AAPI: November 2021

DELHI, 20th NOVEMBER 2021

Index of this Newsletter

INDIA

INDIA & THE WORLD

21. How this manufacturing company is building a ‘Future Factory’, IT News
22. The BPO industry in the Philippines has evolved for good during the pandemic: Amol Gupta, CHRO, India & Philippines
23. Japanese investment in Indian IT and start-up ecosystem grows four times since 2016: Report
24. Hiranandani opens up Rs 30,000 crore war chest for data center unit
25. India may need 22-million skilled workforce by 2025: Telecom skills body

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DELHI, 20th NOVEMBER 2021

NEWSLETTER, 20-XI-2021

INDIA

– GENERAL POLICY, INFRASTRUCTURES, COUNTRY FINANCES, ETC.

1.1. Public Affairs Index rankings 2021: Kerala adjudged best governed state

ET Gov. Nov. 5, 2021

Kerala has been ranked as the best-governed state in the Public Affairs Index (PAI) 2021, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has said. Kerala has been ranked among the top three states in all major pillars analyzed in the index including equity, growth and sustainability, the CM added. The CM also tweeted: "Kerala has been ranked as the best-governed state in the Public Affairs Index (PAI) 2021 released by the Public Affairs Centre.

We are ranked among the top three states in all major pillars analyzed in the index including equity, growth and sustainability." Public Affairs Index rankings 2021 Karnataka dropped three places to be adjudged seventh in the Public Affairs Index (PAI) 2021 which analyses governance by looking into growth, equity and sustainability indicators.

While the state was fourth last year, this year it is behind Kerala (1.618), Tamil Nadu (0.897), Telangana (0.891), Chhattisgarh (0.0872), Gujarat (0.782) and Punjab (0.643), with an index score of 0.121. Meanwhile, in its analysis of various centrally sponsored schemes, Public Affairs Centre (PAC), a Bengaluru-based not-for-profit think tank, found that Karnataka implemented the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) in the best manner among all the schemes in the state. Karnataka was ranked fourth in MGNREGA implementation among states with an index score of 0.327. The top performer in this category was Kerala (0.649).

Further, Karnataka was ranked seventh in the Mid-Day Meal Scheme (MDMS) and Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) categories as well. While Karnataka scored 0.162 index score for MDMS (Goa topped at 1.444), it scored 0.222 for SmSA (topped by Chhattisgarh with 0.907). However, PAC noted negative index scores for Karnataka, indicating a decline from last year, for implementing programmes under the National Health Mission (NHM) and the umbrella Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) scheme. Karnataka was 10 among states in the NHM category with a -0.046 index score, while it was ranked eleventh for ICDS implementation with an index score of -0.090; Kerala (1.499) and Odisha (1.285) topped these categories, respectively.

PAI 2021 also ranked states based on their performance during the Covid-19 pandemic. Samridhi Pandey, programme officer at PAC and a member of the research team, said other states outperformed Karnataka due to relative ranking. She added that Karnataka performed very well in health by being more focused on allocating resources for tackling the pandemic.

The report highlighted that four out of the top five positions in the Covid-19 response index were southern states including Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh (top three) besides Karnataka (5th). This index subsumed preparedness and containment. PAC chairperson A. Ravindra remarked that states responded in a substantive manner during the severest pandemic that the world has faced in the last century. “We ought to be legitimately proud as a society; we remain a work in progress. The true measure of progress of a society is not measured at its apex but at its base, which PAI 2021 demonstrates precisely,” he said.

1.2. Deploy AI to check possible business malpractices like collusion and cartelisation in Government e-Marketplace'

ET Gov. Nov. 4, 2021

Minister for Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal said that operations should be audited regularly to ensure that all technical and financial aspects of GeM stay strong all the time.

Goyal reviewed the functioning of Government e-Marketplace (GEM) on Wednesday.

"Stay alert against cartelisation and collusion in GEM" said Piyush Goyal while reviewing the functioning of the Government e-Marketplace (GEM) on Wednesday. The Minister for Commerce & Industry, Textiles, Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution Piyush Goyal asked the officials to make GEM more affordable and further increase the volume of business. Stressing the need for bringing in more transparency in the system, Goyal said that operations should be audited regularly to ensure that all technical and financial aspects of GeM stay strong all the time. The minister asked the officials to make GeM more user- and commerce-friendly so that ease of doing business can be further promoted. He also directed the officials to significantly reduce and cap the transaction charges so that more traders are attracted to the GeM portal.

He asked the GEM team to use AI and further simplify the system. "As the volume of operations grows, AI would be needed to bring the most appropriate buyers and sellers together for transactions. Use of AI would also act as a watchdog against business malpractices like collusion and cartelisation which often sneak in online business platforms," the minister said and cautioned GeM officials to keep a watch on such things. Goyal said that the transparency of the system should be strengthened and no one should ever get a chance to raise doubts on the integrity of the GeM platform. The Minister was informed that the pilot project to integrate GeM with the Indian Railways E-Procurement System (IREPS) will be launched by next month while the process of integrating GeM with India Post and Ministry of Panchayati Raj is in progress. Piyush Goyal asked GeM authorities to wrap up the pending audit by the Directorate of Standardisation Testing and Quality Certification (STQC). The GeM is a 100 percent government owned company setup under the aegis of Department of Commerce for procurement of goods and services by Central and State government organizations. Since its launch on August 9, 2016, the order value of GeM has grown more than 90 times -- from Rs 422 crore in FY 2016-17 to over Rs 38,620 crore last financial year with MSMEs constituting 56.7 percent share of total order value. More than 55,400 buyers and 30,66,400 sellers have onboarded the GeM. The portal now provides trade in 16,456 products and 206 service categories.

The GeM portal was recently declared the winner in the "Best Use of Digital Technology" category at the CIPS Excellence in Procurement Awards 2021 (CIPS Awards). The CIPS Awards are one of the leading recognitions around procurement globally, which is conducted under the aegis of The Chartered Institute of Procurement & Supply (CIPS), London.

2. How this IT major achieved “highest percentage” of women workforce in its sector

ETHRWorld, Nov. 11, 2021

Around 2.6 lakh employees-strong IT major’s efforts have resulted in the presence of 39.1 per cent women in its workforce as of September 2021. ETHRWorld interacted with its Global Diversity and Inclusion Head to understand the overall strategy and plans to maintain a strong pipeline of women employees, including in leadership roles.

Aruna C Newton, Associate Vice President and Head - Global Diversity & Inclusion, Sustainability Reporting and Governance, Infosys Information technology (IT) major Infosys believes the IT industry as a whole has played a key role in strengthening the participation of women in computer science engineering. According to technology industry research firm 451 Research, women now make up 34 per cent of the IT workforce in India and the country is now almost at a 50:50 gender parity rate in STEM graduates. Infosys’ initiatives like Campus Connect, a campus partnership programme that reaches out to over 500 engineering colleges in India, have resulted in more women taking up Computer Science (CS), resulting in almost 50 per cent of freshers hired from an engineering college in India, being women.

Tracking a woman’s career through the various personal life stages with creative options to ensure her retention and growth has also helped. For instance, women employees requesting transfers, after marriage, to another location are given priority.

Around 2.6 lakh employees-strong Infosys’ efforts have resulted in the presence of 39.1 per cent women in its workforce as of September 2021. And Aruna C Newton, its AVP and Head - Global Diversity & Inclusion, Sustainability Reporting and Governance, said this is the highest percentage of women in the workforce across IT companies in India. It also boasts 22 per cent of women on the Non-Executive Board. But how did the company achieve it? ESG Vision 2030 A signatory to UN Women’s Empowerment Principles (WEP), the efforts on gender diversity in the workplace emphasize the participation of women in technology, management, and leadership. In October 2020, the 40-year-old company launched its ambitious ESG Vision 2030 under which it committed to strengthen diversity, equity and inclusion in the corporation and achieve 45 per cent women in its workforce by 2030. Diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) goals are part of the corporate scorecard and flow into leader and manager goal sheets. DEI Councils at the business unit, location, and geo levels provide a rich matrix of responsibilities and relationships to collaborate on the strategic intent of the organization to build inclusion for everyone.

“DEI Councils at geos enable us to be responsive and tap into the ‘local’ diversity needs of employees in the geo and address them in a timely fashion,” Newton revealed. Interestingly, the Diversity Councils comprise members from business and enabler functions, who work under the leadership of a Diversity Council Head. Periodic reviews of diversity and inclusion metrics and programmes enable teams to enhance the effectiveness of their efforts. Strong return to work post-maternity programmes Newton opines childcare support and efforts to integrate women back post-maternity while continuing to explore ways to enable flexible work options at different stages have helped Infosys achieve milestones. Infosys has also found that in some cases extended leave (beyond the stipulated maternity leave) has also helped women return post maternity. “I think the key is to be flexible and open to considering every individual need that truly is at the heart of respecting diversity,” Newton said. In fiscal 2021, 7,097 men and 4,731 women availed parental leave.

When asked about figures, Newton said, “I think the cultures we create that celebrate people and the various roles they play enable the creation of a larger social change.” “The best way to do this is to lead by example,” she said. What is interesting is that a strong return to work post-maternity programme has ensured 92 per cent of women return to work and 88 per cent continue in their professional journeys with the company after 12 months of resuming work in FY21. While it is Infosys’ endeavour to make the post-maternity metrics touch 100 per cent of women returning, Newton said, “We will continue to respect personal choices.” What are those “strong” programmes?

Infosys’ Maternity Handbook articulates its promise to provide a considerate and enabling ecosystem to women before and during the maternity phase and on their return to work post maternity. The Manager’s Guide is a tool for managers which complements the commitments made in the Maternity Handbook and provides the manager with information on enablers and processes to facilitate this integration effectively. Besides, a physical integration space for returning mothers at all Infosys Development Centres (DCs), known as Mom’s Net, provides well-appointed workstations, interaction spaces, and lactation rooms – ensuring a safe and comfortable environment for the integration.

“All these efforts, along with flexible work options, have helped increase the number of women returning to work,” Newton said. Currently, 96.5 per cent of all employees are working remotely and the company aims to deliver 33 per cent of work by leveraging flexible/remote work options in future. In 2018, the ‘Restart with Infosys’ programme was launched to hire women from career breaks. These career breaks could be for any duration and any reason. It includes a component of learning and competency building, strong mentoring and working on client projects to give the women the support and confidence required to transition back to their careers.

More than 500 women have been hired through this intervention. Continuous learning and development In the fast-paced technology industry, Newton believes sometimes the learning curve can be very steep and result in women returning after a break, feeling under-confident about themselves. Providing learning support, mentorships, and helping the women build a supportive network of colleagues help boost confidence tremendously, she said. With a clear focus on enabling a learning environment at the workplace, CEO Salil Parekh-led Infosys dedicated a learning channel on Diversity and Inclusion in its learning management system (LMS), known as LEX.

It ensures a plethora of learning modules, certifications, experience sharing, a human library, blogs, and leader talks through an engaging ‘Talk the Walk’ format. The channel serves as a vehicle for continuous development and learning. It also includes modules on unconscious bias, digital accessibility, inclusive communication, LGBTQIA+ education, management development titles, technology deep-dive learning modules, among others. An exclusive intervention Women in Executive Leadership (WIEL) was targeted to build the leadership talent pipeline of women.

The programme contains online learning modules, facilitator-led sessions, expert-led workshops on identified topics and project work. Presently, there are 10.8 per cent women at the leadership level across Infosys Group. And to increase this, Infosys Leadership Institute rolled out the #IamtheFuture programme to train women for leadership roles. The programme accelerates the readiness of women leaders, strengthening the pipeline and fostering an inclusive ecosystem and culture.

Designed as a year-long programme running till fiscal 2022, in partnership with Stanford GSB, the #IamtheFuture programme provides holistic development opportunities for the women leaders globally. About 300 women are part of this exclusive journey. Further, the company also conducts Women in Management (WIM), an immersive three-day residential workshop that focuses on competencies in the areas of self, teams, clients, and business.

Owing to the pandemic, this intervention was conducted virtually this year and had over 100 women participating in various batches throughout the year. Besides, the year-long mentoring and learning programme Women in Technology (WiT) for the identified hi-potential women had about 600 women participating in fiscal 2021. Newton said these efforts have seen women advancing their careers at the company.

“Our overall women representation in the workforce is increasing by 1 per cent year-on-year.” Under the Women Wizards Rule Technology (W2RT), Infosys collaborated with NASSCOM (National Association of Software and Services Companies, India) to create a 12-month immersive programme to build a talent pool of 10,000 women in the new and emerging technologies for India.

“The programme has online learning content, gurukul workshops led by industry leaders, industry mentors and hands-on project opportunities. It also offers learners access to conferences organized by NASSCOM on D&I. We also trained more than 300 mentors from industry to build capacity to support the programme,” Newton said. In fiscal 2021, Infosys sponsored 400 of its women employees to attend this programme as learners. The initiative is also supported by 120 mentors from Infosys and 12 technology experts.

3. ISRO capable of suggesting ideal locations to set up solar power projects: Sivan

ET Gov. Nov. 8, 2021

An android application for the computation of solar energy potential has been developed by ISRO's Space Applications Centre, Ahmedabad at the behest of the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy

K Sivan, Chairman, Indian Space Research Organisation

Indian space agency ISRO can suggest the ideal location to put up a solar power farm with the data gathered from its geostationary earth observation satellites within and outside India, said a top official. He also said the technology can be transferred to those who are interested.

"We have demonstrated the technology in identifying the best locations for putting up the solar power plants. With Prime Minister Narendra Modi announcing that India can offer the technology to other countries, we may get enquiries," said K. Sivan, Chairman, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and also the Secretary, Department of Space.

According to Sivan, the data transmitted by the satellites will be analysed by ISRO officials. An android application for the computation of solar energy potential has been developed by ISRO's Space Applications Centre (SAC), Ahmedabad at the behest of the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy.

The tool can be used for installation of photovoltaic solar panels for tapping solar energy. Speaking at the COP26 summit Modi said: "I also want to inform today that our space agency, ISRO is going to present a solar calculator application to the world. With this calculator, the solar power potential of any place in the world can be measured based on satellite data. This application will be useful in deciding the location of solar projects and will also strengthen 'One Sun, One World, One Grid'."

The application provides monthly / yearly solar potential (in kWh/m2) and minimum / maximum temperature at any location. It also displays the location on the satellite image and provides azimuth / elevation angles as well as day length over different time periods in a year.

The required location can be keyed in or can be obtained through GPS, said ISRO. Location is displayed on image with satellite data in the background.

It gives monthly and yearly solar potential processed using Indian Geostationary Satellite data (Kalpana-1, INSAT-3D and INSAT-3DR). It also offers monthly minimum and maximum temperature to calculate realistic solar potential.

Obstruction of sunlight due to terrain is also calculated using the Digital Elevation Model (DEM). The application also suggests optimum tilt angle for solar PV installation.

The application can be downloaded from the "New and Renewable Energy" section at vedas.sac.gov.in. It may be recalled that Modi had earlier promised a satellite for South Asian regions which was later released by ISRO in the form of GSAT-9/South Asia Satellite (formerly SAARC Satellite) a communication/meteorology satellite in 2017. Meanwhile, queried about the upcoming satellite launches, Sivan nothing has been finalised and ISRO is working on that. Sivan also said the revised foreign direct investment policy is under formulation.

4.1. Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission will democratize access to healthcare - OPINION

ET Gov. No. 3 , 2021, Dr. Sangita Reddy

“I think the biggest innovations of the 21st century will be at the intersection of biology and technology. A new era is beginning.” – Steve Jobs

In India, we are seeing this new era unfold with healthcare and technology coming together to save lives, and enhance the effectiveness of our scarce resources, prevent and diagnose disease early, and promote well-being. The rise of digital health has received a boost from the well-developed IT sector and an internet penetration rate that has almost doubled to around 50 percent in just five years.

The Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM) is a significant step assisting the national framework for universal coverage and last-mile delivery of healthcare. In 2020, while even the developed world was grappling with the challenges posed by the pandemic, our Hon’ble Prime Minister launched the National Digital Health Mission aka Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM) on Independence Day.

ABDM will facilitate Universal Health Coverage and address the technological disparities and divergent health record management systems across private and public sector healthcare facilities across India. The lack of uniform standards results in data being collected in different formats and restricted in silos at different locations where care is delivered. This leads to inefficiencies that impact the delivery of quality healthcare over the long term. ABDM is a step in the right direction but by no means a stroke of a magical wand, there are a few issues, which will be resolved very soon.

The ABDM will bridge gaps in the healthcare ecosystem, transforming a disconnected paper-based system to a digital one, to enable standardisation of care with easy access to clinical and other relevant information that will assist healthcare providers in delivering high-quality care. A key piece of the ABDM is the Digital Health ID critical for interoperability of health systems at each stakeholder level from patient, hospital, to ancillary healthcare providers. Digital Health IDs for the population would lead to the creation of a health system with an electronic health record of every Indian citizen.

Access to patient-level health information in a secure and real-time manner will lead to efficiency in the delivery of healthcare. Over time, this will have multiple benefits including improved clinical outcomes, economic and operational benefits, and a positive impact on society with improved population health and reduced costs. In short, one could say that the Digital Health ID will democratize access to healthcare and this initiative is recognition that reforming our health ecosystem is a high priority for India.

The ABDM will also give a boost to our battle against NCDs (non-communicable diseases). Today, NCDs are a huge burden and a major contributor to morbidity and mortality, responsible for 71 percent of all deaths globally. The impact of NCDs such as heart disease, cancer, stroke, diabetes, chronic lung disease, and obesity extends beyond morbidity and mortality with large financial consequences at the individual, community and country level. With the Digital Health ID working as an individual’s health account, with details of personal health records including tests, diagnosis and medication, and the creation of a Healthcare Professionals Registry (HPR) and Healthcare Facilities Registries (HFR) that will act as a repository of all healthcare providers, individuals will be able to easily access and exchange information across facilities without being bound by location or speciality.

It will also enable better delivery of preventive and rehabilitative care to individuals battling chronic diseases, irrespective of their location. Undoubtedly, we need to enhance the number of healthcare professionals, enhance our primary care access, manage quality, ensure affordability, focus on prevention and the social determinants of health. However, it is important that we embrace digital health and it progresses in conjunction, so that the power of today’s technologies like AI, ML, the internet of things (which will enable environments of remote care) gain greater momentum, and we do not have isolated pools of digitalization in healthcare.

I am excited that there is a concerted road map, charter and tremendous acumen of so many at work on this vital mission. The speed at which we implement is co-dependent on many factors, but is definitely a goal that we must all not just aspire to work, but actively work to enable and accelerate. This is an extraordinary phase in India’s efforts to build a Swasth and Sampann Bharat and it is important that each of us as citizens supports it by living healthy and motivating all around us to do the same.

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

4.2. India needs to raise public health spending to 2.5-3.5% of GDP: Report

ET HealthWorld, Oct. 22, 2021

The FICCI and KPMG in India report titled 'COVID-19 Induced Healthcare Transformation in India' said the pandemic saw the country undergo a paradigm shift from traditional legacy systems to cloud-based applications last year.

India needs to raise public health spending to 2.5 - 3.5 per cent of GDP to support healthcare transformation, according to a report released on Thursday. As per the Union Budget 2021-22, the total public health sector allocation stood at 1.2 per cent of the gross domestic product (GDP). The FICCI and KPMG in India report titled 'COVID-19 Induced Healthcare Transformation in India' said the pandemic saw the country undergo a paradigm shift from traditional legacy systems to cloud-based applications last year. The crisis proved to be a catalyst for increased adoption of digital healthcare systems across the world.

"With a healthcare spending of 1.5 per cent of India's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2018-19, there is a need to increase the public health spending to 2.5 - 3.5 per cent to support healthcare transformation," said the report. It also highlighted the need to incorporate alternative financing models to address the financial gaps in the health sector and ensure mandatory health coverage for all to support the Universal Health Coverage (UHC) targets. The report also suggests establishing a district level Health System Index to assess health system maturity, modifying existing district hospitals to implement a hub-and-spoke model, ensuring adequate diagnostic services across all districts and promoting convergence of public health scheme. It calls for leveraging make-shift and alternative health infrastructure and strengthening primary care though collaborating with private sector to strengthen existing health system. Alok Roy, Chair, FICCI Health Services Committee and Chairman, Medical Group of Hospitals said, "The COVID-19 pandemic exposed weaknesses in our health systems and amplified already existing challenges pertaining to gaps in health infrastructure, workforce and accessibility and equity in health services."

"But at the same time, it also reinforced an urgent need to make greater investments in augmenting health preparedness and quality of care," he added. Lalit Mistry, Partner and Co-Head - Healthcare Sector, KPMG in India said, "The pandemic has transformed the way the government and private players are planning to bring change in the healthcare system."

5. Covid pandemic showed how technology can be game-changer: AIIMS director

ET Gov. Oct. 23 2021, Randeep Guleria

The COVID-19 pandemic has showed the importance of technology and how if used properly can be a game-changer in the country where there is a big issue of resources and manpower crunch as far as the health sector is concerned, AIIMS Director Dr Randeep Guleria said on Friday. Speaking at Public Affairs Forum of India's 8th National Forum 2021, he said the pandemic showed that if you do not have a healthy nation, you will have a fate on your economy, it could affect tourism, it will affect travel, and it will have a lot of other effects which are so-called collateral damage.

"The COVID-19 pandemic showed the importance of technology and it really showed that technology used properly can be a game-changer in our country where there is this big issue of resources and manpower crunch, as far as the health sector is concerned. So we've adopted teleconsultation very quickly, which allowed us to consult with a large number of patients across the country without them having to come to hospital. It was cost-effective," he said Guleria also said that there is a huge inequity as far as health is concerned, both in urban and rural India, and that has to be addressed.

"And, I sometimes worry that we should make sure that technology doesn't increase that divide. We must make sure that we think it is more inclusive for even those who may not be that tech savvy, and that is very important in the tech sector," he said. The AIIMS chief said there has to be a lot of focus on using technology "And, that is something that we need to do in terms of screening for non-communicable diseases or training for cancers, which will help in the burden of disease in a big way.

We have to invest more in research, which is India specific and encourage more entrepreneurship," he said. National Health Authority CEO RS Sharma said there are a number of areas in which the cost will significantly reduce using technology, and that significant reduction in cost will obviously be passed on to the service providers, and also to the people.

"I completely agree that technology has to be inclusive. It has to cater to diversity as it exists in the sector. It has to be interoperable. It has to be scalable. It has to be frugal. It has to you know be, kind of, people should find it very easy to use it, so it should be easy to kind of integrate in our workflow, it should not be an activity in itself, you know, catering to technological requirement should not really become an additional burden on the time of a doctor," he said.

Talking about privacy, he said the people think that designing for privacy will reduce functionality. "The thing is that privacy is a zero-sum game, you know that if I make things private then I can't do anything to it. But that's not the case. If you design carefully, it is a non-zero sum game, you can continue to have all the functionalities without sacrificing privacy," he said. A zero-sum game is a mathematical representation of a situation in which an advantage that is won by one of the two sides is lost by the other.

- AGRICULTURE, FISHING & RURAL DEVELOPMENT

6.1. Here's how tech helped Aavin Dairy double production capacity

ET CIO, Oct. 18, 2021, vanshika Sharma

The dairy saw a significant increase in operational efficiency and improved operations in the processing segment, ensuring dependability and quality.

Aavin Dairy, an institution of the Tamil Nadu Co-operative Milk Producers' Federation Limited, with over one crore daily consumers, elevated its performance in the Indian dairy industry by leveraging IoT. It improved its productivity levels, asset management, energy efficiency, and further increased the processing capacity from 2 LLPD to 3 LLPD when commissioned, and now has scaled up to 5.5 LLPD.

The dairy operates to promote the economic development of the farming community by procurement of milk from villages, along with processing and manufacturing milk products. However, the segment faced numerous challenges, including shifting consumer preferences, developing competitive, profitable, safe, and desirable products. Hence, it necessitated the development of advanced digital technologies capable of providing transparency, security, regulatory compliance, and reliability. To boost the performance in the Indian dairy industry, the dairy focused on building a solid business model. The vision was to improve the reliability and quality of milk processing while also ensuring efficiency aiming to match the pace of technological advancements with the rapidly changing environment. "Back in 2014, we thought of renovating our plants to become better prepared for the future. Automation promises increased plant productivity, higher returns on CapEx and OpEx, and achieving optimum energy efficiency. Schneider Electric EcoStruxure Process Expert (formerly Ecostruxture Hybrid DCS) has helped us in improving our operational efficiency," says Jai Kumar, General Manager, Aavin Dairy. Before the deployment, the dairy managed its operations manually, facing the initial challenge to convert and upgrade the manual plant into an automated facility.

“Once the plant was automated and transformed, we were faced with another issue of lack of know-how and expertise to handle the new technology. However, with appropriate training sessions, we were able to empower, skill, and upgrade our workforce to transition towards an automated style of working,” Kumar adds further. Because the dairy is open 365 days a year, regardless of natural disasters or other issues, it was therefore necessary to implement a technology that allows for continuous and smooth operations. Due to the automated transition, the dairy was able to improve operational precision and reduce errors. Furthermore, it has increased end-product quality and reliability while increasing the plant's overall operational efficiency, flexibility, scalability, and ease of maintenance.

The EcoStruxure Process Expert helps to coordinate processes such as pasteurization, homogenization, CIP, and others. In addition, the facility has a comprehensive control and monitoring system for the entire dairy process, including the electrical and utility systems. Because of the availability of overall Sequence of Events (SOE), focused MIS reporting, Trend, and Historian data of all dairy processes, it has experienced a streamlined rise in efficiency with increased resource optimization. “There is data for everything that empowers informed decisions.

Further, the time taken to manage the daily tasks has reduced. Asset management and energy efficiency have improved our production capacity from 2 lakh liters per day to 5 lakh liters per day,” Kumar said. Along with EcoStruxure Process Expert, the dairy has also used Altivar Drives for pump application, AS-Interface Ethernet PnF Gateways with control system for discrete actuators valves, Conventional MCC Panels Switchgears, and APC UPS of 20KVA for automation & IT system.

The company has now addressed the issue of insufficient monitoring, which affects operational efficiency and poorly affects the visibility into energy use and scalability. As a result of digital transformation, new revenue and value-creating opportunities have emerged. The F&B supply is also being realigned and digitized to improve efficiencies and ensure that products can be handled, stored, and delivered safely.

6.2. A company that updates the parents whenever a female employee is leaving for home

ETHR World , Oct. 27, 2021

The company has a workforce of over 27,500 people and 35 per cent of them are women, which is close to 10,000. About 13 per cent of them work in the night shifts. “To ensure each one of them is safe, we need to count the heads,” says Suchita Oswal Jain, Vice Chairman and Joint Managing Director of Vardhman Textiles.

Suchita Oswal Jain, Vice Chairman and Joint Managing Director, Vardhman Textiles

With over 35 per cent of its workforce comprising female employees, many women associated with Vardhman Textiles have left the sheltered village life for the first time. They, and also their guardians, had several apprehensions that needed to be addressed. Vardhman’s teams have visited the villages, counselled village elders, offered trips to their facilities, and assured them of the work environment and safety norms in place. Suchita Oswal Jain, Vice Chairman and Joint Managing Director of Vardhman Textiles, says 57 per cent of women from rural backgrounds are leading empowered new lives working at Vardhman and 15,000 women workers joined their workforce over the last five years.

While discussing the best practices that Vardhman follows for its women employees, Jain reveals that updates are sent to parents by the company whenever a girl is leaving for home. In our curiosity, we tried to find out the idea behind this policy and if this is invading the privacy of female employees!

Was the freedom of female employees a concern? Jain says that the company values individual freedom and are committed to offering a comfortable and nurturing environment. “What we have to understand is that for someone who has never left their house, the concern is more about the support offered by the organisation,” she adds. The board at Vardhman was clear as to “neither compromise on freedom nor jeopardize safety”.

“They have the freedom to go outside, they can go shopping, in fact, we provide bus service for that. At Vardhman, we follow a zero-tolerance policy regarding women’s safety for which it is helpful if we know where our girls are,” Jain adds. The company has a workforce of over 27,500 people and 35 per cent of them are women, which is close to 10,000. About 13 per cent of them work in the night shifts.

“To ensure each one of them is safe, we need to count the heads,” Jain propounds. Is this policy accepted by all female employees? Jain explains, “When we are counselling parents to allow their daughters to work with us and join the mainstream economy, we have to ascertain their safety. In our best intentions, we try to keep this promise of wellbeing and growth.” While playing the role of a guardian, in Jain’s opinion, the company has to also understand the perspective of the parents and the village elders.

Besides, Jain highlights that the women who wish to work with Vardhman are happy to know that their safety is the company’s primary concern since most of these women come from a rural background and had never left their homes prior to joining the company.

“For them, this is a major life change and knowing that their loved ones are aware of their wellbeing at all times is a comforting feeling,” she exclaims. The rule is applicable only to women living in company hostels. Those who are commuting from outside are not covered under the policy. Talking about its impact, Jain reveals that the company has seen positive outcomes of the safety policies in place, whether related to women safety or Covid related safety norms.

“Wearing a mask also appeared difficult when the pandemic hit the world but knowing that it is for our better, we all accepted it,” Jain adds. Women empowerment is a topic close to Jain’s heart! Every company within the Vardhman Group has a Sexual Harassment Committee in place and the top management gets directly involved in monitoring cases of violations if any. “Women feel safe within the company and are confident that even the slightest discomfort will be dealt with absolute seriousness,” Jain propounds.

The organisation has 14 residential facilities accommodating 3,000 female workers, wherein a healthy and active lifestyle is provided. From nutritive food to sessions on training and developments, several initiatives are taken to help transform these young girls into skilled and confident breadwinners. Jain remembers how through persistent advocacy, the company was able to convince the governments of Punjab, Madhya Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh to pass a bill allowing women to work in the night shift.

7. Karnataka to involve government school students in development and launch of 75 nanosatellites on Amrit Mahotsav

ET Gov. Nov. 5, 2021

National space agency Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) and the Indian Technological Congress Association (ITCA) both based in Bengaluru will help the government, its schools and students to achieve the task.

Karnataka higher education minister Dr CN Ashwath Narayan

Karnataka plans to develop and launch 75 nanosatellites involving government high school students as part of the Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav: Celebrating 75 years of India's Independence on August 15, 2022. The Government Boys' High School, Malleshwaram in Bengaluru will be part of the programme to develop these small satellites and launch them. The national space agency Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) and the Indian Technological Congress Association (ITCA) both based in Bengaluru will help the government, its schools and students to accomplish this task.

Designing and making the satellites will be done at the school, also involving students from other government schools," state higher education minister Dr CN Ashwath Narayan told ETGovernment. This is a rare situation in which students of a government high school will be encouraged to participate in such an out of the box idea. Sharing the details, the minister explained that usually, students of engineering colleges are involved in this kind of projects. But now, this will be achieved in a government high school by taking the help of scientists and astronauts or space sailors from reputed institutions.

Gaganyaan Space Mission

The initiative is said to have been inspired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's idea of the Gaganyaan Space Mission. The Gaganyaan or Sky Craft is an Indian crewed orbital spacecraft intended to be the formative spacecraft of the Indian Human Spaceflight Programme. The spacecraft is designed to carry three people, and a planned upgraded version will be equipped with rendezvous and docking capability. ISRO, Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) and Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO) are key stakeholders of the Gaganyaan Space Mission.

Out of the Box Idea The minister said the ITCA initiative would involve student groups from India to prepare 75 nano or small satellites, which will be launched into orbit. Students will be provided an opportunity to use ISRO's launch pad or others from across the world. Bengaluru-based ITCA has signed an MoU with Israeli schools and government to collaborate with Indian institutions. These student satellites can be used for monitoring the environment and relay communication.

Founded in 2012, ITCA over the last nine years, attained international prominence as a unique platform fostering industry-academia-research labs-policy makers' collaboration with the objective of capacity-building for global technological progress.

In ITCA-2017, a resolution was unanimously adopted in the Bangalore Declaration that technology professionals from the industry, research and development laboratories, and academic institutions should collaborate and institutionalize the synergy by establishing the Indian Technology Congress Association (ITCA). The Roadmap The announcement of the initiative by the minister at the government high school while distributing laptops has triggered curiosity among the government and private schools in the state. The minister had an initial discussion with some scientists in this regard. He said he will soon meet with the key stakeholders to come out with a roadmap and to build small satellites. If all goes well, this initiative will boost education in India, Narayan hopes.

8.1. Handicraft exports grow 60% during Apr-Sept: Govt

IBEF, Nov. 01, 2021

According to textiles ministry, India's handicraft exports in the first six months of the FY22 stood at Rs. 15,995.73 crore (US$ 2.13 billion), a growth of over 60.34% over the same period last year.

The 52nd edition of the IHGF-Delhi Fair - Autumn 2021 being held at the India Expo Centre & Mart, Greater Noida, was inaugurated and will be being organised from October 28-31.

Union Minister of Commerce and Industry and Textiles Mr. Piyush Goyal, in his speech, stated it is heartening to see that at a time when the world's largest vaccination programme is in full pace, the physical exhibition is organised.

This will be offering an opportunity for exhibitors and buyers to come together in person for doing business, he noted.

“He expected that this event will pave way for bigger and better editions of the fair in the near future, and in the process, promote greater exports of handicrafts from India,” the statement added.

Speaking on the event, Textiles Secretary Mr. U P Singh praised the handicrafts segment for contributing to an exemplary export growth of 60% during the first six months of 2021-22 in spite of complications and challenges faced by exporters during two years of the pandemic.

>1,500 exhibitors, pre-registered buyers from 90 nations, theme presentations, regional crafts, seminars and craft demonstrations will define the IHGF-Delhi Fair - Autumn 2021.

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

8.2. Ministry of Rural Development signs MoU with Flipkart

Press Information Bureau, Nov. 03, 2021

Flipkart, India’s homegrown e-commerce marketplace, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Ministry of Rural Development of the Government of India (MoRD), for their ambitious Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana – National Rural Livelihood Mission (DAY-NRLM) program, to help empower local businesses and self-help groups (SHGs) – especially those that are led by women – by bringing them into the e-commerce fold. The partnership is aligned with the DAY-NRLM’s goal of strengthening the capabilities of rural communities for self-employment and entrepreneurship, thus providing further impetus to the Prime Minister’s vision of an “Atmanirbhar Bharat”.

In the presence of Minister of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj, Mr. Giriraj Singh, Minister of State for Rural Development Ms. Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti, the MoU was signed at a ceremony in Delhi by the Joint Secretary (RL), DAY-NRLM, Mr. Charanjit Singh and Flipkart’s Chief Corporate Affairs Officer, Mr. Rajneesh Kumar on November 02, 2021.

On this occasion, Mr. Giriraj Singh said, “SHGs are backbone of the rural economy and we are targeting to enhance their annual income to at least 1 lakh. We are identifying and collaborating with all possible partners who can contribute to this cause and partnership between DAY NRLM and Flipkart will help in the process. Rural products from SHGs have huge potential of acceptance among the masses in India and abroad and e-commerce platform will prove to be an effective tool to harness it.” Mr. Singh said that MoU will enable rural women to sell their products to > 10 crore Flipkart’s customers.

This MoU is a part of the Flipkart Samarth program and aims to provide skilled yet under-served communities of craftsmen, weavers and artisans with national market access through the Flipkart marketplace, as well as dedicated support for knowledge and training. Flipkart Samarth seeks to break entry barriers for local communities by providing time-bound incubation and support with onboarding, cataloging, marketing, account management, business insights, and warehousing. This will create more avenues for increasing business and trade inclusion and help in creating and sustaining better livelihood opportunities.

The MoRD’s DAY-NRLM programme with its outreach in 6,768 blocks of 706 districts across all 28 States and 6 UTs has 7.84 crore women mobilized into > 71 lakh SHGs is proving as the game-changing initiative to empower poor rural women. Under the mission, poor women from different cross-sections of class and caste form into SHGs and their federations, providing financial, economic and social development services to their members for enhancing their income and quality of life. As part of the efforts to promote livelihoods activities, continuous efforts have been made by NRLM at state and national level for promoting rural products manufactured by these SHGs by providing platforms like Saras Fairs, Saras Gallery and retail outlets, state owned online e-commerce platforms and other commercial e-commerce platform.

Mr. Charanjit Singh, Joint Secretary (Skills), DAY-NRLM said, “DAY-NRLM’s partnership with Flipkart Samarth provides a great platform for capacity-building, enhancing and impacting rural livelihoods, especially for women. This step will mobilize and channelize the resources required for building and supporting rural businesses to realize their full potential for growth, which is crucial for inclusive and robust national development, especially during the current post-COVID era.”

Mr. Rajneesh Kumar, Chief Corporate Affairs Officer, Flipkart Group said, “We are leveraging our knowledge of the Indian market to enhance social and economic development for the under-served communities, many of whom reside in rural areas. The crafts of India’s local artisans, weavers and self-help groups deserve to reach a far wider audience, including and beyond their respective regions. The Flipkart Samarth initiative provides them with access to potentially more than 350 million consumers on our platform spread across the country. We are delighted and honored to partner with the DAY-NRLM and be able to contribute to a vital aspect of nation-building.”

The Flipkart Samarth program was launched in 2019 as a sustainable and inclusive platform to empower underserved domestic communities and businesses with better opportunities and livelihoods. Flipkart Samarth is currently supporting the livelihoods of over 9,50,000 artisans, weavers and craftsmen across India, and is continuously working towards bringing even more sellers onto the platform.

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

9. 5,000 skill hubs to be opened to step up skill development, apprenticeship and entrepreneurship: MSDE Secretary

ET Gov. Nov. 12, 2021

Other priorities of the ministry include doubling the number of apprenticeships each year, simplifying the processes and rules to enhance the industry collaborations, mixing vocational and academics as suggested in the National Education Policy 2020 and undertaking pilots on AR/VR.

The Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) is planning to open as many as 5,000 skill hubs soon by repurposing existing government infrastructure to strengthen its ongoing skill development initiatives across the country. The objective of these hubs is to train skill development, apprenticeship and entrepreneurship using the technology. Other priorities of the ministry include doubling the number of apprenticeships year-on-year, simplifying the processes and rules to increase the industry collaborations, mixing vocational and academics as suggested in the National Education Policy 2020 and undertaking pilots on emerging technologies, especially AR/VR.

The seven-year-old MSDE is responsible for the coordination of all skill development efforts across the country. MSDE's new Secretary Rajesh Aggarwal says, "We are aiming to skill youth on a large scale with speed and high standards to achieve its vision of a Skilled India." It is aided in these initiatives by its functional arms, Directorate General of Training (DGT), National Council for Vocational Education and Training (NCVET), National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC), National Skill Development Fund (NSDF) and 38 Sector Skill Councils (SSCs) as well as 33 National Skill Training Institutes, about 15,000 Industrial Training Institutes under DGT and 187 training partners registered with NSDC.

The ministry also intends to work with the existing network of skill development centers, universities and other alliances in the field. "The basic philosophy behind skill hubs was that we have a lot of campuses with good labs, which get locked up in the evenings or on the weekends. So how do we utilize them for dropout students or those who want to get reskilled?

We are working on the financial model using the existing infrastructure to start with the government initially. These centers should become active hubs for placement or apprenticeship and entrepreneurship training," said Rajesh Aggarwal in an interview with ETGovernment while sharing his top priorities for the current financial year.

Edited excerpts: How do you see the alignment of digital strategy with your mandate for maximizing benefits? Firstly, we use technology in imparting education at school, college or vocational in a better way. The COVID-19 has taught us a lot of skills. Earlier, we never thought of the possibility of digitally imparting lessons to IIT students, and they were partly digital. Maybe in the next three years, the evaluation studies may reveal whether it was effective and how productive it was. But definitely, these technologies are there to stay.

We will move more towards blended learning. Teachers will conduct classes physically, and a lot of education will happen digitally also. The use of 2D and 3D animations, blended learning, quiz and mock tests on mobiles/tablets and a lot of these things are here to stay. AR/VR is slowly catching up in skill development. For example, AR/VR is being used for learning to weld. The use of digital in real life is also on the rise, be it in the factories, on the shop floors, and the industry 4.0. We see enterprises in India are adopting emerging technologies in real job scenarios. For example, AI is being used for cleaning sewers. Digital is everywhere, from satellites to sewers. The second is creating our kids' mindset and skills to use digital technologies in every sector. We see both are important.

As part of your ministry's robust industry connect plan, what is your ideal approach with industry members to strengthen skill development and its ecosystem?

On the higher education side, we see more of the talk that degrees are becoming less important. Instead, increased confidence and the ability to learn new things by students is becoming more critical in many job roles. But on the skill side, you will need more precision workers. For example, in plants, you need workers who can work with the latest machines without causing any damage. It would help if you had highly skilled workers on manufacturing plants at all levels. In construction works, you need plumbers and carpenters with a high level of skills. Formal skills are becoming more critical. You need skilled people more and more. For degrees of importance, one can debate on the higher side. On the lower side, I see more and more formalization of skills and more and more demand for formally skilled workers, at least in more significant projects.

Do you see the collaboration of Central ministries like Education, Skill Development & Entrepreneurship, Labour & Employment and Commerce & Industry to complement each other to strengthen your strategy and its overall approach?

The NEP 2020 talks about mixing vocational and academics. I have seen an intense interaction between the Education Ministry and Skill Development Ministry to make it happen. Over the next three months, you will see a lot of action from these ministries and our associated regulators as well on this front.

The second part is how do we interact with all other ministries?

Many ministries are running their education and skill verticals. For example, the health ministry has many nursing and medical colleges. Similarly, the rural development ministry has many schemes and institutes. The chemicals and fertilizers ministry has many locations, and public sector banks have many skilling institutions. One common theme across the system is that qualifications are getting a National Apprentice Certificate (NAC). The National Council for Vocational Training (NCVT), an advisory body, is the primary regulator. Whether for the health ministry or any other ministry, the NCVT runs the course in skilling ecosystem and issues NAC. Sector skill councils (SSCs) are getting associated with them. The CEOs of SSCs are working closely with the industry. The Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) and other concerned ministries are strengthening our approach to handshake with the industry. You propose to open 5,000 skill hubs using the existing government infrastructure in the country. Could you elaborate on their operation model? The basic philosophy behind skill hubs was that we have a lot of campuses with good labs, which get locked up in the evenings or on the weekends.

So how do we utilize them for dropout students or those who want to get reskilled?

We are working on the financial model using the existing infrastructure to start with the government initially. We want an industry handshake here that we open up to these sectors also. These centres should become active hubs of placement or apprenticeship and entrepreneurship training. Hopefully, in a month, all three ministers put together, we'll present it to all the stakeholders. That's why I invite suggestions from everyone because at the moment; we are tweaking and fine-tuning our ideas. Are you open to collaborations with private universities in India and abroad for mutual benefits? We would love to do that. That's the only way all good private universities and institutes have to shake hands with industry to increase the footprint.

Will you undertake any pilots on emerging technologies, especially in AR/VR?

AR/VR will get used hopefully more and more in regular educational courses also. Whether you want to learn about earthquakes, physics concepts, or welding, let us say how to handle electric vehicles. It becomes important. At the moment, we have thousands of coders who are writing code on the Unity platform. Currently, internal utilization is not that much. The next concept is how to gamify education or skills education. AR/VR may become handy there. A lot of coders are coming up in this, so that gap is not there. We have coders in the country, and we need people who can create this sort of ecosystem where it becomes viable for them to market their AR/VR products to students and others. The government will set up some pilots on this. Ultimately, let's see how it scales up.

How do you see the role of state governments in skill development?

Education and skills are concurrent subjects. For example, you have regulators at the national level, but states also have complete freedom to run their educational boards. It's a federal structure in that sense. Some of the conditions are doing incredibly well in the skill sector. For example, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Haryana, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, lately Odisha, are the states that have a very robust skill training system in the country. Moreover, due to industrialization status, a lot of industry handshake is happening at the state levels.

What are your top priorities for the current financial year?

One is this school site integration. The second is increasing the number of apprenticeships year-on-year. Currently, we are not happy with the number of four lakhs of internships though it is almost doubling of the numbers of last year. We want a CAGR of nearly 100% over the next three to four years. We are on the job of simplifying the processes and rules and increasing the industry handshake on that. On the apprenticeship side, you will see quite a bit of buzz.

10.1. 650-teraflop supercomputing facility at NABI to now support research in agri and nutritional biotechnology

ET Gov. Nov. 4, 2021

Established and funded by the department of Science and Technology (DST) with an approximate cost of Rs 20 crore, this high-end facility will be helpful in the analysis of large-scale genomics, functional genomics and structural genomics data.

Union Minister of Science and Technology and Earth Sciences Jitendra Singh on Tuesday inaugurated the advanced 650 teraflops supercomputing facility at the National Agri-Food Biotechnology Institute (NABI) through the online mode. The facility has come up under the National Supercomputing Mission (NSM) in collaboration with C-DAC, Pune. Established and funded by the department of Science and Technology (DST) with an approximate cost of Rs 20 crore, this high-end facility will be helpful in the analysis of large-scale genomics, functional genomics and structural genomics data. This 650 teraflops supercomputing facility will be unique in catering to the needs of the interdisciplinary cutting-edge research being carried out at the institute related to agricultural and nutritional biotechnology, according to an official release.

Addressing the gathering, Singh highlighted that the NSM is an important initiative of the government of India. "This mission will create a cluster of supercomputers that will connect academic and research institutes across the country. The mission will also cater to the ever increasing computation demand of the academia and research institutes and will process research calculations very fast," he said. He also highlighted that this important initiative will also support the country's vision of 'Digital India". Ashwani Pareek, Executive Director, NABI said this supercomputer facility will be available for the scientists of NABI and Center of Innovative and Applied Bioprocessing as well as will be open to collaborative work for the scientists/faculties working in the neighboring institutes/universities and for the few projects sanctioned under NSM. In another related event, Singh inaugurated i-RISE, Technology Business Incubator (TBI) at Mohali and said that it will provide world class research facilities for start-ups in the country. He said with the formation of this TBI, Mohali will join the league of other start-up hubs in the country like Bengaluru and Gurgaon, according to an official release.

Singh said that due to various schemes, focus and support system provided by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, 10,000 start-ups got registered in India in 2021 alone. He said, India now has 50,000 plus start-ups providing more than 2 lakh jobs in the country. (With PTI inputs)

10.2. India's plans for 20% ethanol-blending will cut sugar subsidy: Oil secretary

The Economic Times, Nov. 12, 2021

India on Wednesday approved a proposal to achieve 20% ethanol-blending with gasoline by 2025, five years ahead of its previous target. India's plans to blend 20% ethanol with petrol from April 2023 will help cut sugar export subsidies, Oil Secretary Tarun Kapoor told reporters on Thursday.

Higher ethanol output will cut India's sugar production, reducing the need to give incentives for the export of the sweetener.

India's plans to blend 20% ethanol with petrol from April 2023 will help cut sugar export subsidies, Oil Secretary Tarun Kapoor told reporters on Thursday. India on Wednesday approved a proposal to achieve 20% ethanol-blending with gasoline by 2025, five years ahead of its previous target. Higher ethanol output will cut India's sugar production, reducing the need to give incentives for the export of the sweetener.

INDUSTRY & MANUFACTURE

11.1. Lava becomes first Indian brand to launch 5G smartphone

ET Telecom, Nov. 9, 2021

Home-grown mobile phone company Lava International has become the first Indian brand to launch 5G smartphones for domestic consumers. The smartphone launched under the brand name 'Agni' has been developed by Lava in India and is getting manufactured at its plant in Noida, Uttar Pradesh.

New Delhi: Home-grown mobile phone company Lava International has become the first Indian brand to launch 5G smartphones for domestic consumers. The smartphone launched under the brand name 'Agni' has been developed by Lava in India and is getting manufactured at its plant in Noida, Uttar Pradesh. "The purpose of launching Agni is to give Indian consumers the choice of a made in India 5G smartphone for Indians by an Indian company. We wanted to establish before people that there can be an Indian brand which is technology oriented.

"We are second in the world to launch a 5G smartphone on Mediatek Dimensity 810 chipset," Sunil Raina, President & Business Head, Lava International told PTI on the sidelines of the launch. He said that the price of Agni has been kept at Rs 19,999 which is competitive, compared to Chinese brands that dominate the Indian market at present.

The Lava Agni 5G will come with a 6.78 inch full high-definition plus IPS punch hole display which is largest in its segment. "We have beaten most of the Chinese brands in specification. It makes a statement that Indian companies, at least Lava, is capable of building a phone from scratch... enter into a segment which is highly competitive and lead the show. On pricing, we are offering Agni 5G for Rs 17,999 on pre-booking," Raina said.

The phone's screen has Corning Gorilla Glass protection for higher durability, 8GB Ram, 128 GB internal storage. The company has placed higher camera specifications compared to Chinese brands selling smartphones on the same Mediatek 5G chipset. Lava Agni 5G will come with a 64 megapixel primary camera, along with a 5 MP wide-angle camera, 2 MP Depth camera, and a 2 MP macro camera, It will have a 16 MP front camera.

Raina said Lava Agni 5G has a large 5000 mAh battery which comes with a 30W superfast charger that gets the phone ready with full charge in less than 90 minutes. Lava Agni 5G will be available across retail outlets as well as through Amazon and Flipkart from November 18. The pre-booking window is open for users from November 9 to 17, on the Lava e-store and on Amazon by paying a pre-booking amount of Rs 500.

11.2. Apple doubled its India business in fiscal 2021: Tim Cook

ET Telecom, Oct. 29, 2021

While posting the September quarter earnings, Apple CEO Tim Cook said, “We set quarterly records in every geographic segment with strong double-digit growth across the board" and that during fiscal 2021, they earned nearly one-third of their revenue from emerging markets. Apple doubled its business in India and Vietnam, he said.

NEW DELHI: Smartphone major Apple said that it has doubled its business in India in fiscal 2021. While posting the September quarter earnings, Apple CEO Tim Cook said, “We set quarterly records in every geographic segment with strong double-digit growth across the board" and that during fiscal 2021, they earned nearly one-third of their revenue from emerging markets. Apple doubled its business in India and Vietnam, he said. As per Counterpoint Research, Apple was the highest growing brand in Q3 2021 with 212% year-on-year growth and led the premium smartphone market (> INR 30,000) with a 44% share.

Apple also maintained its leading position in the ultra-premium segment (> INR 45,000 or ~$650) with a 74% share, Counterpoint said. Strong demand for the iPhone 12 and iPhone 11 were the major factors in Apple’s growth in India. “Apple became the top 5G smartphone brand in the premium segment for the first time,” Counterpoint said. CMR Research separately shared a report claiming that Apple registered a 150% growth in the third quarter shipping 1.53 million units of iPhones. Analysts at CMR said that the company leveraged its aspirational appeal amongst consumers in the earlier-than-usual festive season sales. iPhone 12 was the best-performing model with 31% market share in Q3, followed by iPhone 11 at 28%, iPhone 12 mini at 18% and iPhone SE (2020) at 14%. iPhone 13, launched in September, cornered 3% market share in the quarter, as per CMR. During the calls, Cook said that global supplies remain a challenge for Apple on back of very high demand.

For the September quarter, Apple had about $6 billion in supply constraints globally and it affected iPhone, iPad and Mac, he added. “One was the chip shortages that you’ve heard a lot about from many different companies throughout the industry. And the second was Covid-related manufacturing disruptions in Southeast Asia. The second of those, the Covid disruptions, have improved materially across October to where we currently are. And so, for this quarter, we think that the primary cause of supply-chain-related shortages will be the chip shortage,” said Cook.

Cook said it is affecting the company when demand is very robust. “And so, part of this is that the demand also is very strong. But we believe that by the time we finish the quarter that the constraints will be larger than the $6 billion that we experienced in Q4 (September quarter),” said Cook. ET recently reported that Apple’s manufacturing partners Foxconn (HonHai) and Wistron are set to achieve targets by the end of this fiscal year under the production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme, having increased the production of iPhones for domestic and export purposes in the past few quarters.

All three Apple suppliers – Foxconn, Wistron and Pegatron – have been approved under the Centre’s production-based scheme, which mandates investment and incremental production targets to provide direct monetary incentives in the next five years. They have made a commitment to make Rs 3.6 trillion worth of iPhones in India in five years, out of which 80 per cent will be exported. Apple’s share of made in India iPhones has increased from 17% in 2018 to 76% now, while its share of smartphone exports from the country is now at 5% from zero a couple of years back, as per Counterpoint Research.

12.1. Is “The Great Resignation” just a foreign influence or an alarm bell for India Inc?

ETHRWorld, Nov. 9, 2021, Hemanshi Tewari

It is interesting to note that employee experience has never mattered more and also as the companies have transitioned to the hybrid model, the fear of the digital divide has become even more apparent.

Employees are leaving jobs like never before. According to the US Bureau of labour statistics, 4 million Americans had already quit their jobs in July 2021. And statistics show that this trend of exodus has reached India as well, which has apparently set alarm bells ringing for the Indian Inc. The Indian IT industry saw a 52 per cent increase in the hiring of skilled professionals. While TCS saw 43,000 resignations in the past year, Cognizant’s (India) attrition rate peaked at 31 per cent this year. And this, in turn, has led to the great talent migration in India.

The chronicle of “The Great Resignation” has made us think if this is how “The Great Resignation” looks? What’s behind this “Great Resignation” and is it here to stay?

Basically, when Covid-19 hit us, it all started with forced work from home while sipping a latte in comfortable clothes. Since then, India Inc has also witnessed a bulk of layoffs and salary cuts. Now 18 months on, the situation has become the stark opposite. Perhaps the forced WFH has become workers’ preference now. But reports suggest it is not only about flexibility anymore. A Citrix survey shows that it is just not about salary as well. Money isn’t everything for the current workforce. Salary and benefits are important. But they aren’t what’s inspiring workers to seek new roles.

The report also reveals that workers are burned out, and 35 per cent of respondents to the Citrix survey say it has caused them to leave a job. But they aren’t freaking out. When asked why they opted to move on, only 6 per cent said they “panicked and made an emotionally driven decision.” It is interesting to note that employee experience has never mattered more and also as the companies have transitioned to the hybrid model, the fear of the digital divide has become even more apparent.

In this article ETHRWorld has dived deep into how employers see this mass exodus, how losing some great employees feel, how to stop this trend and what is causing this mass exodus in the eyes of industry leaders? Is it just an influence? Experts say what started as a phenomenon experienced in the US with more than 40 lakh resignations in one month, influenced the behaviour of the workforce in India and other countries as well. Nimisha Das, Director - HR, Kellogg South Asia, feels the mass exodus of talent from one organisation to another in part is a result of the pent-up demand at both the employer’s and the employee’s end.

“The decision to switch a job or a role was delayed due to the (Covid-19) pandemic when job security and stability was more important. Now, people are rethinking their life goals and hence the switch in jobs for better opportunities,” she says. However, Ankit Tomar, Co-Founder and CTO, Bizongo, argues that the impact of “The Great Resignation”, especially in the Indian job market, is now slowly fading as organisations are keeping their game up and offering monetary as well as non-monetary benefits to employees. Talking about the demand issue, Tomar opines that this trend is more evident and higher among employees who work in industries such as healthcare and IT.

These industries have witnessed a drastic surge in demand during the pandemic. The Indian job market clocked 57 per cent year-on-year growth in the month of September itself. Keeping this in mind, Siddhartha Gupta, CEO, Mercer Mettl, believes that it might be an influence also but the time has come for India Inc to think hard. Bringing the mass exodus to a standstill, but how?

Losing great employees is frustrating, and it is also expensive. According to a study by Gallup, replacing an employee can cost twice as much as the employee’s remuneration. But how can employers look at putting a stop to this trend? Gupta of Mercer Mettl says the response to this conundrum would be to invest in HIPO (High Potential) employee identification programme. Organisations need to identify employees within the company who possess the intellect, drive and leadership orientation to successfully undertake broader and complex roles in the future when required. “The aim should be to be future-ready, with a talent pipeline prepared to take on senior responsibilities,” he adds.

Also, when an employee does quit, an organisation doesn’t have to spend time or resources in hiring as the replacement is ready from within. From an organisational perspective, recruitment is always more expensive than development.

On the other hand, Das of Kellogg says, “As we begin to limp towards normalcy, it is important that employers continue to reimagine the workplace which is far more engaged and effective. Steps like hybrid working models, demonstration of empathy and inclusiveness in routine, will benefit.”

According to industry experts, while every organisation has a unique underlying cause for attrition, in addition to employee assistance programmes (EAPs) to support the employees’ mental and emotional health, it is critical to put a human piece at the centre of work and normalise a certain level of attrition as employees move on to pursue their growth journey and aspirations. One such initiative that Bizongo has launched is appreciating employees, who are on their way out, for their contribution to Bizongo’s growth and success.

A critical practice that Tomar of Bizongo feels can be extremely rewarding is imparting sensitivity training to managers, especially as employees are increasingly complaining of burnouts. “This helps cultivate a culture of empathy and make a positive difference in employees’ lives,” he says. Another move that can help boost employee loyalty and improve confidence in an organisation, according to Tomar, is engaging with the employee’s families on different occasions.

But, Tomar also adds, “In the end, it all boils down to having constant conversations with your teams and engaging with the workforce at a more humane and individual level.” It is just not about salary! Among the participants surveyed in the Citrix survey, who have changed jobs in the last 12 months, 53 per cent took a pay cut and around 60 per cent joined startups and accepted equity in exchange for a salary. We have seen how IT companies went crazy about giving sops to their employees. India Inc also saw salary hikes this year. Even then the employees are on exodus.

Clearly, salary is not the only reason. So, what are the other reasons behind this? In the opinion of Das of Kellogg, we need to remember that while sops and salary can be short term steps, it’s not effective in the long run if other fundamentals – engagement, career growth & development and an inclusive culture are not set up right.

“The pandemic has heightened the need for having organisations that ‘care’. We learnt during the pandemic that other aspects that employees are looking for beyond ‘learning and growth’ are those that include greater flexibility at work, a sense of belonging or even greater medical care that’ll help them mitigate any unforeseen circumstances,” says Das. The pandemic has perhaps rewritten the psychological contract between employees and their employers.

While the traditional employee expectations have been limited to worker experience, salary, office space and additional perks, the last 18 months of remote work has resurfaced people’s dreams, desires and aspirations that they ignored for a long time. Tomar of Bizongo says that a key contributing factor is increasing awareness around mental wellbeing and burnout among employees and an amplified desire for work-life balance.

Further, offerings such as a premium on salary and flexi-timings often end up only on paper and do not nip the problem in the bud. “With the blurred lines between home and office, employees need absolute disconnection from work to recoup from the prolonged stress and exhaustion,” says Tomar. He adds that in some cases, the lack of career development and a flat learning curve are also contributing factors for people leaving their existing organisations in search of ones that provide more meaningful career growth and development opportunities.

Even Gupta of Mercer Mettl feels that employee experience and recognition are the most important reasons! He agrees that at times, employees don’t see themselves growing in their present work environment. When employees feel that they aren’t being recognized for their performance or they feel that the recognition isn’t adequate enough, then they are likely to leave. They don’t see a vision for themselves within the organisation then again, they are likely to quit. Also, experts say that when there is a change in leadership or acquisition, then there is a feeling of insecurity amongst employees as they might think that there could be a change in their role, position, etc Over and above that, employees might not see a career path for themselves within the organisation after a change in company ethos. The war for talent has never been this fierce and therefore, it becomes necessary to make employees feel more empowered, appreciated and rewarded.

12.2. How Marico reduced its attrition from 30% to 12%

ETHRWorld, Oct, 20, 2021

In an exclusive interview with ETHRWorld, Marico’s CHRO Amit Prakash describes the company’s Talent Value Proposition (TVP) in detail. He also spills the beans of the secret sauce to manage multi-generational talent and how the company’s culture textbook looks like.

The company has identified three key focus pillars for the new TVP: GO BEYOND. GROW BEYOND. BE THE IMPACT.
One of the cores of managing a multi-generational workforce is about creating sensitization in the organisation and it has to start with the top management.
There are tools in the organisation where you have to log in, you have to drive your development, the supervisors will come and only verify.
A lot of people also talk about engagement surveys, the company has moved to a pulse survey. They do it six times a year and it goes to every leader.
From the time that Marico implemented this AI tool which is known as ‘amber’, its early attrition has constantly dipped from 30 per cent to now between 8 and 12 per cent.
One of the codes that Marico believes in is that involvement builds commitment.

When in 1992 Marico moved to its new corporate headquarters in Bandra (Mumbai), its employees saw a refreshing change in terms of infrastructure. The office was built on the values of openness and transparency. Since then, the FMCG giant has been known for its unique culture of keeping employees first. Three decades on, the company has come a long way and has recently introduced its Talent Value Proposition (TVP) to keep the organization in pace with the evolving business environment. In an exclusive interview with ETHRWorld, Marico’s CHRO Amit Prakash describes the company’s TVP in detail. He also spills the beans of the secret sauce to manage multi-generational talent and how the company’s culture textbook looks like.

Edited excerpts: How will you describe Marico’s Talent Value Proposition? What are its key pillars? Marico has always been a challenger company, especially in the space of consumers and in the face of talent. So, when Harsh (Harsh Mariwala, Founder and Chairman of Marico) started establishing the organization, it was a conscious effort to build brands and to build a culture that can attract people who can stay and add a lot of value to the organization. We actually transcribed our first TVP quite some time back which was essentially about enriching, fulfilling and challenging.

Now as time evolved, in the last 2 to 3 years, we realized it was very important to keep the organization very contextual to the evolving world, both with the way the talent generation is changing and the way the workplace is changing and thus the culture also needs to evolve over a period of time.

This is where we thought that it is very important to keep the entire talent value proposition contextual to the future of the industry and the organization and play out propositions to the members who want to join, to the new talent which wants to join, wherein they find it attractive to come and join the organization and not only attractive but also would want to stay and grow along with the organization.

Thus, we have actually summarized our TVP in three words – “Go beyond, grow beyond and be the impact” and if you look at all the three pillars, go beyond is all about the employees. How do you ensure that you are continuously pushing the boundaries, you’re continuously working on enriching both yourself and the organization, continuously trying to do new things? This comes under ‘go beyond’. Grow beyond is all about winning together, it has to be a win-win relationship with the organization and with the people that we work with. So, it is all about collaborating, learning, and growing when the organization grows and vice-versa.

The last pillar which is very pivotal as the new generation walks into the workforce is about being the impact. Over the past years, the way that the new generation has been educated or the way they are exposed to multiple things which are happening across the world, they have become extremely conscious with respect to society, environment and they are extremely conscious of the organization being inclusive or not being inclusive. That’s why we have called out the entire pillar of being the impact, wherein the focus is about being socially responsible, being close to ensure that we are caring for the members who are working with us and ensuring that we are making an impact in a sustainable way across all the stakeholders in the society.

So, how do you manage different generations of talent together?

The multi-generational workforce is not a new concept. At any point in time, you will end up having three generations of the workforce in the mix. What has changed is the access of information to the new generation, access of technology to the new generation and the way they have been educated. When we talk about a multi-generational workforce, it is not about directing people to do stuff. One of the cores of managing a multi-generational workforce is about creating sensitization in the organization and it has to start with the top management. The leadership team has to first become sensitized to the fact that there are different needs of different generations and one of the core things that we do is we try and assign mentors who are of a very different generation to the leaders to ensure that they start learning about what are the differences that the new generation have. The other thing is that we encourage all the leaders to be a coach to the management leadership programmes. As an organization, anyway, the core is about listening. If you seriously want to manage a multiple dimensionally different workforce, it's all about listening, understanding and ensuring that you are making your decisions and acting according to them.

How Marico is aiming to bring the talent aspirations of employees at par with business aspirations? How is Marico’s culture helping in achieving this?

I don’t believe that we can do anything without our talent and the debate is never about bringing the aspiration equal to the business aspiration. Our belief is that it has to go hand in hand. Culture, business strategy, and talent are something that is non-compromisable as far as Marico is concerned. So, we don’t let our culture get questioned or get tarnished. We have very specific ways of measuring it, identifying where there is an issue and we immediately dial in and correct it. Also through listening, we keep evolving very fast as an organization.

Talent is always at the core of this organization. It is an inbuilt mechanism in this organization. There is nothing you need to do specifically because our process is very deep. We have regular development conversations. The check-ins are triggered by the members and not by the supervisors. The learning tools and the learning mechanisms are self-empowered. There are tools in the organization where you have to log in, you have to drive your development, the supervisors will come and only verify and say that this development I have seen or not seen. People have money to invest in their own development instead of HR saying that you go for this training. Therefore, the development and growth of talent is directly correlated with business and vice-versa and that’s our core belief. So, there is no special effort that we are putting in. This is the way we live every day. Please take us through Marico’s culture.

How does the company actually instil the company’s culture to new employees effectively?

The process of instilling Marico’s culture is essentially one of assimilation and our culturization. Assimilation is about understanding the organization. We do a very detailed induction programme, both at an organization level and at a functional level to ensure that the person is holistically integrated into the system, that’s the first part of assimilation. We don’t end it only with an induction. We have inbuilt continuous processes of feedback, either through peers or through supervisors to the new member and vice versa to ensure that we understand if the person is getting assimilated or not. Our culturization is a larger aspect and it happens over a period of time. Culturization is about getting used to the organization, getting to know the ways of working of the organization, understanding the core threads and the core DNA of the organization.

Now, there are multiple ways that we do it. One, through continuous leadership communication and leadership enforcement. We continuously engage in conversations. We have some programmes wherein we ensure that leaders walk in and talk about their own journey, they share their own examples. A big piece of our culturalization is about the way we train our members in the first 18 to 20 months because these are the right moments when people are actually absorbing what the organisation does and they start imbibing it. One of the most important pieces is about reinforcement.

A lot of people prefer to call it recognition, I call it re-enforcement. This is because in behavior, any culture that you are trying to imbibe and if someone is actually displaying it positively, it is important to reinforce. Recognition can be on a one-on-one level or at a group level. So all our recognition systems, all our rewards systems are built around the values and the culture pieces.

One of the most important things is to listen. Measure, put a matrix around it, and know what’s your tolerance level?

A lot of people also talk about engagement surveys, we have moved to a pulse survey, we do it six times a year and it goes to every leader. Any leader who has five people reporting to him, will have an engagement and a culture score and the moment that we see that something is working, not working, we immediately rectify it, that’s one way of listening. The other way of listening is using AI tools, which actually helps the new joiners settle into the organisation. It continuously chats with them for the first 24 months at interviews. There are interaction questions that have been prescribed and the access for that tool is only to me and the CEO. From the time that we have implemented this tool which is known as ‘amber’, our early attrition has constantly dipped from 30 per cent to now between 8 to 12 per cent. What has been your biggest challenge as CHRO of Marico in these testing times? The biggest challenge was the crisis itself. I would capture it in two parts. The business uncertainty and the people uncertainty were distinct. These worked extremely distinctly. Business uncertainty essentially was handled through continuous communication, by being extremely sharp in the decisions that we are taking around our business, and by prioritizing actions that we have to do with the limited resources that we have. From a people perspective, we have been upfront and realised that care and concern are something that is going to be at the centre of all our decisions for the next, whatever time that this pandemic exists with us. Any decisions that we took in the last 18 months have rotated around care and concern. Let it be for family members, let it be for our members, let it be for the extended family and these are the two pivots that we have essentially used to drive both business uncertainties and people uncertainties. In the book, “The Making of Marico,” we have come across Marico’s culture where people address each other by first names. “Terms like boss, subordinate, manager, staff and worker were seldom found in the Marico lexicon,” Harsh Mariwala wrote in his book. In your opinion, how such a culture can help in bringing involvement and ownership from the employees? This was never an initiative; this was the DNA of the organisation. Now, we still believe that we are a family which lives together, which works together to deliver our big outcomes. In a family, you don't call your father sir, correct? So, you don't call your son something else or you wouldn't expect that person to come and seek permission for everything that they are doing, correct? The entire ethos is about living in it, being in it and doing it together.

That's ownership for you. That is the core of this culture. If everybody owns the organisation, who is the boss?

You are supposed to deliver your role to such an extent that everybody turns around and says, ‘Wow! the person has taken the organisation ahead which is his or her own organisation’. Hence, the entire core concept is about ownership and we seriously believe that nobody is an employee. Everybody is a member of the family and it is their organisation. Now, where does the concept of a boss and subordinate come from? It’s partnership that we believe in, it’s contribution, it’s involvement. One of the codes that we believe in is that involvement builds commitment. So, involve people, you will get the commitment and they will ensure that you deliver whatever you want to deliver.

13.1. India aims to be a key player in $1.5 trillion global semiconductor market: Rajeev Chandrasekhar

ET Telecom, 22 Oct. 2021

The lawmaker said that the department would enable companies to become champions in semiconductor and electronics systems designs so that they can compete globally, and a design competency could be developed.

NEW DELHI: India is looking to become a preferred destination for electronics and semiconductors manufacturing following Covid-19 outbreak, originated from China, and aims to become a prominent player in the $1.5 trillion semiconductor market worldwide, Minister of State for Electronics and IT (MeitY) Rajeev Chandrasekhar Thursday said. "Our electronics and semiconductors plans for the country are underway as per Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision to make India a hub for the $1.5 trillion global market," Chandrasekhar said on the sidelines of India Internet Governance Forum (IIGF) curtain raiser event organised by MeitY and the National Internet Exchange of India. The lawmaker said that the department would enable companies to become champions in semiconductor and electronics systems designs so that they can compete globally, and a design competency could be developed.

"We are also aiming to become a $1 trillion digital economy that will create new jobs, entrepreneurs and attract investments," Chandrasekhar said, adding that after Covid-19 pandemic, the world's behaviour had changed and countries were looking for a trusted partner in electronics and digital solutions while India could be that partner. Semiconductor conference, being organised in November this year, according to him, could be used as a launching pad for electronics and semiconductor companies. The Data Protection Authority, once formed, he said, would bring in an action plan on pre-installed apps which, according to analysts, has become a matter of concern for data privacy.

Meanwhile, MeitY is considering a regulation that may mandate teardown or in-depth testing of handsets to ensure that the devices and pre-installed apps are not snooping on the citizens of the country. However, the Personal Data Protection Bill is expected to be put up during the winter session. "We want the Internet to be open and not controlled by a big tech as well as safe and trusted for all users while intermediaries should be accountable," the lawmaker said. India has as many as 800 million people online today.

Chandrashekhar said that Internet services should be available to a large number of people to use public services and commercial services, and should not be restrictive with English language alone, and want the Internet to be inclusive. MeitY is also working on a roadmap to promote Hindi language domains and email in government departments, agencies and public sector firms.

13.2. A myth that severely hinders the pace of innovation

ETHRWorld, Nov. 7, 2021, Aarushi Bhargava

It is on the degree and quality of innovations, the future of an organisation depends, given the cut-throat competition in general and in technology-driven companies of the pharma industry. The leadership definitely needs to pay attention to building a culture of innovation if the company has to grow in all aspects.

Innovation has become an end-to-end necessity for achieving high growth aspirations for any organisation. Driving a culture of innovation, ensuring process efficiency and cost-consciousness are key growth drivers for organisations. But it is easier said than done. Building a culture of innovation in a fast-paced world is a herculean task, that does not come without its fair share of challenges.

Arushi Jain, Executive Director, StayHappi Pharmacy, said, “The success of innovation relies on an organisation’s senior leadership ability to understand the structures that need to be in place to embed innovation within the organisation and to connect it to organisational priorities. We have to trust the creativity of their innovation and operational leadership to identify new ways to meet the challenges they face.” She suggested that leaders can help staff recognize that, if the organisation is seeking different results, it cannot carry on with a “business as usual” attitude.

It needs a learning process that might include virtual, online, or face-to-face opportunities to explore the key questions and challenges faced by the organisation. This learning process enables stakeholders to agree on the need to innovate, surface new ideas for change, and identify problem areas that need disruption. Such a process can also improve the transfer of knowledge and discovery from innovation to operations. Does a push for innovation kill the day-to-day output in an organisation? Do leaders need to put in ‘that extra bit’ to churn out innovative results? What does it take for HR to set their company straight upon a learning curve? ETHRWorld reached out to several industry leaders to understand how modern-day organisations build and promote a culture of innovation.

Tweaking organisational behaviour Sumantra Mitra, Vice President - Human Resources, Glenmark Life Sciences, said Glenmark was met with challenges related to the workforce, especially the frontline of the organisation. “Losing sight on innovation, given the daily requirements to abide by strict SOPs related to Good Manufacturing Practices, seemed imperative. We identified this gap of non-alignment between the frontline employees and vision of the leadership team and introduced iPro or Improvement Projects, one of its kind collaboratives models, to drive innovation across levels and foster a high-performance atmosphere,” he added. Arushi Jain of StayHappi Pharmacy stressed the fact that innovation isn’t easy, but it’s fundamental to a successful business in today’s fast-paced, technology-driven economy.

As an organisation, StayHappi faced internal challenges which hindered the progress of innovation. “In some cases, managers fear that innovation will distract employees from their day-to-day roles. As a result, employees do not feel empowered to take risks or try new ideas. Another challenge was to overcome this myth that innovation is centralized and limited to one functional group, like R&D or product development. The myth that one functional group is more suited to innovate than others is a severe hindrance to the pace of innovation,” she said. Dr Veeraal Gandhi, Chairman and Managing Director, Voxtur Bio, talked about how the process of ensuring culture alignment is even more challenging for the newly hired people who have joined from diverse professional backgrounds.

“Being an R&D-driven company, we are aggressively focusing on innovation. Apart from manufacturing our basic In-vitro diagnostics products, we are also looking for an innovation-led solutions range. We are currently exploring ways to integrate artificial intelligence (AI) into the rapid tests to make them quantitative,” he said. Tackling the challenges Further talking about Glenmark’s exploits in overcoming the challenges, Mitra said their iPro Model of introducing Improvement Projects is one of its kind collaborative model that is far ahead of other such talent development models in the industry. “iPro is a clear example of excellence in workforce collaboration to drive innovation within the business which has led to an Experiential Learning opportunity for frontline employees catered through Action Learning Projects,” he added. Arushi Jain said that whenever there is conflict or uncertainty, one should try to develop a limited, rapid-cycle test to explore the question rather than make an executive decision. As per Dr Gandhi, Voxtur is addressing the innovation challenges by empowering and motivating employees by enrolling them in knowledge and skillset enhancing programmes.

“We always try to highlight the role of innovation in boosting individual and organisational growth,” he said. Jain added that learning processes involving a variety of functional capabilities are likely to increase the effectiveness and efficiency of organisational management. “In learning processes, organisational members need to have a cooperative relationship in cross-functional responsibilities, by social learning and interaction to transform accumulated tacit knowledge of individuals into explicit organisational knowledge, which is known as the process of externalization,” she said. People are the biggest strength Mitra said that at Glenmark Life Sciences, the leadership team is highly committed to the growth of the organisation, by developing its people through a robust culture of innovation and outperformance.

“To align to the high growth aspiration of the organisation, it was essential to drive a culture of innovation, ensure process/system efficiency and cost-consciousness as key growth drivers for the organisation. Our people are our biggest strength in this mission,” he added. Dr Gandhi reinforced that Voxtur would like to keep motivating and empowering its teams of scientists to further strengthen the culture of innovation in the organisation. “We have created an enabling environment in our organisation that supports creativity and innovation and we would like to keep nurturing that,” he added.

14.1. Online building permission system to be launched in all cities by March 2022

ET Gov. Oct, 23 2021

In the World Bank's ease of doing business report, under the construction permits category, India's rank has jumped to 27th out of 190 countries from the previous 181st position

The online building permission system will be implemented across all cities by March next year from about 2,500 cities currently to facilitate ease of doing business in the real estate sector, Housing and Urban Affairs Secretary Durga Shanker Mishra said on Thursday.

Addressing a real estate conference organised by CII and JLL India, the secretary also highlighted that the government has already sanctioned 1.14 crore homes under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana - Urban (PMAY-U) to achieve 'housing for all' in the country.

Mishra highlighted that in the World Bank's ease of doing business report, under the construction permits category, India's rank has jumped to 27th out of 190 nations from 181st position. "At present, online building permission system has been made operational in around 2,500 cities," he said, adding that this has resulted in reduction in compliance cost and time. "I am confident that by March next year, we will implement this system 100 per cent in all cities," the secretary said. The online system has been fully implemented in 19 states and Union Territories (UTs) and will soon be operationalized across all 36 states and UTs, he noted.

On the PMAY-U scheme, Mishra said the government has sanctioned 1.14 crore houses so far and works have started on 89 lakh homes. He said around 52 lakh homes have already been completed. "We have committed Rs 1.85 lakh crore for this scheme and out of that Rs 1.13 lakh crore has been already provided," he said. The secretary said the works on the remaining homes under this scheme will be completed in the next two years.

Talking about reforms in the real estate sector, Mishra said the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, known as RERA, has been implemented across all states except Nagaland and the legislation has brought confidence and trust in this important sector of the Indian economy. He said around 70,000 real estate projects and 55,000 property agents are registered under RERA, while about 75,000 cases have been resolved by the authority. The secretary also highlighted the government's recent initiatives like Model Tenancy Act and Affordable Rental Housing Complexes (ARHC), saying both would open up new opportunities for the real estate players.

The Model Tenancy Act has already been adopted by a few states, he said and hoped the remaining states would also follow suit. Regarding the ARHC scheme that aims to provide affordable homes to migrants, he said there is a lot of interest from private players and many applications have already been received and are being sanctioned.

Mishra said the government has provided a lot of fiscal and other support to the real estate sector in the last seven years. The secretary told builders to adopt technology in the construction of projects as well as sales operations.

He said there is a huge scope for e-commerce in the real estate sector and complemented industry bodies CREDAI and NAREDCO for starting their online portals. Mishra asserted that the future of the real estate sector is bright with rapid growth in urbanisation in the country. He said the real estate industry was impacted after the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in March last year, but sales and launches revived during October-December quarter of 2020 and January-March period this year. The second wave again impacted the sector during April-June quarter of this year but revival started from September, the secretary said. Stating that the Indian economy is witnessing "V shaped recovery", Mishra said the economic growth will aid fast revival in housing demand. (With PTI inputs)

14.2. Why PMAY-U fails to address India's intrinsic housing problems

ET Government, Nov. 3, 2021

Despite a huge central assistance commitment of ₹1.8 lakh crore, PMAY-U has not been able to achieve the desired goal of meeting the affordable housing demand and solve deep rooted issues associated with the housing market in the country.

At a recent event, Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave away keys to seventy five thousand beneficiaries of the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana — Urban (PMAY-U) in Uttar Pradesh. Though it is a welcome and much needed move, the overall pace of delivery under PMAY-U has been rather slow. As of October 11, 2021, just around 50% of the 114 lakh sanctioned houses have been completed. In the process, ₹97,000 crore has already been incurred. At this point, it is imperative to think about the contribution of this scheme in addressing the intrinsic housing problem in India. It is natural for many to ask — with a huge central assistance commitment of ₹1.8 lakh crore, has this scheme achieved the desired goal so far, in terms of meeting the affordable housing demand? Is the PMAY-U’s subsidy burden a matter of concern?

PMAY-U’s Credit Linked subsidy scheme (CLSS) component offers interest rate subvention on housing loans borrowed by the Economically Weaker Section (EWS), low and middle income groups. However, the subvention amount is insufficient for private housing in major urban centres of tier-I cities. After all, tier-I cities are characterized by high housing prices. Shifting our focus to government driven EWS projects, we see two particular issues around them. Firstly, these projects are mainly located in the periphery of cities, far away from the city’s key economic centres. Secondly, these places are marked by a general lack of transport connectivity and other infrastructure facilities.

This combination results in a lack of takers for these housing units. As a result, these units usually remain unpurchased for years on a stretch. The CLSS component has a visible fiscal impact in the form of a subsidy burden. However, in typical EWS housing projects, especially the ones built by the state governments and city authorities, CLSS subvention is not the only cost that the government has to incur. For instance, a EWS housing unit in Narela in Delhi is priced at ₹5-6 Lakh. This hides the fact that the construction cost of such a typical unit alone amounts to ₹6 lakh. While scale does reduce cost of works, the price ceiling of ₹6 lakh indicates a broader cost factor being ignored as labour and capital costs are not being accounted for.

These are what would essentially count as state level subsidies that eventually add up to national debt. While PMAY-U is delivering housing for the poor, an emerging economy like India has also to be aware of fiscally viable options for reforming the housing market to address the intrinsic housing problems. The scheme can be avoided from becoming a white elephant, provided suitable steps are undertaken to solve these deep rooted issues associated with the housing market in the country. A prime reason behind the lack of affordable housing supply is high land prices. Appropriate policy changes to address this problem are likely to form the core of the solution.

The logical step thus would be conceiving ways whereby land prices can be checked. This can happen with a three pronged approach - ensuring adequate supply of land for residential purposes; ensuring policies to guarantee the efficient use of this land for developing housing units; and reducing transaction costs associated with land/property purchase. For maintaining adequate supply of land, it is imperative that necessary changes in land use change policies are introduced at the state level. In most Indian states, multiple levels of No Objection Certificates (NOCs) are necessary for land use conversion. This complex and cost intensive process results in pushing up land prices.

Many states like Gujarat and Karnataka have started to make the right moves in this direction through innovations such as the multipurpose NA certification approach or initiating online land use conversion processes. Such efforts can be replicated by other states. Another possible measure towards addressing the issue of land use change is designating specific land parcels for real estate developers in the states’ land banks, which will save them the time, effort and cost associated with land use change processes. Floor Space index (FSI) regulations are another elephant in the room.

For areas characterized with high land prices and less land availability, a high FSI helps fill the void to an extent. However, in most Indian cities, FSI is always maintained on a lower side (1 -2), with strict regulations on increases. Mumbai is the sole exception in this regard where the maximum permissible FSI is 4.5. When compared to FSI in other major Asian cities like Shanghai (FSI is 13) and Singapore (FSI is 25), one sees that there is much more that can be done.

Transaction costs associated with land/property purchasing also adds to the hidden costs of affordable housing. These would include different forms of fees like stamp duty, registration fee, lawyer and real estate agent’s fees. According to Global Property Guide, India has one of the highest transaction costs of housing, going up to 15 %. Compared to its immediate ASEAN neighbours like Thailand (14%) and Malaysia (8%), we see the room to fix this anomaly. PMAY-U is certainly filling an important gap in India on the affordable housing front. However, given the overall fiscal implications for India, measures are certainly needed to ensure prudence and seek permanent solutions. Prerna Prabhakar is an Associate Fellow at the National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER). The views expressed in this article are personal.

15.1. The medical devices sector to grow from current US$ 11 Billion to US$ 50 Billion in next few years

Press Information Bureau, Oct. 26, 2021

As part of the vision to further strengthen India’s position globally in terms of Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices, the Department of Pharmaceuticals, in partnership with Invest India, will host an Investor Summit on 27th October 2021 at 10:00 AM – 4:30 PM via video conferencing.

The theme of the summit is “Opportunities and Partnerships in Pharmaceuticals & Medical Devices”. The summit will provide an opportunity for industry participants to engage in detailed technical sessions across the following themes:

Session I: Unlocking the BioPharma Opportunity: Strengthening India’s Reputation as the Biopharma Hub to the World
Session II: R&D Investments: Success Stories from Indian Medical Devices Sector
Session III: Goal Vax: End to End Integration for Enhancing Vaccine Manufacturing Capabilities
Session IV: Financing startups in Pharma and Medical Devices sector: What is in the future for VC investments?
Session V: From the Ground Up - Deliberating on streamlining Regulatory processes for Investors approved under Production Linked Incentive (PLI) Schemes for Bulk Drugs and Medical Devices

As regard the Pharmaceuticals sector, the sessions will feature discussions on opportunities in manufacturing of innovative products in bio-pharmaceuticals, including biologics/ bio-similars, cell & gene therapy and enhancing vaccine manufacturing capabilities.The PLI for Pharmaceuticals launched with an outlay of Rs. 15,000 crore has attracted considerable interest with about 278 companies applying to be considered under the scheme. This Summit will encourage investors looking to build global champions in India in these products.

As regards Medical Devices sector, the sessions will feature discussions on how India can develop as a land of opportunities for Medical Devices, and the key learnings from the leading innovators.The medical devices sector is seen as sunrise sector and has the potential to grow from the current level of US$ 11 billion to a size of US$ 50 billion in the next few years. It may be recalled that 13 companies have already been selected under the PLI scheme for medical devices earlier this year which will support their investment in enhancing domestic manufacturing of targeted devices.

Sessions will also cover financing of the burgeoning start-up ecosystem, and it will culminate with a session on providing comprehensive facilitation to applicants selected under the PLI schemes about smooth grounding of investments.

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

15.2. Here’s how Venus Remedies is striking ahead with cutting- edge tech

ET CIO, Nov. 14, 2021

The pharmaceutical firm has developed proprietary warehousing algorithms for cartonization and shipper selection to reduce the shipping and delivery time by up to 50% and is spending over 1% of its revenues on building an IT war chest.

Venus Remedies is going from strength to strength with the adoption of bleeding-edge technology in its research, manufacturing, and communication infrastructure, striving to become a technology-first company in the pharmaceutical sector. Over the last two years, the pharma company has adopted several technologies to expand the reach of their products to stockists and retailers directly by creating a unique virtual marketplace.

“The process up-gradation with digital marketplaces opens up the possibility of personalised experiences for our customers, tracked deliveries and better customer relationship management. We are among the first in the industry to adopt such a marketing model, taking all B2C technologies and applying them to the B2B model. Capitalising on the advantage of our size, we can take out-of-the-box decisions faster and implement them with greater speed and agility.

We will make this increasingly scalable as we go forward,” Saransh Chaudhary, President, Critical Care Division, Venus Remedies, and CEO, Venus Medicine Research Centre (VMRC) told ETCIO. The Venus Medicine Research Centre has always remained at the cutting edge of technology. Chaudhary has been trying to widen its capability matrix, which has enabled Venus to develop complex products that stand out and take them out of the competitive clutter.

“During FY 21, we added four new technologies, including Hollow Fibre models and India’s first dedicated Organ-in-Chip laboratory. Offering higher levels of reproducible control of both concentration and time of drug exposure in complex growth, infection, treatment and sampling regimens, our Hollow Fibre technology and Hollow Fibre Infection Model can provide useful data for antibiotic development and dosing” Chaudhary said. Likewise, Organ Chips enable them to understand the mechanism of drug action in a way that was never possible before, helping in reducing the time to clinical advancement of their pipeline candidates.

Introducing automation to achieve the highest quality On the production side, Chaudhary continues to introduce automation solutions in labour-centric processes with the objective of reducing operator fatigue. The team is working towards augmenting human skills through technology, and their efforts have enabled us to achieve record-breaking production efficiency of up to 50 million vials in FY 2020-21. With the process-driven approach, the company have served their customers with the highest-quality products despite challenging timelines. The increased focus on patient care through the pandemic has validated our capabilities. With the use of analytical engines like Tableau, data-driven decision-making has saved them a significant number of work hours.

In FY21, Venus Remedies invested close to 1 percent of its turnover in IT, and it plans to substantially increase this investment for the next financial year. Understanding the data life cycle In today’s age of information and data overload, it is essential to build the capability to process and analyse the large sums of data available.

Over the past four years, The pharma company has made major strides in this direction by setting up a dedicated data analytics division in the company, where skilled data analysts and data scientists churn through billions of records from both internal and external data sources to produce meaningful insights that help in decision-making. A parallel aspect of going digital is establishing systems for appropriate data management. As Venus Remedies transitions to the cloud, they are investing in hardware and process up-gradation for improved security measures. On the hardware front, they have implemented firewall that filters and tracks every user activity in real-time. Along with that, the team of system administrators do active surveillance of the network to ensure that it stays healthy.

On the process front, they have set up dedicated and secure channels for data aggregation and interpretation. With multi-factor authentication, our streams of data are kept secure. “We understand that surveillance should be accompanied by appropriate user awareness. So, we regularly organise awareness drives that initiate the conversation around data security and use. Last week, we held our annual Operation Clean Day wherein employees were engaged in understanding best practices for data retention, management and archiving,” he explains.

As Venus Remedies moves forward and builds on its existing capabilities, the company aims to increase their investment in data acquisition and processing technologies to cultivate a culture of data-driven decision-making. Leveraging digital assets to deliver the integrated care At the forefront of technology, Venus Remedies has a comprehensive software system for a pan-India antimicrobial resistance surveillance program. Implemented through a vast network across 15 states and 250 districts through 150 centres, including various healthcare institutions, hospitals and research centres across India, for data collection, feed and analysis, this initiative is aimed at understanding trends of emerging resistance. Venus Remedies has mapped emerging microbial resistance patterns for more than 40 antibiotics/combinations for close to 25,000 strains, which has immensely helped physicians take informed decision on designing therapy.

Diligently working towards addressing unmet medical needs created by the medical challenge of antimicrobial resistance, the VMRC has, over the years, added super-speciality labs to advance its understanding of drug development. Earlier this year, they had set up the kidney-in-a-chip model in collaboration with experts from Seattle, WA.

This model will radically change the way they screen for drug toxicity and help them bridge the gap between preclinical and clinical development which has historically been a major point for drug attrition. It will enable them to understand the mechanisms of drug-induced kidney injury in humans and consequently enhance their ability to find better solutions for patients and caregivers. “In the near future, we will also create more relevant in-vivo systems using this technology by making a tandem connection to other human organs through flow dynamics,” he says. Providing core strategic and transformational leadership Chaudhary is are working on data-driven decision-making processes to develop new molecules, focus on quality research, have a better pricing strategy, establish robust customer relations, stay strong on the core system of advances and enhance market research capabilities through online and in-person interactions.

Over the last two years, Venus Remedies has invested heavily in the technological up-gradation of its supply chain. End-to-end visibility of products has been the focus area because it provides better manageability and a more trustworthy experience for customers. The domain gained prominence as they ventured into Consumer Healthcare and online marketplaces. “We developed our industry-specific and product-specific machine-learning algorithms, which allowed us to understand the ecosystem of deliveries across India and elsewhere abroad.

AI enables us to offer cost-effective prices to our customers, increase transparency and limit the labour-intensive nature of assessment,” he says. They have dashboards to track every order and create a feedback mechanism, something that they could not do as effectively before. In a collaborative effort with industry partners, they now have a parallel system of online deliveries, over and above the robust distributor network, allowing them to serve small retailers and pharmacies directly from the warehouses. This was just not possible earlier and has opened up a host of new possibilities and business models.

They use real-time order tracking for all overseas shipments using state-of-the-art IOT technologies like low-energy Bluetooth and network-independent data transmission to keep a real-time track of deliveries and essential data points like temperature, humidity and anti-tampering alarms. In the domestic market, they have developed proprietary warehousing algorithms for cartonization and shipper selection to reduce the shipping and delivery time by up to 50%.

Digital analytical tools to enhance the customer experience Venus Remedies has embarked on the “Customer Delight Online” project with the vision of providing a delightful experience to its customers in India and abroad. Working in this direction, and have put into place a structure for online ordering, order tracking, payment reconciliation, mobile interactions, live chat support and other suites of products and services, exclusively for customers.

“We also envision our recently launched Consumer Healthcare Division as an online ecosystem and data-driven personalisation for end-consumers. With a focus on a novel line of research-based products catering to various common ailments and the nutraceutical industry, our Consumer Healthcare Division will be backed by intensive use of digital tools to reach out to consumers,” Chaudhary explained. Marking their entry into the Consumer Healthcare space with the launch of R3SET, a nanotechnology-based herbal pain management solution.

They are already reaching out to consumers with this product through a digital platform that addresses major concerns regarding pain points, backed by multiple-stage diagnosis and solutions provided by physiotherapists and orthopedic experts on the Venus Remedies panel to ensure that nothing is left to chance. This artificial intelligence based platform interacts with consumers and provides solutions based on the inputs received from them. The pharma company uses Automated Patient Decision Aids (APDAs) that employ cognitive AI with insights gained from patient history or interactive questionnaires to understand the critical issues that need to be discussed with a physician or healthcare expert. APDAs then educate patients by providing evidence-based insight personalised to reflect the unique needs of patients, thus enabling them to take faster and more accurate decisions.

Another focus area for Venus is Immersive Technologies, which refer to the use of virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) technologies to enhance customers’ experience. “Be it telemedicine, AI or cloud computing, everything related to remote monitoring and data management will peak in the coming year. Additionally, targeted and personalised care for critical diseases is another trend that is likely to rise even more in years to come, and we are ready to make the most of it,” Chaudhary said.

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

16.1. Wipro CEO expects 30% growth, says 'big' purchase on cards

ET Bureau, Oct. 18, 2021, Alnoor Peermohamed

Profitability will be tested in next few quarters by attrition and Capco impact, says Wipro CEO Thierry Delaporte

Expect more acquisitions, including “one big one,” is the message from Wipro chief executive Thierry Delaporte, as he looks ahead after 15 months at the helm of India’s fourth largest software exporter.

Year-on-year growth will “approach 30% by end of the third quarter,” Delaporte tells Alnoor Peermohamed in an interview. Wipro’s $1.45-billion acquisition of British IT consultancy Capco earlier this year is driving growth, but its impact and the cost of rising attrition will test the Bengaluru company’s profitability for at least the next few quarters, he cautioned. Edited excerpts. You took charge amid the pandemic and would have begun with expectations. Have those been met? The decision to take this role was made in April 2020. At that time, I had no clue that Covid would last for so long; it’s been 15 months. So that has been probably the biggest gap to my own expectations. Exactly a year ago, we moved into execution mode. I think we’ve delivered on each of the chapters. Reflecting on those 15 months, I was very clear in my mind on what we needed to do at Wipro.

We've been really fast at defining or agreeing on who are the key people who are going to drive this organisation forward, and (there has been) really great mobilisation from the bigger team. There's a very strong morale. I'm really blessed to see that people have trusted me. I'm pleased with how we've performed over the last quarters, and even more importantly, I’m more confident about what's ahead of us. I think the company has become a different company. How easy or difficult was it to do this remotely? There's nothing easy.

You don't ask yourself if it's easy or difficult. We've made bold steps, changed an organisation that has not changed in 30 years. We changed about 30% of the top 200 leaders of the organisation. It's significant, it's unprecedented. You haven't heard of any scandal, noise or destabilisation because we've handled it with care and with attention to people. We've also brought in a lot of talent from outside, which is also helping us drive the culture of diversity that I really want for this organisation. Was it easy to do? I don't know. We made the biggest ever acquisition (Capco). It was bold, it was the right thing to do, and it's delivering great results. Some people in the market assume it's never been done by an Indian company, it's never going to work and so on. I try to never listen to these kinds of fears. We've just focused on what we believed in. It works if you do the right thing.

I am going to start with the things that I didn't want to change, that I wanted to protect. Wipro is a unique company, by its governance, its DNA, the spirit of its founders. I want to protect this mindset, this culture and values. My first responsibility is to make sure that we remain this company, driven by a sense of purpose and attention to the world around us.

What needed to change was assertiveness about strategy, running operations, making decisions and sticking to it. Second, raise the bar in terms of ambition, and third is a ruthless focus on accountability and outcome. This requires a simplified organisation (with) clear accountability. Simplicity is beautiful and I always favour simplicity over perfection. It's not about, are you a good person.

Of course it's important, but do you deliver results? The culture of this organisation was not outcome-based; it was effort-based. It's like in sports — at the end of the day, you need to be a skilled player and score some goals to win. Wipro is outpacing Infosys and TCS in growth. How much longer can you sustain this? We will probably approach 30% year-on-year growth in the third quarter. We've said we will get to 27-30%. I'm not going to give you a number for next year, but I think we'll continue to grow well. We are firing on all cylinders. And then we'll continue to do (more) acquisitions, and possibly one big one. The only driver will be strategic intent. Has the explosion in demand for technology services in the past year provided you with a tailwind?

In 26 years in this industry, I’ve seen periods of great growth, like this one, and I’ve seen very tough times. I can play in different weather, but you play differently. This time, it was a game of market share and that was very clear for me from day one. This obviously would have been a different strategy if the market had been different. It’s difficult to predict, when we see what has happened over the last 15 months, but I would say, unless macro changes happen, this trend is here to last for several years. It's a war for talent out there.

What is Wipro’s strategy?

It’s a war, and I see this at two levels. I'm convinced that the best performing company in our industry is the one with the best talent in terms of quality — people who understand the business and how technology can be leveraged to transform. Those are the people we are focusing on, that we are hiring. Then, of course, it’s talent in terms of quantity because there’s so much demand and we see this with the attrition today. And I think, unfortunately, it’s going to last. We need to integrate a lot more freshers. Wipro has been very shy compared to some of its competitors in the past. This year, we’re going to go with 16,000-17,000 and next year we’re going to have 25,000-30,000 (freshers). Primarily in India? Primarily in India, but also in Asia, the Philippines, Europe and in America. Frankly, till a year ago, we were not tapping the talent pool in Europe. We were going for talent in the US. Now, we’re doing it more. And this, again, will be primarily at the fresher level? Primarily, I would say, not mostly, as you also need to hire laterally. My view on attrition is it’s not going to slow down for at least another three to four quarters.

Will India become less attractive for IT services?

India has the best concentration of talent in the world by far. Should we only rely on India to address our growth? The answer is no. But will there be a country that will outpace India? Not at all. I think India is producing more engineers than America, Germany, the UK and France combined, and the quality of talent in India is really strong. You have places like Mexico, Poland, Romania, the Philippines and Vietnam, where you get good talent, but you never get the quality of talent at this scale. You said attrition isn’t going away, but at 20.5%, has it topped out or is it going to get a lot worse? It's going to get worse, (but) there's always a seasonality, typically in the last quarter of the year. People tend to stick around. The more you invest in new technologies, the more attractive your talent becomes.

What are some of the technologies that Wipro is investing in?

I would invest more in 5G than in quantum computing right now, and more in artificial intelligence. I'm big on engineering services. I believe there is a massive market ahead of us. And because we are Wipro, and we're born in the engineering world, I believe this is our land as well. How is your equation with the Premjis? I couldn't have dreamt of a better chairman. Rishad and I are working extremely well together. We speak every week for 90 minutes and have a very close and direct relationship. Mr (Azim) Premji is less close to the business, but he's still very aware of what's happening. I get all the support I need. So, would it be safe to say you have Infosys in your sights? You know, Salil (Infosys chief executive Salil Parekh) is a friend. We've known each other for 20 years. I have a lot of respect for him and a lot of respect for Infosys. It's a formidable competitor. But whoever is ahead of us is in our sight.

16.2. Despite bonuses and salary hikes, India's IT sector will see over a million resignations this year

ETHRWorld, Oct. 29, 2021

The country's top IT companies are struggling to fill key positions as the demand for new-age skills has multiplied and most engineers are sitting on multiple offers from new-age startups that are flush with funds.

The work-from-home (WFH) culture has made job hunting easier for technology professionals and employees are jumping ship at every chance.

NEW DELHI: Even though India's tech pool of 4.5 million engineers is one of the largest in the world, the country's top IT companies are struggling to fill key positions as the demand for new-age skills has multiplied and most engineers are sitting on multiple offers from new-age startups that are flush with funds. Software engineers are being lured with above-market salaries, 100 per cent salary hikes, flexible work hours, employee stock options (ESOPs) and attractive offerings like holiday packages, gadgets and superbikes. IT employees are voluntarily quitting their jobs in large numbers, so much so that the attrition rate in India's top Indian IT companies touched 21 per cent in the September quarter. And this problem is only going to get bigger.

According to Xpheno, a specialist staffing firm, the Indian IT sector will see attrition (when employees quit voluntarily for various reasons) cross 1.15 million this fiscal year as demand for skilled talent in the tech space has gone up. The work-from-home (WFH) culture has made job hunting easier for technology professionals and employees are jumping ship at every chance. Add to this the drop out rate of 42-47 percent for the top six roles: full-stack engineers, data analysts, front-end developers, SRE/DevOps, data scientists, and backend engineers. Infosys reported an attrition rate of 20.1 per cent in the September quarter, up from 13.9 per cent in the last quarter amidst.

The company will onboard 45,000 fresh engineering graduates for FY22 amid an ongoing talent war in the country. Tech Mahindra's attrition level soared to 21% in Q2 while Wipro's ] grew to 20.5 per cent. HCL reported an all-time high attrition rate of 15.7 per cent – up from 11.8 per cent in Q1. Tata Consultancy Services, on the other hand, has one of the lowest attrition rates of 11.9% in the industry, but it is still up from 8.6 per cent in the previous quarter. While getting back to office is on agenda for all these companies, finding talent is key to delivering on new deals.

For HCL, this means 11,135 new hires, for Infosys it's 11,664 new hires apart from the 45,000 new graduates. TCS has hired 19,690 and Wipro has 8150 "freshers" coming onboard and is looking at 25,000 fresh hires. HCL Tech hired 11,135 people , the highest in the last 24 quarters.

TCS will move its employees back to the office by the end of the year, while Infosys and HCL are preparing for hybrid work models. Point to note, attrition is high even though these companies are rolling out salary increments, stock options, quarterly bonuses, employee-engagement initiatives to reskill and upskill. In fact even fresher salaries have almost doubled. Companies are luring staff with referral goodies like free vacations and iPhones.

In July, HCL announced that it would reward top performers with Mercedes-Benz cars. The board has also approved Restricted Stock Unit (RSU) grants as part of the compensation mix, as it strives to retain high performers. Wipro and HCL Tech gave its employees salary hikes from July 1 while TCS rolled out pay hikes effective April 1, 2021. Infosys has opted for compensation intervention and career growth opportunities to stop this churn.

The company also rolled out hikes and quarterly bonuses effective July 1 and October 1, respectively. So why are people leaving their jobs by the dozen? Thanks to digitisation and the explosion of tech start ups, there are new vacant positions in software development, cloud computing, data analysing, artificial intelligence, machine learning etc requiring specific tech skills. The pandemic has only increased the risk appetite of techies who are happy to jump jobs for better pay and lifestyle.

According to the World Economic Forum, by 2022, 54% of all employees will require upskilling due to the rise of automation. In India, these futuristic skills are limited, which explains the talent crunch. Everyone is hiring from the same pool, which is why several are sitting with multiple job offers.

According to IT industry body NASSCOM, demand for digital talent jobs in India is currently eight times larger than the size of its talent pool. By 2024, this demand will become 20 times the available fresh talent pool. Will this trend continue? Given the limited talent pool, demand will continue to outstrip supply till at least the next quarter but according to a report by brokerage Anand Rathi, attrition will slow down from the fourth quarter (Q4) as several IT companies have already front-loaded hiring. Many have started recording strong revenue growth, which is helping them to increase the workforce significantly.

17.1. Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission will democratize access to healthcare - OPINION

ET Government, Oct. 19, 2021, Dr. Sangita Reddy

Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission will facilitate Universal Health Coverage and address the technological disparities and divergent health record management systems across private and public sector healthcare facilities across India. “I think the biggest innovations of the 21st century will be at the intersection of biology and technology.

A new era is beginning.” – Steve Jobs In India, we are seeing this new era unfold with healthcare and technology coming together to save lives, and enhance the effectiveness of our scarce resources, prevent and diagnose disease early, and promote well-being. The rise of digital health has received a boost from the well-developed IT sector and an internet penetration rate that has almost doubled to around 50 percent in just five years.

The fact that 80 percent of physicians work in urban areas while 70 percent of the population resides in remote locations, greatly restricts access to healthcare facilities for people living in these areas. One of the critical drivers of bridging the gap will be digital health that will facilitate better access to healthcare for the population. The Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM) is a significant step assisting the national framework for universal coverage and last-mile delivery of healthcare. In 2020, while even the developed world was grappling with the challenges posed by the pandemic, our Hon’ble Prime Minister launched the National Digital Health Mission aka Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM) on Independence Day.

The launch underlined India’s determination to disallow even the fiercest of adversaries or challenges to delay progress in our mission to make healthcare truly inclusive for our citizenry. History is witness in stating that courage is critical to catalyse a revolution and India’s digital health charter is striding ahead. ABDM will facilitate Universal Health Coverage and address the technological disparities and divergent health record management systems across private and public sector healthcare facilities across India. The lack of uniform standards results in data being collected in different formats and restricted in silos at different locations where care is delivered.

This leads to inefficiencies that impact the delivery of quality healthcare over the long term. ABDM is a step in the right direction but by no means a stroke of a magical wand, there are a few issues, which will be resolved very soon. The ABDM will bridge gaps in the healthcare ecosystem, transforming a disconnected paper-based system to a digital one, to enable standardisation of care with easy access to clinical and other relevant information that will assist healthcare providers in delivering high-quality care.

A key piece of the ABDM is the Digital Health ID critical for interoperability of health systems at each stakeholder level from patient, hospital, to ancillary healthcare providers. Digital Health IDs for the population would lead to the creation of a health system with an electronic health record of every Indian citizen. Access to patient-level health information in a secure and real-time manner will lead to efficiency in the delivery of healthcare.

Over time, this will have multiple benefits including improved clinical outcomes, economic and operational benefits, and a positive impact on society with improved population health and reduced costs. In short, one could say that the Digital Health ID will democratize access to healthcare and this initiative is recognition that reforming our health ecosystem is a high priority for India. The ABDM will also give a boost to our battle against NCDs (non-communicable diseases).

Today, NCDs are a huge burden and a major contributor to morbidity and mortality, responsible for 71 percent of all deaths globally. The impact of NCDs such as heart disease, cancer, stroke, diabetes, chronic lung disease, and obesity extends beyond morbidity and mortality with large financial consequences at the individual, community and country level.

With the Digital Health ID working as an individual’s health account, with details of personal health records including tests, diagnosis and medication, and the creation of a Healthcare Professionals Registry (HPR) and Healthcare Facilities Registries (HFR) that will act as a repository of all healthcare providers, individuals will be able to easily access and exchange information across facilities without being bound by location or speciality. It will also enable better delivery of preventive and rehabilitative care to individuals battling chronic diseases, irrespective of their location. Undoubtedly, we need to enhance the number of healthcare professionals, enhance our primary care access, manage quality, ensure affordability, focus on prevention and the social determinants of health.

However, it is important that we embrace digital health and it progresses in conjunction, so that the power of today’s technologies like AI, ML, the internet of things (which will enable environments of remote care) gain greater momentum, and we do not have isolated pools of digitalization in healthcare. I am excited that there is a concerted road map, charter and tremendous acumen of so many at work on this vital mission. The speed at which we implement is co-dependent on many factors, but is definitely a goal that we must all not just aspire to work, but actively work to enable and accelerate. This is an extraordinary phase in India’s efforts to build a Swasth and Sampann Bharat and it is important that each of us as citizens supports it by living healthy and motivating all around us to do the same.

17.2. HCL Technologies to hire 10,000 professionals to boost AWS business unit capacity

ET CIO, 5th Nov. 2021

This dedicated business unit within HCL will be supported by AWS engineering, solutions and business teams. HCL currently holds five AWS competencies, has more than 10,000 professionals trained on AWS and plans to boost this capacity to more than 20,000 specialists in the future, it said in a statement.

HCL Technologies (HCL) will be adding 10,000 professionals to boost its newly Amazon Web Services (AWS) Business Unit (AWS BU) to help enterprises worldwide accelerate their cloud transformation journey. This dedicated business unit within HCL will be supported by AWS engineering, solutions and business teams. HCL currently holds five AWS competencies, has more than 10,000 professionals trained on AWS and plans to boost this capacity to more than 20,000 specialists in the future, it said in a statement.

The new business unit will help businesses modernize their legacy systems and mainframe applications and reliably adopt cloud technologies that boost efficiency, achieve objectives and meet regulatory compliance, all the while migrating and managing SAP workloads on AWS.

“HCL is an AWS Premier Consulting Partner capable of providing an end-to-end road map for adopting AWS to best serve our mutual customers, with a firm heritage in modernizing infrastructure, applications and data,” said Doug Yeum, Head of WW Channels and Alliances, AWS.

“With the launch of the HCL AWS Business Unit, HCL will leverage its vertical-first focus on FSI, telco, and energy and utilities plus deep technical expertise on SAP, contact centers, hybrid cloud and mainframe modernization to transform businesses and consumer behavior using technology when they need it the most.”

The unit will help enterprise clients modernize and migrate at scale, sustain cost advantages and focus on experimentation by combining HCL’s experience and expertise in building adaptive cloud smart portfolios, and AWS’s depth and breadth of services and rapid innovation. HCL is uniquely positioned to help enterprises, both as a global systems integrator (GSI) and an independent software vendor (ISV), with a cloud-focused ecosystem and product innovation strategy, it stated.

“The AWS BU is an important part of our larger #HCLCloudSmart strategy in servicing every aspect of cloud delivery to build effective ecosystems that help our customers stay ahead of their competitors,” said Kalyan Kumar, Chief Technology Officer and Head, Ecosystems, HCL Technologies. “Leveraging our extensive relationship with AWS, the AWS BU synergizes the best of what both companies have to offer, driving digital, cultural and customer-centric transformations.”

Ultimately, the unit hopes to facilitate revenue growth and user experience by developing customized industry solutions, built with AWS services and investment. A recent example is 1PLM, an HCL solution that helps manufacturing companies transform their computer-aided design (CAD) and product lifecycle management (PLM) infrastructure into an on-demand, scalable and agile environment helping drive business innovation in the new normal. During the July-September quarter the company saw attrition rate to 15.7% from 11.8% in the previous quarter despite undertaking wage hikes in July at the junior management level. The company said that it will at least hire 22,000 freshers in the current financial year and hopes to see some easing in the attrition rate from the March quarter onwards.

18. 157 medical colleges sanctioned across the country in last 7 years: Centre

ET Government, Oct. 25, 2021

On completion, nearly 16,000 undergraduate medical seats would be added to these colleges wherein 6,500 seats are already functional at 64 new medical colleges, according to an official communique.

The Union government has sanctioned as many as 157 new medical colleges in the last seven years with an investment of over Rs 17,000 crore, the Union Health Ministry said on Sunday. On completion, nearly 16,000 undergraduate medical seats would be added to these colleges wherein 6,500 seats are already functional at 64 new medical colleges, it added. Meanwhile, Rs 2,451.1 crore is also provided to state governments or central government medical colleges for the up-gradation of existing infrastructure and the addition of further seats. The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare also said that under the central government schemes, medical colleges are opened in districts devoid of government medical colleges so far.

"In this case, preference is given to underserved, backward and aspirational districts," the ministry stated. According to the Union Ministry, the schemes will address the shortage of manpower in the medical sector as well as address the geographical imbalance in the availability of trained medical manpower across the country. The improvement in tertiary care in the government sector is also included in the agenda of the central schemes, the ministry said. "This will increase the availability of health professionals, correct the existing geographical imbalance in the distribution of medical colleges, promote affordable medical education and utilize the existing infrastructure of district hospitals," it added.

19.1. 5 bn Indians to be connected to internet in 2 yrs; country's AI tech to lead globally

ET Telecom, 27 Oct. 2021

"As the rural broadband internet connectivity programme of the BharatNet starts kicking in and lighting up homes in the villages, we will have 1.5 billion Indians being connected to the internet over the next two years," Chandrasekhar said.

New Delhi: India is expected to almost double its internet user base in the next two years with the BharatNet project connecting more homes across rural India, Minister of State for Electronics and IT Rajeev Chandrasekhar said on Wednesday. He said India, not China, is the world's largest connected nation on the internet in the world as China has more intranet connectivity and they have walled off their internet.

"India is going to be one of the largest connected nations in the world. I already think India is the largest connected country in the world because China is not connected because it has an intranet, walled off island that pretends to be the internet. Even if you believe for a minute that they are on the internet, we are going to be one of the largest nations in the world," Chandrasekhar said at an Assocham conference.

He added that the country has around 800 million people on the internet at present. "As the rural broadband internet connectivity programme of the BharatNet starts kicking in and lighting up homes in the villages, we will have 1.5 billion Indians being connected to the internet over the next two years," Chandrasekhar said. He said internet connectivity is going to drive the artificial intelligence (AI) ecosystem in the country and will get preference globally as it will be developed with ethics under the guidance of data privacy rules. "We may be second comer or silver medallist in the race to AI but our AI will have the qualitative aspect of trust and ethics built into it because we are operating under the guidance of data privacy.

"We will have Data Protection Bill in November-December of this year. There will be a lot more preference for AI technologies that come from India rather than from countries where values of ethics and things like that don't matter," Chandrasekhar said. According to an industry body Nasscom's report of 2020, data and artificial intelligence (AI) can add USD 450-500 billion to India's gross domestic product (GDP) by 2025, representing about 10 per cent of the USD 5-trillion economy aspiration of the Indian government. Nearly 45 per cent of this value is likely to be delivered by three sectors - consumer goods and retail (USD 90-95 billion), agriculture (USD 60-65 billion), and banking and insurance (USD 60-65 billion), the report said. Chandrasekhar added that dynamics around the internet economy is an enabler for AI technologies.

"Apart from connectivity, we are becoming leader in leading-edge public services. Prime Minister (Narendra Modi) is keen to accelerate the digitisation of the government and MSME at a faster rate. The demand for digital products like tablets and laptops which has been flat for several years is also going to increase," he said. The minister said India is the largest consumer of data and is among the fastest-growing. He said the next challenge for India is around how data sets can be used. "There is a concept of trust that global consumers of AI and technology look today at India with today. Of course, we have had some disadvantages vis-a-vis totalitarian countries like China.

"We have got data privacy as a fundamental right. In China, nothing is a fundamental right. So, it obviously helps. Every government-owned company is collecting data and using data for creating AI data sets. We have had that restriction," the minister said. He said AI for India is important as it can be, should be and must be a kinetic enabler of technology space and ecosystem of the country.

20.1. How Covid has turned into a driver of automation in Indian industries

ET CIO, Oct. 26, 2021, Dheeraj Toshniwal

Industries can not only reduce operating costs, improve quality, and keep the workforce safer but also become the ‘factory of the world’ by adopting emerging technologies.

With continuous infrastructure improvement, the right population demographics to support the industries, and policy support from the government, India is expected to be the next manufacturing hub in the post-pandemic world. The adoption of digital technologies and industrial automation will play a critical role in the country becoming the preferred manufacturing destination.

Industrial automation in Indian industries, especially in the small & medium enterprises, has been low, as companies always looked at the immediate return on investment, and given the cheap labour, expensive automation technologies and high cost of capital, the business case to automate was difficult to justify.

The pandemic has changed the underlying operating models and has given new perspectives to the business case. Talent: While the population demographics is one of India’s largest strengths, the industries are facing a skills shortage due to the pandemic-driven relocation and almost V-shape recovery in demand. The opportunity loss, talent training costs, and the increased expectations in quality are supporting the case for automation.

Technology: Digital and industrial automation technologies have been evolving at a rapid pace. The evolution in robotics has made several functions possible. Artificial Intelligence (AI) is empowering robots and digital technologies are helping connect digital & physical worlds better. Today, industrial automation is easier and cost-effective to implement, and the ‘Everything as a service (XaaS)’ model is enabling these technologies to be an OpExthanCapEx, supporting the case for automation further. Capital:

With the expectation of India to be the fastest-growing economy, liquidity support from the government, and availability of innovative financing models from new-age players, investment appetite is returning. Ongoing tax reforms (e.g., GST) are expected to make data available for financing decisions, enabling financiers to model risks correctly and increase the supply of capital. The business case for industrial automation has never been stronger. Industries must look at the cost and benefits holistically, factor in the anticipated growth rates and potential opportunity losses to evaluate the automation opportunity. Undoubtedly, the pandemic accelerated the adoption of technology and is expected to help industries recover faster in the post-pandemic world.

Leveraging emerging automation technologies for better business results, Industry 4.0, Robotics, and Artificial Intelligence can assist in building a collaborative human-robot eco-system, to help tap into the full potential of technology and ready industries for the future.

Industry 4.0: Industrial production has come a long way from mechanised production in Industry 1.0 to today’s age of interconnected machines and autonomous factories. While the term Industry 4.0 started in 2011, visible changes in automation happened over the last 5 years. From monitoring quality and managing inventory to tracking assets, the practical use cases are increasing daily. Machine-to-machine communication, the Internet of things, and IT-OT synergies are expected to change the industrial automation landscape.

Robotics: Advancements in robotics are further accelerating automation. The adoption of robots in the industries is helping improve quality, reduce cycle time, and above all improve workplace safety by taking over tasks that are dangerous for humans. Robots are seen as the future workforce and are expected to autonomously run future factories. Artificial Intelligence: There are numerous use cases of how AI is helping, from increasing the efficiency of the factories, improving the quality of products & design to reducing breakdown maintenance, etc. AI is helping improve human-robot interactions so that the machines can have more autonomy. From being a subject of science fiction movies, AI has come a long way and is now readily available to address key business problems. These technologies can help drive better business outcomes and prepare our industries for the future. Industries can not only reduce operating costs, improve quality, and keep the workforce safer but also become the ‘factory of the world’ by adopting these emerging technologies. The author is Partner - Digital Transformation, BDO India

20.2. Green mobility push: Indian Oil Corporation to install EV charging hubs at 10,000 fuel stations

ET Gov. Nov. 5, 2021

Presently, the IOCL has 448 EV charging stations and 30 battery swapping stations across the country. The proposed EV charging network will facilitate uninterrupted driving for EV users and boost the country's EV manufacturing ecosystem

To promote greener energy solutions in line with sustainable energy commitments, integrated energy major and Maharatna company Indian Oil Corporation Ltd (IOCL) will install charging facilities for electric vehicles at 10,000 fuel stations over the next three years. Presently, the IOCL has 448 EV charging stations and 30 battery swapping stations across the country. The proposed EV charging network will facilitate uninterrupted driving for EV users and boost the country's EV manufacturing ecosystem, said an official press release.

Elaborating on the corporation's plans, IOCL chairman Shrikant Madhav Vaidya said, "Electric vehicles are now a reality, and IndianOil is geared up to tide over challenges and leverage opportunities in this area. Our bouquet of services will now include alternative energy offerings, including EV charging at our fuel stations. We will focus on nine cities in the first phase, including Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Chennai, Kolkata, Surat and Pune.

"The initiative is as per the 'National Mission for Transformative Mobility and Battery Storage'. We will expand the Network of Charging Stations in a phased manner to the state Capitals, Smart Cities and major highways and expressways connecting these cities. I am confident that this small step by IndianOil will be a giant leap for the EV ecosystem in India," Viadya said. The IOCL has collaborated and is supporting Tata Power, REIL, PGCIL, NTPC, Fortum, Hyundai, Tech Mahindra, BHEL, Ola for setting up EV chargers at its fuel stations. Initially, a mix of chargers suited for 2W/3W will be provided, which will be further upgraded as per requirement and market conditions.

Further, to minimise its carbon footprint and that of its customers, the ICOL has started 'zero emission electric mobility', a hybrid microgrid enabled clean energy EV charging solution developed and patented by Hygge Energy which ensures that charging takes place primarily using solar power. The IOCL has collaborated with Sun Mobility to strengthen its forays into green energy for battery swapping stations, and has set up IOC Phinergy Pvt Ltd, a 50:50 JV company with Phinergy Ltd of Israel, to commercialize aluminum-air battery technology in India.

INDIA AND THE WORLD

21. How this manufacturing company is building a ‘Future Factory’, IT News

ET CIO, Oct, 21, 2021

SKF is gradually transforming its facilities to aid the growth of a ‘Future Factory’, aided by a well-defined strategic roadmap to reach Manufacturing 4.0 by 2023-2024.

Usually running on the traditional business models, techniques and technologies, manufacturing companies are now gearing up fast to their digital journey. Not only have they made their business process digital now, they are also looking up how to gather data and make way to use the next-gen technology like AI and ML. SKF, a Swedish bearing and seal manufacturing company on its journey to reach manufacturing 4.0, is transforming its facilities to aid the growth.

“At SKF, the data is not just about us, it’s about helping our customers. Today data is a core business asset and the use of data and analytics is important in making better business decisions. For example, we want to leverage actionable, easy-to-use, and easily accessible data to predict and manage supply chain, so that customers can have the right product at the right time,” said Jaiveer Singh, IT Regional Manager APEC (Asia Pacific, excluding China) SKF continues to invest in building cloud Data Warehouse capabilities i.e. Snowflake, Microsoft AZURE Arch data enabled services for data driven manufacturing approach.

To enable SKF’s digitalization journey, it is adding new IT capabilities, technology platforms and actively educating people on having a data-first mindset. Going forward, the company wants to leverage IoT to drive much higher levels of efficiency, significantly improved planned downtime, improved fleet and resource management, and optimized business operations.

There will also be new levels of autonomy and control over how machines operate through data and insights. Singh told ETCIO that for SKF, IIoT is about using real-time data from multiple sources and turning data into information so that action can be taken before anything happens. Action can mean to correct process parameters in real time, to tune the lubrication system, to order parts in advance and much more.

An example is SKF Insight - a wireless condition-based monitoring system for bearings that measures variables such as vibration levels and temperatures to spot anomalies at an early stage, reducing the need for unplanned downtime and stoppages. By combining integrated SKF Insight technologies with associated asset diagnostic and bearing health services, information relating to actual operating conditions is sent to cloud servers for remote diagnostics, enabling an understanding of the risk of future damage and failure. SKF is gradually transforming its facilities to aid the growth of a ‘Future Factory’, aided by a well-defined strategic roadmap to reach Manufacturing 4.0 by 2023-2024. Company’s approach involves an incremental transformation of the supply chain, quality, engineering and people processes to achieve its goal of sustaining excellence across operations. “At SKF we are currently working on connecting our processes - driving the digital transformation by integrating automation, software, and cutting-edge technologies.

It Includes Predictive Cockpit (Condition monitoring) for maintenance, additive manufacturing for shop supplies, an AI-enabled Vision Inspection system supporting M2M & E2M connectivity, and a connected supply chain and full value chain to effectively manage and collaborate with supply chain partners,” Singh said. The company has also successfully installed a Channel Monitoring System at its Pune factory for real-time equipment performance monitoring and a maintenance cockpit for real-time machine health monitoring.

With access to real-time and remote monitoring, operators will be empowered to better predict and plan machine maintenance schedules, as well as develop long-term statistical evaluations of diagnostic data. Further, with the Equipment to Machine (E2M) connectivity project, it focuses on reducing scrap and man-machine intervention while improving built-in quality (BIQ).

“Also, our global acquisition, Presenso in AI, is a step forward in this direction. Presenso’s AI capability enables production plants to find and act on anomalies that were previously difficult to detect, automatically and without the need to employ data scientists. Within our manufacturing footprint, we are planning to utilize sensor technology, robotics, and SCADA system along with the control system of machines being upgraded to the latest PLC with advanced features,” he concluded .

22. The BPO industry in the Philippines has evolved for good during the pandemic: Amol Gupta, CHRO, India & Philippines

ETHRWorld, Oct. 25, 2021

In an exclusive interaction with ETHRWorld International, Amol Gupta, CHRO, India & Philippines, FIS, shares some insights on the relevance of employee experience in the new-age hybrid work culture, and how it has become the most critical aspect of workspaces in the BPO industry in the Philippines

While the pandemic has initiated the new world of work across the globe, there are trends that are specific to the Philippines. The industries in the country, especially the BPO industry, is reorganizing and reimagining its workplaces to better address employee experience. Among the many changes that the BPO industry is making in the new world of work, hybrid work culture that offers a combination of work-from-home and in-office work arrangement; digital transformation; employee experience; and preparing for the big attrition that happens during the ‘ber’ months, have become the top highlights.

With employee experience and well-being at its roots, hybrid work culture is expected to rule the country with an aim to offer tremendous opportunities to improve business efficiency, job satisfaction, and overall employee experience and growth. And to top it all, managing the processes smartly and digitally is expected to enable businesses to grow at an unprecedented pace. In this exclusive interview with ETHRWorld International, Amol Gupta, CHRO, India & Philippines, FIS, shares how the new world of work will see the growth of an organised hybrid work culture in the Philippines, and how it will have a positive impact on the work trends of the country.

He also emphasizes the need for organizations to keep employee experience at the forefront of workplace policies and how it can ensure continued productivity and growth for both, employees and organizations at large.

Amol Gupta is currently the CHRO, India & Philippines, FIS, a Fortune 500® company, for the past 11 years. An alumnus of UC Berkeley Extension, SIMS, Symbiosis Law College and Delhi University, Amol has an experience of 23 years in Human Resource Management, including global experience in the US as HR Business Partner to CFO and other Chief Executives, and has worked across various segments such as Financial Services, IT Product Company, IT/ITES, Pharma and Biotechnology.

His specialization lies in fields, such as, Strategic Human Resources – People Strategy, Organization Development, Human Capital and Employer of Choice Branding, Performance Management, Compensation Management, Talent Engagement and Management, Policies and Processes, Risk Management, and Leadership Transformation. As CHRO, India & Philippines, FIS, he is responsible for bringing the People Strategy to life and driving culture change. His focus is enhancing employee experience and ensuring their HR operations are world class.

Here are the excerpts from the interview. Please elaborate on the BPO industry, especially in countries like the Philippines, and the impact of the pandemic on the overall business and workforce situation in the past 18 months. Philippines has come up as one of the biggest countries from a call centre perspective. During the pandemic, the Philippines, as a country, has been a very strong contributor of change. The government there has extended a lot of support to the BPO industry.

Even during the lockdown, they let the BPO industry continue to work. We were allowed to give pick and drop services to our employees, but of course, with all protocols in place. They visited our offices to review if all safety measures were in place. So, there was complete support of the government to the industry, which was a big boon. And this resulted in a very positive forecast for the industry which signals huge growth in the future. The other positive changes we are witnessing are in digital transformation and increased automation, which have resulted in great customer experience and increased optimisation of local skills and talent.

In fact, this year, we moved a couple of digital transformation and automation roles of our company to the Philippines, which is a small yet strong move.

What was the first initial impact of the pandemic in the Philippines? Was the lockdown imposed completely or a partial one? What are the government rules and regulations now? And what has been your contribution towards well-being of your employees during these times?

When the pandemic started, less than 5 percent of the workforce in the Philippines had the capabilities to work from home. But now, we are almost at 95 percent. Initially, when the lockdown was announced, we booked hotels and shifted a lot of our employees there. They would come to work from hotels and go back to hotels after work, and these were in Manila and Cebu, from where we run our operations primarily.

We had permission from the government to do so. While this was happening, we also started working on our backup plan. We started procuring desktops and laptops which were needed to facilitate employees to work from home. We collaborated with internet providers and gave dongles to our employees so that they continue to stay connected. In cases where dongles weren’t working, we provided broadband lines at their homes. Within a couple of days, employees were ready to work from home, which they are continuing till date because we don’t want anyone to risk their life for work.

Only a very small group of people now come into the office and those are only the people who need to access confidential data. Since this group is very small, we are able to manage and follow all COVID-related protocols for them. On top of this, we have also started giving some new benefits to employees, like COVID leave for fifteen days; we created a team of COVID volunteers who were there to help those struck with COVID and worked closely with the government to facilitate emergency needs; we also gave out quarantine kits to all our employees; purchased oxygen concentrators for those who needed it; there was a daily wellness check; financial assistance was given to the needy; and above all, we purchased vaccinations through Moderna Company along with the Government of the Philippines.

Although we have still not received the delivery of the vaccines, we will run the vaccination program for our employees and their dependents once we get the delivery which is expected in next three to four weeks. This way, we will be able to help not just our employees, but also our community. This is an approach we have followed in other key countries where we operate and has been very well received by our employees.

What is the way forward for your organisation? Do you see work from home continuing, or do you see the hybrid workplace evolving in the Philippines?

From a future perspective, the plan is to move to a hybrid environment. We have created four different personas of each and every job profile in our organisation. For instance, first one is called a Club, where an employee needs to come to office maximum thrice in a week. The second one is Home, which is given to an employee whose role can be done full time virtually from home. The third is Roam, which is for employees who are working either from client locations or those who are in sales roles. And the last one is called Hub, for those employees who are needed 4 or more days in the office because of client or legal requirements to work in a secure or physical office or because the role requires colleague to use in-office technology, equipment or physical materials that must remain on site.

Please elaborate on the workforce trends in general that you see evolving in the Philippines. Are there any specific hiring and retention trends that we notice in the Philippines, especially in the ‘ber’ months? From a talent management perspective, digital adoption is a trend that’s come up in a big way in the Philippines. As I discussed, more than 95 percent of our employees are now working from home, and that couldn’t have happened without digital transformation and we were well placed because of the investments we have made over the years in technology for our colleagues. We have now reached to the level where anything and everything is being done from home—from finalising the candidate to induction and training the candidate. There is a zero requirement for a new joinee to come to office and get assimilated to the organisation. Everything is now done from the confines of the home. So, there is a huge change that we have done from the process perspective. Even our learning has gone digital.

We’ve done a lot of tie-ups for learning programs; we have initiated various health and wellness programs digitally that can be accessed from the phone via apps. In fact, we have gamified health and mental wellness programs and monetised them to encourage employees to stay fit and healthy. Coming to the ‘ber’ months and why companies tend to refer to these months as out of the ordinary, it is primarily because a lot of attrition is seen normally during these months that start from September and go on untill December.

A point to be noted here is that attrition rate this year is seen to be the same as the one that was there in the pre-COVID years, indicating that things are getting back to normal. The second aspect to it is the fact that it is difficult to identify new joinees during ‘ber’ months. Having understood this situation, we have created a bench of trained employees that fill in the gaps when people decide to move on. Last year, during the pandemic, the attrition was low, and we were very easily able to reach the desired productivity rate. This year, we have ensured that we have the right bench created to keep the work going strong. We will also be bumping up our hiring during the ‘ber’ months.

We will also employ unique mechanisms to continue to attract top talent. Interestingly, one of thing which is unique to the Philippines is that we have really leaned into Facebook hiring. Once we release our requirements on Facebook, the number of people who respond through this social media channel is very high. So, we are trying different ways to tell our story. But these trends are general to the Philippines. We have seen this phenomenon (especially during ‘ber’ months) in the whole industry of the country, in the last decade or so, ever since the industry came to form in the Philippines.

What is your take on employee experience and its impact and importance for organisations in the Philippines?

Employee experience has always been important. The fact that we created initiatives like COVID leave, wellness and health apps, and financial assistance, etc., go to show the seriousness of why employee experience is critical for any organisation. If employees feel connected to the organisation, it is not just their win, the organisation will also benefit from this in the long run. Most organisations go an extra mile to ensure great employee experience, and if employees start feeling connected and cared for and have the confidence that the organisation will support them in their crisis, or on the other hand, in a situation when they perform well, the organisation will help them grow, there is no way employees can feel disconnected with either their work or organisation. Organisations need to ensure that while they support the employees during a crisis or a challenging time, they should also ensure the employees’ growth in positive times and reward them. Can you throw some light on the overall BPO market in the Philippines and its growth? The Philippines, as a market, is growing and we are looking at our own growth with the growth of the country. There is a lot of talent and support out here which can help the industry to grow in the years to come. I am very positive and optimistic towards our success story.

23. Japanese investment in Indian IT and start-up ecosystem grows four times since 2016: Report

IBEF, Nov. 02, 2021

According to a report by the National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM), in association with Nomura Research Institute (NRI), Japanese investment in the Indian IT and start-up ecosystem has grown fourfold since 2016, hence helping create 102,000 additional jobs.

The total investment reached US$ 9.2 billion, exemplified by a rising number of deals and big deals mostly by large investors like Softbank. Fintech, healthcare and mobility are the top sectors drawing investment from multiple Japanese investors followed by e-commerce, enterprise, and real estate.

As per the report, the Indian IT sector has facilitated many Japanese corporations to embrace digital capabilities and innovative business models. Japanese policymakers see India as a trustworthy partner for accelerating Japan's digital transformation and began investing strongly in Indian tech start-ups since 2016.

“This rise in the investment by Japan is a testament to our performance and expertise. The technology industry has grown to be a reliable partner for digital transformation journey and innovating new business model to Japanese companies. Japan and India have worked as strategic partners leveraging their respective strengths and co-creation to bring best products for the global market.” Mrs. Debjani Ghosh, President, NASSCOM, stated.

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

24. Hiranandani opens up Rs 30,000 crore war chest for data center unit

ET CIO, 11 Nov., 2021

The investment could position Yotta as one of the largest data center players in the country

Real estate player Hiranandani group is all set to double up on its investment plans for its data center unit Yotta where the company is expecting windfall gains. The two-year old venture has not only setup India’s first Tier IV data center in less than a year’s time at Mumbai but is already starting to replicate the initial success in other cities as well. “The demand has been overwhelming for our first data center in Mumbai. Being the only Tier IV certified data center has also played a big role in this. It gives us more confident to expand at an even more rapid pace,” Sunil Gupta, CEO, Yotta, told ETCIO.

“One building of the size we are making costs us about Rs 1,200 crore. We are making five such in Mumbai, six in Noida, six in Chennai, three in Pune, three in Calcutta and one in Gujarat. Idea is to start the first building as a risk investment and then rapidly scale from there. Overall the investment could well surpass Rs 30,000 crore over the next 5 years,” Gupta said. When it was setup in 2019, Hiranandani had envisaged an investment of Rs 15,000 crore for a period of 5-7 years to scale up Yotta. However, within two years of incorporation, the venture is already doubling up its investment plans. Indian data center market would require $3.7 billion over the next three years to meet the industry requirement for six million sq ft of development, according to a report by JLL India.

The report highlights that in 2020, Indian data center industry saw a record 102 MW absorption, the second-highest compared to key markets in Europe and the Americas. “Large cloud players are increasing their presence in the world’s second-largest user market. At the same time, the advent of the pandemic has prompted a faster shift to colocation from the traditional captive IT infrastructure,” the report says. According to Gupta, the biggest growth is coming from the shift towards digitization that’s being observed since the beginning of Covid-19 in early 2020.

“The growth was already quite phenomenal pre-Covid but Covid has fuelled the demand for cloud services manifold leading to a massive growth in demand for data center space,” Gupta explained. Some of the biggest customers for Yotta are hyperscalers who are eyeing not just a few racks or a floor but entire data center buildings in one go, Gupta said. Hyperscalers is a term used for large cloud services players such as AWS, Google, Microsoft Azure and IBM.

“Delhi was not in the initial plan but we already have an entire building taken up by a client even before it is up and running. UP government has been very helpful in terms of approvals etc. Today we are building our first data center in UP but we have bought enough land there to be able to scale it to 6 data centers there. To support that, we are also building a substation of 300 MW that’ll be sufficient for 6 data centers there,” Gupta said.

Yotta is banking on parent Hiranandani group for acquisition of land for setting up large data center parks in various parts of the country instead of picking space for one data center at a time. Gupta says that allows the company to setup its captive power stations for providing backup power and the negotiating power that is necessary in the highly competitive market

25. India may need 22-million skilled workforce by 2025: Telecom skills body

ET Telecom, Nov. 10, 2021

India's telecom sector currently employs nearly 4 million workers that has close to 60% direct workforce employed with telecom service providers - Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Idea, and state-run Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) as well as multinational technology vendors such as Huawei, Ericsson, Nokia, Cisco, Ciena, Juniper and ZTE.

NEW DELHI: India would require as much as 22 million or 2.2 crore skilled manpower by 2025 as the country takes a step into fifth-generation or 5G-led technologies such as Internet of Things (IoT), Artificial Intelligence (AI), robotics, and cloud computing, the telecom skills body said. "Considering technologies like IoT, AI, machine learning, big data, cloud computing, and robotic process automation, roughly about 22 million workers will be required to skill or upskill themselves to match industry demand by 2025," Arvind Bali, chief executive, Telecom Sector Skill Council (TSSC) told ETTelecom.

India, according to him, is poised to become a global supplier for both electronics and human resource, and to achieve this, there would be a need to create an extended skill network with both industry and academia participation. Gurugram-based telecom skills council, is a non-profit organisation set up by the Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI), India Cellular and Electronics Association (ICEA), and the National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC), to ensure availability of skilled manpower in the industry. "India is ripe with talent.

We have the largest pool of human resources on the planet, and it is imperative that we leverage the advantage we have over other nations. We feel that an alignment of education and vocational training is the ideal impetus required to bridge this skill-gap," Bali added. India's telecom sector currently employs nearly 4 million workers that has close to 60% direct workforce employed with telecom service providers - Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Idea, and state-run Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) as well as multinational technology vendors such as Huawei, Ericsson, Nokia, Cisco, Ciena, Juniper and ZTE.

With expansion in the labour force in electronics equipment manufacturing through the recently introduced production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme, Bali said that the industry has also identified the lack of skilled workforce which has triggered a large demand for upskilling of current workers and skilling of fresh workers.

Last month, the Department of Telecommunications said that India is expected to receive an investment of about Rs 3,300 crore from 31 domestic and multinational companies over a period of four years under the ambitious manufacturing scheme that may employ as many as 40,000 individuals in the telecom sector.

The top executive further said that the body has already conducted extensive survey and market analysis to identify key futuristic roles and their applications, and its 5G and ICT oriented courses were already in their final stages of development along with courses in m-data security and telecom business analytics. However, on the flip side, nearly 70,000 people lost their jobs following Covid-19-induced shutdowns since March last year.

The majority of job losses, according to the skills group, were pertaining to the areas of telecom operations, Internet providers, technology systems integrators impacting profiles such as field sales and technical executives, and distribution channel representatives, due to cost optimisation drive.

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Friday 19 November 2021

NEWSLETTER, 20-XI-2021

– GENERAL POLICY, INFRASTRUCTURES, COUNTRY FINANCES, ETC.

– AGRICULTURE, FISHING & RURAL DEVELOPMENT

– INDUSTRY, MANUFACTURE

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

NEWSLETTER, 20-XI-2021

– GENERAL POLICY, INFRASTRUCTURES, COUNTRY FINANCES, ETC.

- AGRICULTURE, FISHING & RURAL DEVELOPMENT

INDUSTRY & MANUFACTURE

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

INDIA AND THE WORLD