the potential to revolutionize the farming industry.

Defence Services can leverage the Autonomous things in a big manner to come with fully automated vehicles for patrolling and surveillance equipped with thermal imaging sensors and the ability to trigger an attack. It will ensure the safety of our army staff as well. Autonomous things will impact Emergency Response Drives, Evacuation drives, distribution of medicines to cyclone or flood affected areas. It will ensure materials reach without delay. Smart city and elderly care are other areas where Autonomous Things has a wide-spread role to play. Its scope will continually increase in the immediate future

Increased Use of AR/ VR

We have been talking about immersive experiences which can be enabled by VR but has been largely used by the gaming industry. In the current times of study from home, AR/ VR can be applied to make the learning experience very immersive. Owing to the lockdowns, students can experience physics and chemistry experiments without being physically present in school labs. Anywhere learning can be made interactive and effective with the deployment of the AR / VR technologies. This comes handy for engineering and medical students as well. Besides this interactive user manual for home appliances, vehicles, vehicle claims investigation, retail shopping experience in the current pandemic scenario can be enhanced by augmented / virtual reality.

Blockchain

Another emerging technology which is poised to create a profound impact on various businesses is Blockchain. This technology is all set to transform the banking and insurance sector to operate in an efficient manner and impact the health providers in a major way. All patient medical records s can be maintained in a secure manner, and the same can be accessed by various ecosystem providers like insurance companies basis customer consent.

It also can enable event-based notifications for insurers to initiate claims processing e.g., Cashless Mediclaim registration to be initiated every time a patient checks-in to the hospital. While admitted in the hospital he / she succumbs to the disease, insurance carriers can automatically be notified without any intervention. This proactive notificationthen automatically triggers claim processes.

Blockchain tech can transform the way our electoral polls are conducted, by enabling transparency in polls. Other areas of our lives which can get impacted by this technology are the real estate buy and sell result in reduction of lengthy transactions.

Voice Technology

While we see the emergency of voice-based bot slowly taking over outbound calling, IVRS handling and inbound calls, voice technology has the potential to emerge as a new interface and can displace the existing GUI interfaces in a big way. It minimizes the efforts taken by the customer to reach out to the organization for help. Voice command enabled personnel devices are already in vogue. To provide a differentiated experience for their customers enterprises will soon start assigning personal assistants to customers which are controlled by voice commands. Voice technology also paves way for conversations to take place in regional languages, which can be leveraged by financial institutions and insurance companies to increase their outreach to a larger population base who are not literate.

15.2. Global IoT market to surpass $1 trillion mark by 2024: GlobalData

IANS, 03 Jun. 2021

The global IoT market was worth $622 billion in 2020, up from $586 billion in 2019, and will grow to reach $1,077 billion by 2024, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 13 per cent over the period, according to data and analytics company GlobalData.

New Delhi: The global internet of things (IoT) market by revenue will be worth $1.1 trillion by 2024, with much of the growth coming from wearables, a new report said on Wednesday. The global IoT market was worth $622 billion in 2020, up from $586 billion in 2019, and will grow to reach $1,077 billion by 2024, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 13 per cent over the period, according to data and analytics company GlobalData. The dominance of the enterprise IoT will continue for the foreseeable future. The enterprise IoT dominates the overall IoT market, generating 76 per cent of total revenue in 2020.

GlobalData expects this segment to still occupy 73 per cent of the overall IoT market in 2024. "The ongoing Covid-19 pandemic has highlighted the crucial role the IoT has come to play in our lives.

Several IoT use cases saw growing adoption during the pandemic, including using connected thermal cameras to detect potential Covid-19 infections and sensors for monitoring office occupancy levels," said Jasaswini Biswal, Associate Project Manager for Thematic Research at GlobalData.

The Covid-19 driven new digital transformation wave will fuel higher growth across all IoT markets. "The demand for technologies that can help the workforce get safely back to work is rising and will likely continue to grow. IoT applications such as contact tracing devices and health-monitoring wearables provide critical data to help fight the pandemic," Biswal added.

According to a Globaldata survey, 48 per cent of respondents showed a positive sentiment towards IoT, and 45 per cent believed IoT would play a critical role in the new business generation over the next three years.

- SERVICES (Education, Healthcare, IT, R&D, Tourism, etc.)

16.1. IBM says to provide access to its quantum systems to Indian educational Institutions

ET Tel. May 25, 2021

NEW DELHI: America’s IBM Tuesday said it will provide over-the-cloud access to its quantum system to Indian educational institutions so as to enable them in providing training and research in quantum computing.

The institutions in discussion include Indian Institute of Science Education & Research (IISER) - Pune, IISER – Thiruvananthapuram, Indian Institute of Science (IISc) Bangalore, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) - Jodhpur, IIT- Kanpur, IIT - Kharagpur, IIT – Madras, Indian Statistical Institute (ISI) Kolkata, Indraprastha Institute of Information Technology (IIIT) Delhi, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR) Mumbai and the University of Calcutta.

The faculty as well the students of these institutions will be able to access IBM quantum systems, quantum learning resources, and quantum tools over IBM Cloud for education and research purposes, the New York-based company said in a statement. This will allow them to work on actual quantum computers and program them using the Qiskit open-source framework.

The collaboration will be a part of the IBM Quantum Educator program that provides benefits like additional access to systems beyond IBM’s open system, pulse access on the additional systems. priority considerations when in the queue and private collaboration channels with other educators in the program.

Further, IISER-Thiruvananthapuram, ISI-Kolkata, and IIT-Madras will host quantum computing lab courses for their undergraduate and postgraduate students and will include lab sessions using IBM quantum systems.

According to the NYSE-listed company, an estimated 100-150 students are expected to benefit from this partnership every year.

“By providing access to our systems over cloud, IBM is enabling India’s brightest minds to learn the skills to prepare for this disruptive future. IBM is committed to growing a quantum-ready workforce and building an ecosystem to nurture the quantum community in India. With this engagement, we can take it a step further to scale up this ecosystem in India, for India and the world,” said Gargi Dasgupta, Director, IBM Research India & CTO, IBM India/South Asia.

Global research firm Gartner said 44% of enterprises expect quantum computing to have a substantial impact on business in the next 3-5 year, while from an employability perspective, a BurningGlass Technologies survey notes that the demand for quantum skills is expected to grow 135% in the next five years.

16.2. We are building our future on IoT and Industry 4.0: Deepak Shetty, JCB India

ET CIO, 21 May 2021, Nikhar Aggarwal

The company is using IoT and other next gen technologies to monitor, operate and service JCB machines remotely.

JCB entered India over four decades ago and has since brought in products with state-of-the-art technology. The company introduced the iconic JCB Backhoe Loader in 1979, a machine that has since revolutionised the way construction is done in the country. JCB India has integrated innovation and technology across the organisation – in products, manufacturing, and equally in product support. Significant advancements in the area of fuel efficiency, reliability, and lowering of operating costs have also been made over the years.

As a traditional company with a legacy of technology and systems, JCB has outdone the industry expectations with technology projects such as JCB LiveLink and the use case of IoT. JCB pioneered the integration of digital technology in its range of machines through advanced telematics called JCB ‘LiveLink’. Introduced in 2015, Livelink connects the machine with customers, dealers, and JCB on a real time, 24x7 basis for better asset management.

“This technology is enabled with analytics and real time monitoring features which help users increase productivity, control costs, and ensure asset safety. We have integrated features such as remote monitoring of JCB Machines for – Security, Operations, and Service on mobile devices. Machines can be geo-fenced and time-fenced. Customers can get to know about the machine’s health, fuel level, battery conditions, and almost all critical parameters of the machine remotely. It enables better site management and equipment utilisation,” Deepak Shetty, CEO & MD, JCB India told ETCIO.

JCB LiveLink, Unified technology for everything

JCB has leveraged technology to include a feature that can provide an early warning with detailed machine history enabling users to plan work effectively. This technology is helping to lower servicing and running costs by ensuring machines are operated to their optimum performance, reducing fuel consumption and unnecessary machine wear. By monitoring idle-time and real-time fuel consumption, JCB LiveLink helps manage the whole life cost of ownership, driving down costs, driving up productivity. “We are constantly innovating our business model with new technologies. One such innovation is Livelink that has transformed the way machine-to-machine and machine-to-customer communication is done. Additionally, the system also sends out alert SMSs to registered mobile numbers. It incorporates GPS, telecommunications, machine electronics, and IoT, enabling the equipment to remain in contact with the owner, dealer, and JCB,” Shetty added.

Smart Manufacturing

From a manufacturing standpoint, The company has a strong robotic footprint in manufacturing, thus ensuring unified global quality. The machines that are made in India are exported to over 110 countries today.

“We are working towards an Industry 4.0 ecosystem in our plants, which helps in real-time monitoring of manufacturing processes. It also helps in making processes more efficient, thus helping us manufacture machines smartly in lesser time. Continuous improvements are made on the shop floor for the safety of people working in our factories. Various dashboards are available on the floor for sharing live information about the production and progress of operations. With SAP ERP implemented across all our plants, we are working towards an integrated manufacturing process. We have built a robust IT Landscape that supports the organisation in making informed decisions,” Shetty emphasised.

The challenging time of the pandemic

“COVID-19 has had an unprecedented effect on several industries including ours. We are all going through an extremely challenging period. Around the same time last year, almost all infrastructure development projects had come to a standstill due to the Lockdown. We are now again witnessing disruption caused by the Pandemic in its Second Wave,” Shetty said.

“Due to an increase in the infection rate around us, the health and safety of our colleagues and their families have become even more important. We decided to pause manufacturing operations for 10 days as a precautionary measure across our manufacturing locations at Ballabgarh, Pune, and Jaipur. However, even during this phase all our customer and dealer-facing functions continued to operate with the help of digital technology. Agility and Real Time Communication have become key in times such as these,” Shetty added.

With the use of IoT-enabled connected technologies, JCB India can build efficiencies in products and worksites alike. JCB India uses Livelink to monitor machines on their usage, performance, and their location.

“We were able to ascertain that activity in Rural India had commenced sooner than the urban market basis of the data generated. Similarly, equipment usage data up to the district level can also help us plan product support better to remain closer to our customers. Today, over 1,80,000 JCB machines communicate in real time and the data helps us in trends about the scale of Infrastructure activity in the country,” Shetty highlighted.

Digital sales enabler

The company is also using an omnichannel and mobility approach to serve customers better. JCB parts can be purchased through a mobile app and this feature has proved beneficial during the Pandemic and the company is seeing an uptick in the online sales of parts.

The company has instrumentally used technology to support its sales division. JCB actively uses Sales Master, a software for sales management and internal tool called smart serve which supports teams and service engineers at various dealerships.

Technology layout

JCB will continue to invest in technology as we go further. The company has pioneered the integration of digital technology in its machines that are helping build infrastructure across the country. The digital footprint of the organisation is set to increase over the next few years. This integration will continue to be at an organisation-wide level, which includes people, processes, and products.

The company is also pioneering in the area of Alternate fuels. Late last year the team launched the Industry’s first dual-fuel CNG (Compressed Natural Gas) Backhoe Loader in India. Called the JCB 3DX DFi, this new machine can operate on CNG and diesel simultaneously using the HCCI (Homogeneous Charge Compression Ignition) technology.

According to Shetty, the pandemic has opened up various opportunities for staying connected remotely for JCB India. The company has digitally-enabled HR functioning, which is eliminating face-to-face interactions and also leveraging technology to efficiently manage various processes.

“Going forward, we will keep investing and exploring new technologies. From a product perspective, we have been utilising IoT, machine learning, and big data ever since we introduced our advanced Telematics ‘JCB Livelink’. This focus on data analytics will get us more insights and will also help us provide predictive analysis to plan for the future as an organisation. All of which is of benefit to our customers,” Shetty concluded.

17.1. Capgemini building up India team to ride 5G, Edge wave

ET Bureau, Jun. 07, 2021, Anand Chandrashekhar

Capgemini India intends to position itself increasingly as a hub for 5G and Edge projects and has also been skilling Indian executives in this direction, CEO Ashwin Yardi says.

Mumbai: Capgemini SE is strategically building out its India team to serve the next wave of demand for skills in technologies like 5G and edge computing, said Ashwin Yardi, chief executive of Capgemini in India. As more global enterprises experiment and co-develop use cases surrounding both technologies, the company's India unit intends to position itself increasingly as a hub for such projects and has also been skilling Indian executives in this direction. Yardi said that from autonomous cloud to cars, increasingly more products and services are becoming embedded with software and that Capgemini has been capitalising on this trend through its “intelligent industry” offering, which includes work on cloud, Artificial Intelligence, Internet of Things (IoT) solutions, edge computing and 5G, which are technology areas that have a big footprint in India for the company.

“Some of the biggest use cases of 5G will be on the shop floor of plants. More companies will start looking at these use cases and it will be a sort of next wave of demand for skills in India. That's why our whole focus is on 5G, edge (computing) and intelligent industry,” he said. Capgemini recently announced a 5G lab in Mumbai towards the same where companies can prototype and test their 5G projects. This is the third such lab following two in Portugal and France. The technology has become a key focus area for Capgemini following its acquisition of French engineering-consulting firm Altran last year, now rechristened Capgemini Engineering. “5G is one of the key focus areas for Capgemini group globally, and specially with the acquisition of Altran, which has a big footprint in telecom technologies… It (5G lab) is a 1,500 square feet lab with all the 5G test beds,” Yardi said. The idea is that any client can experience 5G and Edge PoCs (proof of concepts), use cases can be piloted here.” While in the last year companies were forced to digitalise and modernise their technology infrastructure after the onset of the pandemic, in the last few months, they are focussing on ramping up their digital capabilities strategically, according to Yardi.

“Last year probably was a more tactical response to keep the business running. Now it's a much more strategic way of defining new ways of working and enabling your technology to support it,” he said.

“For example, initially we moved to doing some of our interviewing, onboarding virtually. But now we are doing such a radical volume, having the process virtualized as is is not good enough. The entire model including the whole campus has been virtualised.” As a result of the bump in business demand, the India unit may also ramp up hiring, he said. “In the beginning of the year or last year when we were planning, we had said we would hire 30,000 in India and in 2020 we had hired 25,000. But the reality is the way we are seeing the market dynamic, much more robust growth (is expected) than what was originally planned.” Yardi did not specify by how much percentage hiring would increase in the coming year.

17.2. Indian Public Cloud market to reach $9.5 bn by 2025

IANS, Jun. 07, 2021

The Indian Public Cloud services market revenue reached $3.6 billion for 2020 and is set to reach $9.5 billion by 2025, grow at a CAGR of 21.5 per cent, according to a new IDC report.

New Delhi: The Indian Public Cloud services market revenue reached $3.6 billion for 2020 and is set to reach $9.5 billion by 2025, grow at a CAGR of 21.5 per cent, according to a new IDC report. For the second half of 2020, the Indian public cloud services market totalled $1.9 billion, according to according to IDC's 'Worldwide Semiannual Public Cloud Services Tracker'. The Public Cloud services market includes infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS), platform-as-a-service (PaaS) solutions and software-as-a-service (SaaS).

"Public clouds played a critical role for organisations in 2020, driven by business continuity, flexibility and agility. Cloud will become crucial as organisations expedite the development process and deployment of business applications to meet the changing work and business environment," said Rishu Sharma, Principal Analyst, Cloud and Artificial Intelligence, IDC India. SaaS continued to be the largest component of the overall public cloud services market, followed by IaaS and PaaS last year. The spending continues to accelerate, with the top two service providers holding 49 per cent of the Indian public cloud services market for 2020. Even though enterprises in the country have been discussing cloud adoption for the past few years, the Covid-19 pandemic forced enterprises to expedite their cloud strategy. "This accelerated cloud adoption in the country by several years. Businesses started adopting cloud to host a wide array of applications ranging from email servers to many complex systems like data warehousing, advanced analytics, etc," said Harish Krishnakumar, Senior Market Analyst, IDC India. There was also an increased migration of enterprise applications to the cloud. "Moreover, the remote working induced by the pandemic propelled the demand for remote storage capabilities and also resulted in increased adoption of cloud-based collaboration tools, VDI applications, etc," Krishnakumar added.

The pandemic continued to be the key driver of cloud adoption as enterprises continued their investments in cloud infrastructure, platforms, and software to improve the resiliency of their business operations and equip themselves to tackle successive waves of the pandemic. As business objectives aim at gaining resiliency, IDC expects cloud adoption to be further accelerated for rapid digital innovation.

18.1. TCS launches innovation hub in Amsterdam

ET Bureau, May, 22, 2021

The TCS Pace Port Amsterdam is the third co-innovation centre by Tata Consultancy Services, after New York and Tokyo, in its network of physical-digital innovation hubs.

Mumbai: Tata Consultancy Services Ltd. (TCS), India’s largest software services exporter, has launched TCS Pace Port Amsterdam, a co-innovation and advanced research centre in the capital of the Netherlands. This is the third co-innovation centre by TCS, after New York and Tokyo, in its network of physical-digital innovation hubs. The central objective of these centres is to provide a framework for the company's clients to ideate better, work on creative solutions faster, and focus efforts on more purpose-driven business needs. According to the company, the TCS Amsterdam innovation centre will have an ecosystem of partners from academia, government institutions, start-ups and technology providers and will serve as a hub for TCS teams to co-innovate with European customers, "guiding them through the discovery, definition, refinement and delivery phases of innovation”.

The centre will also provide rapid prototyping capabilities with a focus on finding and creating sustainable solutions. “TCS believes that collaborative innovation, harnessing the collective knowledge of an ecosystem of partners can help companies realize their purpose and build a greater future,” said Sapthagiri Chapalapalli, head of TCS Europe. “Our new Pace Port at Amsterdam will serve as a European innovation hub that helps our clients build long-term sustainability, which is a core driver of purposeful business.” Diederik Samsom, Head of Cabinet for European Green Deal & Executive VP, European Commission Frans Timmermans, said, “As part of the European Commission, our aim for the Green New Deal is to create a comprehensive, ambitious plan for a green future driven by technology. That is why I welcome initiatives like TCS PACE that can bring together digital capabilities, an innovative mindset and collaborative ecosystems to help European businesses work together to build a greener, more sustainable Europe.”

18.2. AI and Data Analytics is the future of the Indian healthcare system: RS Sharma, NHA Chief

ETCIO, June, 10, 2021, Nikhar Aggarwal

Delivering a keynote address at ETCIO Spectrum 2021, Dr Ram Sewak Sharma, CEO, National Health Authority (NHA), Government of India shared the journey of CoWIN application development. He has also highlighted the use cases of AI, data analytics and emphasized an open API and digital ecosystem for collaborative innovation. While concluding the keynote address, Sharma expressed the government’s digital transformation vision.

Covid-19 pandemic has taught us the importance of digital technologies. We can deliver services in a digital way and healthcare is no exception in this.

Speaking at ETCIO Spectrum, Dr Ram Sewak Sharma, Chief Executive Officer (CEO), National Health Authority (NHA), Government of India said the government is focused on leveraging technology to boost healthcare service delivery. "Today, we have a digital ecosystem in the country with which we can do online doctor consultations, and even get medicines delivered through digital channels. This digital evolution will boost the healthcare sector in India,” Sharma said.

As highlighted by Sharma, today the country has a digital ecosystem where medical records can be digitally stored and shared by healthcare organizations that optimise the service delivery. India has developed digital assets such as consent artefact, digital identities, digital payment systems, virtual authentications, etc which are supporting the digital delivery of healthcare services in the country.

“The National Digital Health Mission announced by the honourable Prime Minister is fueled by technology and will be a catalyst in the country’s digital transformation journey. We are working towards creating an ecosystem where doctors, healthcare professionals, laboratories, medical institutes, pharma companies, and other important divisions will be interconnected in a digital grid. This ecosystem will help in monitoring and efficiently delivering healthcare services in the country,” The Official added. The digital platform which NGA is enabling under the National Digital Health Vision will drive healthcare services ubiquitously especially in the rural areas.

According to Sharma, In urban areas, there is no challenge of acquiring physical and digital infrastructure. Digital channels such as video conferencing will eliminate the service gap between urban and rural areas. Digital will help in connecting and delivering services in remote areas of the country. Sharma feels that there will be dependence on physical facilities such as hospital services, etc but with digital, citizens in rural areas can search and avail services in an effective and timely manner.

With digital platforms supporting the healthcare functions such as managing prescriptions, healthcare records, patient’s medical history, etc, a lot of data is being generated. This data will play an instrumental role in redefining the digital healthcare system of the country. Without violating the privacy of citizens, the digital ecosystem will leverage technologies such as Artificial Intelligence to gain insights and will help in taking data-backed intelligent decisions.

“Data Analytics will play a key role in the healthcare transformation of the country. Next-generation technologies such as Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning will improve the efficiency of medical instruments and even diagnostics will be enhanced,” Sharma highlighted.

Speaking on the pandemic, Sharma said that Covid-19 is a tragic event that the world has witnessed, and he believes that every tragedy gives birth to opportunities. One of such opportunities is the enablement of work from home. THe emphasised that the pandemic has taught us that we can work from home with equal efficiency and productivity.

The CoWIN platform development

The honourable Prime Minister of India started the drive of digitally enabled vaccine registration in January 2021.

According to Sharma, in the initial phase of the application development, the team faced several glitches in the platform.

“In the starting, we did face glitches just like any normal software development process can report. Within a few days, we have fixed and eliminated every possible system glitch. We have been upgrading the system since then.

Today the CoWIN platform is enabled with real-time monitoring of vaccine data. From registration of vaccines to delivering certificates of vaccination, our system is fully prepared and enabled with the right technologies. The system is highly scalable. On 28th April at 4 PM we opened the platform for citizens, and within 8 hours we have recorded 1.37 crores registration on the platform,” Sharma highlighted.

Sharma revealed that around 55,000 concurrent activities per second were recorded on the platform. His team has developed the platform in a simple user interface, avoiding complex actions to make the experience easy for users.

“We have designed the platform with API based methodology which extends integration with the possibility of compliance for other applications. State governments such as Chattisgarh have developed an application for the state data which is also interconnected and complied with CoWIN. The country’s innovative culture will foster this system and help in adding more features,” Sharma added.

NHA is planning to open more policies for private players. Currently, private companies have been integrated into the COWIN system for vaccine availability and certification downloads. NHA is keeping an open ecosystem with proper compliance for innovation and enhancement of the application.

“India is going to have a quantum jump in digital and communication technologies. First, we created the digital identity infrastructure, then we have developed products such as e-KYC, consent framework, online authentication and many more on top of it. We have created artefacts for cashless, paperless governance. With the advancement of UPI, we have over 3 billion transitions per month. Now we are venturing into several areas such as healthcare and online education,” Sharma expressed.

Sharma is confident about introducing open APIs and open digital ecosystems. Today, the government has created data empowerment and protection architecture. Citizens can use their data for their own benefits without worrying about data misuse.

The Ayushman Bharat Yojana

The Ayushman Bharat Yojana is one of the world’s largest schemes which covers over 54 crores of citizens. The system is built to provide paperless disposal of processes such as health claims, reimbursements, etc. Authentication technologies have been leveraged to recognise patients and monitor the treatment management system which includes checking the treatment for which the patient is applying claim.

“We are using fraud analytics, and Artificial Intelligence in the platform to make it efficient and beneficial for the citizens of India. Apart from implementing technology and new features to the scheme, we are working towards issuing PVC cards to beneficiaries under the Ayushman Bharat scheme for empowering them about their benefits and facilities,”

Optimising data privacy and security in the country

“Starting from The National Digital Health Mission and all other digital platforms which India is building, We are following two foundational concepts. One is privacy by design and another is collection of minimal data,” Sharma said.

As emphasised by him, privacy by design is the core element that enables privacy and security of data throughout processes. And minimal and most required data is captured through sources that do not violate any kind of privacy or bring allegations to anybody.

Ownership of data and locally storing it also helps in maintaining privacy and security. Sharma further explained with an example, if a citizen’s health records are captured in any hospital, then the data should remain there. And without citizen consent, the data will not be shared or accessed by any other healthcare care organization. The consent is for benefiting the citizens. The team is working on nurturing a federated data architecture to add another layer of data privacy to the system.

“Private healthcare players should come along with the government and join programs such as the National Digital Health Mission. The innovative culture will help the country to enhance healthcare service delivery and new emerging technologies will make the system more efficient. The collaboration will create better platforms and drive digital healthcare services in India,” Sharma concluded.

19.1. Cloud adoption is $414-billion goldmine for companies, says Infosys survey

ET Tech, may, 26, 2021, Alnoor Peermohamed

The company said it identified a strong profit link to enterprises using cloud to rapidly bring new solutions and services to the market

The increased adoption of cloud technologies represents an opportunity worth over $400 billion in additional annual profits across industries such as financial services, insurance, manufacturing, healthcare and retail, according to a new survey by Infosys.

In its Cloud Radar study, which spanned six countries -- the US, UK, France, Germany, Australia and New Zealand -- and had over 2,500 respondents, Infosys found that effective adoption of the cloud could bring in up to $414 billion in new net profits annually for businesses.

The company said it identified a strong profit link to enterprises using cloud to rapidly bring new solutions and services to the market, and leveraging automation and artificial intelligence to build new cloud-based sources of revenue.

“There’s a strong correlation to the bottom lines of corporations and cloud transformation. It’s good to see that we are able to add direct value to the bottom line of enterprises we work with and this study has proven that we have a phenomenal opportunity,” said Narsimha Rao, EVP and head of cloud, infrastructure and security services at Infosys.

The survey also found that for enterprises to achieve cloud-fuelled profit boosts, at least 60% of their IT systems need to be on the cloud, and for businesses to extract maximum benefits from AI, at least 80% of their business functions need to be on the cloud.

However, the study found that just one in six enterprises have achieved exceptional cloud performance. Only 17% of respondents had shifted over 60% of their business to the cloud in 2020, but that number is expected to reach 41% of businesses by as early as next year.

Rao added that this represented a massive opportunity for Indian IT services firms such as Infosys to help enterprises transition to the cloud. He said that while several enterprises boosted their cloud adoption as a defensive measure last year, these businesses were now looking to adopt cloud technologies to go on the offense and grow their businesses and profits. Infosys said that even sectors such as hospitality, which have been among the hardest hit by the pandemic, are looking to transform themselves through cloud adoption to adapt to a future of hybrid work.

19.2. Revolutionizing healthcare with data analytics and artificial intelligence: An efficient mapping study

ET Health World, 28 May, 2021, Dr. Sambita Ghadai

With the availability of a huge amount of data daily, the algorithms have started giving better results with higher accuracy and in less time. The benefits of this technology on the healthcare sector is immense. Right from keeping patient records digitally, to customization of treatment, every operation has been made seamless, accurate and within no time.

Two decades ago, having access to all the needs and luxuries of the world at the tip of our fingers was a distant dream. However, the world has witnessed many changes in recent years, completely transforming the way we live our lives. The Industrial Revolution, The World Wars, The Great Depression, The age of computers & Information Technology and now Industry 4.0. Industry 4.0 is the result of the advent of recent technologies like the Internet of Things, Cloud Computing, Artificial Intelligence (AI), and Cognitive computing etc. The deep integration of these technologies into our lives has paved the way for a new lifestyle, making lives easier, faster, and cost-efficient.

If we talk about the healthcare industry, it falls at the extreme complex category in a VUCA world. The long queue at the OPD of a hospital and the delay in the discharge & reimbursement process of the patient shows how ambiguous the entire healthcare operation is. After a successful diagnosis and treatment of a specific disease, the prognosis is still uncertain. The human body works in a very strange and unpredictable manner even after all vital signs are normal. The volatility of the outcome has what made this industry unique.

Healthcare 3.0: Intersection of technology and data

With the boom of Big Data and the advent of Industry 4.0, data around us can be leveraged to create insights for better innovation. The application of data analytics and AI has considerably reduced the complexities and uncertainties associated with this industry. Earlier, healthcare used to mean going to physicians for consultations. Prescribing medicines were the only form of services available. The laboratory tests were bare minimum. That was the first stage of the healthcare industry. Then came the stage of multi-speciality clinics and hospitals. Healthcare 2.0 has seen huge inventions in the name of CT scans, MRIs, and surgical interventions enabled better treatment options with a higher survival rate. This was the time when the world has seen a rise in chronic diseases like diabetes, high cholesterol, hypertension, obesity, etc., due to lifestyle changes. But with a huge amount of data availability and technologies to mine them, we have already entered the third stage of healthcare – Healthcare 3.0.

Data analytics and artificial intelligence is not a new concept. But with the availability of a huge amount of data daily, the algorithms have started giving better results with higher accuracy and in less time. The benefits of this technology on the healthcare sector is immense. Right from keeping patient records digitally to customization of treatment, every operation has been made seamless, accurate and within no time. Hospitals, clinics, doctors, and healthcare workers are getting patient data in different forms like health records, medical history, laboratory reports, text messages, phone conversations etc. Structuring it according to the needs and finding insights from it has been developed by smart data scientists. And the result – a patient visiting a hospital does not have to stand in a queue for long hours. A small life-threatening lesion in the small intestine which is barely visible in the CT scan or MRI can be clearly detected through machine learning. Drug discovery, which would years to taste success can be done now in a matter of few months and save countless lives.

Early detection & prediction to aid potential healthcare crisis

According to The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), globally 1 in every 5 people develop cancer during their lifetime, and 1 in 8 men, 1 in 11 women die from it. One of the prime reasons is the failure of early detection, which, in case of cancers like intestinal cancer, uterus cancer, and throat cancer etc. is highly prevalent. However, advancements in data analytics and AI have enabled early detection and prediction of such diseases. Even chemotherapy is now customized as per an individual’s health conditions. The current pandemic has taught us the significance of preventive treatment. People have started investing in health through health insurance policies. The underwriting process, which was known to be time-consuming and costly, is now done within seconds with the help of artificial intelligence. Quantifying the health condition and probable health risks of an individual is one of the biggest innovations that AI/ML has done through data analytics. The need of the hour is going a step further in making it a gold standard & universally accepted health score.

This phase of Healthcare 3.0 will bring new inventions into the picture which will not only increase the lifespan of individuals but will also predict diseases through videos and facial analysis. The thought of getting health information with just a facial analysis is something humankind has only seen in sci-fi movies. But it is happening within our own reach, in our own society. What we need to do is to become aware of such inventions, of such new additions in the healthcare industry. Being aware will help us make informed decisions in a particular situation especially during any healthcare crisis. This revolution has just started. It will bring more colours in near future with varied hues and tints. The only concern being whether machines can overcome healthcare professionals? Well, if it means saving the world, then humans and machines must work in synergy with each other for the greater good. Dr. Sambita Ghadai is an analyst at Fedo

(DISCLAIMER: The views expressed are solely of the author and ETHealthworld.com does not necessarily subscribe to it. ETHealthworld.com shall not be responsible for any damage caused to any person/organisation directly or indirectly).

20.1. STPI to set up 12 Centres of Excellence across India

ET Bureau, Jun. 07, 2021

The Software Technology Parks of India (STPI) will set up 12 centres of excellence across the country to build products and solutions in areas such as healthtech, IOT and SmartAgri as it looks to nurture small companies and startups to work on these solutions. "These CoEs will play a pivotal role in revving up R&D, innovation, IP creation, and product development, making India a product nation in times to come." Said Omkar Rai, director general of STPI. These centres will be started in cities such as Bengaluru, Gandhinagar, Patna, Bhubaneshwar, Gangtok and Itanagar. The tech promotion body already has over 13 CoEs across the country.

For nurturing the startup ecosystem and creating world-class software products by Indian startups, STPI has embarked on the journey of establishing domain-centric centres of excellence in various emerging technology areas, it said in a statement. "Reimagination, recreation, restoring, and repositioning are in the DNA of STPI. We are constantly evolving apropos the dynamic needs of the Indian IT industry. We have also infused inclusiveness and competition in the work culture of the organisation," Rai said. STPI started its journey from three centres. It now has 60 centres across the country, and 52 of them are in Tier II and tier III cities. The $194-billion IT industry, comprising more than 18,000 firms that directly employ 4.47 million people, accounts for 8% of the country's gross domestic product (GDP).

20.2. Despite challenges, Telangana achieved 12% growth in IT exports in 2020-21: KT Rama Rao

ET Gov. jun. 10, 2021

In terms of GDP, growth rate, employment rate, per capita income and growth of agriculture and allied sectors, Telangana had fared way better than the national average, KTR said.

Telangana Minister for MA & UD, IT and Industries KT Rama Rao said the state has been able to attract global investment from Fortune 500 and other companies and create thousands of jobs in the process during the last few years.

While releasing the annual report of the IT and Industries Department for 2020-21 in Hyderabad on Thursday, Rama Rao on the parameters like GDP, growth rate, employment rate, per capita income and growth of agriculture and allied sectors, Telangana had fared way better than the national average.

With the IT exports from the state for the year 2020-21 standing at Rs 1.45 lakh crore as against the previous year's Rs 1.28 lakh crore, Telangana has achieved a better growth than the national average, Rama Rao said.

Elaborating on the progress in Telangana with regard to investment in establishing industries, technology and innovation advances made during the past seven years, KTR said the state has laid out plans for the next couple of years, which include launching IT towers in Nalgonda, Ramagundam, Siddipet, Mahabubnagar and Nizamabad, besides launching T-Hub Phase-II in Hyderabad.

The minister also disclosed that special food processing parks would be set up in 10 erstwhile districts across the state, for which 250 acres of land parcels have been acquired.

KTR said despite several challenges faced by the state including the ongoing Covid pandemic, the number of jobs in the IT sector has doubled in Telangana. He pointed out that while there were 3,23,000 jobs in the IT sector in 2014, the number of workforce in the sector rose to 6,28,615 in seven years after bifurcation of the state.

"Each direct job in the IT sector generates 2.5 indirect jobs in sectors dependent on IT. This way, more than 20 lakh indirect jobs have been created in the state which are dependent on the IT sector," the minister said.

He urged the Centre to provide all the supporting mechanism to realize ‘Make-in-India’ concept and work with state governments to support MSMEs, which have been suffering due to the pandemic, by immediately releasing the Rs 20 lakh crore economic stimulus package, which was announced by it last year to help the sector that was badly affected due to the pandemic and lockdowns.

INDIA AND THE WORLD

21. Microsoft gives more power to chief Satya Nadella with board election

AFP, Jun. 17, 2021

Microsoft on Wednesday named chief executive Satya Nadella as chair of its board, strengthening his grip on a pioneering US technology company he rejuvenated for a new age.

SAN FRANCISCO: Microsoft on Wednesday named chief executive Satya Nadella as chair of its board, strengthening his grip on a pioneering US technology company he rejuvenated for a new age. Nadella was unanimously elected head of the Microsoft board of directors, where he will guide the agenda "leveraging his deep understanding of the business to elevate the right strategic opportunities and identify key risks," the company said in a post.

Nadella, who took over from Steve Ballmer in February 2014, made Microsoft more relevant in a new tech world led by mobile-focused rivals such as Apple and Google.

When Nadella took the reins as chief of Microsoft, some feared the technology giant was becoming a dinosaur. Nadella is credited with bringing new energy to the company, founded in 1975, and long focused on packaged software for personal computers. Early in his tenure, Nadella ordered a massive reorganization, cutting some 18,000 jobs -- or 14 percent of the workforce -- under a plan aimed at simplifying the corporate structure and integrating the mobile division of Finland's Nokia.

Nadella, 53, made a priority of cloud computing, which has become a lucrative growth engine at the tech giant based in the Washington state city of Redmond.

Microsoft next week is to unveil a new generation of its Windows operating system, which market trackers say powers nearly three-quarters of the world's desktop computers.

Microsoft built its empire on software such as Windows and Office -- licensed to computer makers or sold in packages for installation on machines in homes or workplaces.

Under Nadella, Microsoft has put more focus on renting software and services hosted at datacenters in the computing cloud, bulking up its Azure platform. The era of the personal computer was rocked by the rise of smartphones and tablets, but saw a revival of sorts during the pandemic as people geared up homes for remote work, school and play. Microsoft's board on Wednesday also announced a quarterly dividend of 56 cents per share, which will be paid out in September.

22. Power and Peril: Five takeaways on Amazon’s employment machine

NYTimes, Jun. 17, 2021, Jodi Kantor, Karen Weise and Grace Ashford

The company famously obsessed with satisfying customers achieved record growth and spectacular profits, but its management of hundreds of thousands of warehouse workers was marked at times by critical mistakes, communication lapses and high turnover.

An Amazon worker tries to return from a COVID-related leave and is mistakenly fired. A wife panics as disability benefits halt for her gravely ill husband. An employee is fired for having a single underproductive day. An examination by The New York Times into how the pandemic unfolded inside Amazon’s only fulfillment center in New York City, known as JFK8, found that the crisis exposed the power and peril of Amazon’s employment system. The company famously obsessed with satisfying customers achieved record growth and spectacular profits, but its management of hundreds of thousands of warehouse workers was marked at times by critical mistakes, communication lapses and high turnover.

1. Amazon has been churning through employees.

Amazon conducted a hiring surge in 2020 that was unparalleled in U.S. corporate history. In just three months, it signed up 350,000 workers — more than the population of St. Louis — offering a wage of at least $15 an hour and good benefits.

But even before the pandemic, previously unreported data shows, Amazon was losing about 3% of its hourly associates each week — meaning its turnover was roughly 150% a year. At that rate, Amazon had to replace the equivalent of its entire workforce roughly every eight months.

Kelly Nantel, an Amazon spokeswoman, responded to questions about the company’s turnover by saying, “Attrition is only one data point, which when used alone lacks important context.”

Inside Amazon’s Seattle headquarters, the turnover has made some executives worry that the company may run out of workers. Paul Stroup, who until recently led human resources teams focused on understanding warehouse workers, felt disappointed that he “didn’t hear long-term thinking” about the company’s quick cycling through workers. He likened it to using fossil fuels despite climate change. “We keep using them,” he said, “even though we know we’re slowly cooking ourselves.”

2. Buggy and patchwork systems caused some workers to lose their benefits, and even their jobs, in error.

More than 25 current and former Amazon employees who worked on the disability and leave system bemoaned its inadequacy in interviews, calling it a source of frustration and panic. The problems escalated during the early months of the pandemic, when a new case management system designed to address the problems and provide flexibility was still buggy. Workers who had applied for leaves were penalized for missing work, triggering job-abandonment notices and then terminations.

“Please note the following,” Dan Cavagnaro, a JFK8 worker, wrote in a final, unanswered email plea. “I WISH TO REMAIN EMPLOYED WITH AMAZON.”

He was mistakenly fired anyway. Dangelo Padilla, who worked as an Amazon case manager at a back office in Costa Rica, said he had witnessed numerous people being fired for no reason.

“I saw those situations every day,” he said.

Nantel, the spokeswoman, said the company had quickly approved personal leaves during the pandemic, hiring 500 people to help process the increased volume, and worked hard to contact employees before they were fired to see if they wanted to keep their jobs.

3. Amazon’s strict monitoring of workers has stoked a culture of fear. Amazon tracks workers’ every movement inside its warehouses. Employees who work too slowly, or are idle for too long, risk being fired. Dayana Santos was a top performer when she had one bad day in 2019.

Her bus was late, then her department was reassigned, causing her to scour the warehouse for a new workstation. That afternoon, she was stunned to find that she was being fired for having too much “time off task,” or TOT. Very few associates are fired for low productivity or time off task, but employees don’t know that. The goal, JFK8’s internal guidelines state, “is to create an environment not where we are writing everyone up, but that associates know that we are auditing for TOT.”

The system was designed to identify impediments a worker may face, but some executives, including the early architect of Amazon’s warehouse human relations, worry that the metrics now cast an outsize shadow on the workforce, creating an anxious, negative environment. After questions about Santos and TOT from The Times, Amazon announced changes to its policy so that workers would never be fired for one bad day. Santos and all those like her are now eligible to be rehired. The company said it had been reconsidering the policy for months.

4. There is rising concern over racial inequity. The retail giant is largely powered by employees of color. According to internal records from 2019, more than 60% of associates at JFK8 are Black or Latino. And Black associates at the warehouse were almost 50% more likely to be fired — whether for productivity, misconduct or absenteeism — than their white peers, the records show. (Amazon said it could not confirm the data without knowing more specifics about its source.)

Derrick Palmer, a Black worker at JFK8, began at the company in 2015 as an enthusiast, and he was often a top producer. But between the constant monitoring, the assumption that many workers are slackers and the lack of advancement opportunity, “a lot of minority workers just felt like we were being used,” Palmer said. His comments echoed the sentiment of Black workers behind an unsuccessful unionization campaign at an Amazon warehouse in Alabama this year.

This spring, the company introduced a host of diversity plans, including a goal to “retain employees at statistically similar rates across all demographics” — an implicit admission that the numbers had been uneven across races. At JFK8, leaders are holding weekly “talent review” meetings to ensure that Black and Latino workers, among others, are advancing.

5. Many of Amazon’s most contentious policies go back to Jeff Bezos’ original vision. Some of the practices that most frustrate employees — the short-term-employment model, with little opportunity for advancement, and the use of technology to hire, monitor and manage workers — come from Jeff Bezos, Amazon’s founder and chief executive. He believed that an entrenched workforce created a “march to mediocrity,” said David Niekerk, a former long-serving vice president who built the company’s original human resources operations in the warehouses.

Company data showed that most employees became less eager over time, he said, and Bezos believed that people were inherently lazy. “What he would say is that our nature as humans is to expend as little energy as possible to get what we want or need,” Niekerk said.

That conviction was embedded throughout the business, from the ease of instant ordering to the pervasive use of data to get the most out of employees. Bezos recently made startling concessions about the system he invented. In a letter to shareholders, he said the union effort in Alabama had shown that “we need a better vision for how we create value for employees — a vision for their success” — and vowed to become “Earth’s best employer.” What is not clear is how or whether he and his successors will reassess the systems that have propelled Amazon’s dominance.

Cavagnaro, the worker Amazon inadvertently fired, asked: “Are they going to address the issue of an expendable workforce? Are there going to be any changes?”

23.1. India could see a record equity supply of Rs. 2-3 trillion in FY22: Jefferies

IBEF: June 02, 2021

According to Jefferies, equity markets in India are experiencing good growth and the equity supply is expected to reach Rs. 2-3 trillion (US$ 30-40 billion) in FY22 with 40% of the supply raised through IPOs (initial public offers). The institutional flows would drive corporate equity supply and is expected to attract new investors.

In a co-authored report written by Mr. Mahesh Nandurkar, Managing Director at Jefferies and Mr. Abhinav Sinha, “Nearly 1% of market-cap is attributable to traditionally large financial issuers, government's disinvestment program and India's internet sector. Our assessment recommends that in the past the net equity supply has exceeded 1% in robust bull markets. Similarly, it is estimated that net / gross equity issuance can record ~US$ 30-40 billion in FY22.”

According to Jefferies, in FY21, the net equity supply was at US$ 24 billion, highest in three years.

Over the past decade, the IPOs contributed ~ 27% to raising equity fund. This trend is expected to change considering the maturing internet space in India and expected listing of Paytm and Zomato in FY22.

Other players such as PolicyBazaar, online insurance firm in India is also planning for an IPO and is expected to raise funds worth Rs. 4,000 crore (US$ 551.65 million) via an IPO. Also, Zomato has already recorded its DRHP (draft red herring prospectus) with the SEBI (Securities and Exchange Board of India) and is expected to raise Rs. 8,250 crore, ( > US$ 1.1 billion) via the IPO route. Mr. Shobit Singhal of Anand Rathi, said, “The part of raised funds would be leveraged for inorganic and organic growth. And remaining amount would be used for corporate and other objectives. The IPO will be a test drive of Indian investors’ enthusiasm for unicorns.”

By end-2021, Paytm intends to raise US$ 3 billion (~ Rs. 22,000 crore). On completion, the raised IPO is expected to be the biggest IPO by an Indian firm, surpassing Coal India’s record of Rs. 15,475 crore (US$ 2.13 billion) in 2010.

Financial sector

According to Jefferies, between FY18-21, the financial sector was the leading equity raiser, attributing ~ 47-62% of the total equity supply. Other sectors are also there who contribute to the equity supply. Key sector are real estate, infrastructure, etc. However, Jefferies believes, a few of these could be subject to renewing / capex-cycle uptick in progress.

Mr. Nandurkar and Mr. Sinha said, “Fund raising by financial sector is expected to increase to US$ 13-20 billion with state-owned banks contributions at US$5-7 billion, large private banks at US$3-4 billion and US$ 3-4 billion contribution from smaller private banks / non-bank finance companies, or NBFCs. Further, US$ 2-4 billion is expected to be raised by new listings of some insurance-related firms, small finance banks, microfinance firms.”

The next issuance amount is expected through the government's divestment agenda of Rs. 1.75 trillion (US$ 24.13 billion) in FY22 that appears to reduce stakes in potential players such as Air India, Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL), and Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC).

According to Jefferies, "Along with minority exits or few other stake sales (e.g., sale of Axis Bank stake worth Rs. 40 billion (US$ 551.65million)), disinvestment is expected to contribute US$ 4-7 billion to the equity supply.”

Disclaimer: This information has been collected through secondary research and IBEF is not responsible for any errors in the same.

23.2. Amazon, Google and Visa are 'Open' to neo-banking

ET Bureau, Jun. 08, 2021, Digbijay Mishra & Ashwin Manikandan

Company may raise $100-120 million in new round, valuation may jump three times.

Amazon, Google and card network major Visa are separately eyeing a stake in neo-banking startup Open, which is looking to raise a new round of funding of about $100-$120 million, two people aware of the matter said. If successful, Open's valuation is likely to jump three times to around $600-700 million post the funding round, the sources said. Even as negotiations with the global technology majors like Amazon and Google are underway, Open is also in talks with a leading sovereign wealth fund as well as private equity firm TPG as they look to participate in the funding round that could be oversubscribed, sources said. “Visa is already a partner for Open and is in talks to participate in this round alongside Amazon and Google. The sovereign wealth fund may end up leading the new round,” one of the people mentioned above said. “There won’t be a conflict between Amazon and Google to invest together since neither of them are investing for a majority stake. The final contours are being worked out now and should be done over the next six weeks or so,” the person added.

Bengaluru-based Open has recorded a near ten-fold growth over the last 18 months as the pandemic pushed greater digital adoption by small businesses. If the deal goes through, it would be significant for the neo-banking space, which has been a buzzword for over a year now. Amazon is currently building its own digital banking platform that’ll allow its local sellers to open current accounts, manage expenses and also avail lines of credit from an array of partner banks. Open, founded in 2017 by Anish Achuthan, Ajeesh Achuthan and Mabel Chacko, offers business banking, payments and expense management services to over one million small and medium enterprises. It claims to process $24 billion in transactions annually. CEO Anish Achuthan declined to comment on developments, while emails sent to Amazon, Google, Visa and TPG did not elicit a response till press time on Monday. A neo-bank can be a transactional platform for merchants, an account manager or can be a lending service as well. Besides Open, other prominent neo-banks in India include Jupiter, RazorpayX, and Niyo. Amazon and Paytm are also making nascent forays in this space. Globally, neo-banks such as Revolut, Chime and Banco are the foremost companies in this space. Revolut has recently announced plans to enter India.

However, in India lack of regulations have somewhat hindered the growth of this sector as banking regulator RBI does not recognise these companies as a separate class of banking intermediaries yet. Hence, neo-banks in India are loosely defined and don’t follow any standard regulatory code. Rather, the regulations follow the nature of partnerships they form with the licensed lenders. However, a fully functional neo-bank may need approvals to be a business correspondent, a payment aggregator and require a formal agreement with a regulated bank detailing ethical lending practices. Anish Achuthan and Chacko, who have previously worked at payments firms PayU and Citrus Pay, are also looking to bulk up its leadership team as it prepares for the next stage of growth, sources added. The company is estimated to be onboarding close to 50,000 new businesses every month and has set a target to have 5 million paid subscribers by the end of the year. Prior to this, Open has raised $45-50 million from investors like Tiger Global, 3one4 Capital, Speedinvest and BetterCapital, among others. In February, the company announced the acquisition of Optobizz, a GST and financial automation startup, for $5 million in a stock plus cash deal.

24.1. 5G momentum accelerating globally; committed to open markets: Ericsson CEO

PTI, Jun. 02, 2021

"We have always been and always will be believer in open markets and open competition," he said, adding that the concept of global open standard has made mobile technology affordable due to significant economies of scale.

New Delhi: Swedish telecom equipment maker Ericsson on Tuesday said 5G adoption is accelerating around the world, and the company remains upbeat about the future given the rapid pace of innovation. The company is firmly committed to open competition and open markets, Borje Ekholm, president and CEO of Ericsson said. He was speaking at the Ericsson UnBoxed 2021 event. The global challenges posed by 2020 notwithstanding, the company is excited about the future, he said, noting that the pace of innovation is higher than ever before.

The pandemic has highlighted the importance of mobile networks as a critical piece of infrastructure, Ekholm said. "We have always been and always will be believer in open markets and open competition," he said, adding that the concept of global open standard has made mobile technology affordable due to significant economies of scale. The 5G adoption is accelerating around the world, and 5G subscriptions globally is estimated to exceed half a billion before the end of the year, he said. Consumption of data by 5G subscribers is 2-3 times higher than that of 4G users, he pointed out.

24.2. Jio accelerating rollout of digital platforms, indigenously developed 5G stack: RIL

PTI, Jun. 03, 2021

Reliance Jio has built sufficient network capacity for the next 300 million mobile broadband subscribers, over 50 million fibre homes and 50 million micro, small and medium businesses, it said.

NEW DELHI: Jio is accelerating the rollout of digital platforms and indigenously developed next generation 5G stack, Reliance Industries' annual report has said, highlighting that India is at the forefront of the ‘global digital revolution'. Reliance Jio has built sufficient network capacity for the next 300 million mobile broadband subscribers, over 50 million fibre homes and 50 million micro, small and medium businesses, it said. Qualcomm and Jio successfully tested 5G solutions in India, achieving the 1 Gbps milestone on Jio 5G solution, Reliance Industries Chairman and Managing Director Mukesh Ambani said in the annual report.

The annual report noted that Jio and Qualcomm, along with JPL's wholly owned subsidiary Radisys Corporation, have developed an open and interoperable interface compliant architecture based 5G solution with a virtualised RAN (vRAN), which will accelerate the development and rollout of indigenous 5G network infrastructure and services in India. "The 5G RAN Platform has crossed the 1 Gbps milestone on the Jio 5G core network and 5G smartphones," the report said, adding that the feat not only underlines Jio's 5G credentials but also signifies the entry of Jio and India into the gigabit 5G NR product portfolio. India is at the forefront of the global digital revolution, said the annual report, adding that "Jio is accelerating the rollout of digital platforms and indigenously developed next generation 5G stack, making it affordable and available everywhere".

Jio has infused over USD 50 billion investment since its inception to create the largest and advanced digital and connectivity ecosystem in India, with a wide bouquet of apps and platforms. "In growing its ecosystem to make India the world's premier digital society and economy, Jio is not just enhancing the experience of its existing 426 million customers, but is also accelerating the transition towards digital for the next 300 million mobility users, 50 million homes and 50 million micro, small and medium businesses," it said.

Outlining the key takeaways of FY 2020-21, the report said that Jio Platforms (JPL) completed fundraising of Rs 1,52,056 crore across 13 global marquee investors. Other highlights included completion of testing of indigenously developed end-to-end Jio 5G Radio and Core Network Solution for a self sufficient and cost effective rollout in the near future.

Over the next few years, Jio would focus on creating a "robust" wireline network across the country, offering high speed connectivity and a bouquet of digital services to every home and enterprise, it pledged. "Jio is geared up to touch the lives of over a billion Indians through its digital offerings," it said. To date, Jio has been granted 371 patents across multiple jurisdictions. In FY 2020-21 alone, the company filed for 38 patents and was granted 40. Among the key technology areas covered by the patents are Quantum Blockchain Network Technology, Deep Learning Applications in Health and Agriculture, and AI Industrial IoT Automation.

25. Infosys brings fans closer to the action at 2021 French Open amid Covid

ET Bureau, Jun. 02, 2021

Infosys and the French Tennis Federation have unveiled new technology solutions to bring fans closer to the courtside action at 2021 French Open.

Bengaluru: IT services provider Infosys Ltd. and the French Tennis Federation unveiled on Tuesday new technology solutions to bring fans closer to the courtside action at this year's French Open, amid the ongoing global Covid-19 pandemic. Roland Garros 2021 will see the use of artificial intelligence, 3D and cloud solutions to improve the experience of viewers, players, coaches, journalists and broadcasters. “Through AI and 3D technologies we now have the potential to revolutionise the ways in which coaches and players train, and can ensure that fans, players, and coaches remain as close to the game as possible,” said Pravin Rao, chief operating officer of Infosys.

The Bengaluru-based company has helped build a 3D immersive art museum for fans, and has strengthened its app for players and coaches, which now not only provides AI-powered analytics, but also features natural language search for deriving match and strategy insights. Fans will be able to access the courtside views in 3D and have access to commentary and match insights through the Roland-Garros app, and also other popular smart home devices. AI-powered highlights will be shared with broadcasters, while Infosys is also using the technology to dynamically resize videos to help them quickly publish clips on various social networking platforms that use different aspect ratios. “This is our second year impacted by the challenges of the pandemic and social distancing but by partnering with Infosys we have set a gold standard for other sporting organisations navigating a disrupted season, and looking to bridge the gap between players, coaches and fans across the world,” said Amélie Oudéa-Castera, chief executive officer of French Tennis Federation.

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Friday 18 June 2021

NEWSLETTER, 20-VI-2021

– GENERAL POLICY, INFRASTRUCTURES, COUNTRY FINANCES, ETC.

– AGRICULTURE, FISHING & RURAL DEVELOPMENT

– INDUSTRY, MANUFACTURE

– SERVICES (IT, R&D, Tourism, Healthcare, etc.)

NEWSLETTER, 20-VI-2021

– GENERAL POLICY, INFRASTRUCTURES, COUNTRY FINANCES, ETC.

- AGRICULTURE, FISHING & RURAL DEVELOPMENT

INDUSTRY & MANUFACTURE

- SERVICES (Education, Healthcare, IT, R&D, Tourism, etc.)

INDIA AND THE WORLD