What can we do if we link money, digital identity and a mobile phone? A lot, if one were to put it simply. The idea is brilliant and practical at the same time, which is a rarity. It’s an idea that the government of India seems to have picked up and is keen on running with it for a long time. Like all things in the Modi Sarkar, they call it by a fancy acronym: JAM or Jan-Dhan, Aadhaar &am
While talking to a friend on a mobile phone have you experienced a sudden disruption in connection? And the call ends abruptly midway? Chances are you have. Call drops have become a serious problem lately, causing a nuisance to the users. The call drop issue has also triggered a war between the telecom operators and authorities who keep shifting the blame to the other for the disruption in conn
As call drops and poor network problems are being mentioned even by the prime minister, new telecom regulatory authority of India (TRAI) chairman Ram Sevak Sharma talks on the subject in an exclusive conversation with Governance Now. Sharma, a 1978-batch IAS officer, has been a major force behind the Digital India programme. In an interview to Taru Bhatia,
After Section 66A and net neutrality, the communications and IT ministry has stirred up another controversy. On September 19, the ministry’s department of electronics and IT (DietY) posted a draft of the national encryption policy which required mobile phone and social media users to maintain records of all messages for 90 days and submit them to law enforcement agencies when required. If
The Chinese invented the movable type some 1,000 years back. Three hundred years later the Korean calligraphers and printers had refined the moulding technique enough to introduce metallic movable type, the first of its kind in the world. Contrary to popular perception, Johannes Gutenberg is not the inventor of the metallic movable type. Neither is he the first one to have independently invente
It’s the year 2020, we are sitting in a room called the Health Cockpit of a prominent municipal corporation in India, and there is an emergency meeting to prevent a possible outbreak of Leptospirosis, which the municipal corporation feels it should check with the anticipated heavy rainfall in the city and the relationship between rainfall, rodent population and garbage that their in-house
In this digital and social media age, the din about privacy is seemingly a big paradox. How come a generation that is so comfortable sharing the minutest details about their whereabouts, families and friends, and so candid about voicing their political, social and ideological views on open platforms like Facebook and Twitter, be bothered about a potential risk to privacy in a secure network lik
In March 2013, the Punjab government announced the launch of centre-sponsored ‘safe city’ project and chose Amritsar and Ludhiana as the beneficiaries. In the proposed project, CCTV cameras were to be installed at all major spots, which were vulnerable to criminal activities at an estimated cost of Rs 135 crore. Enthused, the Punjab police started its research work an
Understanding security challenges and cloud initiatives in banking and finance sector was the central theme of ‘Banking on Cloud Conclave’ organised by Governance Now, in Mumbai, in July. Stakeholders from public and private sector, cooperative banks, and IT companies held discussions on transforming business through cloud, adopting suitable cloud models, applications and strategies
Mindtree, a leading digital transformation and technology services company today launched its global learning & delivery centre in Odisha’s capital Bhubaneshwar. The facility, named Mindtree Kalinga, was inaugurated by state chief minister Naveen Patnaik. According to Subroto Bagchi, chairman of Mindtree, the Bhubaneshwar centre "will enable us to shape the minds o
The government is set to increase its spending on information technology products and services by 5.2% to $6.88 billion this year as it steps up efforts to connect more people on Internet, says IT research firm Gartner. This huge jump is due to the government’s initiatives to create a digitally-connected India through greater access to government services on mobile devices,
Indian railways is in talks with Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and IIT Kanpur to develop a radio-based warning system at all unmanned level crossings of railways, said AK Mittal, chairman, railway board. The new technology is one of the preventive measures planned by Indian railways to develop a strong safety system. Other measures such as renewal of tracks structure and upgr
With the electronic revolution sweeping the country everyone is becoming a gadget freak. As soon as a new upgrade is launched we discard our old devices to buy the new ones. But have we ever thought where do these obsolete devices go and how much e-waste in return we generate? A UN report answers this question. India discarded 1.7 million tonnes (Mt) of electronic and electrical equipment in 20
Bringing smart solutions that deliver convenience, railway ministry introduced mobile-based application for booking unreserved tickets for travelling on New Delhi - Palwal section of northern railway. The section covers 11 stations over 57 kms of distance. Passengers on this route will save time by avoiding long queues at the ticket counters. Designed
Think hazardous toxic waste and what immediately comes to mind is either industrial chemical waste, or the bodily fluid-laced hospital waste. Little do we understand that the computer on which this article has been typed, or the mobile phone which you use daily to update the Facebook status is a cocktail of toxic materials, which when discarded and dumped not only pollutes the environment, but
For Sanjay Patel, 2011 was a pleasant year. An environmental consultant based in Surat, Patel forayed into a ‘lucrative’ business that year. The ministry of environment and forest for the first time had introduced the e-waste (management and handling) rules under the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986. “When the rules came, everybody thought it will be easier to get a lot of e
The 23.6 kms Noida-Greater Noida expressway has been in the limelight for all the wrong reasons. From rowdy biking to road accidents to looting, the expressway has seen it all. But the situation is now improving with the intelligent traffic management system (ITMS) deployed by Noida authority. ITMS aims to reduce accidents and provide rescue measures. Though the project has been
It’s extremely rare in India to recover a stolen vehicle, let alone in a time of less than three months. In March, a Chevrolet Beat car was stolen from the IP Mission school street of Muglisara area of Surat. The city police registered a case of vehicle theft and it subsequently recovered the vehicle in three months. But how did this happen? Thanks to the picture intellige
Indian tablet market had stabilised and was growing again, says research firm IDC as a part of its Q2 2015 report announced on Wednesday. The tablet market grew by 23 per cent. Overall, there were 1.04 million unit shipments representing a growth of 22 per cent for the same period in 2014 and a year over year growth of 15 per cent. Q2 2015 saw a growth of 12.4 per cent from Q1 of
In the age of sweeping security environment and women`s safety concerns, anything that makes task easy is welcome. A new series of visual and thermal high-speed pan-tilt (PT) head network cameras for a range of light conditions and surveillance needs has been unveiled by Axis Communications. The Swedish company announced today the dawn of AXIS Q86 PT Head Network Camera Series. T
