LIRC@SFIT

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, NATGRI...

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, be...

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 se...

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 ...

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 pressu...

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...