NATGRID wants to link social media accounts to central database

The ambitious National Intelligence Grid (NATGRID) project wants to link social media accounts to the huge database of records related to immigration entry and exit, banking and telephone details among others.

The project, initially started in 2009 with a budget of ₹2,800 crore, is an online database for collating scattered pieces of information and putting them on one platform. At least 10 central agencies like Intelligence Bureau (IB), Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW) and others will have access to the data on a secured platform.

The proposal has received resistance from the intelligence agencies, whose officials fear that linking the social media accounts to sensitive government data could expose the system to “trojan attacks.”


Home Minister Amit Shah reviewed the progress of NATGRID at North Block on Thursday.

The project gathered pace in 2016, when the NDA government appointed an IB officer Ashok Patnaik as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO). After Mr. Patnaik retired, NATGRID is now headed by IAS officer Ashish Gupta.

Mr. Shah was given a presentation on the present status of NATGRID but no decision was taken on structural issues.

An official explained that NATGRID links intelligence and investigation agencies.


The 10 user agencies will be linked independently with certain databases that would be procured from 21 providing organisations and include telecom, tax records, bank, immigration, etc. to enable the generation of intelligence inputs.

“Linking the database to social media accounts could jeopardise the entire exercise as it could be exposed to unknown virus attacks from open source Internet,” a senior government official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Intelligence agencies had also earlier opposed the NATGRID itself amid fears that it would impinge on their territory and possibly result in leaks on the leads they were working on to other agencies.

An expression of interest (EOI) issued by NATGRID in 2017 had said “NATGRID is intending to set up an Entity Extraction, Visualization and Analytics (EVA) system that would collect and analyse information available from various data sources.”

While NATGRID’s data recovery centre in Bengaluru has been constructed, its office complex in South Delhi is nearing completion.

In January, NATGRID revived its EOI to select a System Integrator (SI) to provide a software solution, recommend hardware specification for running the solution and integrating and implementing the composite EVA solution. The EOI specified that the company bidding for the project should have a turnover of at least ₹1,600 crore.

Source: https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/natgrid-wants-to-link-social-media-accounts-to-central-database/article29402252.ece

Quality of growth matters: Higher growth will happen when its composition and spread improves, not merely the topline

Last month, global investment strategist Ruchir Sharma set the dovecotes aflutter when he declared that for countries like India, “5% (GDP growth) is the new 7%, the appropriate aspirational standard.”

He based his growth pessimism on the emergence of four Ds – deglobalisation, depopulation (a shrinking global labour force), declining productivity, and a debt overhang as big as the one in 2008. Almost on cue, India’s GDP number for the first quarter of 2019-20 (April-June) fell with a thud to 5%.

Few Indian economists will agree with Sharma’s formulation, for if India has to accept 5% as the new aspirational benchmark, there is little chance of providing jobs to our still growing working age population. According to estimates made in the Economic Survey 2018-19, even though the rate of growth of the working age population is slowing due to the fall in total fertility rates across states, the projected annual increase in the working age population during 2021-31 will be 9.7 million, before falling further to 4.2 million in the following decade. In short, till at least 2041, the overall size of our working age population will keep growing, even if at a steadily slowing pace.

So, we do need higher growth. However, the choice is never a binary one, between slower and faster growth. Some nuance is lost in this kind of thinking, for we need policies that improve the quality of the growth, regardless of whether we grow at 5% or 7% plus.


Illustration: Chad Crowe

Since it is impossible to predict global growth conditions, demographics and productivity even a couple of years hence, what we need are all-weather policies that ensure good outcomes regardless of the actual GDP growth number. For the last decade or more, the economy’s employment elasticity has been falling. The 12th plan estimated it at 0.19, and Azim Premji University’s ‘State of Working India 2018’ put it at 0.1. An elasticity figure of 0.1 implies that for every 10% growth in GDP, employment grows only 1%.

During the Vajpayee years, despite lower growth, employment grew by nearly 60 million between 1999 and 2004. In the next five years, and especially in the boom-boom UPA-1 years, employment growth was just a few million.

This does not imply that fewer jobs were created in the UPA years; just that fewer people were willing to work at the wage rates available. This is consistent with the sharp fall in poverty rates during the UPA period, which made many women drop out of the workforce – and the trend continues.

This leads us to two broad hypotheses: The quality of jobs in the Vajpayee era was poor, but jobs at those wages were aplenty even with low growth. The quality of growth in the UPA era was poor, which is why even at rising wage levels, people were dropping out of the workforce.

For policy makers, the message should be clear: Don’t focus on just growth, but on its subcomponents. It is possible to have high growth with very few worthwhile jobs, but it is equally possible to have good quality jobs even with lower growth. This means not just macroeconomic policies, but microeconomic ones matter.

All economists would agree, for example, that we need factor reforms (freeing land and labour markets) and agricultural market reforms. Only if we free the markets for agri-produce will farmers benefit from increased productivity by, first, catering to a bigger national market and then to a global market. If this does not happen, every bountiful harvest will lead to a crash in prices and farm misery – precisely our story over the last few years.

In the last decade or more, we had jobless growth because capital markets were liberalised before the labour and land markets, as a result of which employers liberally used capital and automation when humans could have been employed in larger numbers.

We invested in capital intensive sectors like petroleum refining, when more job creating sectors like apparel, furniture and leather works should have been encouraged with easier labour laws. We focussed on subsidising agriculture because politicians loved to play sugar daddy to farmers, when the focus should have been on policies to create more non-agricultural jobs, especially in urban areas, to absorb the workers who want to leave low-income agriculture.

We need the right kind of urbanisation policies – which means allowing land prices to be driven by real demand and supply, and not artificially constrained by arbitrary building laws and zoning rules. But land reforms and rational building laws cannot happen without getting politicians out of the way. It is no secret that most politicians hold their ill-gotten wealth in real estate, and they resist a fall in prices since this would destroy their wealth.

Similarly, foreign investment in job creating sectors will come only if our legal system works faster. The World Bank’s Doing Business 2019 report showed India’s ranking rising to 77 from 100, but our performance in two vital areas – enforcing contracts (rank 163 among 190) and registering property (154) barely budged. Without the ability to buy property and enforce contracts, two big job-creating sectors – construction and real estate – will simply underperform.

The short point is this: If we want to improve the lot of our citizens and create worthwhile jobs, we need to focus on the micro reforms involving specific sectors. Higher growth will happen when the composition and spread of growth improves, and not merely the topline. The quantum of growth is less important than its quality.

Source: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/blogs/toi-edit-page/quality-of-growth-matters-higher-growth-will-happen-when-its-composition-and-spread-improves-not-merely-the-topline/

Would you like to be a Times Scholar?

It’s time for India’s young to reach for the moon. At The Times of India, we have always believed it our duty to create a responsible class of citizens — discerning and humane — by encouraging the young to read to broaden their vision, raise their aspirations and discover that learning can be pleasurable.

The internet is spewing out information and entertainment faster than can be meaningfully processed. This is an age of distractions, and it makes the need to read indispensable. A person who reads widely can sort out the chaff, can distinguish right from wrong, fact from fiction, and read the grey. What better time to start than when the mind is young and can be moulded by the written word?


More than a year has gone by since The Times of India first introduced a programme based on reading that led to scholarships and prizes for meritorious students.





It is time to rekindle the spark. The Times Scholars 2019 programme, one of the country’s finest scholarship initiatives, is back. It seeks to equip students with these skills and, at the same time, reward them in the process.

Based firmly in the concept that a well-read scholar is better prepared to seize every opportunity the world offers, the programme is rooted in the newspaper.





A person aspiring to be a Times Scholar will be required, after registration, to read TOI each day, specifically the article or news graphic carrying the “Times Scholars” marker. These will be the syllabus on which the student will be tested. They will cover science, technology, social issues, politics, global developments, economics, education, and much more. It is expected to both inform and delight a sharp, young mind.

Young scholars will also be able to test themselves with weekly practice exams and occasional submission of presentations, all entirely online. While not mandatory, participation in these tests and presentations will add one mark each to the candidate’s cumulative score in the programme — marks for the taking in this highly competitive programme.


These will be followed by a final online multiple-choice test with questions based on articles a candidate would have read in TOI. The best and brightest will then go into personal interviews, which will decide the winners.


The winners will not only receive acknowledgement in the pages of India’s leading English daily but will also win Dell laptops. Also, for candidates in Class XII, selected students will be eligible for admission to undergraduate courses at Bennett University on a scholarship applicable for one year if they fulfill the university’s eligibility criteria.


To get started, register here. You may end up with a title that’ll sit proudly on your resume.

(Dell Aarambh is the Digital Learning partner of the Times Scholars programme)




Source: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/education/news/would-you-like-to-be-a-times-scholar/articleshowprint/71118203.cms

Lots of minds in India capable of becoming great scientists: Nobel laureate Serge Haroche

TNN | Sep 14, 2019, 06.39 AM IST

NEW DELHI: Nobel laureate Serge Haroche, who was awarded the 2012 Nobel prize for physics for ground-breaking findings in quantum physics, said that "it is very important to train children in science, especially those whose families don't have science background, as there are lots of minds in India and the world who are capable of becoming great scientists".

In an interview with TOI at the Swedish embassy here, the Nobel laureate talked about India's moon mission and a slew of scientific projects. He said, "I have come to know that India has lost contact with its lunar probe. But this is science, failures are bound to happen. You have to learn from these experiences and do better next time." Earlier in Mohali, he had hoped that Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) would "certainly fix the problem with Vikram lander".

On talking about the world's interest in Moon, Serge Haroche said, "Moon has always interested us. In the US (Apollo) programme that started 50 years ago, we found something strange. America had sent 12 people to land on Moon starting from 1969 and after the manned mission in 1972, everything stopped and the interest disappeared. But Moon is still an interesting subject. Israel had recently sent its probe but it crashlanded. Failures will happen in science, it is life. But science should not be done only for prestige."



On the correlation between Moon and Earth, he said, "Moon is responsible for tides on Earth because of its gravitational effect. This gravitational effect on Earth also has its influence on Moon and its trajectory."

What asked what was the need to measure Earth-Moon distance like a Nasa payload (laser reflector array) on board Vikram lander was supposed to do when scientists knew the distance was 3.84 lakh km, Serge Haroche said, "We have to do measurements for precision. We have to find out that what we had measured corresponds with theory. This is basic science."

The French physicist had shared the Nobel prize jointly with David J Wineland for doing "ground-breaking experimental methods that enable measuring and manipulation of individual quantum systems", a study of the particle of light, the photon. After a PhD dissertation on dressed atoms under the supervision of Claude Cohen-Tannoudji (himself a Nobel Prize recipient) from 1967 to 1971, he had developed new methods for laser spectroscopy, based on the study of quantum beats and superradiance.

On the importance of laser in space science, the Nobel laureate said: "Laser is very important as it can be used to find out the distance between two subjects with precision." On the laser interferometer gravitational-wave observatory (LIGO) project, he said, "Great work is being done in this direction. Two antennas (detectors or observatories) have been set up in the US (Louisiana and Washington), one in Europe (Italy). I think one is being set up in India and the other one in Japan. This project will help in gravitational wave detection. The more antennas you have, better it is because than you can locate the place in space and the distance of the source of gravitational waves. It will be a new window to the universe. We can detect lots of events."



He also talked in great length and the significance of the LISA (Laser Interferometer Space Antenna) project, the first dedicated space-based gravitational wave detector that aims to measure gravitational waves directly by using laser interferometry. The LISA concept has a constellation of three spacecraft arranged in an equilateral triangle with sides 2.5 million km long, flying along an Earth-like heliocentric orbit. These three spacecraft relay laser beams back and forth between the different spacecraft and the signals are combined to search for gravitational wave signatures that come from distortions of spacetime. Nasa is a major collaborator in the European Space Agency (ESA)-led mission, which is scheduled to be launched in early 2030s.



On the recent discovery of water on an exo-planet K2-18b, Haroche said, "It is a big field of scientific research to find water in a star system. Twenty years ago, it was very difficult to make such discoveries in such planets. Now, big progress is being made. Not only you can detect such planets but you can detect molecules in their atmosphere. However, the result is tentative and a lot of research is needed."



The Nobel laureate was in India to be part of a new travelling exhibition, "For the greatest benefit to humankind", which was inaugurated on September 11 in Mohali. The world premiere was part of the Nobel Prize Series India 2019, a three-day programme that was organised in Ludhiana and Delhi to highlight issues related to education and learning. Under this programme, Haroche and Kailash Satyarthi, receipient of the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize, interacted with people. The Nobel laureate was accompanied by Juleen Zierath, professor of clinical integrative physiology and a member of the Nobel Committee at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden. They both gave lectures and took part in round-table discussions with students, teachers and researchers. Both the intellectuals shared with people their work experience and expertise in their respective fields. The objective of such exhibitions and exchange programmes is to hightlight how Nobel laureates have made the world a better place, showcasing discoveries and achievements that have saved lives, fed humanity, connected people and protected the planet.



"The Nobel Prize Series inspires people to seek knowledge, ask questions and contribute to improving the world. By sharing achievements and stories of Nobel laureates with a global audience, the programme encourages engagement in science, literature and peace in line with Alfred Nobel's vision," says Laura Sprechmann, CEO of Nobel Media.

Source: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/lots-of-minds-in-india-capable-of-becoming-great-scientists-noble-laureate-serge-haroche/articleshowprint/71120749.cms (Accessed on September 14, 2019)

Infosys, TCS enjoy best prospects to deliver growth outperformance

Overall our price targets for 5 top-tier companies rise by 2-10%, as a result of the changes.
Infosys best placed near-term, on both growth & margin.

Our recent meetings with Infosys & Wipro and channel checks suggest a mixed picture with rising risks in BFSI but continued overall deal momentum for select companies. Benefit of recent INR-USD depreciation will be offset to some extent by cross ccy headwinds. We expect continued divergent growth across companies with Infosys best placed in the near term. Amidst our positive stance towards IT services as a relative defensive, TCS & TechM are our other Buys.

Infosys best placed near-term, on both growth & margin

We maintain near-term visibility is best for Infosys amongst top-tier companies given its strong deal win momentum. We expect revenue growth for FY20e to surprise positively at 11.5% y-o-y constant ccy vs. its latest guidance of 8.5-10%. This implies 11% y-o-y growth for rest of FY20e. Despite visible margin pressures across companies in Q1, we also expect Infosys’ FY20e Ebit margin to meet the mid-point of its guided range at 22%, implying 22.5% for rest of FY20e.


Adjusting estimates, PT for ccy & other factors

We adjust our estimates to factor in weaker INR vs. USD but stronger cross currency headwinds. We temper our growth expectations for FY20e in some cases to reflect rising macro risks. We also introduce FY22e estimates and roll forward our price targets. We raise valuation multiple for Infosys as we expect its discount to TCS to narrow. Overall our price targets for 5 top-tier companies rise by 2-10%, as a result of the changes.

Infosys, TCS remain preferred picks

We maintain our positive stance on Indian IT services as a relative defensive. TCS & Infosys remain our preferred picks as we believe these are best placed to deliver growth outperformance, which should also drive better margin defence. We believe risk-reward is favourable for Tech Mahindra given improving communications outlook – recent large AT&T deal will add. Despite its recent deal win momentum, we maintain Hold on HCL Tech given risks from high inorganic contribution. Maintain U/P on Wipro given consistent growth underperformance.

Source: https://www.financialexpress.com/market/infosys-tcs-enjoy-best-prospects-to-deliver-growth-outperformance/1705843/

TCS to help students build skills in a fun way

Tata Consultancy Services is now accepting registrations for the second edition of TCS iON IntelliGem, a national-level contest for students from class 5 to 9.





Representational image (File |Reuters)
By Express News Service

Tata Consultancy Services is now accepting registrations for the second edition of TCS iON IntelliGem, a national-level contest for students from class 5 to 9. Registrations will be accepted only through schools till September 20.

IntelliGem is structured as a test, which helps young learners develop 21st century skills in five areas — creativity and innovation, communication, financial literacy, universal values, and global citizenship. Students who clear the qualifying round, which is a computer-based test, are ready to compete in the city round, which leads to the pre-finals, and then the grand finale, which will be held in Mumbai. It will consist of buzzer rounds and one-to-ones with an expert panel.

Participants will have free access to digital learning content to help them prepare. Teachers from all the participating schools will get access to the TCS iON Teachers’ Network, which hosts a vast pool of learning resources.

For more details and to register your school, visit http://intelligem.tcsion.com/

Source: http://www.newindianexpress.com/states/tamil-nadu/2019/sep/14/tcs-to-help-students-build-skills-in-a-fun-way-2033380.html

Brain drain from academics is hurting economy

The study, the first of its kind, was conducted by researchers at the University of Rochester. They found that over the last 15 years, 153 artificial intelligence professors in North American universities left their posts for industry. Another 68 moved into industry while retaining part-time roles with their universities.


SAN FRANCISCO: For years, big tech companies have used huge salaries, bonuses and stock packages to lure artificial intelligence experts out of academia. Now, a study released on Friday says that migration has hurt the post-college prospects of students.

The study, the first of its kind, was conducted by researchers at the University of Rochester. They found that over the last 15 years, 153 artificial intelligence professors in North American universities left their posts for industry. Another 68 moved into industry while retaining part-time roles with their universities.

From 2004 to 2009, 26 university professors moved into industry. In 2018 alone, 41 professors made the move. The exponential rise in departures over the last decade and a half indicates that the trend will continue. The talent shift could accelerate the development of artificial intelligence inside tech giants like Google, Microsoft, Amazon and Apple.

But at the universities the professors left behind, graduating students were less likely to create new AI companies. When they did, they attracted smaller amounts of funding, according to the study. The effect was most pronounced in the field of “deep learning,” a technology that has become a crucial part of new AI systems.

In time, the brain drain from academia could hamper innovation and growth across the economy, the study argued. “The knowledge transfer is lost, and because of that, so is innovation,” said Michael Gofman, a professor of finance at the University of Rochester and one of the authors of the study.

Deep learning is driven by “neural networks,” complex mathematical systems that can learn tasks on their own by analysing vast amounts of data. By pinpointing patterns in thousands of dog photos, for instance, a neural network can lear n to recognise a dog.

Big tech companies have hired many of the academics who specialized in the technique. Three longtime academics recently won the Turing Award — often called the Nobel Prize of computing — for their work on neural networks. Two have moved into industry, one to Google and the other to Facebook.

Tech and automobile industry’s interest in artificial intelligence of all kinds has increased, according to the study. Google and DeepMind, both owned by Alphabet, have hired 23 professors. Amazon has hired 17 professors. Microsoft has hired 13 professors. And Uber, Nvidia and Facebook have each hired seven.

Tech companies disagree with the notion that they are plundering academia. A Google spokesman, for example, said the company is an enthusiastic supporter of academic research.

The study found that students most affected by the departures were those who graduated four to six years later, meaning they probably had little interaction of the departing professors. At any given university, a significant increase in the number of departing professors reduced the number of AI entrepreneurs by 13%.

Experts are split on whether a decline in the startup economy will harm the progress of AI. But many agree that university funding should be increased to ensure that the next generation is properly educated.

Read more at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/71058919.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst

AI could improve police paperwork: MHA think tank

BPRD’s futuristic vision for law enforcement , especially in smart cities, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ambitious project, is part of a concept note the body has drafted.
In a recent interview with The Economist, author Malcolm Gladwell, too discusses the importance of AI in the criminal justice system.(HT image)


The use of Artificial Intelligence in police paperwork, including charge sheets could remove flaws and prejudices from creeping into investigations, India’s Bureau of Police Research & Development (BPRD), a think-tank of the ministry of home affairs (MHA), believes.

BPRD’s futuristic vision for law enforcement , especially in smart cities, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ambitious project, is part of a concept note the body has drafted.

“A machine-learning algorithm can generate chargesheets specific to an incident with complete legal validity without any exclusions or non-conformity. This allows minimal manual intervention; hence the scope for malicious intent is not there in any way and the ability of the legal system to prosecute to the fullest extent of the law is always available. In the charge sheet, references from other judgements as well as other outcomes can also be included to make it more effective,” reads the note, a copy of which has been seen by HT.

Asserting that AI based systems have outperformed lawyers as well as judges in some cases, the BPRD note adds: “A neural network based system over a period of time can also create sensor based inputs in order to predictively allow for the analysis of outcome of cases as well, helping speed up the judicial process. The consequent burden on the policing system goes down”.

In a recent interview with The Economist, author Malcolm Gladwell, too discusses the importance of AI in the criminal justice system. Citing an example of judges taking bail decisions, Gladwell says, “..Defendants stand in front of the judge, the judge has to decide whether I released this person until the trial or I put the person in jail. Are they likely to commit another crime in the interim? That’s an extremely difficult decision to make. And when we look at how effective judges are in predicting the dangerousness of the defendant, they are not very good at it. But look how the machine learning algorithm tends to do better, actually much better than the judge. So there is an instance where we have clear evidence that a disembodied computer can be more accurate in making a prediction about the human being than a judge.”

Gladwell, however, also argues that there is a need to combine both the decision making of humans and AI, a view that many proponents of AI have also advocated.

According to BPRD, AI models coupled with crime mapping can be developed “to analyse crime patterns and identify hotspots which act as a useful tool for predictive and preventive policing”.

The police can also use AI based on algorithmic software at a crime scene for immediate recognition of perpetrator (s) based on modus operandi, pattern of crime/criminals in the area, biometric data, forensic data etc, the note claims. The BPRD note cites the example of San Francisco based Deep Science AI which has developed AI Surveillance (AIS) platform which uses deep learning to identify real people concealing their faces/firearms of intruders.

AI can also be used to manage traffic in smart cities, BPRD has suggested in its note.

To be sure, all this needs integrated data on video surveillance of public places, a wide CCTV camera network, sensors just about everywhere, databases of criminals, information on public transport, real-time tracking of events, and other such, the note admits. It also adds that privacy concerns need to be factored in while using such technologies.

When asked how AI can help police smart cities, Tarun Wig, co-founder of Innefu, a data analytics and cyber security company which provides predictive intelligence systems to various government institutions said: “The AI based system will read the text on a particular case which has to be charge sheeted and extract data on similar charges and relevant law provisions. It can read the type of crimes and tell police how to use its resources”.

BPRD and MHA officials did not respond to queries seeking comment on the concept note.

Source: https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/ai-could-improve-police-paperwork-mha-think-tank/story-ntYcMOFRvWX8ij4SRlgR4K.html (Accessed on September 13, 2019)

'Make in India' push: ABB, NITTTR set up digital simulation lab in Chandigarh

Supporting the nation’s vision of becoming a global manufacturing hub, ABB partnered with NITTTR, for a digital simulation of a CoE lab for students and faculty
The funding for the project is part of ABB India's CSR initiative



New Delhi: Swiss power major ABB India on Tuesday announced the company and the National Institute of Technical Teachers Training and Research (NITTTR) have set up a digital simulation lab in Chandigarh.

The first-of-its-kind multi-physics 'Simulation Center of Excellence' (SCoE) in the country will enhance skill development for critical electro-mechanical equipment design and manufacturing, catalysing 'Make in India' for the students and the faculty members of the institute, according to a statement by ABB India.

The funding for the project is part of ABB India's corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiative.

The Center has added another feather in the cap of educational hub of Chandigarh and Mohali, having institutes of repute ranging from business schools to state-of-the-art research institutions. Chandigarh and its adjoining areas have also become a sought-after destination also for outsourcing industries.


Students from electrical and mechanical engineering departments of the institute have been working with ABB on online remote condition monitoring of motors and issues of motor casings.

Though the SCoE was established with focus on electromechanical systems, the high-performance computing feature of workstations in SCoE has also been used by students of the computer science department of the NITTTR for their postgraduate thesis work in the domain of machine learning.

"A combination of knowledge and expertise developed through the right skilling initiatives would be key to take the Indian economy to the next level of growth. ABB India over decades has been working on various initiatives to catalyse teaching, learning and skill development on best-in-class global technology and practices," said ABB India Managing Director Sanjeev Sharma in the statement.


"The upgraded computing, simulation and analysis facilities available in SCoE has brought opportunities for NITTTR students and faculty for research of complex industrial systems. With the availability of SCoE infrastructure, NITTTR faculty has been able to introduce new short-term courses in the domain of Finite Element Analysis for the technical teachers," said NITTTR Director Shyam Sundar Pattnaik.

Source: https://www.livemint.com/education/news/-make-in-india-push-abb-nitttr-set-up-digital-simulation-lab-in-chandigarh-1568132967806.html (Accessed on September 11, 2019)

In a bid to spur NAAC accreditation, UGC assigns Telangana i

In a bid to spur NAAC accreditation, UGC assigns Telangana i ..

Read more at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/71071744.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst

Bill to merge AICTE, UGC in final stages

The HRD ministry’s five-year Education Quality Upgradation and Inclusion Programme (EQUIP), which was released in June, called for the need to set up a Higher Education Commission of India (HECI).

The official however, refused to share more details about the elements of the bill.(HT image)

A bill that aims to merge the University Grants Commission (UGC) and the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) to create a single regulator for higher education in the country is in the final stages of preparation and likely to come up before the cabinet next month, according to an official aware of the development.

Till now, the UGC regulated the functioning, accreditation and also fund disbursal to 40 central varsities while the AICTE played a similar role for technical institutions. The government has been considering setting up a single regulatory body that would focus on imparting quality education and learning outcomes. The function of fund disbursal would not be a role for such a body.

“The India Higher Education Commission Bill to replace the UGC and the AICTE has been prepared in consultation with the states. The ministry plans to take it to the cabinet next month,” the official said on condition of anonymity. The official added that the bill is in its final stages.

The official however, refused to share more details about the elements of the bill.

The HRD ministry’s five-year Education Quality Upgradation and Inclusion Programme (EQUIP), which was released in June, called for the need to set up a Higher Education Commission of India (HECI).

The plan envisaged the HECI as a regulatory body to promote the quality and standards of education by merging the UGC and AICTE.

According to the suggestion of the EQUIP report, the HECI will primarily focus on academic and quality matters related to ensuring learning outcomes, mentoring of institutions, training of teachers and administrators. It would also seek to promote education through Information and Communication Technology (ICT) initiatives.

According to the EQUIP report, which HRD officials terms as their five-year implementation plan, the HECI will grant autonomy to best performing higher educational institutions and award them powers to confer degrees.

The disbursal of funds that the UGC presently undertakes will be kept separate from the commission, according to the EQUIP report. “Disbursal of the funds shall be done through an SPV [Special Purpose Vehicle]. The HECI shall provide for comprehensive and holistic growth of higher education and research in a competitive global environment,” the report said.

A bill seeking the formation of a National Research Foundation (NRF) is also ready and expected to be placed before the Union cabinet for approval.

In her budget speech in July, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman proposed to the formation of the NRF to fund, promote and coordinate research in the country. “The NRF will assimilate the research grants being given by various ministries independent of each other,” she had said.

“The need to create an umbrella body for the higher education sector has been felt for a long time. However, what kind of relations it has with other bodies including varsities and institutions would define its success. Its role vis-à-vis all other bodies will have to be carefully defined,” said former UGC member Prof Inder Mohan Kapahy.

Source: https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/bill-to-merge-aicte-ugc-in-final-stages/story-30Q8YPFcgzLBq4OoUQgTsK.html

New Arrivals: September 9-13, 2019

Accession Number	Class No.	Author/Editor	Title	Publisher	Year	No. of Copies	Branch / Subject
27321-27330	343.7309 VIS	VISWANATHAN/ SURESH T.	BHARAT'S THE INDIAN CYBER LAW	BHARAT LAW HOUSE	2015	10	INFT/CMPN/ExTC/ Cyber Security and Laws
27331-27335	620.112 SUB	SUBRAMANIAN/ R.	STRENGTH OF MATERIALS	OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS	2016	5	MECHANICAL/Strength of Materials
27336-27365	005.8 GOD/BEL	GODBOLE/ NINA/ BELAPURE/ SUNIT	CYBER SECURITY: UNDERSTANDING CYBER CRIMES, COMPUTER FORENSICS AND LEGAL PERSPECTIVES	WILEY INDIA	2011	30	INFT/CMPN/ExTC/ Cyber Security and Laws
27366-27370	005.8 CHA/CHA	CHATTERJEE/ MADHUMITA/ CHAUDHARY/ SANGITA/ SHARMA/ GAURAV	CYBER SECURITY AND LAWS: AN INTRODUCTION	STAREDU SOLUTIONS	2019	5	CMPN/Cyber Security and Laws
27371-27440	621.4021 KHU/KHU	KHURMI/ R.S./ KHURMI/ N.	STEAM TABLES WITH MOLLIER DIAGRAM	S. CHAND	2018	70	MECHANICAL/Thermodynamics

The Top Programming Languages 2019

Python remains the big kahuna, but specialist languages hold their own
By Stephen Cass

Welcome to IEEE Spectrum’s sixth annual interactive ranking of the top programming languages. This year we’ve done a major overhaul, changing some of the underlying metrics and building a new streamlined interface. But our basic idea and methodology remains the same: combining data from multiple sources to rank the popularity of the programming languages that are used for the type of coding you are interested in.

We take this approach to get around the two fundamental obstacles to all attempts to determine the popularity of programming languages: (1) No one can actually look over the shoulder of every coder around the world as they tap away at the keyboard, and (2) a language that’s a cornerstone of one programming domain might be utterly irrelevant in another. Spectrum gets data for 11 metrics from 8 sources that we think are good proxies for popularity, and we combine the results in an app that lets you filter languages and adjust the weights given to each metric. The upshot is a ranking that’s right for you. (As part of our overhaul, we’ve retired two metrics that we used in previous years because we didn’t think they were yielding good quality data anymore, incorporated data from the IEEE Job Site, and added some new languages to the list, such as Dart.)

Of course, we’ve also got some preset weightings built in that are optimized for job seekers, for example, or folks interested in diving into an open-source side project. Our default weighting is optimized for the typical Spectrum reader, so let’s take a look at what it shows as the top 10 languages of 2019.

Although the changes in our underlying metrics mean that we have to be careful when directly comparing this year’s rankings to last year’s, the general outline of results remains similar, with Python firmly on top. Python’s popularity is driven in no small part by the vast number of specialized libraries available for it, particularly in the domain of artificial intelligence, where the Keras library is a heavyweight among deep-learning developers: Keras provides an interface to the TensorFlow, CNTK, and Theano deep-learning frameworks and tool kits. Deep learning isn’t the only field where Python is having an impact that could not have been anticipated when the language was first released in 1991. The dramatic increase in computing power found in microcontrollers means that embedded versions of Python, such as CircuitPython and MicroPython, are becoming increasingly popular among makers.

Next comes Java, C, and C++, a group whose members have long jostled with one another and with Python for the top spot, although with our adjusted metrics the distance between these contenders has widened, with C++ coming in with a score of 12.5 points below Python. (In any given ranking, the highest-ranked language is assigned a score of 100, and the scores of lower-ranked languages are scaled to that.) The number-crunching language R rounds out the top five. Despite being a much more specialized language than the others, it’s maintained its popularity in recent years due to the world being awash in an ever-growing pile of big data.

Moving further down the top 10, the presence of Matlab—a proprietary language developed by MathWorks and intended for numerical computing—may be a surprise to some, but it simply reflects the language’s prominence in hardware engineering, especially for those interested in running simulations or creating control systems via MathWorks’ graphical Simulink package.

Below the top 10, some items of note include Arduino at No. 11 and HTML/CSS at No. 12. In previous years, some readers have complained that neither should appear on a list of programming languages. In the case of Arduino, the argument is that there is no such language, that “Arduino” is actually the name of the family of hardware platforms on which the language runs, and that this language should be called Wiring (or sometimes C or C++ for historical reasons). In this, we are led by simple pragmatism: When faced with a programming question, the overwhelming majority of Arduino developers search Google using terms like “Arduino Code for…,” rather than any alternative. By choosing the de facto name, we avoid deeply discounting the popularity of programs written for the Arduino and similar microcontrollers.

Pragmatism is also the name of the game when it comes to HTML, with the objection here that it is not a real programming language because it doesn’t have branching or loop constructs. But given the huge popularity of HTML and CSS among developers, and the fact that they are used to instruct billions of computers to do things daily, we feel any academic arguments about Turing completeness and so on are beside the point. A markup language is still a language.

Finally, some older languages are still alive and kicking. In particular, despite being over 60 years old, Fortran still comes in at No. 38, likely due to the enormous legacy power of being the original scientific computing language. The language is still under active development, with the most recent Fortran standard released at the end of 2018, incorporating improved interoperability with C and better support for massive parallel computations.

Source: https://spectrum.ieee.org/computing/software/the-top-programming-languages-2019

The Online Test Centre

The Online Test Centre

Whether you are studying for a professional entrance exam—if you’re applying for a job at some of the best software companies—or even if you want to strengthen your problem-solving skills, then head to The Online Test Centre. Here you will find thousands of questions in numerical and verbal aptitude tests, logic and diagrammatic tests, reasoning tests, puzzles, general knowledge questions and GMAT test advice. You will even find a section dedicated to interview questions subdivided into categories like Typical Questions, Sudden Tests, Group Discussions, Tasks at Interviews, and Behavioral Questions. The Online Test Centre is a completely free resource with no login required; all the tests are free and available when you need them. www.theonlinetestcentre.com

Researcher: An App for Academicians

Researcher

Researcher is a valuable resource for college students and academics who want to keep abreast of research papers in disciplines such as Arts & Humanities, Business & Management, Earth Sciences & Geography, Engineering & Computer Science, Medicine & Health, and more. Each discipline consists of at least ten sub-categories: For instance, you can read papers on Gender Studies, Law and Urban Studies within the Social Sciences course. Using the app, you can bookmark technical papers, download them for free to your phone, share them with colleagues via email or messenger, and even read them later from a PC web browser. Once you create an account, you gain access to over 15,000 peer-reviewed journals. The app’s journals database is updated on a weekly basis.

Android, iOS Free

Source: The Times of India (Mumbai edition) dated 11/09/2019

IIM-Udaipur launches course on digital enterprise management

IIM-Udaipur launches course on digital enterprise management

Read more at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/71030217.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst

Small global cos on India hiring spree

Host of product firms have moved tech teams here to leverage cost arbitrage in last 8 months
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It is not just large banks and IT firms that are tapping into India’s technology talent pool. Over the past year or so, a growing number of small American and European product companies have started moving technology development work to India, as they face a battle for talent competing with large companies in their home markets.

Software as a Service (SaaS) firm Quolum, which started operations earlier this year, has hired three people in India out of its four-member tech team.

“Over the last seven to eight months, we have seen a lot of product companies move tech teams to India to leverage the cost arbitrage. These companies have proven business models and find it easy to attract talent by paying 1.3-1.5 times the prevailing salaries in India,” said Joseph Devasia, MD, Antal India, an executive recruitment firm.

Paying a marginally higher salary is not an issue for foreign firms as it is still one-fifth of what they would have to pay in their home markets. Ridecell, which provides amobility platform for shared vehicles, has a 50-member team in Pune.

“Having a tech office in India gives us the strategic advantage to address the huge market potential in India and the growing mobility markets across Europe, Asia and the Middle East. Additionally, India is the hub for world-class tech talent, so it made complete sense for us to set up a technology office here,” said Samyak Pandya, VP of business operations and finance, Ridecell.

There has been a spike in the number of small tech companies looking at India, said Gaurav Chattur, managing director-Asia Pacific, Catenon Group, a search firm that helps global firms recruit people for their India operations. “The US and European countries are inherently short on tech talent. The visa norms in these countries are also a challenge, which is why even early-stage firms are considering India,” he said.

A recent study by Cornell University found that foreign-born PhD students in the US were more likely to opt to work at a large tech firm over a startup or smaller product firm, simply because of visa issues.

Smaller firms typically do not have the resources to help procure an H-1B visa — essential for a non-US citizen to work in the US. As a result, many of the smaller firms are struggling to find the right talent locally. With large IT services firms also increasing hiring locally in the US, the talent supply pipeline has been choked for product firms.

Very often, these companies have been started by Indians, or have Indians on the core team. In these cases, the choice of where to set up the India operations depends on where the founder has a personal connection.

Switzerland-headquartered Loylogic started out by outsourcing its technology work, but when it decided to move it in-house for IP and knowledge management reasons, India was an obvious choice.

“India (and Pune) has a mature IT industry with access to large resource pool. There is still cost arbitrage compared to European salaries,” said Piyush Khandelwal, Chief Operations Officer, Loylogic Technologies India.

There may be challenges around getting people to work for an unknown entity, but often the lure of doing differentiated work and a higher paycheck are incentives enough.

Source: https://tech.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/corporate/small-global-cos-on-india-hiring-spree/71041251

From Tamil Nadu’s fields to space: Isro chief K Sivan’s journey

From tilling the family fields with his father in a remote Tamil Nadu village to heading the prestigious Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) in Bengaluru and launching India’s ambitious moon mission, Chandrayaan 2, K Sivan has come a long way.

Despite his family’s modest means, Sivan, now 62, pursued his studies, attending his classes and also helping his father in the fields.

He studied at a village government school in the Tamil medium, and did his BSc in mathematics from ST Hindu College in Kanyakumari district. Throughout his early student years, his wardrobe was minimalist (he used to wear a dhoti) and he would walk barefoot. The first time he wore slippers was in engineering college.

Even after all these years, Sivan remains a man of simple needs.

“He still wears plain clothes, even though he is quite fond of wearing white-coloured clothes,” said a colleague and friend of his, who did not wish to be named.

“Same goes for his eating habits. He is the ISRO chairman but during all our project meetings you will find him sitting with the rest of the team members and enjoying a meal of dal-chawal, rasam, papad and curd. He prefers south Indian cuisine,” said the colleague.

Sivan graduated from Madras Institute of Technology in aeronautical engineering in 1980, after which he pursued aerospace engineering from the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, in 1982. He also has a PhD in aerospace engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay.

Sivan joined ISRO in 1982 in its Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) project and has contributed immensely towards end-to-end mission planning, mission design, mission integration and analysis for all the launch vehicle programmes. He is the chief mission architect for 104 satellites launched in a single mission of the PSLV (PSLV C37).


“He is a perfectionist, and doesn’t accept substandard work. Even the presentations need to be perfect; even if he finds a minor error in a presentation before it’s to be presented, he cancels the meeting until the corrections are made. Behind his benign appearance is a tough taskmaster. He is a workaholic and also expects his team to put in their 100%,” the colleague said.

Sivan evolved a cost-effective strategy for the 2014 launch of the Mangalyaan Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) using the PSLV. In addition to this, he is the primary developer of 6D trajectory simulation software SITARA which is used for mission planning of ISRO launch vehicles. Sivan is also the primary developer of Day of Launch – a wind biasing strategy for launch vehicles that has enabled all-weather launches.

He is the chief architect of ISRO’s space transportation and technology roadmap for meeting future requirements as well as augmenting existing capabilities in a phased manner.


During his career at ISRO, he has held many responsibilities -- group director, mission simulations and synthesis group; project director, reusable launch vehicle—technology demonstration programme; and chief controller, Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre that he later also headed.

As part of his innovative approach to making space technologies useful in day-today life, Sivan also has had discussions with the medical fraternity for development of medical devices in key areas.

The proposals for development of advanced microprocessor controlled artificial limb and artificial heart pump called Left Ventricle Assist Device has now been taken up in association with industry partners for prototype development as well as field trials.

Source: https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/from-tn-s-fields-to-space-rocket-man-s-journey/story-YUjjWJZg34D7yUFJfCwU6O.html

India's cyber security chief highlights security risks of 5G, IoT

NCSC Lt General Rajesh Pant said the government has to take decision on Huawei
By PTI September 06, 2019 22:05 IST

(Representational image) An antenna for the 5G mobile network service is pictured in Etoy, western Switzerland | AFP

Security is a big issue in 5G and the decision around participation of Chinese telecom gear major Huawei should be taken after proper consideration, the country's top cyber security officer said on Friday.

National Cyber Security Coordinator Lt General (Dr) Rajesh Pant also said that 5G will not be limited to telecom networks but will have an impact across all sectors.

Meanwhile, Huawei said security and privacy are its highest priority and the company strictly adheres to all local laws and regulations.

"Government has to decide on it (participation of Huawei). We can tell you from technology aspect. Thereafter, its economics and political part will be seen. Security is an issue, there is no doubt in it. 5G is not just a pure telecom network. It has many things that are connected to our lifestyle," Pant told reporters on the sidelines of CII Telecom Convergence Summit.

He was responding to a question on the views of his office over the participation of Huawei in 5G trials in India.

Pant said that 5G technology will be connected to the internet of things (IoT) that will be installed in homes and industrial IoT will be operational in electric vehicles, healthcare systems, agriculture and drones, among others.

"If someone wants to add malware in system, it will not only disturb telecom network but it can also disrupt health system, agriculture, industry. It is a big security issue. In this, we will have to take decision only after proper consideration. There has been no decision on it as of now," Pant said.

"We will have to see our national interest," he added.

The US has banned Huawei's 5G technology, saying the company's systems could be manipulated by Beijing to spy on other countries and disrupt critical communications.

When contacted, Huawei said it hopes the Indian government makes an "independent and informed decision" that provides a level playing field for all players for the country and not based on country of origin or speculative allegations lacking evidence.

Huawei India CEO Jay Chen said, "It is well known that Huawei is closely working with all governments, including the Indian Government on 5G technology, solutions and security issues. Beyond that, it is to be noted that Huawei has stepped up to advocate to the industry to sign the no backdoor' agreement with the Indian Government to secure network security. We share the same opinion as the Indian Government that network security is important and it depends upon the joint efforts of all stakeholders."

Huawei said it has subjected itself to the strictest reviews and screening by regulators and customers.

The company's 30-years of operational track record across 170 countries is proof of the security of its networks, it added.

Source: https://www.theweek.in/news/biz-tech/2019/09/06/indias-cyber-security-chief-highlights-security-risks-of-5g-iot.html (Accessed on September 11, 2019)

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