AAPI: August 2021

DELHI, 20th AUGUST 2021

Index of this Newsletter

INDIA

INDIA & THE WORLD

21.1. Microsoft to invest in OYO before its potential IPO
21.2. How these wonder women are changing the world of VFX, animation
22.1. How Sweden became the Silicon Valley of Europe
22.2. Unchecked dominance in digital markets a concern, says CCI chief
23.1. India among most promising countries for developing disruptive technologies: KPMG
23.2. Mumbai logs sharpest hike in data centre capacity in Asia Pacific
24.1. Bengaluru 8th in global list of leading tech innovation hubs
24.2. Govt to introduce biometric boarding system through facial recognition at 6 airports; how it is 6 airports; how it is useful
25. Migration and Covid deaths depriving poorest nations of health workers

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DELHI, 20th AUGUST 2021

NEWSLETTER, 20-VIII-2021

INDIA

– GENERAL POLICY, INFRASTRUCTURES, COUNTRY FINANCES, ETC.

1.1. Tech startups come of age as India turns 75

IANS, Aug. 14, 2021

While the pandemic-hit 2020 saw the emergence of 11 new unicorns (Unacademy, Pine Labs, FirstCry, Zenoti, Nykaa, Postman, Zerodha, Razorpay, Cars24, Dailyhunt and Glance), the year 2021 has already witnessed a whopping 21 startups which are now valued at more than $1 billion.

New Delhi: While the country witnessed several key industries bearing the brunt of the Covid onslaught, the Indian tech startup ecosystem grew by leaps and bounds owing to a strong smartphone-based app economy and an ever-evolving digital landscape in the 75th year of Independence. While the pandemic-hit 2020 saw the emergence of 11 new unicorns (Unacademy, Pine Labs, FirstCry, Zenoti, Nykaa, Postman, Zerodha, Razorpay, Cars24, Dailyhunt and Glance), the year 2021 has already witnessed a whopping 21 startups which are now valued at more than $1 billion. The 21 startups have raised over $20 billion to date. This month, BharatPe, Mindtickle, upGrad and CoinDCX entered the unicorn club, scripting a never-seen-before rally in the country.

Taking the success story further, India is going through a tech IPO (initial public offering) boom as it commemorates the 75 years of Independence. From Zomato and Paytm to online insurance marketplace Policybazaar, from logistics services company Delhivery to fashion platform Nykaa and Car Trade Tech, it is raining IPOs from the startup and unicorn club in the country. According to a Nasscom-Zinnov report, India is on track to have a 50-plus strong unicorn club this year, after adding over 1,600 tech startups in 2020. "Covid-19 has accelerated digital adoption and the shift to online in the country. This has created new opportunities for tech start-ups that are capitalising on this opportunity with rapid digital acceleration and a shift to software-as-a-service (SaaS)-based solutions," according to the report. According to Prabhu Ram, Head, Industry Intelligence Group (IIG), at Gurgaon-based CyberMedia Research (CMR), the golden age of Indian startups is here -- from consumer apps to spacetech, from edtech to mobility -- originating not just in the traditional startup hotspots, but in the small towns of 'Aspirational India' as well. "What is remarkable is the success that women entrepreneurs have scripted, against all odds, and their contribution to job creation and economic growth," Ram told IANS.

Another glory lies in the fact that the Indian tech startups have begun to shun Chinese investments as desi corporates and wealthy individuals, along with investors from other countries, have come onboard to fund the homegrown firms. The US-based investment firm Tiger Global is currently leading when it comes to investing top dollars, overtaking another US-based venture capital firm, Sequoia Capital, as the top investor in the burgeoning Indian startup/unicorn ecosystem.

According to Zomato CEO Deepinder Goyal, who saw a bumper IPO that took the market value of the food delivery platform to nearly $13 billion, "The tremendous response to our IPO gives us the confidence that the world is full of investors who appreciate the magnitude of investments we are making and take a long-term view of our business." The new-age consumer tech-driven startups, which touched the daily lives of millions during the pandemic, have joined the investment bandwagon and are raking in the moolah. "Backed by policy initiatives at the Centre and in the States, stronger digital infrastructure, and better innovation and incubation frameworks, India's startup ecosystem will continue to soar," said Ram.

1.2. Byju’s bets big on higher education

Mint, 27 Jul. 2021, Madhurima Nandy

Having a strong presence in India is a big advantage and we can build it further with our combined strength.

BENGALURU: Byju’s, India’s most valuable startup, has acquired Singapore-based Great Learning, which offers professional upskilling and higher education courses, for $600 million in a cash, stock and earnout deal. The acquisition marks its push into the professional upskilling and life-long learning space in India and globally with a total commitment of $1 billion as it expands its offerings beyond the K-12 and test prep segments. The Bengaluru-based edtech unicorn has earmarked another $400 million for this segment.

The acquisition comes just a week after Byju’s shelled out $500 million to buy US-based Epic, an online reading platform for children. The acquisitions are funded from its recent $1.5 billion fundraise from UBS Group, Abu Dhabi sovereign fund ADQ and Blackstone Group LP, among others, at a valuation of $16.5 billion. In April, it also signed one of the largest acquisition deals in the edtech space, acquiring Aakash Educational Services Ltd for $950 million. In an interview, Byju Raveendran, founder and CEO, spoke about Byju’s’ acquisition strategy, growth outlook and focus areas. Edited excerpts:

Why did you decide to enter the upskilling, higher education segment?

This is a sector which will see positive disruption in the coming years. Higher education is slowly and surely moving online, at a fraction of the cost, and the opportunity is huge. After meeting Mohan (Great Learning founder and CEO Mohan Lakhamraju), we understood they have built something special and (it) has grown fast in recent years. This was a good fit like our last few integrations (acquisitions) and was strongly aligned to our mission, which is to help students learn. Professional upskilling and higher education were growing even pre-pandemic but there is a new mindset now. Individuals are learning and working from home. What would have taken a lot many years has been accelerated due to the pandemic.

How will Byju’s scale up in this new segment?

When we make an investment of this size and enter a new segment, it is not as an experiment. We always take a long-term view on what we can do with it. You will see us making huge investments in this space to accelerate its growth. We have committed $1 billion to this segment, and besides this transaction, will invest another $400 million in the near term.

Great Learning’s user base has grown 15 times in the past 16 months. How will you accelerate it?

In India, we will go deeper into smaller cities and towns. Having a strong presence in India is a big advantage and we can build it further with our combined strength. Then there are overseas markets such as North America and other English-speaking regions. We are still figuring out Latin America and the market response there has been strong. Byju’s strategy will be to invest in getting lot more courses on the platform.

What’s the growth outlook for 2021?

We expect significant organic growth in our core business of school learning. We now have three main segments to focus on—K-12, test prep and higher education. We expect all three verticals to show strong growth. Acquisitions are simple, but with the kind of integration we are forging with partners (acquired companies ), we are adding management bandwidth and increasing founder mentality. All acquisitions are complementary and in line with Byju’s long-term approach. There will be continued growth in India, but in 3-4 years; we expect the revenue split to be 60-40% between Indian and global markets. | Estrada do Zambujal, N. 38-A, Alfragide | 2610-294 Amadora | Portugal | Tel. +351 21 301 9926 |

2.1. Public and Private partnership in skilling and employment

Press Information Bureau, Aug. 10, 2021

Public Private Partnership play an important role in the skilling and employment.

The Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship is implementing its flagship scheme Pradhan Mantri Kaushal VikasYojana (PMKVY) through National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) which had been set up as a Public Private Partnership initiative. The Ministry, through the NSDC, has taken up multiple initiatives to connect with industries for partnership under the Skill India Mission. There are 2188 Training Partners participating in the skill initiatives of the NSDC and all of them are private enterprises. 36 Sector Skill Councils (SSCs) have been set up as Industry led bodies which help in training need analysis, curriculum development, rolling out of training and assessment and certification.

In addition, Directorate General of Training, MSDE has also signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with National Association of Software Services Companies (NASSCOM), IBM India Pvt. Ltd and SAP India Private Limited for conducting courses under CSR initiative of these private companies.

The National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 emphasizes integration between vocational and academic streams in all schools and higher education institutions in a phased manner. As per the said policy, vocational education will start in school from the 6th grade and will include internship.

The Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship in collaboration with Ministry of Education has already initiated a pilot project on Hub and Spoke model. In Hub and Spoke model, Industrial Training Institutes (ITI)/ Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Kendras (PMKK) will be leveraged as hub of vocational education and training (VET); schools will access the skill training from this hub as individual spokes. With this synergy, the school students would be exposed to the wide range of possibilities available in the world of work in their respective fields and learn on latest technologies available in the ITIs. The project aims to ensure that every young adult in 6 to 19 years of age cohort completes either 12 year of schooling with at least one certification of level 2 to 4 National Skill Qualification Framework (NSQF) certificate or 10 years of schooling & certification with 2 years of ITI programme.

Currently, the Program is envisaged in 4 States viz; (i) Chhattisgarh (ii) Madhya Pradesh (iii) Odisha and (iv) West Bengal. These State Governments have identified 2 districts and a hub ITI in each district in their respective States. Mapping of spoke schools is being done by the State Governments concerned.

Further, under the aegis of the MSDE, NSDC and its SSCs are facilitating the Ministry of Education for the implementation of the Samagra Shiksha scheme in 12,332 schools across 31 States and Union Territories (UTs), offering 125 job role-aligned courses across 21 Sectors, as in 2020-21. Under this initiative, more than 13 Lakh+ students are reportedly (by Ministry of Education) enrolled in 2020-21 academic year.

In addition, Ministry through NSDC is supporting University Grant Commission for three schemes namely Community College, Bachelor of Vocational course (BVOC) & Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Kaushal Kendras (DDUKK) which are being introduced in different colleges and universities. Sector Skill Councils are supporting the colleges/ universities to align their curriculum as per the NSQF approved Qualification pack and conduct the Skill Component assessment and certification.

The information was given by the Union Minister of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, Mr. Dharmendra Pradhan in a written reply in the Lok Sabha today.

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

2.2. New strategy, revamp of health infra and vaccination drive to be crucial for combating third wave: Surat civic chief

ET Gov. July 20, 2021, Rakesh Roy

As part of its strategy to combat the third wave of Covid-19, Surat Municipal Corporation's main focus will be ramping up of surveillance efforts, use of triple T-IQ strategy.

As part of its strategy to combat the third wave of Covid-19, Surat Municipal Corporation's main focus will be ramping up of surveillance efforts, use of triple T-IQ strategy ((Track, Test, Treat, Isolate and Quarantine) and improving our health infrastructure on priority along with the aggressive vaccination drive to inoculate population as many ways as possible, says Banchhanidhi Pani, Surat Municipal Commissioner Wading through the catastrophic second wave of Covid-19 pandemic, Surat, the diamond city, is getting better every day and hopes for a healthier future. Surat Municipal Corporation (SMC), the urban local government (ULB) for the city of Surat, has given the credit for successfully managing the second wave of Covid-19 right from mapping and tracing of positive cases, hospital and bed management, oxygen supply management to vaccination drive as well as the issue of labour migration in the diamond city. The civic body has also proposed a Rs 250 crore investment to improve the health infrastructure and envisaged to develop a multifaceted health infrastructure plan to combat the third wave of Covid-19 pandemic as well as address several health challenges like plague, floods, swine flu, etc in the industrialized city.

ETGovernment's Rakesh Roy spoke to Banchhanidhi Pani, Commissioner of Surat Municipal Corporation, to know about the civic body’s tech initiatives in addressing the Covid-19 pandemic situation during the second wave and current priorities to combat the third wave.

Edited excerpts: What are the tech initiatives that SMC has been adopting for not only successfully combating the Covid-19 pandemic but also addressing the issues of labour migration, mortality rate, hospital and bed management, and testing, tracking and tracing of positive cases during the second wave Covid-19 pandemic?

During the first wave of Covid-19 pandemic, Surat Municipal Corporation (SMC) was the first city to develop its own monitoring and tracking app for effective implementation of quarantine and isolation of patients/suspects.

The monitoring and tracking app has been used for successfully tracking positive patients to quarantine, isolating them and tracking of patient management during the second wave of Covid-19. We have also enhanced the app from time to time to incorporate various features to combat the second wave of pandemic, including hotspot analysis for containment planning, oxygen supply details, medical aid distribution mechanism and vaccination management, etc.

The state government had launched Sanjeevani Raths/Dhanvantri Raths, equipped with doctors, paramedical staff and pharmacists, to provide check-ups and medicines to people during the first wave of Covid-19. Through the modified app, we are now able to manage the allotments of Sanjeevani Raths/Dhanvantri Raths and track the live location of the vehicles.

During the second wave of Covid-19, SMC has utilised various technology interventions including ‘Georeferencing’ to identify cluster formation and for micro containment planning and surveillance. We have developed a Jaimini application to collect positive and ARI patient data from more than 2,000 private hospitals and clinics.

SMC was the first to start a dedicated Covid-19 helpline for citizens to answer their questions related to Covid-19. This helpline was also useful to report quarantine violations and to report international and domestic travelers.

As the diamond city is known as a workplace for many migrant labourers, a dedicated call center at SuratiiLab was established for screening inbound passengers coming from various parts of the country. Complete follow-up of these passengers along with their testing details is managed through Covid-19 tracker.

Centralised and zonal war rooms were established for planning and implementation of various strategies and analysing the trend and current situation in the entire city. Apart from these, a dedicated centralized 104 call center (24x7) was set up for early diagnosis of the cases and treatment, as well as a dedicated call center for senior citizens to track their health and vaccination drive.

How has SMC been using the existing IT infrastructure like ICCC at SSCDL and emerging digital technologies to strengthen the health delivery system, health infra, surveillance mechanism, during the Covid-19 crisis?

To fight the novel coronavirus, SMC is using the integrated command and control center (ICCC) for planning and implementation of various strategies and analysing the trend and current situation in the entire city. This centralised ICCC is known as war room, SMC Epidemic Control, Vesu.

Apart from this, there are dedicated 24X7 war rooms at each zone which engage a total of 745 doctors and 1,098 para-medical staff for analysis to carry out CCTV surveillance of public spaces and containment clusters.

The Covid-19 tracker facilitates tracking the movement of quarantined people in real-time. The suspects are monitored through this mobile app and are followed up bay war room team for the next seven days. In case any suspect develops symptoms, he/she is referred for treatment and testing. If the suspect is more than 50 years old or/and with pre-existing co-morbidity, then they are referred to the nearest CHC (urban community health center) for treatment and sampling. Through these war rooms, alerts are also sent to the suspect for CHC reference with doctor name and contact number along with location link. The ICCC and de-centralised dedicated war rooms have played a crucial role in mapping and management of responses.

SMC has proposed around Rs 250 crore investment to improve the health infra and a multifaceted health infrastructure plan to combat the third wave of Covid-19 pandemic. We would like to get more detail about it?

Surat was the first city in India to have its one of its kind urban health setup comprising urban health centers and maternity home for more than three decades. To complement the urban health setup, a dedicated surveillance and a vector borne diseases control (VBDC) unit have also set up by SMC. This current system has enabled Surat city to brave several health challenges like plague, floods, swine flu, etc successfully.

However, with one of the highest rates of urbanisation and industrialisation due to the migrant population, it was realised that the present system needs to be upgraded with unique infrastructure at centralised and periphery levels.

With this thought, SMC has designed a model health infrastructure which will provide the best quality health and sanitisation services to the entire city, especially in the vulnerable areas – slums, EWS, industrial areas, etc where access to health services is low. This dedicated urban health will cater to ‘comprehensive primary health care’ package to the most vulnerable section of the society. Under this model, SMC will invest around Rs 250 crore for the upgradation of the existing infrastructure as well as developing a new health center per 50,000 of population.

These centers will act as one-stop healthcare facilities which not only provide preventive and curative care but will also carry out the activities related to sanitisation and VBDC. SMC has planned to augment upto 88 comprehensive urban health centers with VBDC and sanitization wards.

Going forward, what are the current priorities of SMC to combat the third wave of Covid-19 pandemic?

As part of its strategy to combat the third wave of Covid-19, SMC’s main focus will be ramping up surveillance efforts, use of Triple T-IQ strategy and improving our health infrastructure on priority along with the aggressive vaccination drive to inoculate the population in as many ways as possible.

As per the experts, kids under the age of 0 to 18 years may be the most vulnerable who may be affected during the third wave. Surat Municipal Corporation has around 14,000 children under the age of 0 to 18 years. Not taking any chances, SMC has initiated surveillance work and is conducting a Pediatric survey to identify the most vulnerable children in order to make timely arrangements for their protection.

Through the use of technology and digital surveillance, SMC has identified the parents of children of age between 0 to 12 years and vaccination priority is given to them in on-going vaccination programs.

In parallel, a dedicated Covid task force team has been set up with a focus to augment the health infrastructure covering 147 private paediatric hospitals, SMIMER and New Civil Hospital for the availability of beds, ventilators, oxygen concentrators, life-saving drugs, etc on priority.

Taking the lessons from the second wave, the SMC aims for early detection of cases and hence the focus will be on aggressive RT PCR and rapid antigen testing. The new lab (VNSGU) has been started with a scalable testing capacity of up to 1,500 tests per day along with five other private and two government labs.

A collaboration for Genome Sequencing Lab at Surat incorporating Microbiology Department, New Civil Hospital, SMIMER, VNSGVU and private laboratories is also in progress.

SMC under ‘Oxygen Express for Children’ will set up a toll free number for the demand of oxygen therapy for the patients eligible for domiciliary short term oxygen therapy. SMC will be able to meet the demand of 100 oxygen concentrators with a capacity of 5 ltr/min and up to 200 oxygen concentrators with a capacity of 10 ltr/min.

In the third wave also the technology will play a crucial role in providing required real-time information – bed availability, tracking of Dhanvantri/ Sanjeevani Raths, oxygen supply, active cases, etc.

3.1. Arvind Panagariya underlines the reforms that India needs most urgently

TOI, Jul. 26, 2021, Arvind Panagariya

The New cabinet’s new job is ensuring speedy delivery in three key areas: liberating education, speeding up privatisation and ending exemption raj. India has been presented with a new opportunity that the government must seize, says the former Niti Aayog chief.

Recent expansion and reconfiguration of the council of ministers offers a fresh opportunity to accelerate and deepen structural reforms. The government must seize this opportunity.

Among the bills being tabled in the monsoon session, two hold great promise: Electricity (Amendment) Bill, 2021 and Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation (Amendment) Bill, 2021. The former would make electricity distribution markets competitive and the latter financial markets. They require speedy passage. But a lot more needs to be done outside the current legislative agenda

India needs a new legislation in place of the archaic University Grants Commission (UGC) Act of 1956. FM Nirmala Sitharaman had promised this reform as far back as July 5, 2019. In her budget speech on the day, she had stated, “The regulatory systems of higher education would be reformed comprehensively to promote greater autonomy and focus on better academic outcomes. A draft legislation for setting up Higher Education Commission of India (HECI), would be presented in the year ahead.” Two years later, we have seen no progress on this front.

Dharmendra Pradhan, who had navigated numerous important reforms as the minister of petroleum and natural gas and is now the minister of education, must take up the task on a priority basis. A modern-day economy cannot be built on a higher education system governed by a 65-year-old legislation. The UK, after which we had modelled our higher education system, got rid of its own University Grants Committee as far back as 1983. Since then, it has fully transformed its regulatory regime, giving full academic and administrative autonomy to its institutions of higher education.

India similarly needs to give full autonomy to at least its leading colleges and universities so that they may appoint boards that are fully empowered to oversee their academic and administrative affairs. Colleges such as Hindu and St Stephen’s in Delhi and Elphinstone in Mumbai, which are capable of building their own brand names, should have the option to award their own degrees.

The door must be opened to foreign universities to establish campuses in India and to domestic institutions to do the same abroad. The current system of establishing new universities by state or central government legislation must be replaced by one that allows entry based on pre-specified norms and criteria that the HECI would set.

Urgent progress is required towards privatisation of central public-sector enterprises (CPSEs). It is highly disconcerting that despite approval by the Cabinet since 2016, we have not seen a single CPSE privatised. Possibly, this was because the Department of Public Enterprises (DPE), which formulates policy for CPSEs, and the Department of Investment and Public Asset Management, which is responsible for their privatisation, were housed in different ministries.

But now that DPE has been moved to the finance ministry, the two departments are under the same ministry. With a major roadblock thus removed, FM must see to it that at least a few CPSEs get transferred to private hands within the current fiscal year.

A specific CPSE whose privatisation carries great significance is Air India. Its current debt exceeds $10 billion, of which $3.5 billion has been added in the last three years alone. Jyotiraditya Scindia, who has now taken charge of the civil aviation ministry, must see to it that the carrier is either privatised within the next 6-12 months or closed down. It is unconscionable to place the vast financial burden on the taxpayer in perpetuity without commensurate social benefit.

The government must also deliver on the privatisation of banks. The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code has at long last genuinely empowered creditors and begun to yield speedy resolution of large, complex cases of bankruptcy. But poorly-run public-sector banks remain a weak link in the process, resulting in low recoveries in many instances. FM must make a beginning in this area by delivering on the promise to privatise two of the nationalised banks on an expedited basis.

Finally, simplification, rationalisation and an end to exemption raj applied to corporate profit tax system must now be extended to personal income taxation. Revenue considerations, combined with a lack of will to end the exemption raj, have led personal income tax rates at the higher end to return to levels reminiscent of their pre-reform levels. The idea should not be to extract maximum revenue from those who pay and let evaders get away. A good tax system is one with a broad base and moderate tax rates so as not to disincentivise work effort and incentivise tax evasion.

Likewise, it is necessary to eliminate the differences in tax rates on incomes derived from sales of assets depending on the type of asset and period for which it is held. Today, profits on shares in listed companies held for one year or longer are classified as long-term capital gains (LTCG) and taxed at the rate of 11.5%. But profits on shares in unlisted companies and real estate are classified as LTCG only if held for two or more years and are taxed at rates of 20% or more. Such differences distort investment incentives across different classes of assets and lack a clear economic rationale.

3.2. IIT Roorkee launches 7 new academic programmes to cater to rising demand for new age technologies

ET Gov. Aug. 02, 2021

All these new academic programs address the needs of our country as they have been created after careful deliberations at several levels

Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Roorkee has launched seven new academic programmes in select areas of engineering, architecture, economics, and management along with specialization in Data Science and Artificial Intelligence to cater to the rising demand for new-age technologies.

Secretary, Department of Science & Technology (DST) Prof. Ashutosh Sharma hoped that these programmes would help students and working professionals add value to their respective fields. "New initiatives of this kind separate the leaders from followers, and I am delighted to hear about the outlines and philosophy of the programmes," he said while inaugurating the new programmes at the oldest technical institution of the country in an online ceremony.

"The new programmes involve the transmission of relevant knowledge and its application. They are inter-disciplinary and multi-disciplinary and also in line with National Education Policy 2020. Their launch shows that we are on to breaking some of the silos that we have historically created," DST Secretary added.

The programmes, which include six postgraduate degrees and one five-year integrated course, will be offered to students from the next autumn session (2021-2022). They aim to facilitate quality education in new and emerging areas that are becoming more and more relevant today. The entire bunch comprises of MTech (Artificial Intelligence) and MTech (Data Science) under the Centre for Artificial Intelligence, Data Science (CAIDS), MDes (Industrial Design), and MIM (Masters in Innovation Management) under the Department of Design, Online MTech (Microelectronics and VLSI) for working industry professionals under the Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering, MS Economics (Five-year integrated program) under the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, and MTech (Dam Safety and Rehabilitation) under the proposed International Centre for Dams (currently coordinated by Department of Hydrology).

BVR Mohan Reddy, Chairman, Board of Governors, IIT Roorkee, during the launch said that these new programs would change the mindset towards learning by making it more flexible, accessible, and a life-long process. “As we are aiming for Atma Nirbhar Bharat, new areas with a new approach to learning are important, innovation is an integral part of our future, as is entrepreneurship. I recommend entrepreneurship programs to make sure we have a lot more job creators."

Prof. Ajit K Chaturvedi, Director, IIT Roorkee, expressed confidence that these new programmes would fulfil the demand of future technologies in higher education. “All these new academic programs address the needs of our country. They have been created after careful deliberations at several levels," he said.

4.1. IIT Madras launches India's first consortium for virtual reality

ET Bureau, Aug. 03, 2021

Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT-M) on Monday announced the launch of the country’s first consortium for virtual reality called ‘Consortium for VR/AR/MR Engineering Mission in India’ (CAVE).

The body consists of a group of academia, industries, startups, and government bodies and is being coordinated by IIT Madras with the objective to enable members to create new advanced technologies and applications in virtual reality, augmented reality, mixed reality (XR) and haptics together.

The consortium aims to enable research collaboration to be undertaken with industrial sponsors and participants from industry, academia, and government.CAVE’s Engineering Mission is to promote engineering of XR and haptic technology development, not just using XR and haptics, and adoption of XR and haptics globally, particularly in India. “A strong research group such as IIT Madras is needed for innovations in XR and haptics. As an academia initiated consortium, innovation is given priority, much more resources are available for every member, and together can reach a wider audience and achieve grandeur missions," CAVE Coordinator Prof. M. Manivannan, Department of Applied Mechanics, IIT Madras, said.

He went on to add that in this era of ‘Make in India,’ an India-specific consortium for XR and haptics is important to make big impacts. Neeraj Mittal, Principal Secretary, Department of Information Technology, Government of Tamil Nadu, inaugurated CAVE during a recent Webinar organized by the Centre of Excellence on Virtual Reality and Haptics at IIT Madras, set up under the ‘Institute of Eminence’ Initiative. Addressing the inaugural event, Mittal said that such a consortium was needed for a country like India for democratizing the experience.

He gave an example of seeing and feeling the Keeladi artefacts without going there physically, and that the technology can be easily assessed by all levels of social strata, which otherwise may not be possible. This CoE on VR and Haptics is India's First Research and Product Innovation centre for XR and haptics Technology, transdisciplinary centre encompassing several fields of engineering, medicine, psychology and arts. The centre is also known as Experiential Technology Innovation Center (XTIC.org).

The key outcomes envisaged from ‘Consortium for VR/AR/MR Engineering Mission in India’ (CAVE) include developing indigenous VR/AR/MR and haptics hardware and software. Another important objective is to set up a ‘VR Superhighway’ or ‘VR Corridor’ where many start-ups and industries work together for a bigger mission to make India the choice for future XR and haptics needs. Promotion of VR skill training and technology enabled skill training is also a crucial aspect of the goals of the consortium. | Estrada do Zambujal, N. 38-A, Alfragide | 2610-294 Amadora | Portugal | Tel. +351 21 301 9926 |

The CoE was inaugurated by Chintan Vaishnav, Mission Director, Atal Innovation Mission (ATL), NITI Aayog. He said that the CoE can be an anchor for bringing various efforts in VR/AR into this centre for solving India’s mission. He particularly emphasized how the centre can help in skilling the youths of India, specifically children who are the future workforce, towards better literacy, in local languages.

4.2. NHA teams up with IIT-Delhi to scale up high-potential healthcare innovations

ET Gov. Aug. 12, 2021

Through a blended financing facility, this partnership will support innovators and entrepreneurs in their efforts to further improve healthcare delivery in India

At a time when the Covid-19 pandemic outbreak has crippled the world order, in order to take on the future challenges posed by the deadly virus on the back of technology, National Health Authority (NHA) has announced its partnership with Indian Institute of Technology Delhi (IIT Delhi) to tide over India’s preparedness for emerging healthcare needs.

The two institutions have also signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in this regard. Through the new partnership, NHA will be a technical collaborator on the US Agency for International Development (USAID)-supported SAMRIDH Healthcare Blended Financing Facility. IIT Delhi will serve as the hosting entity for SAMRIDH. This initiative will be implemented by a Technical Support Unit, managed by IPE Global.

“Through this partnership we will work with diverse health sector players to scale high potential health solutions and amplify the impact of Ayushman Bharat PM-JAY. I am extremely confident that in years to come, this partnership will be a key enabler in making quality healthcare services in India more accessible and affordable,” NHA CEO RS Sharma said.

According to the MoU, SAMRIDH Healthcare Blended Financing Facility aims to catalyse market-based health solutions to improve access to affordable and quality healthcare services for low-income and vulnerable communities, particularly for Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB PM-JAY) beneficiaries.

SAMRIDH has mobilised a capital pool of $100+ million from private sector and development funders. It leverages this fund to offer both grant and debt financing provision to healthcare enterprises and innovators.

“We welcome this opportunity to work with the NHA to deconstruct the key challenges in delivering healthcare services across PM-JAY empanelled health facilities, and support enterprises in addressing the gaps with indigenous innovations. SAMRIDH will provide a platform to facilitate affordable capital for scaling up of commercially viable innovations. The facility will also extend mentorship to enterprises from clinical, technology and business experts,” IIT-Delhi Director V Ramgopal Rao said.

Also through this partnership, NHA and IIT Delhi will support innovative solutions to address the needs and priorities of the AB PM-JAY ecosystem. This collaboration will be crucial to support rapid scaling and absorption of health innovations across more than 23,000 PM-JAY empanelled hospitals.

The innovations supported through the SAMIRDH Facility will improve the health infrastructure, build capacity of healthcare providers, and build effective Covid-19 mitigation - all in the pursuit to achieve ‘health for all’ in India. The new partnership also looks to leverage distinct sources to identify innovative healthcare solutions, provide a platform for diverse set of organisations, including manufacturers/suppliers of drugs, vaccines and health-tech, private healthcare networks, innovation incubators, social enterprises/NGOs, research & academic institutions, to come together towards solving complex healthcare challenges in India.

5.1. Employees demand a 70% salary hike in the rise of COVID-era tech skills

Times of India.com, Jul. 20, 2021

It has been reported that employees are demanding a whopping 70% increase in their salary because of the skills they have acquired over a while, especially since the last year.

IT employees have been particularly enjoying the pandemic era in terms of their prospective careers and recruitments. It has been reported that employees are demanding a whopping 70% increase in their salary because of the skills they have acquired over a while, especially since the last year.

Ever since the pandemic has hit the world brutally, industries and businesses have been forced to function at almost half their production rates, due to the mandatory rules of social distancing. And ever since, people have been working from home and this has radically improved everyone’s hold over technology over time. Due to the high demand for technical superiority, employees have worked overtime to garnish their technical skills that have been proving to be very essential during the pandemic era.

Many IT employees have included essential skills such as SaaS (Software as a Service), Edu-tech, Health-tech, A.I (Artificial Intelligence), gaming, cybersecurity, block chain, automation, cloud computing, etc. in their resume that has attracted potential hiring managers. And the employees have been quite persistent about getting an increased salary range due to their expanding skills.

The IT industry is at its peak as it continues to hire employees with excellent skill sets earned for the past year. It’s no surprise that every industry right now is looking for suitable candidates who are thorough with technical skills. Every hiring manager or recruiter from other industries are looking for candidates that have: Basic functional knowledge of remote working tools

Knowledge of data literacy, big data, cloud computing, etc.
Social media or strategic tools

These have the power to catapult one’s profile to an increased extent. The pandemic era has allowed individuals to focus on their communication skills as it is the prime necessity while working from home, besides the technical familiarity. People have been enrolling in courses that have been helping them learn important aspects of a suitable candidate in their respective fields. According to a report, 82% of job vacancies require digital skills as one of the basic criteria.

In conclusion, a person needs to be tech-savvy to bag a role in organizations, who are also offering a much better incentive

5.2. India's 5G space booming with global, domestic players pitching in

IANS, 02 Aug. 2021

Tech Mahindra, Sterlite Technologies Ltd and state-run ITI Ltd are among the Indian companies which have come up with 5G expertise.

New Delhi: India's 5G dreams may have been delayed amid the pandemic but this has not been able to detract the equipment makers from engaging in terms of equipment manufacturing and network development.

Further, both domestic and global companies are set to benefit from the non-participation of Chinese majors Huawei and ZTE in the 5G trials. Global equipment majors such as Ericsson are not the only ones in the game.

Even domestic players have risen up to the occasion and are now actively pursuing tie ups along with growing their technical prowess. Tech Mahindra, Sterlite Technologies Ltd and state-run ITI Ltd are among the Indian companies which have come up with 5G expertise.

The latest announcement of Tata Sons' subsidiary Panatone Finvest acquiring controlling stake in telecom equipment maker Tejas Networks would toughen the competition. Panatone Finvest will buy a 43.3 per cent stake in Tejas Networks for Rs 1,850 crore and along with other Tata Group companies, Panatone would make a public announcement to acquire up to another 26 per cent stake in Tejas.

In a regulatory filing, Tejas said that it sees a very large opportunity in the telecom sector both in India and global markets with the new cycle of investments in 5G and fiber-based broadband rollouts. In June, telecom giant Reliance's Jio partnered with US chipset maker Qualcomm to manufacture critical equipment for the 5G ecosystem in India. Jio has also indigenously developed 5G Radio integrated with Jio's 5G core network and is in its development of in-house Massive MIMO and indoor 5G small cells is in advanced stages. Tech Mahindra is also understood to be going with robust plans in terms of 5G technology.

The company recently reported strong earnings for the first quarter of FY22 and analysts are of the view that with the government's plan to stick to India-made 5G rollout, the company is expected the gain a significant portion of that "5G tech" pie.

As several partnerships in the telecom space have been announced, last month Bharti Airtel and Tata Consultancy Services announced partnership for the implementation of 5G solutions, starting pilot from January 2022.

TCS will implement the 5G solutions it has developed for Airtel. Tata Group has developed 5G solutions using Open-Radio Access Network (O-RAN), a part of telecommunication architecture.

Earlier this year, Bharti Airtel announced that it has become the first telecom service provider in the country to successfully demonstrate and orchestrate live 5G service. The demonstration took place in Hyderabad.

Last year, Bharti Airtel extended its multi-year contract with Ericsson for deploying 5G-ready radio network, strengthening their long-standing partnership.

Vodafone Idea in June announced to collaborate with Cisco to improve its existing 4G network and, in the future, 5G use cases for offering better quality experience for its customers. The telco said that it would work with Cisco to design and build a cost-efficient network architecture to drive greater speed to market as it taps opportunities in 4G, 5G, Cloud, and IoT.

Finnish mobile and equipment maker Nokia may to be seen in India's much awaited 5G scenario. Sector experts are of the view that the Rs 12,195 crore production linked incentive scheme would also be a major boost for the sector and more players may pitch in to manufacture equipment and network devices in India.

As per the government, the scheme envisages to create global champions out of India who have the potential to grow in size and scale, using cutting edge technology and thereby, penetrate the global value chains. Telecom products play an important role in the larger vision of "Digital India". This whole target of domestic manufacturing gained traction last year amid the border standoff with China. Amid the standoff and concerns over security, the government decided to keep Chinese players, some of which are giants in this very segment, out of the 5G trials in India.

The much-anticipated 5G trials have begun and the Department of Telecommunications granted permission to Bharti Airtel, Reliance Jio, Vodafone Idea Ltd on May 27, 2021 and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited on June 23, 2021 for conducting 5G Technology trials with a validity period of six months. As India takes strides in terms of manufacturing and technology, it seems it may turn self-sufficient and even a global leader in terms of 5G technology with several major global companies coming in and home-grown players too joining the bus.

- AGRICULTURE, FISHING & RURAL DEVELOPMENT

6.1. Telangana: Govt to leverage emerging technologies for innovation in agriculture

ET Gov. Aug. 11, 2021

The AI4AI initiative launched by IT Minister KT Rama Rao last year resulted in the identification of nine frameworks and 30 use cases along four parts of the agriculture value chain -- crop planning, smart farming, farmgate-to-fork, and data-driven agriculture.

The Telangana government is collaborating with C4IR India, the World Economic Forum, and a cross section of the agritech industry and the start-up community to explore the potential of deploying emerging technologies for making a difference to the agriculture sector in the state, a statement said on Tuesday.

This has been done under the flagship initiative, termed as AI4AI (Artificial Intelligence for Agriculture Innovation), which was launched by Industry and Information Technology Minister KT Rama Rao in August last year. The AI4AI initiative resulted in the identification of nine frameworks and 30 use cases along four parts of the agriculture value chain -- crop planning, smart farming, farmgate-to-fork, and data-driven agriculture.

With a view to realize the benefits envisaged by the AI4AI initiative, a project called 'Saagu Baagu' (which means agricultural advancement) has been conceptualised with a vision "to transform the state of agriculture by deploying emerging technologies in a scalable, inclusive and sustainable way".

The envisioned scale of the project is to touch at least 100,000 farmers over four crop cycles and establish enough readiness to scale it across the state. The Saagu Baagu Project is being led by the Agriculture Department with support from the state's Agricultural University (PJTSAU), the ITE&C Department, and the World Economic Forum.

The state government has prepared a request for expression of interest (EoI) that will be released in a couple of weeks. The objective of the EoI shall be to onboard suitable Project Implementation Partners (PIPs) and their consortia of leading agri ecosystem players, to prove and establish the transformation potential of innovative technological solutions along the agri value chain.

The project shall be implemented on the principle - 'Think Big, Start Small, Scale Fast'. While the overall Saagu Baagu project is planned to be a 5-year focused effort, the PIPs onboarded under the EoI shall be confined to 2 years (3-4 crop cycles) across multiple districts of select priority crops such as cotton, chilli, and turmeric for Kharif season and groundnut, Bengal gram, and paddy for Rabi.

Each PIP along with its consortium shall have to propose at least 5 distinct use-cases across any crop value chain to ensure a holistic deployment is undertaken and not just a conventional single use-case pilot approach. "In order to truly improve the lives of farmers, adoption of technology is the only sustainable approach and the same shall be facilitated under our Saagu Baagu Project," Principal Secretary, ITE&C, Jayesh Ranjan said. Agriculture is a priority sector for Telangana. An estimated 5 million farmers with an average landholding size of 2.77 acres (1.12 hectares) cultivate 40.53 per cent of the state's geography, that is 115 lakh acres (46.54 lakh hectares), and contributed 14.6 per cent to the state's GSDP in 2018-19. (With inputs from IANS)

6.2. PepsiCo India extends partnership with CSC, to list products in 3 more states onGrameen eStore

IBEF, Aug. 11, 2021

PepsiCo stated on Tuesday that it will expand its cooperation with the government-backed CSC's Grameen eStore platform and offer its products on it in three more states: Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, and Jharkhand. According to a joint release from PepsiCo and Common Service Centres, this will enable last-mile delivery of its snacking brands - Lay's, Kurkure, and Uncle Chipps - in rural India and stimulate entrepreneurship (CSC).

PepsiCo will also expand the availability of its snacking goods in rural areas of Uttar Pradesh, where the project was successfully launched, by listing in more districts, according to the company.

"PepsiCo India's snacking brands... will be listed on the CSC Grameen eStore across the hinterlands of Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, and Jharkhand, and will continue to be listed in more districts of Uttar Pradesh, following a successful pilot project in Uttar Pradesh. The products will be made available through 20,000 village level entrepreneurs (VLEs) and 489 distributor village level entrepreneurs (DVLEs)."

CSC Grameen eStore is a hyper-local e-commerce platform developed by CSC (under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology) to encourage rural residents to use digital ordering and delivery.

"PepsiCo India's relationship with CSC is aligned with the Government of India's vision of establishing AatmaNirbhar Bharat by creating rural employment and making rural India's digital inclusion a reality," it stated.

Using what they've learned, PepsiCo India has not only expanded the programme, but also given existing VLEs the option to convert to DVLEs. This will aid in the promotion of rural entrepreneurship by expanding the reach and earning potential of existing entrepreneurs.

"The extension of our partnership with PepsiCo India would undoubtedly be a milestone for CSC in ensuring last-mile delivery in the hinterlands of rural India while enhancing rural entrepreneurship, helping in the scaling of businesses and local employment," CSC SPV CEO Mr. Dinesh Kumar Tyagi said.

"We started our partnership with CSC Uttar Pradesh that has shown positive results and are delighted to take this partnership forward to three more states besides further expanding it in Uttar Pradesh." PepsiCo India Senior Director and Head of Sales Mr. Aditya Sinha said.

India is one of Pepsico's major markets, where it operates with brands such as Pepsi, Lay's, Kurkure, Tropicana 100%, Gatorade, and Quaker.

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

7.1. Agri exports register an increase of 17.37% yoy in 2020-21

IBEF, Jul. 27, 2021

India’s agriculture exports during 2020-21 have registered an increase of 17.37% as compared to exports during 2019-20, said Union Minister of Commerce and Industry, Mr. Piyush Goyal, in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha. He has highlighted various developments taking place in the sector stating that to promote agricultural exports, the Government has introduced a comprehensive Agriculture Export Policy (AEP) to harness export potential of Indian agriculture and raise farmers’ income.

Department of Commerce has taken several steps to implement AEP at State/ District level. State Level Monitoring Committees (SLMCs), Nodal Agencies for agricultural exports and Cluster Level Committees have been formed in a number of States and State-specific Action Plans have been prepared. Country and product-specific action plans have also been formulated to promote exports, he added.

A Farmer Connect Portal has been set up for providing a platform for farmers, Farmer-Producer Organizations (FPOs) and cooperatives to interact with exporters. Buyer-Seller Meets (BSMs) have been organized in the clusters to provide export-market linkages.

Regular interactions, through video-conferences, have been held with the Indian Missions abroad, to assess and exploit export opportunities. Country specific BSMs, through Indian Missions, have also been organized, he said.

In addition, assistance to the exporters of agriculture products is also available under the export promotion schemes of Marine Products Export Development Authority (MPEDA), Agricultural & Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA), Tea Board, Coffee Board and Spices Board, Ministry of Commerce & Industry. The Government has also introduced a Central Sector Scheme – ‘Transport and Marketing Assistance for Specified Agriculture Products’ – for providing assistance for the international component of freight, to mitigate the freight disadvantage for the export of agriculture products.

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

7.2. India breaks into the top 10 list of agri produce exporters

Mint, 22 Jul. 2021, Asit Ranjan Mishra

Robust exports of rice, cotton, soya beans and meat propel the country to No. 9 spot
In 2019, Mexico and India, with 3.4% and 3.1% share in agri exports, replaced Malaysia (7th) and New Zealand (9th) as the top exporters

India broke into the top 10 list of agricultural produce exporters in 2019 with a sizeable share in the export of rice, cotton, soya beans and meat, according to a World Trade Organization (WTO) report on the trends in world agricultural trade in the past 25 years.

In 2019, Mexico and India, with 3.4% and 3.1% share in global agri exports, respectively, replaced Malaysia (7th) and New Zealand (9th) as the largest exporters, while the US, which topped the list in 1995 (22.2%), was overtaken by the European Union in 2019 (16.1%). The US’s share fell to 13.8% in 2019. Brazil maintained its ranking as the third largest exporter, increasing its share from 4.8% in 1995 to 7.8% in 2019. China climbed from the sixth spot in 1995 (4%) to fourth in 2019 (5.4%).

The top rice exporters in 1995 included Thailand (38%), India (26%) and the US (19%). In 2019, India (33%) overtook Thailand (20%) to top the list, while Vietnam (12%) overtook the US to the third spot. The top 10 exporters accounted for more than 96% of exports in both 1995 and 2019.

India is also the third-largest cotton exporter (7.6%), and the fourth-largest importer (10%) in 2019. It had not featured in the top 10 list in 1995. In the largest traded agri product, soya beans, India (0.1%) has a meagre share, but was ranked ninth in the world. In the “meat and edible meat offal" category, India was ranked eighth in the world with a 4% share in global trade. While India was the seventh-largest wheat and meslin exporter in 1995, it does not feature in the top 10 list in 2019.

However, India lagged behind as a value-added contributor to world agri exports. India’s share of foreign value-added content in its agri exports was also low at 3.8% primarily due to high tariffs on agri imports to protect the domestic market.

In a report, “Reforms to promote agri exports" released earlier this year, the commerce ministry had said that the government’s consistent and concerted endeavours to usher in reforms to boost agricultural exports have been highly fruitful.

“Despite the unprecedented global pandemic, India has been able to step in to meet the increased global demand, emerging as a significant global supplier of food and other essential agricultural products," the ministry added.

8.1. 3 India-based enterprises among UN Best Small Business winners

IBEF, Jul. 29, 2021

Three Indian businesses are among the winners of a United Nations-sponsored global competition for the "Best Small Businesses" that provide creative, varied, and impactful solutions for increasing access to healthy and sustainable food.

Fifty small and medium-sized businesses from all around the globe have been named the Best Small Businesses of the UN Food Systems Summit's "Good Food for All" competition.

Edible Routes Private Limited, Oorja Development Solutions India, and Taru Naturals are the winners from India.

The 50 winners were chosen from almost 2,000 applications from 135 countries, and their solutions to improve access to nutritious, sustainable food are inspiring, diverse, and impactful. The UN stated in a statement on Tuesday that they will also split US$ 100,000 in monetary rewards.

"Small businesses are the unsung heroes of our food systems," said Dr. Agnes Kalibata, Special Envoy of the UN Secretary-General for the 2021 Food Systems Summit. "They manage at least half of our food economy and keep food on our tables throughout the Covid epidemic."

“We must recognise the problems they confront and collaborate to ensure that they stay in the forefront of efforts to enhance the future of food.”

According to the company's profile, Edible Routes, established by Mr. Kapil Mandawewala, provides clients with simple access to naturally and locally farmed, fresh farm products. Its business concept provides city people with agricultural allotments within an hour's drive, with enough space to feed 220 families.

“Teach people to produce their own food and become stewards of community supported agriculture,” according to the company's training courses and seminars.

“With growing urbanisation, our idea of maximising the use of urban places to produce fresh farm food has enormous potential,” it stated.

Oorja is a farming-as-a-service (FaaS) firm that works at the "crossroads of sustainable agriculture and renewable energy." According to the company's profile on the UN Food Systems Summit community website, it finances, installs, and maintains solar energy systems for agricultural use, as well as selling farmers cheap and dependable irrigation, milling, and cooling services to help them transition from diesel to solar.

Oorja, which was founded and is managed by Mr. Amit Saraogi and Dr. Clementine Chambon, has a staff of 18 employees in India and has so far executed 24 solar projects that have benefited close to 2,000 people and saved 30 tonnes of CO2.

Ms. Ruchi Jain created TARU Naturals and Organics, a grassroots movement of 10,000 tribal and small-scale farmers across India. It is a fair-trade network that connects farmers to markets with nutritious, clean, and organic products.

“Building self-sufficiency across the value chain ecosystem for farm produce, intervening with climate resilient agriculture, clean post-harvest technologies, value-added goods, and market linkages,” the company stated. We want to ensure that rural livelihoods are secure and that small-scale farmer earnings are doubled.”

Each winner was chosen based on how their company contributes to healthier, more sustainable, and equitable food for the communities it serves, the strength of their future vision, and how well they communicate their company's present and future impact, according to the UN.

Youth make up half of the winners, while women make up nearly half. There are 42 nations represented among the winners.

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

8.2. Trucking startup BlackBuck's valuation crosses US$ 1 billion

IBEF: July 23, 2021

BlackBuck, India’s leading online trucking platform, has received a US$ 67 million round of equity financing by Tribe Capital, IFC Emerging Asia Fund and VEF. Existing investors Wellington Management, Sands Capital, and International Finance Corporation also participated in the round. The investment has appraised BlackBuck as a unicorn start-up valued at more than US$ 1 billion. The company will use these funds to gain more market share and launch new service offerings for its customer base. The company will invest heavily in product and data sciences capabilities, with the aim of enabling more efficient freight matching for the Indian trucking ecosystem.

Mr. Rajesh Yabaji, co-founder and CEO of BlackBuck states, “BlackBuck started with a dream to re-imagine trucking, to make it 10X simple and 10X efficient. It has been six years and we are just getting started to make a difference. We continue to dedicate ourselves for the foreseeable future to solve fundamental Indian Trucking problems. The new financing round gives us more firepower to invest in fundamentally hard trucking problems and continue deepening our reach and impact.”

BlackBuck is the largest online trucking platform in the country and currently drives over 90% market share of all online trucking activity. BlackBuck has a globally unique, vertically integrated approach to build the trucking marketplace. It digitises fleet operations for the truckers and operates a marketplace to help match trucks with relevant loads. The platform has close to over 700,000 truckers and more than 1.2 million trucks on its platform, and it sees over 15 million in monthly transactions.

Mr. Arjun Sethi, co-founder and partner at Tribe Capital highlighted that India's supply chain and logistics industry is moving from paper and pencil to digital and BlackBuck’s ability to measure output and productivity growth has streamlined logistical challenges for the industry over a short time frame. “Its continued high-velocity growth promises to bring even greater transformation to the Indian trucking ecosystem,” he said.

Ms. Saadia Khairi, fund head, IFC Emerging Asia Fund, said that the firm has been impressed with how Blackbuck had continued to leverage technology. Khairi said BlackBuck’s deep understanding of the long-haul freight market offered solutions that addressed typical pain points for both the truckers and shippers.

“In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic Blackbuck has scaled its online freight marketplace and fleet management services rapidly,” said Khairi. “Blackbuck’s contribution to increased transparency and efficiency in the large, fragmented and predominantly unorganized long-haul freight market in India offers the potential for significant developmental impact.”

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

9.1. Bengal govt starts GIS mapping of 570 MSME clusters to boost ease of doing business

PTI, Jul. 28, 2021

The West Bengal government has started GIS mapping of 570 clusters for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in the state to assess availability of infrastructure and skill of workers in these industrial facilities and help improve ease of doing business, an official said on Monday. This mapping exercise will help the government identify the infrastructural gap in the clusters and develop a strategy to strengthen its services there, the MSME department's secretary Rajesh Pandey said.

"We are carrying out a GIS mapping project which will cover all 570 clusters. Such an exercise will help the government know details of infrastructure, availability of land and skill of labourers working in these industrial areas. The initiative is expected to be completed in one month," he said. Handloom and khadi sectors are also part of the mapping project, and the outcome of the exercise will be available on the department's website, he said.

"Results of the survey will enable the government to take quick decisions on providing support in the clusters if required. For businessmen, this would be a ready reckoner of getting information about infrastructure and resources. They will be able to know details of land, skill and services required to set up a business," he said. As part of e-governance initiatives, the state government is aiming at giving clearance for projects without any physical contact, and the entire process will be on a digital platform as part of the ease of doing business, another official said. "West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation is also working on it and has already put all the details of industrial plots on its website," he said. Ten years ago, there were only 30 MSME clusters, now the number has gone up to 570, the state government official claimed. Efforts are on for creation of a GIS-enabled database of industrial areas across several states for greater logistics planning.

9.2. Encouraging small farmers to set up Cottage Industries for generating self-employment opportunities

Press Information Bureau: Jul. 23, 2021

Small farmers are being encouraged to set up cottage industries to increase their income through the following schemes/programmes:

Prime Minister’s Employment Generation Programme (PMEGP) is a major credit-linked subsidy programme aimed at generating self-employment opportunities through establishment of micro-enterprises in the non-farm sector by helping traditional artisans (primarily small farmers) and rural/urban unemployed youth. The major verticals in the cottage industries where the small farmers are setting up micro enterprises under PMEGP are as follows:

i. Agro Based & Food Processing Industry viz. Pulses & Cereals Processing Industry, Fruit & Vegetable Processing Industry, Village Oil Industry, Gur & Khandsari Industry, etc.

Forest Based Industry viz. Medicinal Plants Industry, Beekeeping Industry, Minor Forest Based Industries, etc. Handmade Paper and Fibre Industry viz. Handmade Paper Industry, Fibre Industry, etc.

Since inception of the scheme, till 09.07.2021, 6,97,612 units have been set up (including those by farmers) with MM subsidy of Rs. 16688.17 crore.

ii Ministry is implementing Scheme of Fund for Regeneration of Traditional Industries (SFURTI).

The focus of the scheme is to organize traditional industries and artisans/small farmers into clusters and provide them with sustainable employment by making their products competitive through value addition. Under the scheme, farmers through farmer producer organization or otherwise are collectively supported through construction of Common Facility Centres (CFCs), new plants and machineries, training, etc. in sectors such as Agro Based Industries, Honey, Khadi, Coir, Handicrafts, Textiles, Bamboo etc.

As on 19.07.2021, 433 clusters have been approved benefitting about 2.6 lakh artisans (including farmers) with GoI assistance of Rs.1102 crore.

iii. Ministry also implements Gramodyog Vikas Yojana focussing on development of Village based industries. Two major components of the scheme are as follows:

Honey Mission (Beekeeping Programme): To supplement the income of farmers, Adivasies and unemployed youth of the country, KVIC launched Honey Mission during 2017 – 18 providing farmers with 10 bee boxes with live beehives. A total number of 15,445 beneficiaries have been provided with 1,53,259 of Beehives (Boxes) from 2017-18 to 2020-21.

Kumbhar Sashaktikaran Programme (Mineral Based Industry): Under the programme, for up-liftment of the small farmer/rural potters’ livelihood, skill up-gradation training and new home scale energy efficient equipment’s like electric pottery wheels, blunger, pug mill, kiln etc. are provided for producing quality products. A total of 21030 electric pottery wheels have been distributed under this programme from 2017-18 to 2020-21.

This information was given by Minister for Micro. Small and Medium Enterprises Mr. Narayan Rane in a written reply in the Lok Sabha today.

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

10.1. Number of MSMEs in Kerala doubled in last five years, says industries secretary Mohammed Hanish

TNN, 30 Jul. 2021

The number of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in the state has more than doubled in the last five years, said APM Mohammed Hanish, principal secretary, department of industries

The number of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in the state has more than doubled in the last five years, said APM Mohammed Hanish, principal secretary, department of industries. He added that the main advantage of the sector is that MSMEs have been given the freedom and strength to market their own products. He was inaugurating the MSME workshop series organized by the Kerala Management Association.

The growth of startups is the biggest contribution of the MSME sector to Kerala. This attracted the new generation to entrepreneurship and innovative ideas. Efforts are also being made to strengthen the MSME sector through initiatives such as the Athmanirbhar package and Mudra loan. States including Kerala have started issuing automatic licenses, he said. The procedures for launching MSME ventures will be simplified within the next six months. Hanish added that the entry of the e-commerce market will benefit the MSME sector.

G S Prakash, joint director, MSME Development Institute, said that anyone wishing to start an MSME project can register online for free through Udyam registration. "Those who have not yet registered through Udyam will have the opportunity to re-register before December 31," he said. Entrepreneurs need to be able to make the most of government e-market facilities. It is a large market with 52,651 buyers and 40,46,551 products. He also pointed out that the e-market is also a market where MSMEs can sell their products at a better price. The biggest challenge facing MSME is the delay in getting the money. He also reminded that the trade receivables discounting system should be utilized to overcome this.

"The MSME Act provides for MSEs to approach the Micro and Small Enterprises Facilitation Council constituted by the state government if it takes more than 45 days to receive payment. The MSME unit also has a facility to lodge a complaint on the portal MSME Samadhan regarding payment delays. There are several marketing support systems available. Entrepreneurs can only take full advantage of this if they understand exactly what it is. We should try to utilize most of SIDBI's plans for the MSME sector. The MSME ministry has recently set up a grievance redressal portal to lodge complaints and suggestions against the central and state governments and banks," Prakash said.

There are also special schemes for women entrepreneurs. Prakash said that if the cluster is formed and the ventures are started, many concessions and grants will be given. There are also many schemes for young entrepreneurs. He reminded that there are endless possibilities under the Make in India scheme and for start-ups.

In his introductory speech, KMA president R Madhav Chandran pointed out that MSMEs are in deep crisis. He said that KMA is organizing three consecutive workshops on the MSME sector.

10.2. Maharashtra govt will provide incentives to set up IT projects in tier-2, tier-3 cities: Minister

PTI, Aug. 06, 2021

The Maha Vikas Aghadi government will provide incentives to the information technology (IT) sector for setting up projects in tier-2 and tier-3 cities such as Nagpur, Amravati, Latur and Satara to reduce the burden on Mumbai and Pune, Maharashtra Minister Satej Patil said. Speaking at an event organised by the Indian Merchants Chambers (IMC) on Thursday, the minister of state for information technology and home said the government also plans to launch a healthcare platform, which will connect public health centres, civic hospitals and medical colleges in rural areas and cities. Patil participated in 'Engage Maharashtra, Reboot, Reform, Resurge Roundtable Conference' organised by the IMC, Chamber of Commerce and Industry. The minister spoke about the initiatives the state government had taken for the IT sector and assured full-fledged support to industrialists engaged in the sector.

Maharashtra has been at the forefront in the IT sector and the state government led by Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray will ensure that it leads from the front, Patil said during the virtual conference. Mumbai, Pune, Nagpur and Aurangabad have been proven as IT hubs and the human resources available in these cities have helped keep the state on top in the sector, he said. "The state government, through its company MahaIT, has undertaken and implemented many key projects using technology. We disbursed loan waivers to more than 30 lakh farmers last year, while 30 lakh students are benefitting from the scholarships transferred directly to their bank accounts," the minister said. The state government wants to spread the IT culture established in big cities to smaller cities, he said.

"Mumbai and Pune have been leading in the IT sector and are saturated because of migration. We now want to take this progress to tier-2 and tier-3 cities such as Nagpur, Satara, Amravati, Latur, Nanded, among others by giving incentives to the industries. Industries will be helped with facilities such as electricity and other infrastructural necessities through a separate IT policy," the minister said. Patil further said the state IT department was rolling out a platform to address the healthcare needs of people. "We will connect local district authorities with hospitals and clinics so that people get their health issues addressed within minutes. We have connected 12,000 Gram Panchayats and 25 districts and cities with optical fibre-enabled internet using Mahanet and Bharatnet platforms," he said. The state government was open to recommendations and suggestions from the IT industry stakeholders, the minister added.

INDUSTRY and MANUFACTURE

11.1. Bata India to focus on expansion in small towns, online channels

PTI, 19 Jul. 2021,

- This is part of the firm's efforts to save cash through enhanced productivity, cost-reduction and tight inventory management

- Footwear major Bata India will focus on expansion in small towns and online channels as part of its efforts to save cash through enhanced productivity, cost-reduction and tight inventory management to overcome the challenges of the pandemic, according to its annual report for 2020-21.

The company has adopted 'Survive, Revive, Revitalise and Thrive' strategy and is constantly monitoring the store level performance, driving sales through online channels and cost optimisation across all functions.

"With India recovering from COVID wave 2, our priorities will revolve around safety and security of all our stakeholders...," Bata India Managing Director Rajeev Gopalakrishnan wrote in his address to shareholders.

To overcome the challenges posed by the pandemic, he said Bata India is focussing on "conserving cash by bolstering productivity across value chain and tight inventory control, driving margins via cost-reduction projects and achieving higher turnover by small-town and online channels expansion".

In 2020-21, he said the closure of malls and high street stores triggered by lockdown led to the company's sales taking a severe hit.

"As a result, it became paramount for us to employ cash-saving measures," Gopalakrishnan said adding through astute planning and cohesive collaboration, the company saved "more than Rs 100 crore on account of rent negotiations, vendor cost negotiations and consolidating office spaces".

He further said, "we also implemented 'Project Thrive' to reduce dependency on imports and shifted to local sourcing. Owing to 'Project Refuel', a product COGS (cost of goods sold) -saving initiative, we were able to save over Rs 7 crore during (FY) 2021." Stating that with COVID-19 infections surging in bigger metros and prolonged lockdowns, customers started looking for trusted brands, he said, "Therefore, we continued to expand our retail network through franchise channel. We opened a total of 64 franchise stores in smaller towns and cities, taking the total to 220 franchise stores."

The company also scaled up its presence via distribution channel, with Bata products now available in over 800 towns across 25,000 multi-brand outlets, Gopalakrishnan said adding, "we also opened 18 new company-owned stores." Bata India Chairman Ashwani Windlass said "the second wave shook the country even harder. Expectedly, revenues for the year remained subdued due to marked decline in demand for formal wear but your company's confidence on the path forward remains high." On the outlook, the company said the current economic state, challenging retail environment and new waves of pandemic pose threats to businesses across all sectors.

"The countrywide lockdowns and the 'New Normal' has led to fundamental shift in customer behaviour and retail businesses in particular".

The company "is focused on 'Survive, Revive, Revitalise and Thrive' strategy and is constantly monitoring the store level performance, driving sales through online channels and cost optimisation across all functions", it added.

Bata India said it is strategically positioned to harness the present challenges, given the strength of its brand, innovation capabilities, retail foothold and growing online presence in footwear and accessories category.

11.2. Handloom production needs to Double from present level around Rs. 60,000 Cr to Rs. 125,000 crore in 3 years - Mr. Goyal

Press Information Bureau, Aug. 09, 2021

Union Minister of Textiles, Commerce and Industry, Consumer Affairs & Food and Public Distribution Mr. Piyush Goyal has said that steps need to be taken to increase the production capacities of handloom sector from existing 60 thousand crore rupees to over one lakh 25 thousand crore rupees within three years. He added that target must be set to increase the export of handloom items from existing 2,500 crore rupees to 10,000 crore rupees in the next three years. Addressing an event on the occasion of 7th National Handloom Day here today, Mr. Goyal said that nation is committed to ensure sustainable development of the handloom sector thereby empowering handloom weavers and workers financially and instilling pride in their exquisite craftsmanship.

The minister announced that a Committee will be constituted consisting of all weavers, trainers equipment makers, marketing experts and other stake holders to recommend ways and means to achieve the objective and improve all round progress of handloom sector.

He mentioned that handloom sector has a unique place in our cultural heritage. For centuries, it has been sustained by the inter-generational transfer of weaving and designing skills. He said that it was in a Kolkata Town Hall meeting held on August 07, 1905 that the Swadeshi Movement was launched which aimed at reviving domestic products and production processes. Mr. Goyal added that to commemorate this historical occasion, and to celebrate our handloom tradition, Hon’ble Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi declared 7th August as National Handloom Day in 2015. In the 75th year of independence, Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi has urged all of us as a nation to buy Indian Handloom products and showcase their grandeur by associating with #MyHandloomMyPride. The minister also urged people to buy at least one handloom item in order to promote weavers and handloom sector.

Congratulating NHDC for setting up three Handloom Craft Villages at Kovalam, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, Mohpara Village, District Golaghat, Assam and Kanihama, Budgam, Srinagar in collaboration with the respective State governments, the minister stated that it will not only provide additional attraction for the domestic and international tourists but also promote the well-known Handloom & Handicraft Products of the region leading to rise in weavers income. Mr. Goyal also advised the Handloom Development Corporation to rejuvenate this sector with new ideas thoughts and latest technological advancements as per the changing requirements. He said that it is very important to think intelligently as to how this sector can stand on its own feet without government’s support. He said, ‘by making ourselves Atmanirbhar, we can make India Atmanirbhar.’

Mr. Goyal and Mrs. Darshana Jardosh jointly inaugurated Design Resource Centre at Kancheepuram, TamilNadu and building of Weavers’ Service Centre at Raigarh, Chhatisgarh on the occasion. Virtual Buyer Seller Meet was also organized by National Handloom Development Corporation.

Speaking on the occasion Minister of State for Textiles and Railways Mrs. Darshana Jardosh said that it is a sector that directly addresses women’s empowerment with over 70% of all weavers and allied workers being female. She further said that it is the responsibility of all of us to promote local artisans under the local for vocal initiative.

In his address Secretary Ministry of Textiles Mr. U. P. Singh said that an e-commerce portal is being developed in coordination with Digital India Corporation (under MEITY) for handloom weavers and handicraft artisans. This will enable our weavers and artisans to sell directly to consumers. He further said that in order to support the handloom sector and to enable a wider market, steps have been taken to on-board weavers onto the Government e-Market place (GeM). This step would enable weavers to sell their products directly to various Government Departments and organizations. So far about 1.50 lakh weavers have been on-boarded on the GeM portal, he added.

Mr. Goyal and Mrs. Darshana Jardosh also interacted with the weavers who came from different corners of the country to attend the National Handloom Day celebrations. An exihibition depicting rich variety of exquisite handloom products was also organized at Convention hall, Hotel Ashok where the function was held.

On the clarion call of the Prime Minister, National level – “My Handloom My Pride Expo” is being organized at Dilli Haat, INA, New Delhi from 1st August to 15th August 2021 by National Handloom Development Corporation (NHDC) to celebrate the 7th National Handloom Day. Handloom Producer Companies and weavers are showcasing and displaying handloom products from handloom Clusters/pockets from across the Country for sale. 125 plus Handloom agencies/ National awardees belonging to 22 states are participating in the Expo. The exhibition will be open to public from 11 am to 8 pm for fifteen days upto August 15, 2021 and more than 10000 people are expected to visit the exhibition. Handloom products drawn from some of the exotic locations of India are on display and sale at the exhibition. From 7th to 11th August 2021 #MyHandloomMyPride Expo will also be organised by Handloom Export Promotion Council at Community Hall, New Moti bagh, near Hotel Leela Palace.

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

12.1. IKEA is bringing in-store experience to online shopping with AI

ET CIO, 22 Jul. 2021, Riya Pahula

With a motive and objective to provide an omnichannel experience to its customers, IKEA took a big leap and invested in visual AI

The 2020 pandemic made the market see a lot of bankruptcies and retailers after retailers getting shut. But on the other hand, there also were retailers which reported hikes in their financial figures. Only those companies survived and raised the finances bars which could prove an omnichannel experience to their customers. With a similar motive and objective to provide an omnichannel experience to its customers, IKEA took a big leap and invested in the company called Geomagical Labs, a California-based firm. “Ikea has a very strong culture of the store, our uniqueness comes in our big stores and the experience that people have when they enter the door and interact with the entire store. And the problem arises when we have to translate this experience into an omnichannel, the experience is not the same and as differentiating, as we had in the stores, especially in the planning stores,” Divya Kumar, Global Digital Chief Financial Officer, IKEA, told ETCIO.

IKEA’s thought was how can the company take the uniqueness of the IKEA stores and combine it with the new-age technology to deliver an experience online as strong as it is in the stores. “To solve this problem, we recently invested in visual AI. It is an application that helps our customers turn their 2D pictures to 3D so they are able to visualize the surroundings better. They can see the rug, sofa, bed, etc and can individually compartmentalize it using AI,” Kumar said “This 3D image can be further used to plan the look of the room or house. One can take out the sofa that they already have and try putting the new ones in the image to see how it looks. You take a lamp and place it at the back of the sofa and see if the lighting’s good. It completely changes the experience and how you buy something because then you’re able to visualize your home and space and you’re able to personalize it with the different furniture,” she further explained.

The other use-case is that you could even go into the store, then you see something you really like and you’ve taken this picture in your app and you can see what it looks like in the room. For its customers, IKEA does complex kitchen and wardrobe planning. People usually go into the store and sit with a planning expert to understand the structures. And the company’s next step is to bring this expertise online. With the 3D visual AI, it is trying to give the same expertise option at the comfort of the customer's home.

“We have currently implemented it in very few countries, we have not broad-based it because the acquisition is of a recent date. We are seeing two very big things from this move. One is from a revenue point of view and another from a quality perspective. A lot of customers are buying this way. They love playing with it and as all of us as humans like to explore, sometimes it’s not just about the purchase but exploration,” she said. With this application, IKEA’s coworkers at the store are able to help the customers better. Kumar mentioned IKEA had a very strong business case when it bought the Visual AI company and that the use case is coming to life now. From a qualitative perspective, Kumar believes it is all about the experience. She said, “Because everything is standard, it has become difficult to differentiate in the industry, especially online. It doesn’t matter where you go, you get the same experience, so how you differentiate yourself in the experience you’re giving is the qualitative thing we’re going after.” “India is a very recent market for us, we have had stores only for 2 years now, our eCommerce in India launched only 1 year back, in Mumbai which leaves lesser scope in India to do as much as we are doing in the rest of the world. Everything will come to India and we have a very planned approach,” she concluded. (With inputs from Dhrumil Dhakan)

12.2. AI became a part of our lives long before we knew it

ET CIO, Aug. 17, 2021, Dhrumil Dhakan

As we talk about the next big thing in AI, what we fail to recognize is that it is already an essential part of our daily lives.

Businesses on a global scale are arguing if AI is the right thing to do if AI would capture the emotions and behave like a human. But much before this discussion happened, Google and Uber’s of the world had already made us addicted to AI. Often shown as the big baddie in science fiction flicks that takes control over everything, Artificial Intelligence is not just the thing of the future anymore, it is already present in workspaces worldwide today. With this new-gen tech streamlining operations for organizations rapidly, it is important to ask whether AI is becoming the new boss?

“We all use AI several times a day, whether we recognize it or not, so every time you step out of your house and look at Google Maps, that’s AI working to find the best route for you to get from point 1 to point 2. Every time you do a Google search, and Google tries to predict what search item you’re trying to look at, that’s AI working for you,” Akhilesh Tuteja, Head of Digital Consulting at KPMG told ETCIO, giving examples of everyday AI. With tech entering the mainstream space with immense speed, it has become difficult for the average eye to capture the nuances of AI in our everyday lives. The situation is quite different in the business world, where the use-cases of AI are controlled to maximize efficiency.

While this may sound like good news, Tuteja emphasized that we often overlook a dimension in which AI is actually controlling humans. He further gave the example of the Uber app, which provides the driver with the destination, the best route to pick, how to collect money, it even gives them the rating at the end of every trip, day, and even month, which has basically digitized the responsibilities of a project manager thereby taking a job of a human or a boss. “One industry that has lived with Machine bosses is the call center industry. So, when a call lands at the call center, who decides who will pick up that call, is based on the skill, availability, and past performance. If it is a credit card call, about getting the balance, it might go to a relatively unskilled person, but if it’s about canceling a card and you need to retain that person, the call will go to the most specialized person,” he elaborated.

An argument often used against the tech is that it lacks the empathy that is often needed in a boss, when dealing with employees that have personal problems of their own, Tuteja believes that while this may be true today, there may come a time when the machines can surpass humans even in that matter. “A lot of people earlier thought that machines are dealing with the area which is rule-based, rational, etc. The Google Art Project really talks about creating art that has never been created before and as we all know, art is a reflection of society, humans, feelings, etc. Today, an AI algorithm can produce art that has never been produced before,” Tuteja further explained. While machines cannot express emotions, they have been trained, and also possess the ability to demonstrate or at least create those emotions and it is only a matter of time before they learn the rest.

13.1. ICEA forms IT hardware committee chaired by HP India MD

ET Telecom, 22 Jul. 2021

ICEA has formed an IT Hardware Committee, chaired by HP India, MD with an aim to ensure significant investments for IT hardware component, parts, and design ecosystem in India by 2026.

India Cellular & Electronics Association (ICEA) has formed an IT Hardware Committee, chaired by HP India Managing Director (MD) with an aim to ensure significant investments for the creation of a globally competitive IT hardware component, parts, and design ecosystem in India by 2026. ICEA, which represents firms like HP, Dell, Lenovo, Acer, and contract manufacturers Foxconn, Flextronics, Wistron, etc., said it envisions making India the “largest manufacturing and export center” globally by 2031. The industry body said it has been engaged in “deep discussions” with global brands such as HP, Dell, Apple, Wistron, Flex, Foxconn, and their Electronics Manufacturing Services (EMS) companies to strategize new ways to unlock India’s IT hardware manufacturing potential. “The newly formed IT hardware committee is an outcome of our deep engagement with the Government and the brands,” it said.

“The world’s top EMS companies are already in India and Indian companies are also learning to build electronics products for leading global OEMs. At ICEA, we are determined to make India the next global hub for electronics manufacturing in partnership with the Government and IT hardware shall be the next success story after mobile manufacturing in India,” said Pankaj Mohindroo, Chairman, ICEA. “Under the leadership of Mr. Ketan Patel, the IT Hardware committee shall develop a new roadmap for laptop and tablet manufacturing in India. The committee includes powerful brands and EMS companies such as HP, Dell, Lava, Foxconn, Wistron, and Flex. Lava is tying up with a significantly large global EMS company, which would bring the desired skills and scale”, Mohindroo further added. “The PC and tablet market is approximately USD 230 billion globally and it is essential to create economies of scale to build a sustainable manufacturing base in India. I wish to prepare a concrete IT manufacturing roadmap for the next five years with desired outcomes regarding employment, contribution to GDP, and possible value additions,” said Ketan Patel, MD, HP India.Over the next 4 years, the approved companies under the PLI Scheme for IT Hardware are expected to lead to a total production of more than Rs 1.61 lakh crore.

The government recently approved five global companies including Dell, ICT (Wistron), Flextronics, and Rising Stars Hi-Tech (Foxconn) to produce products covered under the scheme. Under the domestic category, 10 companies namely Lava International Limited, Dixon Technologies (India) Limited, Infopower Technologies (JV of Sahasra and MiTAC), Bhagwati (Micromax) Neolync, Optiemus, Netweb, Smile Electronics, VVDN, and Panache Digilife have been approved.

13.2. Microsoft in talks with Telangana for setting up $2-billion data centre

PTI, 22 Jul. 2021

Telangana Minister for IT and Industries KT Rama Rao had a few months ago kickstarted the discussions on the data centre by initiating dialogues with the senior management of Microsoft.

Hyderabad: Microsoft Corp. is in discussions with the Telangana government to set up up one of its biggest data centres in the state at an investment of $2-2.5 billion, sources said. If the talks fructify, this would be one of the major investments of the Redmond, Washington-based firm outside the United States. Telangana Minister for IT and Industries KT Rama Rao had a few months ago kickstarted the discussions by initiating dialogues with the senior management of Microsoft. "The discussions are in the final stage. Certain issues — such as whether it would be a single location or multiple and the size of the investment — are yet to be finalised. Microsoft appears to be willing to go ahead with setting up a data centre here, though officially not confirmed," sources said.

When contacted, a top official of the Telangana's IT department said that the company had requested the state government to not disclose the details of the discussions. An email sent to Microsoft remained unanswered. The Windows maker, led by India-born Satya Nadella, is slated to add data centres in at least 10 more countries this year, and the company is on pace to build between 50 and 100 new data centres each year for the foreseeable future, Noelle Walsh, corporate vice president and non-executive director at Microsoft, had said earlier. Set up in 1998 in Hyderabad, Microsoft India Development Centre is one of the largest R&D centres of the company outside of the US. The centre represents Microsoft's strategy of globally shared development to build products and services.

Amazon Web Services (AWS) in November announced setting up of its second data centre region in India in Telangana that will be operational by mid-2022, and will see the tech giant investing about Rs 20,761 crore.

14.1. DRDO indigenously develops High Strength Beta Titanium Alloy on industrial scale

Press Information Bureau: July 22, 2021

Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has indigenously developed a High Strength Metastable Beta Titanium Alloy containing Vanadium, Iron and Aluminium, Ti-10V-2Fe-3Al on industrial scale for applications in aerospace structural forgings. It has been developed by Defence Metallurgical Research Laboratory (DMRL); a premier Hyderabad based laboratory of DRDO. These alloys are already being used by many developed nations in recent times as beneficial substitute for the relatively heavier traditional Ni-Cr-Mo structural steels to achieve weight savings.

The excellent forgeability of high strength-to-weight ratio Ti-10V-2Fe-3Al alloy facilitates manufacture of intricately configured components for aerospace applications with potential for significant weight savings. Some of the components which may be forged from this alloy include slat/flap tracks, landing gear, and drop link in landing gear – among several others.

The high strength beta titanium alloys are unique due to their higher strength, ductility, fatigue, and fracture toughness – making them increasingly attractive for aircraft structural applications.

Furthermore, their relatively lower lifetime cost, owing to superior corrosion resistance in comparison to steels, is an effective trade-off to justify the use of this expensive material in India too.

The DMRL has carried out raw material selection, alloy melting, thermo-mechanical processing, ultrasonics-based Non Destructive Evaluation (NDE), heat treatment, mechanical characterisation, and type certification in active collaboration with several agencies.

Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA) has identified over 15 steel components which may be replaced by Ti-10V-2Fe-3Al alloy forgings soon with a potential of 40% weight savings. The landing gear drop link is the first component forged successfully by ADA at HAL, Bengaluru with DMRL’s involvement and duly certified for airworthiness.

Raksha Mantri Mr. Rajnath Singh has congratulated DRDO and the industry for indigenous development of High Strength Metastable Beta Titanium Alloy which will be useful for aerospace structural forgings.

Secretary, Department of Defence R&D and Chairman DRDO Dr G Satheesh Reddy applauded the dedicated efforts by the teams involved in the indigenous development of this technology.

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

14.2. Centre of Excellence in Intelligent IoT sensors to come up in Kochi

PTI, 24 Jul. 2021

MeitY, along with the state IT department, will fund the project which is the first-of-its-kind integrated facility for sensor manufacturing and indigenous development of IoT products in the country, an official statement said here.

Thiruvananthapuram: The Digital University Kerala (DUK) in association with Centre for Materials for Electronics Technology (C-MET), will set up the country's first Centre of Excellence in Intelligent Internet of Things (IIoT) sensors near Maker Village, Kochi. The Union Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has given approval for setting up Rs 41- crore Centre of Excellence (CoE), which will be established with the support of Kerala Startup Mission. MeitY, along with the state IT department, will fund the project which is the first-of-its-kind integrated facility for sensor manufacturing and indigenous development of IoT products in the country, an official statement said here. The development assumes significance in the backdrop of the pandemic which caused a sudden break in the supply chain of electronic components, including sensors and thereby pushing the industrial sector to a severe crisis.

The CoE will have state-of-the-art facilities for sensor manufacturing, intelligent sensor system hardware and AI software development, comprehensive compliance testing and pre-qualification certification as per national/international standards of products related to IIoT sensors. It will implement innovative indigenous products and solutions that are specifically tuned to cater to the spectrum of industries in IIoT Sensors. The centre will host an incubation facility for the startup companies in IIoT sensors, and promote innovation and entrepreneurship through design challenges, outreach programs and incubation grants, it said. Chief investigators of the project Dr A Seema, C-MET, and Dr A P James, DUK, conceived and envisioned the CoE as a step towards breaking the research - industry barrier through localised integrated manufacturing, testing of IoT sensor products and handholding startups till they establish manufacturing facilities. Majority of the companies in the country are using traditional imported sensors for data collection, with data transmission not having any in-built intelligent processing. However, with the advent of Industry 4.0 and Industry 5.0, the use of intelligent IoT sensors is on the rise, with most sensors requiring self-correcting units, and intelligent data processing getting offloaded to the sensor nodes.

By cutting the supply chain, the pandemic has resulted in delays in electronic product development and loss of businesses, it said adding that the fast paced and vagaries in geo-political situation, has resulted in slowing down of the electronic component supply, including sensors, to India. As part of Atmanirbhar Bharat mission, there is a need for indigenisation of a substantial amount of electronic components, especially sensors, which is an integral part of industry 4.0,said Dr Saji Gopinath, vice chancellor, Digital University Kerala. "With the initiative by MeitY and collaboration between C-MET, Maker Village, DUK and Kerala Startup Mission, this Centre of Excellence will be a great step towards indigenisation of components. The Centre-state partnership will set a new benchmark in using technology for development of state," he said. Gopinath also said he was hopeful that the success of Maker Village, a centre of excellence in electronics established by IIITM-K with the financial support of state and central government, would be repeated in the context of IoT. "The larger goal of this centre and startup incubator is to provide a vibrant electronics ecosystem to bridge the gap between sensor research, artificial intelligence and IoT electronics product development in India," said Dr A P James. Dr A Seema said the CoE aims to propel the translation of Indias growing sensor materials scientific knowhow for developing high quality products at low cost.

The large resource pool of Materials Science and Technology/ electronics engineers often never get an opportunity to be part of this less explored, but highly required initiative. The CoE is expected to open doors for innovators to develop the most needed indigenous high-quality products, the statement added.

15.1. After 5G equipment, Tata Group looking to enter semiconductor manufacturing

Mint, Aug. 09, 2021

Pegging the market opportunity of high-tech manufacturing of electronics at $1 trillion, Chandrasekaran said Tata Group has already set up a business to seize the opportunity

Mumbai: Tata Group is looking to make a foray into semiconductor manufacturing, Chairman N Chandrasekaran said on Monday.

Pegging the market opportunity of high-tech manufacturing of electronics at USD 1 trillion, Chandrasekaran said Tata Group has already set up a business to seize the opportunity.

His remarks come days after the USD 100-billion group announced entry into 5G equipment manufacturing and a string of acquisitions to create the Tata Digital business.

Semiconductor manufacturing, which involves building chipsets among other things, requires high investments and India does not have any such facility yet.

Chandrasekaran explained that alterations to the global supply chains, which are heavily dependent on China, in the aftermath of the pandemic and geopolitical changes, will make businesses shift their reliance on other countries and called this a huge opportunity for India, which becomes the second base.

“At the Tata Group, we have already pivoted into a number of new businesses like electronics manufacturing, 5G network equipment as well as semiconductors, in all probability.

“On rebalancing supply chains, India can significantly benefit from the geopolitical shifts that we are seeing. At the group, we have already set up a business to seize the promise of high-tech manufacturing of electronics, precision manufacturing, assembly and testing and semiconductors in the medium term," he said while speaking at IMC Chamber of Commerce and Industry's AGM.

He, however, did not elaborate on the exact plans on this front for the group.

Chandrasekaran said he sees four trends emerging in the post-pandemic world -- rapid digital acceleration, new approach to supply chains, a re-imagination of growth with environmental sustainability at the core and inclusion of health and wellness concerns by every business.

“The four themes will play into each of our own existing businesses, and they are also leading to brand new initiatives for the Tata Group," he said.

Tata Digital is building multiple platforms including a consumer offering covering retail, travel, financial services, health and education, which will target both high-frequency buys and also discretionary spends, he said.

Chandrasekaran said when it comes to environmental sustainability, businesses need to have “time-bound goals, not vague and distant targets", and it is critical to invest in research and development in future growth sectors such as renewable energy which is likely to see 20 new sources of power emerging in the next two decades.

“Given where India is in our development curve, we have an opportunity to address our jobs challenge through a leapfrog to a green economy, through solar installation, microgrids, sustainable cooling, and better waste management. At the Tata Group, we are looking at all of these sectors," he said.

Chandrasekaran, who took over the group chairmanship after leading its IT arm TCS, said there is a need to adopt artificial intelligence, cloud and data more aggressively, and Tata Group considers this as a top priority.

Chairman of the group, which devotes nearly all its profits to philanthropic causes, also spoke about the inequities which are being created because of the pandemic and urged for a fast-paced rollout of services to universalize education and healthcare services.

Solving such problems using digital technologies will also create employment opportunities, especially for the low skilled people, and help create a market, Chandrasekaran said, expecting them to deliver 30 million new jobs.

He said with hybrid working possibilities, a good number of the 120 million women educated till the secondary school level can get jobs, and added that this alone can add USD 440 billion to the GDP.

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

15.2. India’s scooter EV revolution: Top 3 companies in the race

MINT, Aug. 06, 2021, Madhurima Nandy

India’s push towards electric vehicles is creating opportunities for companies in the two–wheeler space

The electric vehicle (EV) revolution is coming!

The mobility landscape in India has been evolving swiftly, with electric vehicles being at the forefront of the evolution.

There are several factors at play here.

The growing interest of the nation in the EV space, decreasing cost of technology, alarming pollution levels, growing dependence on oil imports, and increasing government support are all contributing towards accelerating the country’s transition to EVs.

Over the last few years, as the government strengthened its focus of building a self-reliant or Atma Nirbhar India, localising supply chains and developing domestic capabilities across the entire EV value chain, from manufacturing to recycling, has become a key priority.

The biggest opportunity for India is its large and burgeoning two and three-wheeler market, which even foreign companies find lucrative.

It’s important for India to ride on this unique market opportunity and strengthen its EV capabilities to accelerate growth in the segment.

The Indian car market is governed by two-wheeled vehicles, which account for 75% of the total number of vehicles sold in the country.

This is an interesting data point as India's homegrown two-wheeler majors are fast-tracking their EV plans to capture reasonable market share in the coming years.

Here's a look at the top 3 listed companies in India who have ventured into the two-wheeler EV space.

1. Bajaj Auto

Bajaj Auto is the world's third-largest manufacturer of motorcycles and the second-largest in India.

Last year, Bajaj Auto’s electric scooter Chetak not only marked the company’s foray into electric vehicles, but also the resuscitation of the famous Chetak scooter in its electric avatar and the company’s comeback in the scooter segment after over 12 years.

In a bid to participate in nascent yet highly active EV space, Bajaj Auto is in the process of forming a separate wholly owned subsidiary.

This will leverage the growth opportunities in the evolving mobility space and will help the company venture into the manufacturing of electric and hybrid vehicles in the two, three and four-wheeler category.

The name of the entity is being finalised and is subject to approval with the Ministry of Corporate Affairs. The subsidiary will have a proposed authorised capital of ₹1 bn.

Alternatively, Bajaj Auto's premium bike brand KTM is also working on a range of electric motorcycles, which may be introduced in India.

Also, the company is going to set up a new factory near Pune that will churn out KTM, Husqvarna, and Triumph branded motorcycles.

The total capital expenditure (capex) lined up by Bajaj Auto of ₹8 bn for the fiscal 2022 includes investment set aside for this new facility which is expected to begin production in 2023.

2. TVS Motors

India's third-largest two-wheeler maker, TVS Motor Company, has plans to invest ₹10 bn to manufacture electric vehicles.

TVS is working on its 5-25kW two and three wheeler portfolio, with plans to launch all of them within two years.

It aims to have electric vehicles across segments like delivery, commuter premium, high-performance sports, and electric three-wheelers.

The company also aims to launch its range of EV products in foreign markets.

TVS Motor's first EV, the iQube, will go from Bengaluru, Chennai, Coimbatore, Delhi, and Pune to over 1,000 dealerships in major Indian towns and cities by the end of the financial year 2022.

Around then, it will also launch its Creon-concept end, foreseen to be the most advanced electric two-wheeler in India.

TVS will spend up to ₹6 bn in the year 2022 as capex. Additional outlay of ₹1.5 bn is also being lined up for the group’s finance company TVS Credit.

TVS Motor is involved in the start-up ecosystem as well with a special focus on telematics and connectivity platforms.

3. Hero MotoCorp

Hero MotoCorp is the largest two-wheeler manufacturer in the world. In India it has a market share of about 37.1%.

Recently, Hero MotoCorp has announced it will be entering the electric vehicle market.

The company will be launching a new electric model next year.

The company will be using its Jaipur (Rajasthan) and Stephanskirchen (Germany) based research and development (R&D) set-ups to develop its own products. Hero MotoCorp plans to spend ₹8-10 bn during the current financial year as capex.

Earlier, the company had also announced its partnership with Taiwan-based Gogoro Inc to bring the latter's battery swapping platform to India. Furthermore, both brands have also decided to collaborate on electric vehicle development to bring Hero-branded, powered by Gogoro network vehicles to market.

Hero MotoCorp has already entered two-wheeler EV in the form of investments in a Bengaluru-based EV start-up Ather Energy.

Ather Energy is an EV company that manufactures electric scooters. It has established one of the fastest EV charging infrastructure, Ather Grid, which was built and designed in India.

Cab hailing company OLA has also entered the two-wheeler EV space. Ola Electric, India’s only electric vehicle unicorn startup, was launched in 2019.

It aims to work with driver-partners, cities, vehicle manufacturers, and battery companies to make sustainable technologies cost-effective and viable in daily mobility.

The company ran a pilot in Nagpur involving charging solutions, battery swapping stations, and deploying vehicles across two, three and four-wheeler segments.

Lithium-Ion battery: The backbone of EV industry

Lithium-ion (Li-ion) cells are considered the heart of EVs.

The rapid penetration of electric vehicles in India will drive the need for lithium ion battery manufacturing in the country.

Li-ion batteries act as the primary storage option for electro-chemical energy. These batteries are rechargeable and contain Li-ion as the key component of electrolyte.

The Li-ion battery manufacturing industry in India is at a nascent stage at present. However, India holds the potential to emerge as the key manufacturer of Li-ion batteries over the next few years.

Key players like Amara Raja Batteries, Exide Industries, and Tata Group are now accelerating plans to produce Li-ion cells.

To know more about EV battery makers, please read our article on 5 Indian EV battery makers to watch out for.

How can you ride the EV trend?

India's EV revolution is just getting started. As this economic boom kicks into high gear, it will create many beneficiaries.

You too can profit from this megatrend in the stock market.

Equitymaster's Co-Head of Research, Tanushree Banerjee, has been watching the EV space closely and has identified the key to profit from this revolution.

To know more, you can check out her recent edition of Profit Hunter: The Key to Profit from India's EV Revolution.

Meanwhile, if you would like to invest in the EV space, Richa Agarwal, editor of the smallcap recommendation service, Hidden Treasure, recently recommended a proxy play on India's EV revolution.

If you are not a Hidden Treasure subscriber, here's where you can sign up.

This article is syndicated from Equitymaster.com

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

16.1. India SaaS companies could log $75 billion revenue by 2025

ET Bureau, 22 Jul. 2021

While revenue per employee for Indian IT companies in 2020 was around $47,000, the revenue per employee for Indian SaaS firms had already topped $100,000 per employee last year, according to a Chiratae-Zinnov report.

Bengaluru: India’s software-as-a-service (SaaS) industry has the potential to grow revenues to as much as $75 billion by 2025 and create market capitalisation of more than $1.3 trillion, capturing around 19% of global demand for software products by then, according to a new report. This is the best-case scenario for India’s fast-growing SaaS industry, which has grown its revenues by five times—from $1 billion in 2015 to $5.3 billion in 2020—and has seen a 2X growth in the number of companies, the report by Chiratae Ventures and consulting firm Zinnov says. Even if the industry’s current compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of around 51% is maintained for the next five years, the country’s SaaS revenues could grow to as much as $42 billion by 2025, and the industry will cross the $1 trillion valuation mark sometime this decade, it said.

“In the last decade or so, the SaaS market from India has gone through a transformational change, whether it is in terms of the products, use cases, or the entrepreneurial surge that is coming in. We feel that this is a rising trillion-dollar opportunity,” said Praveen Bhadada, managing partner at Zinnov. The report also projects that India’s SaaS sector could employ more than 260,000 people by 2025, up from around 50,000 today, as global funding and fast-paced growth, some of which has been accelerated due to the Covid-19 pandemic, drives the sector forward. While revenue per employee for IT services companies in 2020 was around $47,000, the revenue per employee for SaaS firms had already topped $100,000 per employee last year, growing almost 30% over the previous year, it said. “It’s no secret that the future of business and scale is SaaS-driven, more so in the post-pandemic landscape. What’s interesting, however, is how quickly Indian companies have set a global benchmark for the industry,” said Venkatesh Peddi, executive director and head of SaaS at Chiratae Ventures. “The exponential growth unlocked in the last five years is a testament to how capital efficient the Indian SaaS industry is.”

SaaS unicorns are more than twice as capital efficient as their consumer-facing peers, on average raising just $92 million before achieving a valuation of $1 billion, compared to $204 million raised by consumer startups, it said. This is driving a huge influx of capital into Indian SaaS, and has also drawn in major investors such as SoftBank, Tiger Global and others. India’s SaaS sector has drawn in $6 billion in investments so far, of which $4 billion has come in the last three years alone, with over 600 global venture capitalists investing in the sector, according to the report. The country’s software products sector has also developed a healthy pipeline of fast-growing firms over the last five years, with 5-8 companies having crossed the $100 million annual recurring revenue mark, 7-12 of them crossing the $50 million ARR mark, and 40-50 firms having an ARR of $10-$50 million.

16.2. Wipro to invest $1 billion in cloud capabilities; has over 79,000 cloud professionals

TNN, Jul. 20, 2021, Shilpa Phadnis

Wipro is investing $1 billion in cloud technologies, capabilities, acquisitions and partnerships over the next three years.Wipro has launched Wipro FullStride Cloud Services brings together the full portfolio of Wipro’s cloud-related capabilities, offerings and talent to better orchestrate the cloud journey for clients.

BENGALURU: Wipro is investing $1 billion in cloud technologies, capabilities, acquisitions and partnerships over the next three years. Wipro has launched Wipro FullStride Cloud Services brings together the full portfolio of Wipro’s cloud-related capabilities, offerings and talent to better orchestrate the cloud journey for clients. This commitment builds on Wipro’s existing and extensive cloud business with clients and significantly expands the investment with its partners and hyperscalers, creating industry solutions that accelerate results for mutual clients. Wipro has seen consistent growth in its cloud business and employs over 79,000 cloud professionals and more than 10,000 people certified by the leading cloud service providers. Over the past 12 months, Wipro has announced significant cloud-related wins with Telefónica Germany / O2, Verifone, and E.ON in addition to Metro, one of the largest deals in Wipro’s history. “Today, cloud adoption is at the core of any IT transformation initiative, and our clients have been turning to Wipro for help with this. With our $1 billion investment in cloud capabilities, and the launch of Wipro FullStride Cloud Services, we are in a far stronger position to simplify, orchestrate and accelerate the cloud journey for our clients,” said Thierry Delaporte, CEO and managing director, Wipro.

Wipro FullStride Cloud Services will work with clients to better align business and IT with the cloud imperative, create significant business value and increase competitive differentiation. It will also improve their business agility, embed resilience and significantly optimize their technology investments in favor of change and innovation. Wipro FullStride Cloud Services puts client and business needs first while orchestrating simplicity in an otherwise complex ecosystem. “Cloud adoption and innovation are an essential part of our IT strategy. For a company like Metro that operates in 25 countries, quickly migrating to the cloud enables decentralization, agility, speed and flexibility in engineering and development. We are delighted to have a multiyear strategic partner and leader like Wipro to support our cloud strategy and simplify a complex, technology ecosystem for our success and growth,” said Timo Salzsieder, CIO, Metro.

17.1. Public Cloud IaaS, PaaS market to reach $400 bn in 2025: IDC

IANS, Aug. 05, 2021

The combined Public Cloud Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) and Platform as a Service (PaaS) market is forecast to reach $400 billion in revenues in 2025

The combined Public Cloud Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) and Platform as a Service (PaaS) market is forecast to reach $400 billion in revenues in 2025 with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 28.8 per cent the 2021-2025 forecast period, an IDC report showed on Thursday. Cloud IaaS and PaaS is a critical, enabling component for the future of digital infrastructure. Public cloud services remain an essential part of enterprise recovery strategy as IT organizations reevaluate budgets, build infrastructure focused on business resilience, and work toward operating efficiently and managing risk in a post-Covid-19 world.

"Enterprise spending on public cloud infrastructure continues to grow faster than traditional IT infrastructure segments," said Andrew Smith, research manager Cloud Infrastructure Services. "We expect all workload segments to grow in the double digits some slightly faster than others as enterprises emerge from 2020 and continue to prioritise workload migration and modernization using public cloud infrastructure," he added. Unstructured data analytics/data management and media streaming are forecast to be the fastest growing segments with CAGRs of 41.9 per cent and 41.2 per cent, respectively. Other business applications, file and print, and content applications will grow slower than the overall market average while still delivering double-digit growth throughout the forecast period, the report mentioned. Enterprises are shifting from workload migration to workload modernization on public cloud. "Relentless enterprise data growth continues to push many workloads to the public cloud, as enterprises look to effectively manage data growth, as well as their IT budget, the report added.

17.2. Odisha first state in the country to launch digital ‘Smart Health Cards’ for free treatment

ET Gov. Aug. 16, 2021

Under the scheme each family can avail treatment cost up to Rs 5 lakh per annum. Women members can avail of this benefit up to Rs 10 lakh every year.

Following the Centre’s footsteps, while pushing ahead the Digital India agenda, the Odisha government, which has announced the Smart Health Cards scheme, is ready to roll out the first of its kind scheme in the country that is likely to cover the entire state population under the Biju Swasthya Kalyan Yojana. Under the scheme, about 3.5 crore people of 96 lakh families in Odisha will get Smart Health Cards for hassle-free quality treatment at the best available health care facilities. The state government has customised the Biju Swasthya Kalyan Yojana to make such Smart Health Cards accessible to people that are likely to work like debit cards for a certain amount. According to the scheme announced by the state chief minister, Naveen Patnaik, the state government will issue digital Smart Health Cards to 3.5 crore people in the state. The scheme that will also make the Centre’s health benefits accessible for the state population will give Rs 10 lakh comprehensive health to the state women.

“All the people of entire Odisha are my family. The news of people selling land, jewellery or stop sending children to school to manage their treatment costs pains me. Therefore I decided that this type of distress must go,” Odisha chief minister Patnaik said. The new policy is likely to transform the health service delivery system and create history in the health sector of the country. “The move will usher in a new era in the state's health sector,” he said. The beneficiaries of National and State Food Security Schemes, Annapurna and Antodaya will get this card and henceforth each family can avail treatment cost up to Rs 5 lakh per annum. Women members can avail of this benefit up to Rs 10 lakh every year. The beneficiaries can avail of health services in more than 200 hospital chains of the country including Odisha.

18.1. Microsoft ties up with Apollo Hospitals for digital healthcare solutions

ET Health World, 29 Jul. 2021

Now with the integration of Apollo and Microsoft, employees can get various medical facilities such as medical teleconsultation, vaccine booking, pharmacy, diagnostic tests, electronic health records, and wellness programs with just a click of the button.

For a quick and easy health and wellness facility, the digital Arm of the Apollo Hospitals Group and Microsoft India have joined hands to launch enterprise solution within the Microsoft work suite. It has been tested in a pilot program for Microsoft India employees for a period of three months Due to the upcoming covid third wave, organisations have been looking for digital healthcare solutions to support their employees and families. Now with the integration of Apollo and Microsoft, employees can get various medical facilities such as medical teleconsultation, vaccine booking, pharmacy, diagnostic tests, electronic health records, and wellness programs with just a click of the button.

The enterprise solution enables a user to consult an Apollo Doctor within 15 minutes of requesting a consult; order medicines from the wide network of Apollo Pharmacies; and request for sample collection from home for prescribed diagnostic tests within Microsoft Teams itself. As part of the pilot program, 5000 Microsoft employees were given the access on this enterprise platform and over 50 percent of them chose to take virtual consultations with an Apollo doctor during the months of April–June. In addition to virtual consultations, over 2,600 medicine orders were also placed using the App, which were delivered at the doorsteps of the consumers in record time. Each of the registered Microsoft employees had access to over 7,000 doctors and specialists across the Apollo network. On this major integration Madhu Aravind, CTO, Apollo 24|7 said, “Healthcare is evolving to meet the immediate and future demands during the global health crisis. With the advancements in technology, people across the globe are embracing digital healthcare solutions. Apollo 24|7 has been developed to provide access to quality care to everyone. We are excited to partner with Microsoft during this pandemic to support organizations for employee wellbeing”

Talking about the association, Meetul Patel, Microsoft’s Executive Director, Strategic Growth, said, “In today’s hybrid work environment, organizations are increasingly looking to make access to wellness resources easier for their employees." "Our partnership with Apollo has helped bring this access right into the flow-of -work by making resources easy to access from within Microsoft Teams which serves in so many ways as the “Office” in the emerging work environment," Patel added.

18.2. Healthtech entrepreneurs must scale amid Indian startup boom

IANS, Aug. 16, 2021

As the Indian startup ecosystem witnesses a never-seen-before capital infusion across the spectrum, it is a golden opportunity for the health-tech startups to begin serving the nation at a large scale and help millions get right diagnosis and better treatment in the digital era, seasoned doctor-entrepreneur-investor Ritesh Malik said on Monday.

New Delhi, As the Indian startup ecosystem witnesses a never-seen-before capital infusion across the spectrum, it is a golden opportunity for the health-tech startups to begin serving the nation at a large scale and help millions get right diagnosis and better treatment in the digital era, seasoned doctor-entrepreneur-investor Ritesh Malik said on Monday. Malik, who is one of the leading Covid warriors with a pledge to help around 10 lakh people get vaccinated via his Radix Healthcare facility in Delhi, emphasised that while the healthcare sector deserves more funds from the government, the current boom in the startup industry can help entrepreneurs chart out a new journey to overhaul the massive healthcare ecosystem slowly but steadily. "This is a golden opportunity to serve a nation. The biggest question is how we are going to bring proper healthcare to small-town India and millions of villagers in these Covid times. To begin with, diagnostics and pharmacy startups can leverage AI/ML technologies to reach the hinterlands," Malik told IANS.

He admitted that despite heavy rules and regulations and legal challenges, Indian entrepreneurs can take up the challenge to transform the fragmented healthcare sector. "Now over 300 AI companies are working on medical imaging. The new-age technology can surely transform the Indian healthtech sector. The government should also prioritise to allocate more funds to the sector so that the task becomes easy," he stressed. The budget 2021 increased the spending on healthcare by 137 per cent, in line with the GDP National Health Policy 2017 target of increasing heath spending to 2.5 per cent by 2025. India will spend Rs 2.23 lakh crore on healthcare. An amount of Rs 35,000 crore will be spent on Covid-19 vaccines as part of the Rs 2.23 lakh crore spending. In 2016, Malik started a co-working platform called Innov8 which was later acquired by Softbank-backed Oyo in 2019. Backed by Y-Combinator, innov8 is currently one of the leading Indian co-working companies. According to Malik who has invested in nearly 80 startups/companies to date, the next big revolution should come from the healthcare space in the country. "India has moved beyond being a BPO or a mega customer base for the world. We are creating world-class products. We will be a huge digital democracy by 2050 and the largest software producer of the world. The healthcare startups need to jump on the bandwagon now so that millions can receive top-class diagnosis and treatment in the near future," Malik emphasised.

19.1. Satellite broadband set to create next disruption in India's telecom sector

ET Telecom, 21 Jul. 2021, Mansi Taneja

The Satcom industry is at its nascent stage in India but has the potential to revolutionise connectivity in unconnected areas where terrestrial mobile or fiber cant reach. And the costs for consumers will come down as services become ubiquitous, translating into increased affordability and decreased satellite bandwidth costs.

India boasts of having the world's second largest number of internet users at 600 million at the lowest tariffs. But, what about people who don’t have any access to the internet? The number is mind boggling as this constitutes half of Indian population which stands at 1.3 billion. This digital divide in India has worsened post the onset of Covid 19 pandemic. Access to a good internet connection became a basic need in such an unprecedented scenario where working and studying from home became the new normal. Owing to the vast market size and huge prospect, India has become the centerstage for launch of high speed, low latency satellite broadband services by global players. No wonder, Sunil Mittal-backed OneWeb, Elon Musk’s SpaceX and Jeff Bezos’s Amazon have ambitious plans to explore the untapped potential of the Indian satcom market.

Precisely why, satellite communications in India is being touted as the next big technological revolution to solve the country’s digital divide i.e connect the unconnected, allowing everyone to come under the ambit of internet services. But it will not be a cake walk. A clear policy for spectrum and licensing issues is still in the making. Satellite operators and telecom players have locked horns on allotment of spectrum -- the former is not in favour of any auction. Even the frequencies asked by satellite operators have been tentatively earmarked for the upcoming 5G services. And not to mention, high data costs and unavailability of affordable handheld devices. A big fight is on the anvil.

BUZZING SATELLITE BROADBAND MARKET

OneWeb, a venture between Bharti Global and the UK government, is on track to offer full global coverage in 2022 with an LEO constellation of 648 satellites. It expects to start offering services in India from May 2022. Amazon has recently acquired Facebook’s satellite internet team with over a dozen experts. The deal will give a boost to Amazon’s $10 billion effort to develop low-earth orbit (LEO) satellites. Amazon had received Federal Communications Commission’s approval in July 2020 to launch 3,236 satellites under ‘Project Kuiper’. The company plans to take its satellite internet services online after launching 578 satellites into orbit. Amazon though is yet to announce any India specific plans.

Elon Musk’s Starlink has already launched more than 1,600 satellites into orbit. SpaceX is already offering a beta version of its Starlink satellite internet service on pre-orders. This comes with a refundable deposit of $99 (more than Rs 7,000) in India. The satellite communications (satcom) market is expected to hit $46.5 billion by 2028, from a projected $25.33 billion in 2021, according to Fortune Insights.

UNTAPPED INDIA POTENTIAL

Telecom operators have been trying hard to take internet coverage to the nook and corner of the country but the high cost of expansion and setting up towers is a big dampener. Through various offers, telecom players, though, are trying to shift feature phone users to smartphones -- but the road is long and bumpy. Even the government with its ambitious project BharatNet has been trying to connect gram panchayats through fiber.

Experts say satellite broadband could be the answer for this - which will lower costs for service providers while simultaneously providing internet reach to all. Though even after a clear policy roadmap, which is in the making, the dearth of handheld devices and high data costs will still be an impediment. Satellite broadband rates in India are at $15-20 per GB which is nearly 30 times that of 4G mobile data at $0.68.

Satcom in India today stands at the same place where mobile services were prior to the introduction of the landmark National Telecom Policy 1999, which liberalised the telecom sector. Initially, the prices for voice calls and later data was substantially high but increased competition and high demand brought it to the current levels. In conjunction, this brought down mobile handset prices as well.

“Once the government delicenses and permits the B2C market to operate, the use of handheld satcom terminals will come into play. With adequate competition and given the size of the Indian market, we could see the introduction of affordable devices which are capable of using terrestrial technologies and satcom in an interchangeable manner to maximise their connectivity. A policy shift will be required,” TV Ramachandran, President, Broadband India Forum said. This is the exact same thing that happened with mobile services and devices in the country and we expect the same outcome for satcom as well, he said.

Prabhu Ram, Head Industry Intelligence Group, CMR says, “In the post-pandemic era, connecting the unconnected via satellite broadband holds significant potential and promise. Satellite broadband can potentially open-up relatively new markets, while bringing new competitive value propositions to demanding customers in already-existing urban markets in terms of better quality of service.”

“There could be two market approaches for satellite broadband, depending on the potential target audience. The first is direct-to-consumer, while the other would involve providing dedicated and reliable broadband connectivity access to enterprises. Enterprise use cases could range from remote healthcare to smart agritech, from supply chain management to disaster management, and enabling fast internet connectivity to the transportation industry, among others,” Ram said.

Currently, in India satellite communications are permitted primarily in the B2B sector and not the B2C sector. The last mile connectivity from the VSAT (Point of interconnection to the Satellite) is through either a wired or wireless connection. B2C is allowed under special licenses for disaster recovery and emergency operations.

Doug Suttles, CEO and Co-founder- Ookla: "Satcom is a viable option where there is lack of fiber connectivity. In the US, broadband through satellite is already operational but it's hard to maintain connectivity consistently. Fiber based connectivity would be on top anyday. "

With half of the population in India still not connected to the internet, satellite-based broadband could be a game changer to connect people across the country, he added.

(Source: NSR 2019 & TRAI Subscription Data for India December 2019)

FIGHT OVER ALLOCATION OF SPECTRUM

A big fight over allocation of spectrum for satcom broadband services is already gathering steam. Satcom operators want the government to allocate spectrum administratively while telecom players want it to be auctioned. Both the Satellite Industry Association (SIA) and Broadband India Forum (BIF) have been advocating an administrative allocation of spectrum. Bharti Enterprise Chairman Sunil Mittal in a recent event said there is no case for auction of spectrum for satcom services. “This is not a terrestrial spectrum being used. This is not going to be used in every part of the country. This is going to be only in two landing stations at those specific points. World over, there has never been an auction for satellite spectrum." Echoing similar views, TV Ramachandran, President, BIF said, “World over, satellite spectrum is authorised for ‘right-to-use’ by all administrations and is allocated only by administrative process, at charges that essentially cover the cost of administration. Unlike terrestrial spectrum, satellite spectrum is never exclusively assigned to the operator but coordinated internationally and shared among multiple operators for different orbital slots and all types of satellites. Thus, the terrestrial concept of exclusivity does not apply and auctioning therefore is not applicable.” However, Reliance Jio and Vodafone Idea in their submissions to TRAI on its consultation paper on licensing framework for satellite-based connectivity for low bit rate applications made a case for auction of spectrum. Any spectrum band capable of being used for mobile/competing services should be assigned strictly through auction and both terrestrial and satellite operators should be allowed to participate in that auction. These operators should be free to choose whether they want to use it for terrestrial or satellite-based network, Reliance Jio said. “Further, assignment of even Ka/Ku/C band spectrum for Geo/Meo satellite must be done through auction only,” Jio said to Trai.

Vodafone Idea, in its submission to Trai, said to ensure optimum utilisation of precious and scarce natural resource, spectrum to be used for satellite-based services should be put to auction route only before allocations. “Any other administrative allocations would cause huge loss to the national exchequer.”

Apart from assignment of spectrum, even frequency band for satellite services is becoming an issue. The band which the government has kept for auction of 5G spectrum is being used for satellite services globally.

SIA Director General Anil Prakash said the Ka-band 27.5-29.5 GHz band has not been identified by the ITU for IMT/5G. This band was excluded at WRC-19 in recognition of the extensive use of the band by satellite operators and that billions of dollars have been invested in over 100+ Ka-band satellites to serve India and the Asia-Pacific region.

WAY FORWARD

The satcom market could grow to $50 billion in this decade, according to experts. A new spacecom policy is in the making. The Government, last year, had announced that it would create a level-playing field for private satellite builders, satellite launchers and space-based service providers under the new space communication policy. Telecom regulator Trai in March this year came out with a consultation paper on Licensing Framework for Satellite-based connectivity for low bit rate applications. Once recommendations are given, the department of telecommunications will give a final stamp. Meanwhile, the department of telecommunications has met satellite companies, telecom operators and others on local equipment manufacturing.

According to experts, a light-touch regulation for the Satcom industry is the need of the hour. The sector requires direct engagement and open market access, allowing competition to drive down prices and a minimal government hands-on approach. There are limitations in acquiring foreign capacity by national service providers, which is both expensive and unsustainable in the long term. Players in India say they can’t directly lease bandwidth capacity from foreign satellite operators. The approvals come from the Department of Space which pushes up final leasing costs by as much as 15-20%, making satellite internet services expensive.

According to estimates, satellite bandwidth leasing cost in India is at around Rs 75,000 per Mbps per month is 10 times the global average of Rs 7,500. “The current regulatory environment hinders the interest of local and international players in investing in infrastructure facilities. A light touch regulation, single-window clearances etc. go a long way in inviting international players to establish and invest in the national infrastructure play,” Prakash said.

Satcom can be used in urban and dense urban areas too as a cost competitive option to terrestrial technologies which can happen with a slight tweak in the policy and regulatory regime. This will require opening of the skies to permit equal opportunities for foreign and indigenous capacity, thereby reducing the artificial supply crunch in the sector. Direct negotiations between the buyer of the capacity and the seller and permission to use modern satcom technologies with options of hosting the core network in the cloud.

19.2. Cognizant to hire 100,000 people to mitigate the impact of elevated attrition

ET Bureau, 29 Jul. 2021, Dia Rekhi

Cognizant's attrition is higher than the industry average. For the quarter ended June, TCS's attrition rate stood at 8.6%, Infosys' at 13.9%, Wipro at 15.5% and HCL Tech's at 11.8%. Accenture had reported 17% attrition in the March to May quarter.

Cognizant on Thursday said it is looking to hire around 100,000 experienced professionals in 2021 and to train close to 100,000 associates, in order to offset the impact of elevated levels of attrition.

The US-based company that has over two thirds of its employees in India reported attrition of 31% in the second quarter, the highest among IT services companies in the three month period between April to June. In the previous quarter, Cognizant quarterly annualised attrition at 21%. Voluntary attrition in the second quarter stood at 29%. The company has over 301200 employees.

"We now expect to hire approximately 100,000 laterals in 2021 and to train close to 100,000 associates. In addition, we expect to onboard approximately 30,000 new graduates in 2021 and make 45,000 offers to new graduates in India for 2022 onboarding," said CEO Brian Humphries while lauding the company's human resources team for helping mitigate the impact of attrition through comprehensive hiring, onboarding and skilling programs.

While announcing its second quarter results on Thursday, the software major also raised its guidance to say that it will grow double digits in the year due to strong demand for its services, while highlighting that attrition was a key concern. In the previous quarter, Cognizant quarterly annualised attrition at 21%. Voluntary attrition in the second quarter stood at 29%. The company has over 301200 employees. Cognizant's attrition is higher than the industry average. For the quarter ended June,

TCS’s attrition rate stood at 8.6%,

Infosys’ at 13.9%,

Wipro’s att 15.5% and

HCL Tech's at 11.8%.

Accenture had reported 17% attrition in the March to May quarter. Attrition has been one of the company's biggest concerns with Humphries in May saying that the software major has had to let go of new business due to the company's inability to hire talent while on a call with analysts following the company's first quarter results. This is significant as the software industry is seeing a massive demand for outsourcing, especially through the pandemic.

Cognizant's revenue of $4.6 billion grew 14.6% year-over-year (12.0% in constant currency) in the second quarter, its best quarterly revenue so far. Digital revenue grew approximately 20% year-over-year, and now represents 44% of total revenue.

“We delivered a strong second quarter,” said Humphries in a statement on Thursday. “Through targeted investments, we’ve been shifting our portfolio to faster-growing market segments while extending our capabilities and partnerships to help clients build modern businesses.

I see a stronger, more competitive Cognizant emerging, with growing commercial momentum. We are bullish on the industry and our prospects within it.” The company said $1.5 billion has been deployed on acquisitions, share repurchases and dividends year-to-date. The company also increased its 2021 revenue growth guidance on the back of strong demand. “Second quarter top-line results exceeded our guidance, driven by improved demand for our services and momentum in our digital revenue, and we increased our full-year 2021 revenue growth to 10.2-11.2%,” said Jan Siegmund, Chief Financial Officer.

“To meet the strong client demand for our services, we have continued to scale our recruiting capabilities and invest in our people." The company also added that the guidance for the full year 2021 revenue is expected to be $18.4-$18.5 billion, or growth of 10.2-11.2% (9.0-10.0% in constant currency).

Revenues in financial services, which constitutes 32.8% of the company's revenues, grew 7.6% year-over-year, or 4.8% in constant currency.

This included the benefit of recently completed acquisitions and growth in digital revenue, the company said in a statement. It said revenue declines related to non-digital services continued to pressure results as clients optimize the cost of supporting their legacy systems and operations. The company also made a special mention in its statement about how year-over-year growth across all segments reflects the impact on 2020 revenues from the pandemic and the April 2020 ransomware attack.

20.1. Bangalore International Airport in partnership with IBM for digital transformation

ANI, 22 Jul. 2021

Bangalore International Airport Limited (BIAL) and IBM on Wednesday signed a ten-year partnership deal for the creation of more digitally advanced, innovative services and products, in a seamless operating environment

Bangalore International Airport Limited (BIAL), the operator of Kempegowda International Airport, and IBM on Wednesday signed a ten-year partnership deal for the creation of more digitally advanced, innovative services and products, in a seamless operating environment. IBM and Kyndryl will provide IT solutions to create the "Airport in a Box" platform as a cornerstone of innovation and transformation for the global travel experience for passengers.

"As one of the fastest-growing airports in the World, BLR Airport needed a nimble, scalable and cost-competitive technology and operations environment that can increase its agility and operational flexibility to handle future growth in passenger traffic," IBM said in a statement.

To achieve this, BIAL said it has selected IBM Global Business Services, IBM hybrid cloud capabilities and Kyndryl, to design and implement a next-generation architecture with a robust and dynamic delivery model.

The state-of-the-art platform IBM is developing to support BIAL's business growth will be enabled by a comprehensive set of IBM technology and services, enabled by an open hybrid cloud approach from IBM and supported by Red Hat Ansible Automation.

Once the platform is fully operational and enhancing the travel experience for millions of airport passengers, IBM and BIAL plan to explore opportunities to advance the "Airport in a Box" platform as a cornerstone of innovation and transformation for the global travel and transportation industry.

Mark Foster, Senior Vice President, IBM Services and IBM Global Business Services said, "IBM Global Business Services and Kyndryl will apply our expertise in hybrid cloud and building business platforms to help BIAL innovate, improve its operational efficiency and deliver exceptional experiences to its growing passenger base."

Hari Marar, MD & CEO, BIAL said, "BLR Airport is a pioneer and leader of change in the Indian aviation industry. Our aim is to introduce more digitally advanced, innovative services and products at BIAL to ensure that the passengers and partners have the advantage of future-forward technologies, in a seamless operating environment."

20.2. Telangana governmentt to set up skill development center at E-City to provide trained workforce to industries

ET Gov. Jul. 30, 2021

Education Minister Sabita Indra Reddy will inaugurate the center on August 5, which will provide job opportunities to the local people

Telangana IT and Industries Minister KT Rama Rao on Thursday inaugurated a solar cell and module manufacturing unit set up by Premier Energies at E-City on the outskirts of Hyderabad. The facility with a capacity of MW solar cell and 750 MW solar module will produce MCCE textured multi-crystalline cells and modules, Mono PERC cells and modules as well as 19.2 percent efficient polycrystalline cells and modules. Speaking on the occasion, the minister said that Premier Energies set up with an investment of Rs 483 crore will enhance the investments to Rs 1,200 crore in the next two years with the new green field project. With the addition of this solar cell and module manufacturing unit, Telangana will be number one in the country in solar power generation, he added.

The state had attracted Rs 22,000 crore investments with more than 17,000 industries in the last one year. The government is also setting up a skill development center to provide trained workforce to the companies that are coming up in the E-City industrial area, KTR said. "The centre will be inaugurated on August 5 by the Education Minister P. Sabita Indra Reddy. It enhances the skills of the local youths and provides job opportunities to the people in Raviryala, Maheshwaram and Tukkuguda," he said.

INDIA AND THE WORLD

21.1. Microsoft to invest in OYO before its potential IPO

IANS, Jul. 31, 2021

Satya Nadella-run Microsoft is in advanced talks to invest in Airbnb-backed Indian budget hotel chain OYO at a valuation of $9 billion, as the hospitality chain is planning a potential initial public offering (IPO) soon, sources said.

New Delhi: Satya Nadella-run Microsoft is in advanced talks to invest in Airbnb-backed Indian budget hotel chain OYO at a valuation of $9 billion, as the hospitality chain is planning a potential initial public offering (IPO) soon, sources said. Reliable sources told IANS that a deal may close soon once the due regulatory processes are met. The size of the deal could not be ascertained. There was no official confirmation from either Microsoft or OYO as of now.

The Ritesh Agarwal-run hospitality chain has Airbnb, Chinese ride-hailing giant Didi Chuxing and ride-hailing firm Grab as strategic investors. Founder and CEO Agarwal said earlier this month that the company would consider a potential IPO soon. The news about the Microsoft-OYO deal surfaced after OYO announced earlier this month that it has raised $660 million from global institutional investors as TLB (Term Loan B). A company statement had said that the offer was oversubscribed by 1.7 times and the company received commitments of close to $1 billion from leading institutional investors. "We are delighted by the response to OYO's maiden TLB capital raise that was oversubscribed by leading global institutional investors. We are thankful for the trust that they have placed in OYO's mission of creating value for owners and operators of hotels and homes across the globe," said Abhishek Gupta, Group Chief Financial Officer, OYO.

The company said it will utilise these funds to retire its past debts, strengthen the balance sheet and other business purposes including investment in product technology, it said. OYO is the first Indian startup to be publicly rated by Moody's and Fitch, two of the leading international rating agencies.

The Microsoft deal "may also involve OYO shifting to use its cloud services," a TechCrunch report mentioned. OYO has aggressively been expanding its operations to several markets including Southeast Asia, Europe and the US in recent years.

21.2. How these wonder women are changing the world of VFX, animation

MINT, 18, Jul. 2021, Preeti Zachariah

- Like filmmaking and technology, which it draws from, the world of VFX tends to be an old boys’ club. Meet the women changing it

- Despite the long hours, the systemic sexism and discrimination and the financial struggles which come with trying to strike it on one’s own, being part of VFX and animation also comes with this: the deep satisfaction of creating something. (iStock)

Saraswathi Balgam, aka Vani, always knew that she wanted to be a filmmaker. Of course, it helped that she was from a family that encouraged creativity. Her father had quit his job as a banker to start an independent animation studio. “My father had a strong conviction in his vision for putting Indian animation and India stories on the global map,” she says. Recalling the long discussions between her father and the talented artists who worked with him, the founder and creative producer of Dancing Atoms, an independent creative studio says, “That was my real education.”

Balgam eventually became executive director of Rhythm & Hues Asia, an Academy Award-winning VFX studio and served as the head of creative management for DreamWorks Animation in Shanghai. She has worked on many Hollywood films, including managing the team of artists behind award-winning films like Life of Pi and The Golden Compass. Her early experience played a large part in this journey, she believes. “The idea that there is the freedom to express oneself is powerful; I was very fortunate to have that as a kid,” she says.

Balgam, part of the growing tribe of women in the VFX and animation industry, recently mentored a group of women selected to attend The Women Creators Program, an Epic Games and Association Internationale du Film d’Animation (ASIFA ) initiative. The four-week virtual training and mentorship programme, which kicked off in April, sought to nurture and support women creators, who still form an abysmally low percentage of the booming visual effects and animation industry.

These numbers dwindle further when it comes to leadership roles, leaving fewer female mentors and role models for young women who aspire to create cartoons (animation) or manipulate imagery (VFX). | Estrada do Zambujal, N. 38-A, Alfragide | 2610-294 Amadora | Portugal | Tel. +351 21 301 9926 |

“My biggest concern is the lack of women in creative leadership in our industry. There are probably over 100 VFX houses in India, but how many have women as VFX supervisors? Maybe five?” says Balgam.

Gurugram-based filmmaker, the founder of Charuvi Design Labs and visual artist Charuvi Agrawal, also a mentor at the programme, says, “The industry lacks strong women at the top, which sets in a very patriarchal culture.”

Admittedly, this isn’t particularly unusual. Like both the film and technology industries—from which VFX and animation draw, marrying creativity with technical expertise—it was always an old boys club with high entry barriers and higher glass ceilings. Ask Gayathri Rao, a national award-winning animation filmmaker who has been part of the industry for over two- and-a-half decades. There were barely any women in the industry in India when she got into it in the 1990s. “Since 2D animation is an art that took time to master, it was assumed that training girls was a waste of time as they would be lost to matrimonial commitments soon,” remembers Rao, who, in response to the discrimination, started her studio, Animagic, in 1997. As the business grew and gained attention, more women trickled in, she says, adding that the succeeding generation has had better experiences and opportunities. “The field has progressed in the last 20-25 years,” she says.

Not enough, however. Rounak Magoo, Producer, Green Rain Studios, Mumbai, says that starting young in a male-dominated industry is still tricky. “It is extremely common for me to be the only woman in a room full of industry professionals,” she says, admitting that it is often a culture shock for some people, especially men, when they realise a younger woman is managing them. “Being fiercely unapologetic and constantly proving myself made the same people take me seriously and value my presence.”

Then there is the industry’s work culture, which often dissuades young women from joining or continuing. In a February 3, 2015 article published in Tech Crunch, VFX artists Sonya Teich and Raqi Syed pointed out that VFX’s subsidies-driven business model and culture of perpetual instability has normalised what they call a punishing lifestyle. “Many have internalised the idea that they must work 16-hour days for weeks on end or they aren’t essential to the process,” they write. The long working hours can impede the growth of women who—despite the conversation around gender parity—disproportionately bear the unpaid domestic burden.

“If there is work…you have to finish it,” says London-based Pragati Wadhwa, the founder of Elements VFX, adding that late nights and long hours hit women especially hard.

Agarwal agrees. One of the biggest struggles she has personally faced, she says, is balancing work with motherhood. “Animation work is extremely demanding of time, and hence this becomes very challenging,” she says.

Magoo believes that for the industry to become truly inclusive, working conditions need to be improved for everyone’s benefit, with provisions being made for all genders. “Having more women helps bring in policies that end up helping everyone around them as well,” she says. She believes that women tend to be better managers in this field “for the simple reason that they have had to go through years of proving themselves.”

Despite the long hours, the systemic sexism and discrimination and the financial struggles which come with trying to strike it on one’s own, being part of VFX and animation also comes with this: the deep satisfaction of creating something. Magoo recalls her initiation into this world as if it were yesterday. The year was 1994, and The Lion King had just been released. She remembers watching the movie on a VCR tape, sitting there enthralled by the animals of Pride Rock, terrified by the wildebeest stampede, and bemused by Rafiki. “I didn’t know how but I wanted to find a way to be a part of this magical world that brought stories to life,” she says. “As the song goes, it’s the circle of life.”

Sustained efforts, primarily from women in the industry, are creating a more encouraging ecosystem for the women in it. For instance, Women in Animation, a non-profit started in 1995 to support, as the name suggests, women in the industry has an ongoing pledge: to make the male/female ratio in creative roles 50/50 by 2025. “More than 60% of animation and art school students are women, and yet only 20% of the creative jobs are held by women,” notes the WIA website. The non-profit rolls out mentorship and education opportunities with this aim in mind, educating and building communities of creative women. Continuing to develop these communities could go a long way towards improving the industry overall, believes Balgam. “It is time women creators come together and collaborate,” she says. “We need more of those unique, authentic voices.”

22. How Sweden became the Silicon Valley of Europe

Reuters, Aug. 11, 2021

Stockholm has become a rich soil for startups, birthing and incubating the likes of Spotify, Skype and Klarna, even though Sweden has some of the highest tax rates in the world.

Stockholm: As Klarna's billionaire founder Sebastian Siemiatkowski prepares to stage one of the biggest-ever European fintech company listings, a feast of capitalism, he credits an unlikely backer for his runaway success: the Swedish welfare state. In particular, the 39-year-old pinpoints a late-1990s government policy to put a computer in every home. "Computers were inaccessible for low-income families such as mine, but when the reform came into play, my mother bought us a computer the very next day," he told Reuters.

Siemiatkowski began coding on that computer when he was 16. Fast-forward more than two decades, and his payments firm Klarna is valued at $46 billion and plans to go public. It hasn't given details, though many bankers predict it will list in New York early next year. Sweden's home computer drive, and concurrent early investment in internet connectivity, help explain why its capital Stockholm has become such rich soil for startups, birthing and incubating the likes of Spotify, Skype and Klarna, even though it has some of the highest tax rates in the world.

That's the view of Siemiatkowski and several tech CEOs and venture capitalists interviewed by Reuters. In the three years the scheme ran, 1998-2001, 850,000 home computers were purchased through it, reaching almost a quarter of the country's then-four million households, who didn't have to pay for the machines and thus included many people who were otherwise unable to afford them. In 2005, when Klarna was founded, there were 28 broadband subscriptions per 100 people in Sweden, compared with 17 in the United States - where dial-up was still far more common - and a global average of 3.7, according to data from the World Bank. Spotify allowed users to stream music when Apple's iTunes was still download-based, which gave the Swedish company the upper-hand when streaming became the norm around the world.

"That could only happen in a country where broadband was the standard much earlier, while in other markets the connection was too slow," Siemiatkowski said. "That allowed our society to be a couple of years ahead." Some executives and campaigners say the Scandinavian nation demonstrates that a deep social safety net, often viewed as counter to entrepreneurial spirit, can foster innovation. It's an outcome that might not have been envisaged by the architects of Sweden's welfare state in the 1950s. Childcare is, for the most part, free.

A range of income insurance funds can protect you if your business fails or you lose your job, guaranteeing up to 80% of your previous salary for the first 300 days of unemployment. "The social safety net we have in Sweden allows us to be less vulnerable to taking risks," said Gohar Avagyan, the 31-year-old co-founder of Vaam, a video messaging service used for sales pitches and customer communication. Startup Rate vs Silicon Valley

Although overall investments are larger in the bigger European economies of Britain and France and their longstanding finance hubs, Sweden punches above its weight in some regards. It has the third highest startup rate in the world, behind Turkey and Spain, with 20 startups per 1000 employees and the highest three year survival rate for startups anywhere, at 74%, according to a 2018 study by OECD economists. Stockholm is second only to Silicon Valley in terms of unicorns - startups valued at above $1 billion - per capita, at around 0.8 per 100,000 inhabitants, according to Sarah Guemouri at venture capital firm Atomico. Silicon Valley - San Francisco and the Bay Area - boasts 1.4 unicorns per 100,000, said Guemouri, co-author of a 2020 report on European tech companies. No one can say for sure if the boom will last, though, in a country where capital gains are taxed at 30 percent and income tax can be as high as 60 percent. In 2016, Spotify said it was considering moving its headquarters out of the country, arguing high taxes made it difficult to attract overseas talent, though it hasn't done so.

Yusuf Ozdalga, partner at venture capital firm QED Investors, said access to funding and administrative or legal tasks connected with founding a company could also prove tough to navigate for non-Swedish speakers. He contrasted that to Amsterdam, capital of the Netherlands, where the government adopted English as an official language in April to make life easier for international companies.

'Interesting Dilemma' for VC Jeppe Zink, partner at London-based venture capital firm Northzone, said a third of all the exit value from fintech companies in Europe - the amount received by investors when they cash out - came from Sweden alone. Government policy had contributed to this trend, he added.

"Its an interesting dilemma for us venture capitalists as we're not used to regulation creating markets, in fact we are inherently nervous about regulation." Sweden's digital minister Anders Ygeman said that social regulation could make it "possible to fail" and then "be up and running again" for innovators. Peter Carlsson, CEO of startup Northvolt, which makes Lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles and is valued at $11.75 billion, said that ultimately success bred success. "You're really creating ripple effects when you're seeing the success of somebody else and I think that's perhaps the most important thing in order to create local ecosystems."

22.2. Unchecked dominance in digital markets a concern, says CCI chief

PTI, Jul. 30, 2021

Earlier, it was widely contended that market power in technology markets is rare and fleeting. However, it has now been noted that market dominance in these markets is not fragile but durable, he said.

Digital markets are epicentres of technological innovation but lately they have become zones of "entrenched and unchecked dominance", Competition Commission of India (CCI) Chairman Ashok Kumar Gupta said on Thursday. He also said application of competition law to such disruptive technologies becomes challenging. Earlier, it was widely contended that market power in technology markets is rare and fleeting. However, it has now been noted that market dominance in these markets is not fragile but durable, he said.

Gupta was speaking at an event organised by the Centre for the Digital Future. He highlighted that India has an active startup ecosystem with a large market and that the last quarter saw USD 6.3 billion funding in technology startups. "While there is no doubt that digital markets are the epicentres of technological progress and innovation, lately, they have become entrenched and unchecked dominance and high concentration is the result of presence of certain characteristics which makes market power in the digital space uniquely durable," Gupta said. He said characteristics such as network effect may prevent a newcomer from replacing an established player. He pointed out that when an online platform acts both as marketplace and competitor, it has an incentive to leverage its control over the platform in favour of preferred vendors to the disadvantage of other sellers. Besides, sticky consumer behaviour combined with lack of data portability increases switching costs and helps maintain the status quo. "Initiating anti-trust investigations and invoking anti-competitive remedies as early as possible is crucial to avoid competition harm to the market," Gupta said. He also mentioned problems with respect to merger control in digital markets.

He added that interventions in merger reviews in technology markets need to be guided by case specific economic evidence of competition concerns. Keeping the challenges in mind, CCI has prioritised and stepped up scrutiny against online platforms across verticals. CCI has looked at several anti-trust cases against e-commerce platforms across sectors such as retail, food delivery, hotel booking and others. He further said he foresees an important role for the CCI both in enforcement and policy debates in the areas of digital markets, such as understanding the role of data, analysing the dynamics of market power of platforms and supervising the way platforms operate.

23.1. India among most promising countries for developing disruptive technologies: KPMG

IBEF, Jul. 27, 2021

According to report published by KPMG, around twice as many global technology company leaders believe that hubs are still important in driving technology innovation as opposed to those who believe they are not.

Around 39% of the respondents out of the >800 industry leaders surveyed believe that the ‘hub’ cities including London, Singapore, and Tel Aviv will continue to play a vital role, enabling talent to coalesce and collaborate in communities with a solid digital infrastructure. And 22% believe that hubs are no longer important.

As per the report, though Covid-19 has rapidly accelerated new ways of working but the world’s ‘technology hubs’ are here to stay although they may not be in Silicon Valley.

Though many offices and downtown areas were locked in early 2020 and entire workforces shifted to remote working with few employees leaving major cities to find more space at a lower cost among other factors; but as per the report, the tech leaders believe the industry’s future success will rely on a balance between physical workspace and greater flexibility.

India was ranked third in the list of countries and jurisdictions that show the most promise for developing disruptive technologies and Bengaluru was ranked at eighth position among the top 10 cities.

As per Mr. Alex Holt, Global Head of Technology, Media and Telecommunications at KPMG the engineering talent and intellectual property are the lifeblood of the tech industry and retaining top talent is a strategic imperative. Employers know this and are striving towards flexible work arrangements including permanent hybrid workforce models. As the workforce disperses geographically, new hotbeds of technically skilled workers will emerge.

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

23.2. Mumbai logs sharpest hike in data centre capacity in Asia Pacific

IANS, Aug. 03, 2021

Mumbai has recorded sharpest increase in data centre capacity in the Asia Pacific region, adding 56MW in the first quarter this year, a report showed on Tuesday.

Mumbai: Mumbai has recorded sharpest increase in data centre capacity in the Asia Pacific region, adding 56MW in the first quarter this year, a report showed on Tuesday. Mumbai now has total data centre capacity at 753MW. The digital push from the pandemic has resulted in acceleration of data centre supply in Mumbai. Pandemic influenced push for digital services resulted into an acceleration of new supply in 2020 with an additional 252MW or 50 per cent added to its development pipeline, according to international property consultants Knight Frank.

This marked up the total supply to 697MW in the year 2020. Between 2016 and 2019, Mumbai's IT power capacity increased from 148MW to 456MW, said the report published in partnership with data centre research and analytics platform DC Byte. "Mumbai is among the better-established data centre hubs in the APAC region. The city's location has a strategic importance as a landing destination for undersea data-cables connecting the east and west," said Shishir Baijal, Chairman and Managing Director at Knight Frank India. "The rise of emerging markets in APAC has brought Mumbai under the focus of multiple international operators, who wish to establish themselves in this region," he added. Expansion in other markets in India, notably Chennai, is also gaining attention.

In Asia Pacific markets, total supply increased by about 200MW in Q1 2021, reflecting a similar pace to 2020 take up -- recorded just over 800MW, making a total supply of 5800MW across the region. "Cloud companies are continuing to develop a substantial cloud network in Mumbai, which is aided by an ongoing stream of demand. This has facilitated the creation of multiple new hyper-wholesale colocation facilities. The increased supply can provide plenty of opportunity for creating a rise in take-up in the near future," the report noted.

24.1. Bengaluru 8th in global list of leading tech innovation hubs

IANS, Jul. 26, 2021

Bengaluru has been ranked eighth in the top 10 cities list among leading technology innovation hubs outside Silicon Valley, San Francisco, in the next four years, according to a KPMG's report that also ranked India third in the list of countries and jurisdictions that show the most promise for developing disruptive technologies.

New Delhi: Bengaluru has been ranked eighth in the top 10 cities list among leading technology innovation hubs outside Silicon Valley, San Francisco, in the next four years, according to a KPMG's report that also ranked India third in the list of countries and jurisdictions that show the most promise for developing disruptive technologies. The annual report titled, "Technology innovation hubs", surveyed more than 800 industry leaders and showed that Covid-19 has rapidly accelerated new ways of working, but the world's 'technology hubs' are here to stay although they may not be in the Silicon Valley.

"India's presence among the top three countries, for the second successive year, for promoting disruptive technologies proves the nation's tremendous emphasis on developing well-organised technology hubs for fostering all-round economic growth. Despite the pandemic, India's silicon valley -- Bengaluru has been ranked eighth in the list of top ten world-class tech hubs," said Satya Easwaran, Partner and Head- Technology, Media and Telecom, KPMG in India, in a statement.

"The well-structured infrastructure and resources machinery of the city has enabled many global tech corporations to operate smoothly from the city. Apart from talent and investment, Bengaluru is also known for accelerators and incubators to help tech companies at every level of their growth story. I am confident that, in coming years, Bengaluru will further establish itself as a key tech hub globally," Easwaran added. About 39 per cent of industry leaders believe ahub' cities including London, Singapore, and Tel Aviv will continue to play a vital role, enabling talent to coalesce and collaborate in communities with a solid digital infrastructure. Only 22 per cent believe hubs are no longer important. Nearly 80 per cent leaders said that they will not be downsizing their physical footprint, while only 26 per cent expected to hire predominantly remote talent.

"The success of the technology sector has outpaced most other industries during Covid-19, with many companies growing significantly since the start of the pandemic. This has advanced the perception that creativity and innovation can now happen literally anywhere as collaboration has gone more virtual and more global. However, a company still needs to be able to innovate, and the KPMG Technology Innovation Hubs report reveals that physical workplaces and innovation hubs remain a key component of technology companies' strategies, although they may not be located around Silicon Valley," added Alex Holt, Global Head of Technology, Media and Telecommunications at KPMG.

The survey included 12 countries, and about two-thirds (66 per cent) of the respondents were C-level executives. The data for this publication was collected from March 2021 to May 2021.

24.2. Govt to introduce biometric boarding system through facial recognition at 6 airports; how it is useful

ET Gov. Aug. 08, 2021

Rs 25,000 crore will be spent on technological upgradation of existing as well as the proposed new airports in the coming five years.

The Department of Civil Aviation is planning to instal facial recognition equipment at six airports including Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Vijayawada, Pune, Kolkata and Varanasi to introduce biometric boarding system (BBS) on an experimental basis, according to Minister of State VK Singh. In a written reply to a query on the issue in Lok Sabha, Singh said after a successful implementation of facial recognition technology in the airports on a pilot basis, BBS will be introduced in all airports across the country in a phased manner. The minister said Rs 25,000 crore will be spent on technological upgradation of existing as well as the proposed new airports in the coming five years.

How facial recognition technology is useful at airports As a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, queues at airports have become longer, lasting in some cases up to six hours, as border control and aviation authorities need to check travellers’ documents manually. To fix the problem of long queues at airports due to stricter checks in the changed scenario due to Covid-19 pandemic, carriers and airports around the world are implementing biometric checks that will enable passengers to move through the airport without having their passports or plane tickets checked. In October 2020, UAE's Emirates introduced an integrated biometric pathway at Dubai International Airport for travellers to pass through the airport without showing any documents. The technology uses facial and iris recognition to allow passengers to check in, complete immigration forms and board in a contactless way, as well as reducing queueing times and supporting health and security measures. In March 2021, facial recognition technology Face Express was launched in Japan. It's a boarding procedure for international departure flights that uses facial recognition technology, allowing passengers to go through the airport without showing their documents.

Experimented at the Japanese airports of Narita and Tokyo Haneda, Face Express is being implemented on Nippon Airways and Japan Airlines flights from July, with plans to extend it to other companies.

Passengers will need to scan their passports and register their boarding passes at a Face Express machine. The machine will scan facial data, actively turning each traveller's face into their passport and boarding pass. Privacy and error concerns The technology has raised concerns regarding data privacy but the airports have said that images obtained through Face Express and all information that can identify a traveller will be deleted within 24 hours. The Japan government also offered an option to passengers to go through normal security screenings if they feel uncomfortable. In India, more than privacy issues, the technology was found inaccurate in recognising the persons and most of the time, their gender. In a study conducted by Smriti Parsheera, a lead technology policy researcher at the National Institute of Public Finance and Policy in Delhi and Gaurav Jain, a technology policy researcher, to determine the accuracy of top facial recognition tools, they found that facial recognition tools failed far more in identifying Indian women than Indian men. On average, the gender of Indian men was inaccurately identified half a percent of the time. For women, that was more than 7 percent. Experts opine that these inaccuracies may lead to the failure of the very objective of the system and also further delays in airport check-ins.

25. Migration and Covid deaths depriving poorest nations of health workers

Global Development, supported by Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Mon 19 Jul 2021, by Fiona Broom, Laura Owings and Hazem Badr

Fragile health systems are at risk due to high numbers of medical staff leaving to work in richer countries, say experts

The loss of frontline health workers dying of Covid around the globe, is being compounded in the hospitals of developing nations by trained medical staff leaving to help in the pandemic effort abroad, according to experts.

With new Covid waves in Africa, and with Latin America and Asia facing unrelenting health emergencies, the number of health worker deaths from Covid-19 in May was at least 115,000, according to the World Health Organization. Its director-general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, acknowledged data is “scant” and the true figure is likely to be far higher.

In richer countries, the share of foreign-trained or foreign-born doctors and nurses has been rising for two decades. But the pandemic’s double blows of death and migration are leaving behind knowledge gaps in already fragile health systems, where poor pay and conditions are driving staff to leave, say advocates and health workers.

Global health specialists are launching initiatives to protect medical staff, and incentivise them not to be enticed abroad.

Women in Global Health, an international network advocating for equality, has jointly launched what it calls “a new social contract for women in the health and care workforce”. The Gender Equal Health and Care Workforce Initiative, a partnership between the WHO, Women in Global Health and the French government, aims to strengthen policy investing in and protecting workers.

“Health workers are exhausted, many want to leave. We cannot afford to lose one single worker at this time,” says Dr Roopa Dhatt, executive director of Women in Global Health. “Investing in women is the best investment we can make for all our futures and the future of health security.” | Estrada do Zambujal, N. 38-A, Alfragide | 2610-294 Amadora | Portugal | Tel. +351 21 301 9926 |

Nurses use a Zumba fitness class to help them cope with working situations during a coronavirus outbreak at Kenyatta National Hospital in Nairobi, Kenya, in May last year. Photograph: Njeri Mwangi/Reuters

The world is reliant on women to deliver health and care services, Ghebreyesus told the Generation Equality Forum, where the first round of commitments to the initiative was announced on 1 July.

Women account for about 90% of nurses and midwives, close to 50% of all doctors, and make up 70% of all health and care workers worldwide.

“This reliance demands that we ask ourselves tough questions on workplace conditions and equity, including how we value and reward women in the health and care workforce,” Ghebreyesus said. “And how we guarantee that workplaces are free from discrimination, violence, sexual exploitation and abuse.”

As governments – including those of Mexico, Pakistan, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Liberia – commit to the gender policy initiative, Dhatt said that millions of health and care workers were unpaid or underpaid and had no access to Covid vaccines.

“We must provide incentives for women to stay,” said Dhatt.

The global south has long supplied many of the human resources for health systems in the northern hemisphere. And as the UK, the US and Europe have struggled under the weight of their respective pandemics, demand for imported medical expertise has intensified.

Across the world’s wealthiest countries, nearly 25% of doctors and 16% of nurses were born abroad, according to a brief from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Published in May, it examined how rich countries have sought to attract staff from developing countries in response to the pandemic.

It acknowledged that nations from where staff were being enticed “were already facing severe shortages of skilled health workers before the Covid-19 pandemic”.

The UK launched its own incentive – a fast-track Health and Care Visa in 2020 to attract more health workers from developing countries – even as the government drastically reduced its foreign aid budget from 0.7% to 0.5% of national income, against OECD advice and putting global health systems at risk, according to academics.

The Philippines is the largest contributor of nurses to wealthy countries, OECD data shows. India provides the highest number of doctors, and the second-highest number of migrant nurses.

Mitigating push factors for professionals to leave their countries requires policy to “reinforce international cooperation, notably overseas development assistance and technical assistance, to help less advanced countries build up a sufficient health workforce and to strengthen their health systems”, the OECD brief said.

The Filipino Nurses Association UK has raised concerns about the disproportionately high rate of deaths among NHS and social care staff from the Philippines, saying that the nationality had the highest mortality of all ethnicities, at about 20%. The group set up a special helpline for Filipino health workers and their families as a result. In the US, more than 30% of nurses who have died of Covid were Filipino, though they make up just 4% of the country’s registered nurses, according to the National Nurses United union.

Medical staff treat patients in a tent at a temporary Covid isolation facility in the car park of the National Kidney and Transplant Institute Hospital in Manila, the Philippines, April 2020. Photograph: Ezra Acayan/Getty Images

In the Philippines, two prominent specialists died of Covid in March 2020: paediatric surgeon Leandro Resurreccion III and Salvacion “Sally” R Gatchalian, the president of the Philippine Paediatric Society.

Gatchalian helped create the Philippines Coalition Against Tuberculosis and led a children’s TB initiative, while Resurreccion was lauded for having returned from Australia to dedicate himself to the Philippines’ health service.

Highly skilled researchers are scarce in low- and middle-income countries, said Glenda Gray, president of the South African Medical Research Council, adding: “Any loss of scientists, either through death or migration, is a concern.”

In fragile health systems, lost knowledge when a community health worker or highly trained medical expert dies can have a long-term impact. And research suggests physician migration costs low and middle income countries $16bn (£11.5bn) annually and lost medical knowledge contributes to excess deaths.

With emigration rates of doctors and nurses as high as 50% from some African and Latin American countries, it can mean that more doctors born in these countries are working in the OECD area than in their countries of origin.

Africa’s research community lost renowned HIV scientist Gita Ramjee to Covid in March 2020.

“Gita was fundamental and inextricably linked to the endeavours to find solutions to prevent HIV in women. She was tireless in this pursuit, her tenacity will never be forgotten,” Gray said. Winnie Byanyima, executive director of UNAIDS, said Ramjee’s loss was “when the world needs her most”.

“The psychological impact of deaths, infections and [increased workloads] prompted many doctors to request leave and, in the event of management refusal, some resorted to resigning from governmental hospitals,” Egyptian physician Abdel Hamid Mahmoud said.

Johan Fagan, an ear, nose and throat disease specialist at the University of Cape Town in South Africa, said policies such as the UK’s fast-track visa would spur further migration.

“These countries aren’t training enough of their own healthcare professionals and are exploiting the workforce in developing countries,” Fagan said. “In a pandemic, this has a significant impact on our health systems and how we’re able to deliver care.”

Algerian Dr Al Arabi Bin Hara predicted a new exodus of skilled workers from his country, saying: “Last year and at the beginning of this year, there was the smallest number recorded in doctors’ immigration because of the closed borders as [a result] of the measures imposed by the pandemic.

“The post-Covid phase will witness a mass flight of doctors, as long as the situation remains as it is and the suffering continues.”

What hurts, said Bin Hara, is that hospitals and clinics in Europe – particularly in France – were attracting Algerian doctors with critical specialisations.

Older people queue for a Sinopharm vaccination behind nurses at a hospital in Harare, Zimbabwe, in March this year. Photograph: Tafadzwa Ufumeli/Getty Images

In Zimbabwe, a country with one of the highest doctor emigration rates, Dr Charles Moyo said Africa would face a healthcare crisis if the tide of health worker losses was not stemmed.

“The healthcare system is already strained by limited resources and by Covid. If more manpower is lost, the entire healthcare system could collapse,” he said.

The International Council of Nurses (ICN), which has backed the Gender Equal Health and Care Workforce Initiative, celebrated the World Health Assembly’s adoption of the WHO’s updated global nursing and midwifery strategy, which presents policy priorities to support midwives and nurses.

ICN chief Howard Catton said the message was clear, adding: “We must invest now in nursing education, leadership, jobs and practice, and we need member states to own their new strategy and implement it now.

“Of course, the tragic irony is that if we had done this before, we would have had a better protected healthcare workforce, and fewer of our colleagues would have died.”

A longer version of this article has been published on SciDev.Net.

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Thursday 19 August 2021

NEWSLETTER, 20-VIII-2021

– GENERAL POLICY, INFRASTRUCTURES, COUNTRY FINANCES, ETC.

– AGRICULTURE, FISHING & RURAL DEVELOPMENT

– INDUSTRY, MANUFACTURE

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

NEWSLETTER, 20-VIII-2021

– GENERAL POLICY, INFRASTRUCTURES, COUNTRY FINANCES, ETC.

- AGRICULTURE, FISHING & RURAL DEVELOPMENT

INDUSTRY and MANUFACTURE

INDIA AND THE WORLD