Smart soldiers are going to be a reality in Indian defence soon. The Ministry of Defence (MoD) has created a special purpose vehicle (SPV) of private companies to develop next generation warfare. Three private companies including HCL and TCS have tied up for this SPV to produce warfare equipment. The task cut out for this SPV: to develop smart, e-intelligent soldiers. An army that not only wields guns and hurls grenades but is also equipped with electronic backpacks to connect with communication and intelligence devices. With the development of such e-intelligent soldiers, the Indian army will be able to better track and provide backup to their smart soldiers. And this smart soldier will come with a Made in India tag. Taking a cue from our American counterparts, this development is Manohar Parrikar’s effort to modernise warfare equipment in India and in the process develop defence manufacturing in India.
— Suchetana Ray & Monica BehuraFB Face-offThe question of whether Facebook should be allowed to run its Free Basics programme of free Internet access to its chosen circumference of the web is far from buried, even after its partner, RCom, was asked to desist from implementation. TRAI, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, has been in a tussle with the social networking giant over whether its campaign and the way a petition was set up to be clicked on and spread across the web was a valid response to TRAI’s call for specific responses. The tussle aside, Facebook is not giving up easily one way or the other. Very recently, news has emerged of Facebook trying out an in-app browser. Users will be able to input a URL and check out a site, coming back to where they were in Facebook. The idea is to keep users within Facebook as long as possible, but it will be interesting to see whether such a browser will allow Facebook to counter the argument that its Free Basics is offering a carved out Internet to those who don’t know what lies beyond the social network.
— Mala Bhargava
Intolerance UnlimitedIn recent days we saw a strange but cogent link between noted historian Ramachandra Guha and Bollywood producer Karan Johar. Speaking at a memorial lecture to honour the playwright Vijay Tendulkar, Guha decried that India had deteriorated from a 50:50 democracy to a 40:60 one considering the “way intellectuals are eliminated or suppressed”. Referring to the killings of rationalists like Narendra Dabholkar, he said though the country had the trappings of free elections, there was little “freedom of expression”. Speaking in the same vein days later at a lit fest, Johar said: “The talk about freedom of expression is the biggest joke in the world. Democracy is the second biggest joke I think.” It kicked up another storm of protest. Despite Aamir Khan backtracking in recent days ‘that he would live and die in this country’, the intolerance debate does not seem to die down. And in the melee, Bollywood seems to be becoming more ‘intellectual, while the intellectuals are using filmi tools to give more resonance to their voices!
– Gurbir SinghState Paper Not Sovereign Debt?The latest Regulatory Consistency Assessment Programme (RCAP) review is of the view that securities issued by state governments cannot be considered sovereign debt under Basel standards. It came up in the context of the liquidity coverage ratio (LCR) — it’s to make sure banks have high quality liquid assets (HQLA) to survive an acute stress lasting 30 days. Simply put: they can sell the HQLAs and meet any liquidity needs. But Indian banks have long held they also comply with the statutory liquidity ratio (SLR) wherein they invest 21.50 per cent of their liabilities in securities of the Centre (and state debt). The LCR is, therefore, a new burden. In the ensuing debate, Mint Road has stated we were found only to be `Largely Compliant on LCR’ and `Compliant on the LCR disclosure’ requirements. That this lower rating for our compliance stems from the view of the review team that state government securities can’t be Level 1 HQLA. Mint Road, on its part, has not ceded the point made by RCAP.
— Raghu Mohan‘Magazine Of The Year’ Award For BWBW Businessworld has been presented with the Chanakya Magazine of The Year Award instituted by the Public Relations Council of India (PRCI) — a national body of PR, media, advertising, and HR professionals. The award was presented at PRCI’s 10th Global Communication Conclave held at Kolkata recently. West Bengal’s minister for Women Welfare and Child Development Sashi Panja presented the award to Jai Talwar, National Business Development Director, BW Businessworld. The award was given for excellence in reporting and analysis.
(This story was published in BW | Businessworld Issue Dated 08-02-2016)
