March SPO INDIA 2018

www.spoindia.org Vol. III | Issue 05 | March 2018 | Rs. 50

Uttar Pradesh treading the development path |16pg

Policy Framework for Data Protection in India | 18pg www.spoindia.org March 2018 | 1

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Policy Framework for Data Protection in India

Editor-in-Chief: Deepak Kumar Sahu Executive Editor: S Mohini Ratna Assistant Editor: Samrita Baruah Copy Editor: C. M. Dutta Art Director: Rakesh Kumar Network Administrator: Ashok Kumar Singh Manager-IT: Subhash Mohanta Manager-SEO: Bidyadhar Behera BUSINESS: Vice President: Prasanna Rout General Manager: Ashok Ranjan Dash Marketing Manager: Dipendra Kumar

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Cyber Security | 18

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Mumbai: Bureau office

COVER STORY

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ROUND ABOUT 17

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Ayushman Bharat – National Health Protection Mission gets a nod by Cabinet

interview 28

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‘Convergence of CSR and sustainability form the core of The Companies Act, 2013’

Bad Loans in India growing in Double Digit

INTERVIEW 34

H1-B Visa and Harley Davidson

LEAD STORY

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Uttar Pradesh on path of development

LEAD STORY

Food Dosti strives to reduce food wastage

FACE TO FACE 35

Tuberculosis—The Scourge Of India

SPO FOUNDATION 36

'The Mid-day Meal has been a great success for Akshay Patra Foundation'

CORPORATE EVENT 30

InterraIT organizes a technological event on digital transformation www.spoindia.org March 2018 | 3

Is it time to regulate Social media?

Social networking site Facebook is today using all the things possible to lure people of all ages. In order to connect with the whole world, besides friends and relatives, it has become the biggest point of connection. But now the horror story of Facebook is surfacing.

Christopher Wylie played a big role in building one of the most effective political weapons of the digital age with the help of this social networking site.

It is disclosed that our information on Facebook is getting leaked which is a matter of big concern. There is widespread ruckus created and most of these stories are coming from America and India. Facebook is reporting a total “potential audience� of 230 million in the United States, compared to 250 million active users in India. It can be judged by how far this country can be influenced by its politics.

As soon as someone opens their account on Facebook, it starts collecting data. You have to first submit your email ID for signup, after which you are allowed to login in the remaining information such as the date of birth and sex/gender. Even before you log in, you have given three vital information related to yourself to Facebook. After this you are asked for your contact details, which are referenced in that it will connect you with your friends. If you go ahead without giving details, then Facebook reminds you that Facebook is useless without friends. On coming to the next step, Facebook asks you for your photo. The process of gathering your information still continues - Which groups did you join or which groups you ignored? Which pages have you liked. Not only that, after clicking on a person's account, there is an additional option other than its timeline. In this, you get the details of where you work, where you have studied, which city you live in, what your hometown is like, so on and so forth. The matter just does not stop here. It goes on to further probe into What language you know, what your religious beliefs are, your political views, your family status, who are in your family, what sports you like, what music you like, your TV Program, your books etc.

British company Cambridge Analytica found a weakness in Facebook. It started reading all of Facebook's data without permission - just like where you went, what page, group, or person you liked. In other words they have been harvestingdata. The privacy and rules that Facebook has been talking about, it did not take long for Cambridge Analytica to blow them away. The company also knows which city has the attitude towards which party and how many people are fanatical for which party. All these data is collected by the company which further helps the parties in deciding their strategies.

Social media has been both a boon and a bane. On one side, it has connected billions of people, allowed people to create awareness on current issues, allowed government and agencies to reach out to the people and even made education more accessible. On the other side, it has allowed tawdry characters to create incognito accounts to troll and incite. It has also opened the door for hackers, fraudsters and scammers to cheat people. It is hence high time to regulate the social media sites for protecting the privacy of children and individuals from a data protection point of view.

Deepak Kumar Sahu Publisher & Editor-in-Chief

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www.spoindia.org March 2018 | 5 www.varindia.com

September 2017

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NEWS/GOVT.

MNRE to set up 65,180 biogas plants in 2018

The National Biogas and Manure Management Programme (NBMMP) aims at setting up of family type biogas plants for providing biogas as clean cooking fuel and a source of lighting.

The slurry produced from biogas plants as a by-product is an organic bio-manure for enhancing crop yield and maintaining soil health. The biogas technology dissemination helps in reducing the environment degradation and prevents the emissions of Green House Gases (GHGs) such as Carbon Dioxide (CO2) and Methane into the atmosphere. The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has fixed an annual physical target of setting up 65,180 biogas plants for the current year 2017-18 under the NBMMP. Under the NBMMP, about 49.6 lakh household size biogas plants have been installed since the inception of the National Biogas Programme in the country.

The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), through the State Nodal Agencies/ Departments, spreads awareness about the programme (NBMMP) through advertisements in local Newspapers, display of posters in Panchayats Offices, Schools, KisanSeva Kendra’s, distribution of booklets on biogas during gatherings at exhibitions, KisanMelas/Fairs etc.

Cabinet approves inclusion of ‘Parivara and Talawara’ in the ST list

The Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has, in principle, approved the inclusion of the communities, namely, 'Parivara and Talawara' as synonym of "Nayaka' at SI. No. 38 in the list of STs of Karnataka.

This will fulfil the long term demand of 'Parivara' and Talawara' communities for granting Scheduled Tribes status in the State of Karnataka. The persons belonging to "Parivara' and Talawara' communities will be eligible to get the Scheduled Tribe certificate from the State of Karnataka and will also be eligible for all benefits meant for the Scheduled Tribes in the State.

The first specification of Scheduled Tribes in relation to a particular State or Union territory is by a notified Order of the President, after consultation with the State Government / UT concerned. Any subsequent inclusion in or exclusion from and other modifications in the list of Scheduled Tribes can be made only through an amending Act of Parliament.

LPG Panchayat set up as a Parliament passes Payment of communication platform for rural Gratuity (Amendment) Bill, 2018 The Payment of Gratuity (Amendment) Bill, 2018 has been LPG users passed by the parliament.The bill ensures harmony amongst The Government has launched Pradhan Mantri LPG Panchayat which is an interactive communication platform for rural LPG users on various subjects like safe usage of LPG, its benefit to environment, women empowerment and women health, and also use the forum to motivate the consumers to use LPG regularly as a clean cooking fuel. The Government had launched “Pradhan MantriUjjwala Yojana” on 1st May 2016 to provide deposit-free LPG connections to 5 crore women belonging to the Below Poverty Line (BPL) with a budgetary provision of Rs. 8000 crore and the target has now been enhanced to 8 crore with additional budgetary provision of Rs. 4,800 crore.

The beneficiaries under the Scheme are identified through Socio Economic Caste Census (SECC) 2011.

The Government has now decided to cover the following categories under the Scheme - All SC/STs households beneficiaries of Pradhan MantriAwasYojana (PMAY) (Gramin); Antyoday Anna Yojana (AAY); Forest dwellers; Most Backward Classes (MBC); Tea & Ex-Tea Garden Tribes; People residing in Islands and People residing in river islands.

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employees in the private sector and Public Sector Undertakings/ Autonomous Organizations under Government who are not covered under CCS (Pension) Rules. These employees will be entitled to receive higher amount of gratuity at par with their counterparts in Government sector. The bill was passed by the Rajya Sabha and the Lok Sabha on 15th March, 2018.

The Payment of Gratuity Act, 1972 applies to establishments employing 10 or more persons. The main purpose for enacting this Act is to provide social security to workman after retirement, whether retirement is a result of superannuation, or physical disablement or impairment of vital part of the body. Therefore, the Payment of Gratuity Act, 1972 is an important social security legislation to wage earning population in industries, factories and establishments.

NEWS/GOVT.

Over Rs. 5600 crore sanctioned under Swadesh Darshan Scheme

NEIDS to play a big role in development of Northeast

ISRO–BHEL sign TTA for manufacturing space grade LiIon cells

36 sites from India inscribed on World Heritage List

A total amount of Rs. 5638.87 crore was sanctioned with release of Rs. 2148.17 crore since 2014-15 till date under the Swadesh Darshan Scheme of Ministry of Tourism. Under the Swadesh Darshan scheme, thirteen thematic circuits have been identified for development namely – North-East India Circuit, Buddhist Circuit, Himalayan Circuit, Coastal Circuit, Krishna Circuit, Desert Circuit, Tribal Circuit, Eco Circuit, Wildlife Circuit, Rural Circuit, Spiritual Circuit, Ramayana Circuit and Heritage Circuit.

Meanwhile, under the PRASHAD scheme, 23 projects have been sanctioned to 15 States for a total amount of Rs.687.92 crore with release of Rs.241.28 crore since 2015-16 till date. The objective of the National Mission on Pilgrimage Rejuvenation and Spiritual, Heritage Augmentation Drive (PRASHAD) is of holistic development of identified pilgrimage and heritage destination.

ISRO has entered into a Technology Transfer Agreement (TTA) with Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) to transfer the technology for the manufacture of space grade Li-Ion cells.

The TTA was signed at ISRO Headquarters, Bengaluru yesterday in the presence of Dr. K. Sivan, Chairman, ISRO and Atul Sobti, Chairman & Managing Director, BHEL. ISRO uses Li-Ion batteries as power sources for satellite and launch vehicle applications due to their high energy density, reliability and long cycle life. Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) of ISRO at Thiruvananthapuram has successfully developed the technology to produce space grade Li-ion cell, demonstrated the performance of the cell under various testing conditions and established its cycle life characteristics in accelerated mode. These cells are currently being used for various satellite and launch vehicle applications.

The Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space Dr Jitendra Singh said that the North East Industrial Development Scheme (NEIDS), approved by the Union Cabinet, will play a crucial role in promoting new industrial units in the region by providing several special incentives.

Interacting with a series of Industry and trade delegations from the Northeast, Dr Jitendra Singh said, the Cabinet decision is yet another reiteration of the high priority accorded by the Union Government and Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi himself, to promote entrepreneurship and job opportunities in the Northeast.

Elaborating on the highlights of the newly announced North East Industrial Development Scheme, Dr Jitendra Singh said, to begin with, a financial outlay of Rs. 3,000 crore has been earmarked for it.

36 Sites from India are inscribed on the World Heritage List which include 28 Cultural, 7 Natural and 1 Mixed category site.

There are 3686 monuments/sites under the protection of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI). During the last three years, the Archaeological Site of Nalanda Mahavihara (Nalanda University) at Nalanda (Bihar); the Architectural Work of Le Corbusier, an Outstanding Contribution to the Modern Movement, Chandigarh; thehistoric City of Ahmedabad under cultural category and Khangchendzonga National Park, Sikkim under mixed category are added to the World Heritage List and the Vishnu Temple, Wynad (Kerala) is added to the protection list of ASI. The protected monument/sites under ASI are in good state of preservation. www.spoindia.org March 2018 | 7

CSR/CORPORATE

Twitter India launches #BloodMatters to bridge blood donation gap

Delhi police felicitates 450 women trained in self-defence techniques

Canon India celebrates International Women’s Day

Nippon Paint to beautify corporation schools in Chennai

As part of its 12th birthday celebration, Twitter India is launching a social initiative called #BloodMatters aimed at driving more awareness and bridging the gap of blood donations in India. Blood Donors India (@BloodDonorsIN), a voluntary blood donation helpline on Twitter, is the first partner for the #BloodMatters initiative.

Twitter is expanding the reach of the helpline through Twitter Lite (mobile.twitter.com), which provides more data-friendly access to real-time information exchange on blood donations across India. Twitter will also promote @BloodDonorsIN as part of Twitter’s #Twitter4Good philanthropic mission.

People can request for blood donation simply with a Tweet to @BloodDonorsIN with their location hashtag, blood type, mobile contact and Twitter handle. People interested to help can follow @BloodDonorsIN and respond or retweet requests for help.

Twitter will be supporting the implementation of an automated response solution to scale the operations of @BloodDonorsIN, currently run by a group of volunteers.

Canon India considers its employees its biggest asset. Having completed two glorious decades in the country last year, Canon takes pride in celebrating 20 years of employment of some of its employees, followed by other long service awards, including 15, 10 and 5 years. These long tenures of service of Canon employees has been possible with the constant encouragement and motivation the employees receive at their work place. This women’s day, Canon India, acknowledged the strong and spirited women, with a digital campaign, titled ‘#MoreStrengthToHer’.

The campaign is an endeavour by the organization’s senior leaders to salute the spirit of women and encourage fair and equal practices, across the world. These leaders, comprised of Kazutada Kobayashi, President & CEO, along with Vice Presidents, including Shikha Rai, Vice President, HR; Gary Lee, Vice President & CFO; K. Bhaskhar, Vice President, Business Imaging Solutions and Eddie Udagawa, Vice President, Consumer Imaging and Information Center. The leaders shared their learnings and wisdom derived from their experiences, to not only encourage and uplift the spirit of their own employees but for women at large.

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In an endeavour towards creating a safe city for women, Delhi Police has collaborated with World Vision India, to train around 450 women in the art of self-defense. On International Women’s Day, a valedictory ceremony was conducted for these women who have successfully completed 15 days of training. World Vision India’s My City Initiative’ aims to make cities safer, especially for women. As part of this programme, representatives of the organisation were also part of Delhi Police’s women’s safety committees across the city. So far with the support of the Delhi Police, self-defense training has been conducted for more than 3000 women in the city.

Speaking at the valedictory, Sushil Kumar, DCP, Ashok Vihar, North West Delhi said, “Women are an asset to the nation. We need to join hands to make Women empowerment possible and spread the message in our society. Join hands with the Delhi police in preventing Violence against women.”

Nippon Paint (India) has announced its association with United Way Chennai to Paint 200 Corporation Schools across Chennai.

The Chennaiyin FC players engaged the school children in a fun and interactive session speaking about sanitation, keeping our environment clean and football. They handed out stationary kits to the students and even showcased some football skills. Later,

the players actively joined the NGO volunteers in painting the walls of the school using Nippon Paint.

In support of The Corporation of Chennai’s initiative to modernize the school environment, Nippon paint, in association with United Way Chennai, initiates beautification of school environment. An initiative like this will bring about a sense of pride and feeling of belonging among the students and parents who send their children to these schools.

CSR/CORPORATE

DishTV celebrates achievements of women

Vistara launches ‘Airborne’ to educate about air travel

Vodafone reiterates its commitment towards women employees

Tupperware launches #PressForConfidence campaign to honour women

DishTV has celebrated International Women’s Day by highlighting the unique achievements of Indian women in recent years. As the world progresses, women are redefining their identity and breaking barriers set by society.

The brand highlighted female achievers who have performed exceptionally well in their respective domains; from KanganaRanaut with 3 National Awards; to AvaniChaturvedi, the first Indian woman to fly a fighter jet solo, these women have been an inspiration for one and all.

The tribute creative highlighted other trailblazers like Miss World ManushiChillar and Manu Bhaker, who won two golds at the ISSF world cup. The brand also asserted that an inspiring woman doesn’t necessarily need to be a celebrity as the ones around us are nothing short of heroes.

DishTV, in collaboration with Reprise Media also prompted the audience to acknowledge their importance by tagging them on social media, a simple yet significant gesture.

On the occasion of the International Women’s Day 2018, Vodafone India re-inforced its commitment to the Health, Safety and well- being of women employees in Punjab, HP and JK by extending Vodafone ‘Project Comfort’ on the digital platform.

The digitization of Vodafone ‘Project Comfort’ has been undertaken with a twin objective of easing access to safe and hygienic washroom facilities for women employees at Vodafone office, retail outlets and field jobs across the states of Punjab, Himachal and JK and facilitating feedback mechanism from them.

Vodafone ‘Project Comfort’ was born from Vodafone’s philosophy of providing women employees with a Safe workplace, Safe travel and Safe stay. Feedback taken from women employees revealed they often chose to stay dehydrated to avoid use of unhygienic washrooms. This was an important insight and Vodafone took it very seriously. With Vodafone ‘Project Comfort’ every time a woman employee goes on field duty, Vodafone ensures she has access to a safe, hygienic washroom facility in that office/market beat/retail outlet location.

Vistara has released ‘Airborne’, a first-of-its kind comic book designed to educate and sensitize its ‘Young Stars’ or young travellers to the nuances of air travel. In a fun and interactive way, Vistara’s ‘Airborne’ explains how things work from the moment one books a ticket to exiting the airport terminal after a flight, covering all customer touchpoints. It addresses many questions that curious air travellers usually have about flying as well as airport and airline operations in an uncomplicated manner, thereby drawing interest of adults as well. In addition, ‘Airborne’ touches upon good cabin courtesy and includes tips for one to have a pleasant flying experience.

Through appealing illustrations, storytelling and the usage of easy language, ‘Airborne’ makes for the perfect read for inquisitive young minds. It also serves as an engaging inflight entertainment medium for children and teenagers, helping Vistara generate greater interest among them about the aviation industry in their growing up years. ‘Airborne’ is being given to Vistara’s young travellers at the check in counters and to the children of Salaam Baalak Trust, Vistara’s NGO partner.

In order to honour the women and their hard work, Tupperware India has launched its innovative International Women’s Day campaign, #PressForConfidence on social media.

As part of the campaign, Tupperware asked its audience several important questions on its tipping point, putting in more efforts than required, dealing with hope and despair, etc.

The brand then, put forth these questions to their support system, i.e. women who support and motivate them on a daily basis. The participants shared their stories and personal experiences to celebrate the women in their life and #PressForConfidence.

Tupperware India’s Managing Director, ShilpaAjwani said, “When we invest in women, we invest in our community.

Tupperware empowers them to grow professionally and personally, and seeks ways to enhance their livelihood by providing continued business and learning opportunities. This has been a binding ideology for us.” www.spoindia.org March 2018 | 9

CSR/PSU

Indian Oil launches India’s 1st Hydrogen Fuel Cell Bus

CWC celebrates Foundation Day

MRPL organizes Special Vendor Development Program

NCL organizes Digital Mela and Financial Inclusion Camp

Indian Oil Corporation & Tata Motors have successfully launched the demonstration trials of India’s 1st Hydrogen Fuel Cell Bus. Dr. R Chidambaram, Principal Scientific Adviser to Govt. of India in presence of Chairman & Board Members of Indian Oil flagged off the bus during the 47th Foundation Day Function of Indian Oil R&D on 10th March 2018 at Faridabad. The project is being executed under the partial financial support from DSIR and MNRE. Hydrogen is considered to be the fuel of the future and using the fuel cell technology, very high efficiencies can be achieved with water as the only component in the exhaust. To be fuelled at nation’s 1st hydrogen dispensing facility at R&D Centre of Indian Oil, the vehicle would be subjected to long duration trials to understand the durability and efficacy of the fuel cell technology for mobility applications. The occasion also marked the inauguration of the Fuel Cell laboratory at Indian Oil R&D. Indian Oil R&D Centre is the leading energy research centre in the country and has pioneered several cuttingedge technologies in the downstream petroleum sector.

Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals has organized a Special vendor development program exclusively for SC/ST vendors on 7th March 2018 in association with MSME DI at Mangaluru. More than 40 SC/ST entrepreneurs from all over Karnataka participated in the programme.

Shri. GokuldasNayak, Joint Director, DIC, D.K. District; Shri. Ajith Kamath Vice President, KSIA, Mangaluru; Shri. Socrates, Dy Director, MSME-DI, Mangaluru; Shri.

G Nagaraj, Asst. Director – MSME; Shri Pankaj Agarwal, GGM (Materials), MRPL were the distinguished dignitaries who graced the occasion along with other senior officers from MRPL. Shri. GokuldasNayak, Joint Director, DIC, lauded the efforts made by MRPL and also mentioned that MRPL being a major PSU has contributed to the growth and prosperity of Mangalore region by generating a large secondary workforce of suppliers and contractors.

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Central Warehousing Corporation has celebrated its 62nd Foundation Day on 5th March 2018 at New Delhi. On the occasion, Shri Ravi Kant, IAS, Secretary (Food & Public Distribution) was the Chief Guest; Shri Yogender Tripathi, IAS, Chairman; Shri. J.S. Kaushal, Managing Director; Shri Sharda Prasad, IAS (Retd), Director and Shri S.C. Mudgerikar, Director (M&CP) were present. Chief Guest lauded the achievements of the Corporation and desired that it would attain greater heights in future.

Shri J.S. Kaushal, MD shared that CWC registered a turnover of Rs.1606.29 crores during 2016-17 with profit before tax of Rs.260.59 crores. The MD presented a roadmap for future schemes and diversifications along with the achievements made by the Corporation.

He congratulated the employees for their efforts and motivated them for even better performance.

Aimed at creating awareness and access to digital & financial services, Block B Area of Northern Coalfields Limited has organized the ‘Digital Mela’ and ‘Financial Inclusion Camp’ at the Community Hall Kasar in collaboration with Common Service Centre.

The camp focused on providing access to a range of government schemes as well as financial services thereby facilitating villagers to carry out routine financial transactions and access benefits of government schemes.

The camp also provided support framework to for PAN and Aadhar related services with special emphasis on opening up of new bank accounts for Anganwaadi registrants. Anganwadi Workers (AWW), ASHA (Accredited Social Health Activist) and Sarpanch of nearby villages actively participated in the camp and also ensured participation of natives of their respective villages.

CSR/PSU

RINL-VSP Observes National Safety Day

The employees of RINL-Visakhapatnam Steel Plant have observed the 47th National Safety Day. To mark the occasion, a function was organized at Multipurpose Hall, Ukkunagaram of VSP on 3rd March 2018.

Guest of Honour, Shri KBS Prasad, Deputy Chief Inspector of Factories, Govt of Andhra Pradesh appreciated RINL for its achievements on safety front and lauded VSP collective for conducting the best mock drill.

He said that the Occupational Safety has gained national importance and he urged to stress on the implementation of BBSM by encouraging positive safety culture.

Shri P Madhusudan, CMD, RINL, Chief Guest, emphasized that safety should be taken care by one and all and target has to be “zero accidents”. He also emphasized to follow technical discipline and focus on safety considering the new hazards of modern equipment and also capturing and investigating all near misses.

GSL delivers 2nd 2500 Tones AOPV to Sri Lankan Navy

Goa Shipyard has delivered 2nd SL AOPV to Shi Lanka Navy ceremoniously on 22nd March 2018, 25 days ahead of schedule. The vessel will be the largest and most advanced ship in the Shri Lanka Navy fleet. This is the fourth OPV delivered in the current financial year. The ceremony was attended by ChitranganeeWagiswara, High Commissioner of Sri Lanka Navy in India; Rear Admiral NBJ Rosayro, Chief of Staff of Sri Lanka Navy;RAdmShekhar Mital, CMD GSL, Directors and senior officials of Sri Lankan Navy, Indian Navy, Coast Guard and GSL. SLOPV Project for building two large size ships is one of most significant defence co-operation between India and Sri Lanka & one of the largest export contracts, being executed by GSL currently for friendly countries. The Keel of the vessel was laid on 09th May 2015 and was launched on 2th May 2017. It is creditable for the shipyard to complete this significant export project and deliver the vessel 25 Days ahead of contractual schedule.

SLNS Sayurala, the first AOPV of the series delivered in July 2017 ahead of contractual schedule, is performing exceedingly well and has received positive feedbacks for GSL for the build quality and state of the art machinery.

NTPC celebrates World Water Day

NTPC celebrated World Water Day (22nd March 2018) to commemorate the occasion. The Power Management Institute organized a talk by PadmashreeNainaLalKidwai, as part of PMI Eminent Speaker Series on the theme 'Making Every Drop Count'.

A compendium of 'NTPC Practices and Initiatives in Water

Conservation' encompassing best practices and initiatives of NTPC was also released on this occasion by Shri Saptarshi Roy, Director (HR) accompanied by Padmashree (Ms) NainaLalKidwai, Shri Vinod Kumar, Independent Director and Shri A K Bhatnagar, ED (PMI) The program was attended by a large number of employees and was also telecasted live to all offices and locations of NTPC.

PFC Contributes Rs. 51.13 Crore to Swachh Bharat Kosh

Shri Rajeev Sharma, CMD, Power Finance Corporation has presented a token of remittance for Rs. 51.13 Crore towards Swachh Bharat Kosh (SBK) to Shri Hasmukh Adhia, IAS, Secretary, Finance GoI. Shri Parameswaran Iyer IAS, Secretary, Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation (GoI) was also present.

The amount of Rs 51.13 crore also includes contributions by PFC subsidiaries PFC Consulting Ltd. (Rs. 1.19 Cr.); PFC Green Energy Ltd (Rs. 0.66 Cr.) and PFC Capital Advisory Services Ltd. (Rs. 0.03 Cr.). The Directors and senior officers of PFC were present on this occasion.

PFC is committed to supporting the Government of India's mission for Swachh Bharat. As a responsible Corporate Entity, the cause of Nation building has always been high on PFC’s priorities.

The SBK was set up to attract CSR funds from the corporate sector and contribution from individual philanthropists to achieve the objective of Clean India (Swachh Bharat) through 'Swachh Bharat Abhiyan' by the year 2019. www.spoindia.org March 2018 | 11

NEWS/Urban Development

New Housing Schemes for Central Government employees

In consonance with the policy of Govt. of India to provide housing for all, Central Government Employees Welfare Housing Organisation (CGEWHO) is planning to launch new housing schemes to cater to the housing needs of the Central Government employees and other eligible categories.

In this context, CGEWHO has invited offers from Construction Agencies, for development of composite housing projects, on Turnkey/ PPP model, complete with all infrastructure and amenities at Hyderabad, Bhubaneswar, Ghaziabad and Kolkata for approximately 300 DUs on each location and inviting applications for demand survey from the interested applicants.

Central Government Employees Welfare Housing Organisation is continuously delivering its services since 1990 and committed to provide value-added service to its customers mostly Central Government employees.

8% target met under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana scheme

Nearly three years into the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) for urban areas which promised “housing for all” by 2022, 8%, or 3 lakh of the 40.6 lakh houses targeted so far have been constructed. The situation in the rural version of PMAY is better, but even there only 30%, or 28.8 lakh houses, have been completed against the 95.4 lakh targeted by the rural development ministry in 15 months since the plan was launched.

This emerges from data on the websites of the urban affairs and rural development ministries. The data reveals that as on March 5 this year, the ministry had considered 8,341 projects under PMAY involving 40.6 lakh houses.

But only 3.4 lakh houses have been completed, while work is in progress on 18 lakh or about 44% of the target. However, the data doesn’t reveal the stage of construction for these houses. Of those completed, about 3 lakh houses are occupied.

Tata Communications completes ofo launches its services in deployment of smart streetlights Magarpatta City as part of its for JUSCO Pune Cycle Plan Tata Communications and MOTWANE have successfully completed India’s largest deployment of smart streetlights for Jamshedpur Utilities and Services (JUSCO), India’s only comprehensive urban infrastructure service provider. The new streetlights are underpinned by Tata Communications’ public Internet of Things (IoT) network based on LoRaWAN technology in India, which is the largest of its kind in the world.

With 300 lights, JUSCO’s project in Jamshedpur is the biggest smart street lighting deployment of its kind in India.

It will pave the way for a total of 15,000 lights to be installed in the city in the next 5 years.

The smart street lighting market in India is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 42.2% during the period of 2016-2022. One of the key reasons for this growth is the government’s mission to reduce the country’s carbon footprint.

12 | March 2018 www.spoindia.org

ofo has announced its first area-level operation in Pune by launching its services in the township of Magarpatta. The launch comes two months after the bicycle-sharing company signed MoUs with the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) and Smart City Pune to support their ambitious Pune Cycle Plan.

Following the completion of its pilot-phase in some of the city’s closed campuses, the dock less bicyclesharing platform operated via mobile app, has begun rolling out its signature yellow bicycles at key locations in the mixed-use township of Magarpatta, spanning an area of over 600 acres.

The launch is in line with ofo’s commitment to support Pune’s efforts to become bicyclefriendly again and reclaim the ‘city of cycles’ tag.

Welcoming ofo to the city at the launch event, SatishMagar, MD, Magarpatta City said, “We walk to school, we walk to work, we walk to shop but we never thought that we will cycle to work.

I thank ofo and Pune Smart City for this initiative.”

www.spoindia.org March 2018 | 13

NEWS/Digital India

Supreme Court indefinitely extends March 31st deadline of Aadhaar linking

In its latest ruling, the Supreme Court of India has stated that citizens do not necessarily have to link their Aadhaar numbers to bank accounts and mobile phones. The deadline for mandatory Aadhaar linking with bank accounts and mobile phones stand extended indefinitely till the Constitution Bench pronounces verdict on the validity of the Aadhaar scheme.

The top court has said that a biometric ID is mandatory for accessing social welfare schemes and subsidies, but till it decides on whether the government's demand for Aadhaar to be linked to private and public services is a violation of the right to privacy, the 12-digit unique number given to each citizen does not have to be linked to other services.

Ever since Aadhaar was launched in 2009 to streamline welfare payments and reduce wastage in public spending, PM Narendra Modi’s govt. has been keen to mandate the use of Aadhaar for everything from filing income tax to the registration of mobile phone numbers and booking railway tickets.

PFRDA introduces digital features for APY subscribers

Pension Fund Regulatory & Development Authority (PFRDA), the administrative Authority for Atal Pension Yojana (APY) has taken several steps for extension of the benefits of the Scheme to the citizens of India. Taking it up a notch, PFRDA has offered several online features to facilitate subscribers for access of APY features without visiting the Bank/Post Branch. The number of Subscribers under APY is expected to attain 1 crore mark shortly.

A few recently introduced features for APY subscribers are Grievance Module for APY Subscribers; APY Upgrade View/Downgrade View; APY/ NPS lite ePRAN - SOT View for Subscribers; Aadhaar Seeding for APY Subscribers; APY@eNPS and Mobile Application.

To experience the features, the subscriber has to visit https:// npslite-nsdl.com/CRAlite/ website and can explore the features as per their requirement.

Indian Railways plans to use GIS Kerala deploys 1000 public Wi-Fi portal to map its assets hotspots enabled by Cisco Indian Railways have large number of assets including land assets that need to be effectively monitored, managed and maintained. As railway operations have wide spatial coverage, GIS mapping of assets on Indian Railways can be used for better management.

All Indian Railways assets are to be mapped and these will be subsequently used to develop Indian Railways’ GIS portal.

Work is in progress for GPS based mapping of Indian Railways assets including land assets on GIS platform that is likely to be completed by December, 2018. An MOU has been signed with Centre for Railway Information System (CRIS) to this effect and CRIS is developing this Application.

In this Application, land plans of Indian Railways will be available for viewing overlaid on Satellite Imagery that is being taken from Bhuvan Platform of ISRO. An MOU between Ministry of Railways and ISRO has also been signed for mutual cooperation in various phases. After development of GIS portal, it may be possible to identify new encroachment all around station by comparing the images of Satellite Imagery which are updated

by ISRO after a regular interval.

14 | March 2018 www.spoindia.org

At #FUTURE 2018, The Honourable Chief Minister of Kerala Shri Pinarayi Vijayan announced that the State government will provide connectivity through 1000 free public Wi-Fi hotspots across the State. Enabled by Cisco technology, Kerala has become the first state in India with the largest public Wi-Fi network providing state-wide access. The state-wide network will provide citizens access to the internet with Wi-Fi spots deployed in parks, libraries and other public spaces.

As a part of its Country Digitization Acceleration programme, Cisco has worked with the State over the last six months to provide end to end Wi-Fi hardware for these wireless access points.

Sudhir Nayar, Managing Director, Commercial Sales, Cisco India and SAARC said, “The vision outlined by the Honourable Chief Minister of Kerala will help harness the power of digital transformation to accelerate economic growth and social progress in the State. We are excited to be a part of Kerala’s digital journey and believe that this sets an example that other States can replicate.”

NEWS/NGO

Supertron Foundation opens a Computer Centre for underprivileged children

Amar Gandhi Foundation to launch “ekchammachkam” campaign

Grameen Foundation and Accenture Labs to help lowincome women

NASSCOM Foundation advocates for use of evolving technologies in CSR

Extending help to the needy is the basic nature of V .K. Bhandari, Chairman of Supertron Electronics Pvt Ltd ( SEPL) and hence it is not a surprise, he made a point to set to improve the lives of underprivileged , much before CSR has become buzz word in corporate world.

What started as an amateur initiative spearheaded by Bhandari has today, taken a professional shape under the Supertron Foundation and aims to leave a larger positive impact on the society and environment we live and operate in.

With the introduction of the new CSR activities, Bhandari has realized that today Computer literacy is must and important for all. “Computer empowerment centre” and opening chain of similar centres for underprivileged children is the new initiative.

These centres have the facility of teaching computer for class room studies with audio visuals for knowledge centric coaching through LCD projector screen.

Accenture and Grameen Foundation India have collaborated to develop two new applications that help overcome the barriers to financial services adoption among women and other low-income populations in India. Leveraging artificial intelligence (AI) and augmented reality (AR) technologies, the applications help users better understand financial products and services, enabling them to make informed choices that positively impact their financial and social well-being.

Grameen Foundation India plans to roll out the applications across 300 villages in the states of Maharashtra and Odisha.

“This is a tremendous example of how technology can help bridge the vast cultural and educational divide in places like India, having a real impact on the way people work and live,” said Sanjay Podder, managing director, Accenture Labs India. “Our collaboration with Grameen Foundation India is part of our Tech4Good initiative to apply disruptive technologies in new and unique ways to address complex social challenges.”

Mumbai’s senior-most nephrologists have come together to show solidarity towards spreading awareness of the detrimental role of salt intake in kidney disease.

Spearheaded by Dr. Bhupendra Gandhi’s Amar Gandhi Foundation (AGF), and supported by the Mumbai Kidney Fo u n d a t i o n (MKF), over 150 nephrologists in the city have raised a clarion call, “ekchammachkam” (One spoon less), to highlight the high salt intake among Indian population.

Announcing the campaign, Dr. Bhupendra Gandhi, Trustee of the Amar Gandhi Foundation said, “Chronic kidney disease is a ‘SILENT KILLER’; it usually has no significant symptoms until it has reached later stages where a patient is not left with many choices of treatment.”

Interestingly, World Kidney Day overlaps with International Women’s Day, which calls into account the role of women in managing the proliferation of kidney disease.

NASSCOM Foundation has hosted India’s largest ITBPM industry specific CSR Conference – The CSR Leadership Conference (CLC) 2018 in New Delhi at The Eros Hotel, Nehru Place.

The event brought over 300 CXOs and CSR Heads of the top most companies from across the industry, NGO Leads from all over India, Government officials, Tech4Good champions, social innovators under one roof to encourage the use of new-age technologies to solve the social development issues at the grassroots.

Shrikant Sinha, CEO – NASSCOM Foundation said, “With IR 4.0 technologies today we are threshold of what could be history in making. Human Centred Innovation aims to engineer and use new technologies such as AI, ML, Blockchains, Robotics etc, so as to address various day-to-day problems and needs of common people while helping in improving the social fabric too.” www.spoindia.org March 2018 | 15

COVER STORY

Uttar Pradesh on path of development UP now stands as a unique state in the Country in terms of its development roadmap The roadmap designed for UP by its Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath is close to becoming a reality. From the techniques that the state could embark on to move towards development and become a modern state to attracting investors to Uttar Pradesh to invest in development projects in various sectors, the roadmap finds mention of every such detail.

Last year Niti Aayog has been asked by the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) to provide a blueprint for development and transformation of Uttar Pradesh, where BJP won the assembly elections with a thumping majority in March of the same year.

It is just one year completed by Yogi Adityanath, and the results are there for everyone to see. Regular feedback have been taken on the development programs and strategies to be adopted to improve the social as well as economic indicators from officials of the state government to form a collective agenda.

"Today, there is a great improvement in the law and order situation; earlier one was scared to come to Uttar Pradesh but today the public is feeling relief," Railway Minister PiyushGoyalsaid once at an event in Noida."Uttar Pradesh is not backward anymore, it has begun its race on the path of development. Investors will now find a different Uttar Pradesh than it was before," he added.

Uttar Pradesh is the growth engine of India and is the country’s third largest economy growing at a fast rate.

• Inauguration of garbage vending machine -To complement swatch Bharat initiative, for the first time Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has inaugurated a unique garbage vending machine with unique features in Lucknow’s Hazratganj.

CM Adityanath termed the vending machine as an innovative idea towards cleanliness. It’s a part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’ Swach Bharat Mission, he added. The vending machine enables the residents to dispose their dry garbage and get money in return. The vending machine is on an experimental basis and will be installed state-wide if it turns out to be successful. This is a natural approach to attract and to make the mission a success.

The UP chief minister also said his government was working to give a new dimension to the state’s economy.

“No one was interested to invest in the state as jungle raj and nepotism were prevailing here. We first established a rule of law here in the state, gave a conducive atmosphere to investors, and then hosted the two-day investors’ summit. More than 35 lakh youngsters will get jobs.”

He further added that Uttar Pradesh is witnessing development after 15 16 | March 2018 www.spoindia.org

Yogi Adityanath Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh years, while also speaking about the 'one district, one product' scheme to promote products indigenous to every district, and said it would generate 20 lakh jobs in the next three years.

• SpiceJet flight between Gorakhpur and Delhi -Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath also formally launched SpiceJet flight services for Delhi by flagged off a Boeing plane, which will carry 189 passengers plane and will take 80 minutes to reach Delhi at the cost of @ Rs. 2,999 /.On the occasion of Navami, the chief minister performed puja at the Gorakhnath temple, of which he is the head priest.

• E-Governance supporting economic growth -E-Governance and good governance are two key factors supporting economic growth in the State. While e-governance brings transparency and much-needed pace to public affairs, good governance is moving ahead as per the laid down principles and policies keeping the larger public interest in mind. n

ROUND ABOUT

H1-B Visa and Harley Davidson What is the connection between H1-B visa and Harley Davidson? There is hardly any, except that both the words start with “H”. The H1-B visa has a direct bearing on the knowledge economy. It is a kind of visa that the U.S. grants to professionals across disciplines, be they belong to the IT industry, architects, lawyers, and engineers.

The list goes on. The only overarching criterion is that such talents should not be available indigenously. In the Indian context, this type of visa is mostly availed by the IT professionals who go to the U.S. to take up offshore operations, basing themselves out of the U.S. terrains. Indian professionals get most of the visas under this category, which normally number around 84,000 or so annually.

If the H1-B visa is in the realm of the knowledge economy, then the Harley Davidson represents the brick-and-mortar sector. Indeed, it is the inspirational model of a motorbike. The Trump administration is claiming that the Indian government has artificially jacked up the landed cost of the motorbike by charging an exorbitant import duty on the item, varying between 50 per cent and 100 per cent.

The U.S. claims that the steep rate is beyond reasonable limit and wants it to be brought down to the same level of duty the U.S. is imposing on similar import of bikes from India. The Indian authorities point out that their export of motor bikes to the U.S. is usually below 1,000 annually. Most of India’s exports of cars and motorbikes are destined for Latin America and Mexico.

In private, Indian vehicle manufacturers admit that comparison between Indian exports and imports of the bikes from the U.S. is out of sync with reality. However, one can argue that the duty should be reciprocal – not one-sided.

Of late, trade wars have been looming large in the global scene. Many feel that it is a part of Trump’s policy of “Buy America” or “America First”, as it is sometimes referred to. India is not the only country targeted. The European Union, China, Canada, Mexico, and Australia have come under U.S. surveillance and retaliation. The Trump administration

has made it very clear that, despite being an ally for many years and partners to the NAFTA agreement, the U.S. will be forced to take punitive measures if its interests are jeopardized.

While Harley Davidson figures prominently in the trading basket of the U.S. with other countries, other products that attracted the wrath of the administration are steel, aluminum, agricultural products, etc. Importantly, the affected countries, including the U.S. allies, are harping on counter retaliation if the U.S. sticks to its guns.

Coming back to India and the trade war, my take is that India’s interest will not get affected the way it is being feared.

Headlines suggest that most of the Indian IT professionals will come back soon with their families. H1-B visa restrictions were in the horizon for a long time. Every time it erupts, there will be some calibrated responses and reactions from the government in diplomatically couched-up language and will cobble up some statistics to counter the proposed move. This time around also, there was such a move.

The apprehension is that, if the threat looms large, many will have to return to India, dashing their hope of becoming a U.S. citizen. I feel sorry for such people and their immediate families, but, at the same time, I have a few suggestions to

offer based on my own experiences.

H1B visa is meant to bring temporary professionals to fill up the positions, which cannot be filled up by the local people.

H1-B had been misused in the past to replace local American employees by lowcost professionals from India, China and other low-cost countries like old Eastern Europe. My main advice for professionals is to develop pertinent skills that the U.S. needs and that are definitely not the conventional software development and solutions. Such modules are fast losing relevance. Our universities should come out with a new curricula in the engineering and technical institutes that are connected with artificial intelligence, robotics, etc which are in huge demand in the U.S. Of course, these are the pivotal tools in the new digital revolution sweeping across the world.

We have to change this trend. It is not that easy. A lot of groundwork has to be done to move in the technology value chain to become highly competitive. That is only possible when we catch up with research and development, incubation, and innovation. There should be a premium on R&D. This can be encouraged by upgrading the research infrastructure, better facilities and perquisites for research workers, engaging cross-country research, and developing good patent registration regime. Laxity in implementing them will further stymie the upward movement in the technology value chain.

There are two types of variables that have to be taken into account while mapping the future manpower requirements of any economy. Foremost is the skill requirement and two, the age profile of the population.

The U.S. is known for the frontline technocrats who can innovate and discover.

But you require second and third layers of experts and technicians to implement and maintain them. Countries like India are in the forefront to supply them. For undertaking such tasks, a mere body shopping will not suffice the purpose. Those experts have to be there on a continuous basis to look after the peripheral needs of the digital revolution. n www.spoindia.org March 2018 | 17

Cyber Security

Policy Framework for Data Protection in India

Policy Framework for Data Protection in India - A National Conference to Deliberate India’s Data Protection Policy was held on 22nd January 2018 at the Constitution Club of India, New Delhi. The event was organized by Center for Knowledge Sovereignty (CKS) in association with Microsoft, Bharat Niti and The Dialogue. The Knowledge Partner for the event was Mirror Now. Hemant Goswami Chairman – Bharat Niti

“Talking about identity thefts, every time you go to a public place, whether to obtain an arm’s license or a ration card, you have to prove your identity fresh. There is no chance of someone stealing your identity as it is very difficult to prove it. What has changed after the new cyber revolution has taken place?

I wonder whether the whole new cyber world in which we are living now, has made us more secure or are we on the edge of facing different kinds of threats from fraudsters. It is hard to believe that the world we are now is very secured than what it was earlier. What India is doing right now I think nowhere in the world any country is doing. In the US it is so difficult for citizens to go to any bank and withdraw money; even the Internet money transferring or transferring money from one bank to anothertakes them 3 days, IMPS is unimaginable for them.This is the new environment which we have created. This is where we have moved to from a place where your identity was not secured to a place where your identity is certain and cannot be stolen as of date. The concern for US, which is identity theft is not here in India. I have not seen Aadhaar related frauds in India. It maybe 1 in a million but it is far less than what is happening in US right now. So, from where we have come and where we are going is something we must appreciate when we discuss about cyber security. I think the kind of example which we are creating for the world is unparalleled. The scales on which we are working are unparalleled. We are working on such scales that we are the natural leaders in the whole world of cyber security and electronic transaction. We are creating new models for that. So when we discuss about privacy laws and how to make it more secured, we must understand that what we have created till now is far better that what has ever been created in the world till date.”

18 | March 2018 www.spoindia.org

Lt. Gen. V M Patil AVSM, PVSM (Retd.) Vice Chairman – CKS

“Till the end of the 17th century India’s share in the world’s GDP was 37% and within 150 years of colonization it came down to 0.1%. Now in the 21st century particularly the way the events have moved in last 3 years, the world is looking at India once again with hopes and there are many reasons for that. We are a country with 125 crore Indians, of which 800 are less than 35 years of age.The younger generation and our present leadership cannot afford to let down the hopes of the world and the hopes of Indians. The digital economy, the data protection and protection of individual’s privacy, all these determine whether India can rise to the expectations of the world.

As Gen Shekatkar mentioned, till 19th century the world used weapons and military power to acquire resources; in the 20th century in the cold war between the 2 blocks,the Americans used the power of economy and the digital power to influence the 11 countries in the Soviet system for over 45 years, without firing a single shot but merely by stringent economic policy. This also led to the dismantlement of the Soviet Union.

That is the digital power which Americans have shown to the world in the last century. While couple of months back, the Chinese used their digital power to influence the media and perception during the Doklam crisis for 79 days and created such a fear psychosis among the majority of the ill/misinformed Indians on how China can teach a lesson to India. They never fired a shot but they used the digital medium to such an extent that all the Indian media stationed in Beijing used to get everyday briefing and social media posts conveying that India needs to be taught a lesson. But thanks to the leadership of our country and the way they acted with maturity and confidence, the Chinese had to ultimately withdraw.”

Lt Gen. Dr D B Shekatkar, PVSM, AVSM, VSM (Retd.), Chairman –CKS

“It is a common perception that soldiers are not supposed to be knowledgeable. India is the vishwa guru because the amount of data available in India is enough to sustain the whole world.

Why is it so? Because on this planet every 6th human being is an Indian. That is our reach, we are not generating the data only within our country but we are doing it across the globe and the whole world is looking at us.

The Border is losing significance day by day; the topic which we are discussing today is the borderless world. Knowledge has no border, data has no border. This takes us to new pointconnectivity of the people, where geographical distances have lost their relevance today. This is the power of connectivity and this depends on who is asking what and who is providing what. We should however be careful on the usefulness and uselessness of this Data.

The 19th century was the century of muscle power, where everyone who had the muscle could rule the world, while the 20th century was the century of money power; based on the power of money you can buy anything that you name it. The 21st century is the century of knowledge power, the more knowledgeable you are the more powerful you will be and you become knowledgeable because the data available to you or because of the information available to you.In 1992 or 1993, a document was produced titled ‘What will China do to the world by 2035?’ Now nobody knows where it has gone, but every word written in the report is coming true. China is spending 90 billion dollars every year across the world to mould the minds of people in favour of China and to make them think that what China is doing is correct and is for the good of the world. And therefore, the war we are going to fight in this century will be bloodless and contactless, where you are not in contact with your enemy, your adversary, your competitor.”

Dr. Avik Sarkar Head - Data Analytics Cell at NITI Aayog, Govt. Of India

"The first thing that I would like to talk about is why are we talking about data so much? From the government perspective, we need a lot of data for policy and good governance purpose. So if we take the recent example of Dengue that had spread all over Delhi, it is very common in many countries to get the healthcare data, know where the dengue clusters are, map them with polluted water location and resolve the issue. We are not able to do such simple things because we do not have health records in electronic format that can be shared in a way so that decision makers can take the decision. So it becomes very challenging for us.

We are now in the AI (Artificial Intelligence) game and we can use the same for good governance.

The leaders in this field are US, China and a few other countries where already they have already gone ahead and form their AI policies on how to enable the AI ecosystem. There are several aspects in the AI ecosystem that a country can do to enforce it so that private players, academia and researchers can accelerate the work in AI. One of the factors that NITI is working is availability of good amount of training data because that is one of the core things and when you want data for this purpose they would like to have all the data. There is a lot of work on the anonymization. But we have to do this to ensure that the ecosystem is there and the things are in place." www.spoindia.org March 2018 | 19

Cyber Security

1st Panel: Framework of the IT Act from a Technological point of view The 1st panel discussion was held to discuss the overall framework of the IT Act and was moderated by Kazim Rizvi, Founder – The Dialogue. The panelists included, Deepak Maheshwari, Head of Govt. Affairs- Symantec Corporation; Mukesh Jain, Chief Technical Officer – VFS Global; Meenu Chandra, Senior Attorney Manager, IP& DCU Lead (India Region) – Microsoft and Dr B V L Narayana, Director – CRIS

Deepak Maheshwari Head of Govt. Affairs- Symantec Corporation

“One of the things that I would like to start my discussion on Data Protection framework in the country is that any legislation has to balance many interests and issues. In data protection there has to be a balance between the rights of an individual to self-determination but at the same time we have to foster the innovation ecosystem; there has to be a process that incentivizes positively. We need positive incentives for the data controllers and processors to comply with that and then there has to be a remedial process in terms of grievance addressable etc. if there is any breach. So that’s the broad framework on which it has to be made. When we look at Justice Srikrishna’s whitepaper which has come out, one of the important things that I have noticed this time when compared to the IT Act is that the Act also has the provision for example section 43 A but that applies only to body corporate whereas in this whitepaper the proposal is applied for both private as well as public sector. Some exceptions must be there like national security.

Second, in terms of consent if you see section 43 A, it is only about consent whereas now the proposal is about not only consent but other basis as well including legitimate interest and contractual obligations etc. In that you can have scenarios like prevention of financial frauds, law enforcement activities and the purpose of ensuring cyber security within a frame of legal interests. Going beyond that one of the important things is we must have judicial oversight for certain type of ask from the law enforcement or other agencies how this is being practiced.

We should remember that data transfer and even internet are not unidirectional, they are multi-directional and if you are looking from a frame of national borders, it’s bi-directional, there are things which go out and comes in. India has been the greatest beneficiary of cross border data transfers for past few decades and that is how we have created the 150 bn IT industry in the country. So we should not only think of data going out but we should also think that there are people who are sending data in. The whole notion that if data in India it is safe, I think that is slightly misplaced. We should also look at that aspect.”

Mukesh Jain Chief Technical Officer – VFS Global

“Privacy is as defined by an individual. While signing up for a free account or Android we go through the terms and conditions and we press accept button. It’s a legal document. The document also says that the company owns all your data. We ourselves because of less knowledge or to get something for free or some other reason end up sharing our information. So just because they are asking to use your data and you cannot say no and have to press yes, you are being held hostage. I was in a committee in Microsoft which recommended cookies should not be allowed. Microsoft was actually the first company to actually disable cookie. But there was too much of pressure from other players and unfortunately that has to be revoked. If you do not want to share your information then it should be allowed. That is how private browsing came into picture but very few know about that.

Privacy is in your control and you have full control. If 20% of the people discard to download an app because you are asking so many information then it will for sure change. Unfortunately we cannot ask everyone to change so that will lead to laws. After my research on Poka-yoke, first and foremost why do we need data collected? You have to say no for sharing data.”

20 | March 2018 www.spoindia.org

Meenu Chandra Senior Attorney Manager, IP& DCU Lead (India Region) - Microsoft

“Now we have the demarcation between personal data identified as the bill data and sensitive data because very rightly the risks associated with a piece of data will vary with the kind of data it might be. The more sensitive it is the higher the risk context which means the security context is higher and the protection context is even more important. In that context, I think we need to have the ability to look at when we talk about consent in the context of these kinds of data, how are we going to be implementing the consent requirements. Right now we want to talk about consent explicitly from the data subject which is good and important. It is also important to realize how we are going to be implementing those pieces. So when we talk about consent about mobiles and addresses, well this is a kind of data we are throwing anywhere. But at the same time looking at how many times you are going to prompt a user in this digital world to give consent, you would end up having multiplicity and fatigue of taking consent in that process.

So we need to think a little bit broader in that sense. Notification can be used in that case rather than asking for consent every time. You can talk about the legitimate interest that you have in using a data beyond the consent that you might have given is covered within the legitimate piece in the notification. Using notification is a good tool. Again looking at de-identification, a lot of data does get gathered but doesn’t have value because its linked to an individual. It might just have value as a meta tag. That data might get gathered on a server somewhere on the world just to give an analysis of de-identifying them from their names to get them into that space of knowing their routines etc. There is value in using de-identified data and that value should not be hampered because we are talking about every piece of data that might lead to some individual. So we need to be very careful about the rules of de-identification.”

Dr B V L Narayana Director – CRIS

“There are two issues which I will raise, not on security and protection but on the governance of data. There are two issues in the use of data, first is rendering services. I have a name which is B V L Narayana and I have a huge problem in telling it to people that I am B V L Narayana and not somebody else. My PAN Card has some other name my mistake, the income tax people have told me a lot of times that you are not the same person but because I pay tax they accept it. I had a tough time to convince them that I am the same person and it’s the mistake of the PAN Card department. It became worst because as per Prime Minister now the PAN number is connected with AADHAR. In AADHAR they asked my full name. My surname is the first part of my name, B is my surname. As per AADHAR I am not the same person though everything else matches and therefore they could not link my PAN Card with AADHAR. Therefore the issue that comes in is when I am putting the data as my identity and it is put in by someone else then who has the right to decide what is correct, what should the rule say. The law may say anything but it has to apply. In railways the rule which we have given to our staff is to trust the customers. So my first request is if data is used as identity and that becomes a mandate for services then who should have the right to decide, should the individual have the right or the person who wants to take the services have the right? It is a very common issue. Security comes much later. If I cannot use data for services so what will I do with security? The more I allow usage the better it is.”

2nd Panel - Data Protection & Sovereignty

The 2nd panel was moderated by Faye D-Souza Executive Editor – Mirror Now and the panelists who participated are Amit Dubey, Chief Technical Officer, Tech Mahindra; Karma Bhutia, Founder & CEO iShippo.com; VinitGoenka, Member Governing Council – CRIS, Secretary – CKS; JayadevaRanade, Cabinet Secretariat – RAW and Triveni Singh, Deputy Superintendent - Noida Police cybercrime cell.

Faye D-Souza Executive Editor – Mirror Now

"We run the risk globally in general and in particular India of getting exposed to filtered information and the best way to tackle this by reading the morning newspaper. The paper, whether you like it or not will tell you everything. It will not curate information based on who you are. This is a serious problem because today a football fan will read only about football news. We are raising a generation of citizens who are ill informed of the things they are not particularly interested in. And so we are raising a generation who is becoming selective in terms of what information he wants.

Now the dark side of that is fake news. I don’t believe the government can step in because that will amount to censorship and undemocratic. The person who can step in at this moment is you. There is a very good way to check if something is fake or not by being smarter than that algorithm." www.spoindia.org March 2018 | 21

Cyber Security Amit Dubey Chief Technical Officer, Tech Mahindra

“There were more than 15, 000 requests to Facebook support system last year during a criminal investigation case by law enforcement agencies. Out of these 15, 000 requests, only 53% were responded. It takes 12-15 days sometimes to get a response from Facebook. They have their own international norms and policies which require lot of approvals and the data centers are mostly out of India, so they have to follow those norms and policies. They cannot give a quick response which is always a problem for law enforcement agencies. There were more than 100, 000 requests which go through individuals. Each of us have problems on Facebook and we want to get a response because of somebody is misusing our data, bulling etc. In that case it takes much more time than 12-15 days as of standard duration. There are a few recommendations which I am going to make here • The data should be in India and it should be governed under the Indian Government Policies and then only the quick response can happen. If we are going to follow some international norms then it will never have that efficiency in the system.

• Second is the privacy factor of any data. On whenever we are sharing any data, Facebook should also be accountable, they should have some sort of Artificial Intelligence into their system that somebody is cloning my account. They should at least warn or alert me. That will help us to get some privacy protection to our data.”

Jayadeva Ranade Cabinet Secretariat - RAW

"There are 2 types of illiteracy – one is the traditional form of illiteracy which is the ability to read and write and the other is illiteracy as far as technology is concerned. People like us a bit more time in understanding the Internet. When we look at the cyber domain, we look at it as a big black box. This issue really needs to be addressed and in a manner that creates an awareness. So that is an issue that does come in. The whitepaper besides talking about people like me also talk about the regulator. I will cite an example that is there in public domain – during the Doklam crisis, the government went ahead for setting up of an undersea cable and BSNL decided to float a global tender without putting in any disability clause. So we have a situation today where people applied and among them we had Huawei as a bidder which is a Chinese company. So when we talk of illiteracy, I include this illiteracy on behalf of a regulator too."

Vinit Goenka Member Governing Council – CRIS, Secretary - CKS

“As the civilization progresses, there arises the need to change the law. Every new thing that comes in the civilization creates a new challenge for the existing civilization. A simple change made in the law, for instance making seat belts mandatory while driving, it is the duty of the government to make the people aware of it through multiple exposure to advertisements or even through educational institutions also. So laws of the country can be imbibed in a citizen through academics also. No law is complex; they can be made simple by breaking them into small parts and then passing on the same to citizens.People like you and me who have larger access to people should also take the responsibility of percolating this information about laws to them. Another major topic in the country today is data sovereignty. Now there is a difference between data sovereignty and censorship. The data which is circulating within the country should not go out through any social media or any e-marketplaces.

Laws should be enforced that makes it abiding on the part of companies to bring their datacenters inside the country where they stack large amounts of data of the country. This will also make it easier to investigate whenever there is any breach of data.”

Triveni Singh Deputy Superintendent - Noida Police cyber crime cell

"There came a boy in my office who told me to name any website which he would then hack it. And believe me, the boy actually hacked it in front of me much to my disbelief. This incident happened a year back. When asked how he does it, he said that there are small tools available on Google with the help of which websites can be hacked and it just takes 2-3 hours of understanding these tools.

These tools include some data tempering and data fiddler software which can be downloaded from Google. I called two of the top telecom and insurance companies in India and I asked the boy to hack their websites. He not only hacked the websites but also recharged their phones free of cost.

What I am trying to say is that almost all the websites are 90% hackable and none of them are 100% secured. Even iCloud that claims to be a fully secured website has been hacked."

22 | March 2018 www.spoindia.org

Karma Bhutia Founder & CEO iShippo.com

“I have a couple of things that we should update. I think AADHAR is an important thing in terms of its design, technology, data integrity etc. Then AADHAR is also helpful in the fact that it answers the who part and the identity of an individual. Now, 1.25 bn people are identified. Now the big question comes, which all other big companies are interested in it? That answers what, why, when and where. Intent and desire - that’s where all the marketing lies. The attribution is the biggest game in terms of marketing and it is possible by profiling. Once you get attributed for a thing, I get to know what, when and how you did that because of identity. Now profiling happens when you have third party players. They say that AADHAR is secured. But with eKYC data all over the place, there happens to be leakages from third parties. But in actual, the AADHAR data is not leaking. So the identity space constraint, probably it is secured. When it is considered that Data is the new oil, we have the oil that everybody wants – to be able to attribute and profile. Once it is done they know all the parameters then the theme changes because your privacy is getting violated. The privacy is not violated by somebody else holding your identity but the mission is happening by combining all of these things, which we need to address in terms of policy where we can say attribution and profiling have to be limited.”

3rd Panel - Right to Perspective & Privacy

The 3rd panel was moderated by PriyankaChaudhuri, SFLC.in and the panelists included Charu Malhotra - Professor, Indian Institute of Public Administration; Prof Subhasish – IIT Delhi; Anand Krishnan, Senior Analyst-Policy – Data Security Council of India; cyber law expertPuneetBhasin; Abhijeet Chatterjee and AtulTripathi, Consultant – The National Data Council Secretariat. The idea of the discussion was to focus on individual participation, about what an individual deserves from fundamental rights and from Right to perspective that includes fundamentals like consent, Right to be forgotten and so on. It also looked at key data protection principles Priyanka Chaudhuri, SFLC.in

"The objective of data protection law is not to protect the law but the individual. The recent KS Puttaswamy judgement has also emphasized on protecting individual privacy. Justice B N Srikrishna, former judge of the Supreme Court of India will head a Committee of experts which has been formed to deliberate on a data protection framework for the country. Even this report says that the individual should be the center of data protection. One of the core principle of data protection is the individual participation."

Charu Malhotra Professor, Indian Institute of Public Administration

"There are many aspects as to why personal data should be protected. First is the identity and the profiling of the person, second aspect which is equally important is the commercialization of the data which could be leaked out. The third aspect is the surveillance aspect of the data, if the state uses the data in certain cases for surveillance for minority or certain other groups, is it ethically or provisionally correct or not. Today the challenges to the data protection framework are many fold.

The first is the diversity of the country; when we talk of diversity we just don’t talk about seniors or the illiterate section, but we also talk about communities and demarcations on the socio-cultural aspect of a country. So it is very important for the data protection law to address this demarcation of the country in order to come up as a holistic framework.

The second issue which I am worried about is the consent and the notice part. If I am intelligent enough to understand a document and ready to give my consent, would an intellectually weaker individual able to understand to those same conditions just like me and give his consent? The Whitepaper on Data protection also talks about sending a notice to everyone.

Now in which language would the notice be sent, through which channel it will be circulated, such things should be addressed first.

The third thing is how many of us understand that when we talk of data, it is not just about data that is getting captured but also the data that is being stored, processed or transitioned. So imagine there is this whole pipe where you put your data and anybody can drill into it to steal any data. How you as a citizen get to know that?" www.spoindia.org March 2018 | 23

Cyber Security Prof Subhasis Banerjee Computer Science & Engineering - IIT Delhi

"Data can only be used for pre-approved and legitimate purposes. Informational self-determination and the autonomy of an individual in controlling usage of personal data have emerged as central themes across the privacy judgment. It is argued that Indian data protection regime should offer stricter privacy protection than what is prevalent in the US, and on the other hand have a more innovation friendly setup than what the privacy protection framework in the European Union can offer, which perhaps is unduly restrictive without being commensurately effective. Additionally, the framework should be sensitive to our large under-privileged population which may not have the necessary cultural capital to deal with an overly complex digital setup.

A passive regulatory framework based on detection of privacy breaches, and traditional understanding of privacy protection based on the principles of consent, purpose limitation and transparency is unlikely to be successful for privacy protection. An architectural solution based on online validation of authorization and access control to prevent privacy infringements in the first place."

Anand Krishnan Senior Analyst-Policy – Data Security Council of India

“In my opinion, it is not the consent that is broken but it is the notice. We go and try to explain in a legal language of what he is signing up for, regardless of the fact whether he understands or not. At the end of it, a person clicks on a consent button affirming his action that he has understood everything what he is signing up for, what kind of processing will happen with his data and so on.

This point has come up in several public consultation meetings before. The White paper that has been published is in English and incredibly a large document, but there is a need to publish it in Hindi and other languages for more people to access it. If we are talking about privacy and following the recent judgement, then it was important that we publish this Whitepaper in at least 2 languages.

Talking about notice, it should also be made available in a couple of other languages without just keeping its access for the elite and educated class. There have been many conversations on how we will fix the notice and the need to simplify it further. Possible solutions could be radial boxes, pre-ticked boxes which will let the user see that what personal data being given, what processing is going to take place and then give them the option to opt out of it at a later stage. There is this misconception that consent is the only basis of processing data. There are 2-3 various ways through which you can have different grounds of processing. Now Right to be forgotten has application across the internet. It is my ability to go and get that data set deleted from a public domain, but it is a fact that the data once published will never get erased or deleted."

24 | March 2018 www.spoindia.org

Puneet Bhasin Cyber law expert

“There is nothing like a right that will be deleted forever from the face of this earth. It may be that on Facebook or any social media, you are off the feeds or certain records or from any public information from any agency that you requested to not publish it. So it is not that suddenly out of the blue everything is going to be erased. There is a erasure of data with respect to a context. Now this Right to be Forgotten has been given much hype and there have been a lot of deliberations on it abroad. In most of the cases, more than Right to be Forgotten, it is the issue of Right to recover data after the demise of a person. A large amount of data in today’s time is being stored by you in social media – moments, writings, photographs, everything. So the family members of the deceased try to recover this data since they are part of memories. It is upon us whether the access of the account of a person who is not alive is actually seen as an authorized or an unauthorized. This may not have made much of a difference some 4-5 years back because we never used to post so much about our lives on Facebook. But today every aspect of our life is being shared on Facebook. So these are all priceless memories. So you try to hack into their account to get back those memories which is an offence in the eyes of law. So I think that is a bigger issue than mere erasure that our data protection framework is not interested in.”

Abhijit Chatterjee Chief Innovation Officer, C-Zentrix

"I believe that if there is a problem, there must be a solution too. Now the problem statement is – you have a mobile phone in hand and it has got stolen. You had taken some photographs in that phone and they reach some wrong hands. If these photographs and information are not much of importance to you then it is absolutely ok. But if the information in the phone is something confidential which cannot be shared with everybody, the first question that should arise is that the person who gets the phone, can he get access to the data available in the phone. Even if he is able to access that data, is there any possibility that he might misuse that sensitive data. Now you cannot go to CBI or the government and say that your phone is stolen and that they are responsible for the theft. This may not happen with all of us but I would like to address specially the teenagers who have just got a mobile phone as gift from their parents. They would surely want to show how tech-savvy they are and so will download apps, take videos & selfies and upload them wherever possible for others to see. But what they don’t understand is that each of this information is so important that tomorrow if any of their personal details are misused, they can be harmed. Even before considering any law of this land, it should be the foremost responsibility of us individuals of how we treat our own personal details – of what to post and what not to post, how much of our life needs to be made public and so on.”

Atul Tripathi Consultant–The National Data Council Secretariat

"Today social media has become the potent trouble maker for any policing affairs. I will give you three examples – one is the classic example of J&K, where everything is happening on social media, whether it is a call for stone pelting or any encounter taking place, or any hindrance being caused.

The second example is that of West Bengal, where a Facebook post caused a havoc in a place called Basirhat. Lastly on 1st& 2nd January, we saw what happened in Bhima-Koregaon in Maharashtra. It was all there on social media. That has become the biggest pain. So the data which is there on social media – how do you get hold of it because it is not within our legal boundaries? How much of data is available to us even it is outside the legal boundaries. It is very very miniscule. These are the 2 big challenges that the policing affairs or any law & order agency face. Another important thing that is already taking place in today’s time and was also referred even by the Prime Minister very recently is online radicalization. This is again happening on social media. It is there for all of us to see. Some of us may not be enticed towards it but lot of us does get attracted to it. That has started to create a big havoc in the society. In the coming days, online, social media and the data are going to be the biggest challenge."

www.spoindia.org March 2018 | 25

LEAD STORY

Ayushman Bharat – National Health Protection Mission gets a nod by Cabinet The incumbent RSBY and SCHIS to be subsumed under Ayushman Bharat – NHPS that will give a benefit cover of Rs. 5 lakh per family per yearbelonging to poor and vulnerable population The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has approved the launch of a new Centrally Sponsored Ayushman Bharat -National Health Protection Mission (AB-NHPM) having the central sector component under Ayushman Bharat Mission anchored in the MoHFW. The scheme has a benefit cover of Rs. 5 lakh per family per year. The target beneficiaries of the proposed scheme will be more than 10 crore families belonging to poor and vulnerable population based on SECC database. AB-NHPM will subsume the on-going centrally sponsored schemes –RashtriyaSwasthyaBimaYojana (RSBY) and the Senior Citizen Health Insurance Scheme (SCHIS), The cover of Rs. 5 lakh per family per year under AB - NHPSwill take care of almost all secondary care and most of tertiary care procedures. To ensure that nobody is left out (especially women, children and elderly) there will be no cap on family size and age in the scheme. The benefit cover will also include pre and post-hospitalisation expenses. All preexisting conditions will be covered from day one of the policy. A defined transport allowance per hospitalization will also be paid to the beneficiary.

Benefits of the scheme are portable across the country and a beneficiary covered under the scheme will be allowed to take cashless benefits from any public/ private empanelled hospitals across the country.

AB-NHPM will be an entitlement based scheme with entitlement decided on the basis of deprivation criteria in the SECC database. The different categories in rural area include – • Families having only one room with kucha walls and kucharoof; • Families having no adult member between age 16 to 59; • Female headed households with no 26 | March 2018 www.spoindia.org

adult male member between age 16 to 59; • Disabled member and no able bodied adult member in the family; • SC/ST households; • Landless households deriving major part of their income from manual casual labour.

Also, automatically included families in rural areas should be having any one of the following • Households without shelter • Destitute • Living on alms • Manual scavenger families • Primitive tribal groups • Legally released bonded labour.

For urban areas, 11 defined occupational categories are entitled under the scheme.

The beneficiaries can avail benefits in both public and empanelled private

facilities. All public hospitals in the States implementing AB-NHPM, will be deemed empanelled for the Scheme.

Hospitals belonging to Employee State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) may also be empanelled based on the bed occupancy ratio parameter. As for private hospitals, they will be empanelled online based on defined criteria.

To control costs, the payments for treatment will be done on package rate (to be defined by the Government in advance) basis. The package rates will include all the costs associated with treatment. For beneficiaries, it will be a cashless, paper less transaction. Keeping in view the State specific requirements, States/ UTs will have the flexibility to modify these rates within a limited bandwidth.

One of the core principles of ABNHPM is to give co-operative federalism and flexibility to states. There is provision to partner the states through co-alliance. This will ensure appropriate integration with the existing health insurance/protection

schemes of various Central Ministries/ Departments and State Governments (at their own cost). State Governments will be allowed to expand AB-NHPM both horizontally and vertically. States will be free to choose the modalities for implementation. They can implement through insurance company or directly through Trust/ Society or a mixed model.

For giving policy directions and fostering coordination between Centre and States, it is proposed to set up Ayushman Bharat National Health Protection Mission Council (AB-NHPMC) at apex level Chaired by Union Health and Family Welfare Minister. It is proposed to have an Ayushman Bharat National Health Protection Mission Governing Board (AB-NHPMGB) which will be jointly chaired by Secretary (HFW) and Member (Health), NITI Aayog with Financial Advisor, MoHFW, Additional Secretary & Mission Director, Ayushman Bharat National Health Protection Mission, MoHFW (AB-NHPM) and Joint Secretary (AB-NHPM), MoHFW as members. The CEO, Ayushman Bharat National Health Protection Mission will be the Member Secretary, State Secretaries of Health Department may also be members as per the requirement.

It is proposed to establish an Ayushman Bharat - National Health Protection Mission Agency (AB-NHPMA) to manage the AB-NHPM at the operational level in the form of a Society. AB-NHPMA will be headed by a full time CEO of the level of Secretary/ Additional Secretary to the Government of India.

States would need to have State Health Agency (SHA) to implement the scheme.

States will have the option to use an existing Trust / Society / Not for Profit Company/ State Nodal Agency or set up a new Trust / Society / Not for Profit Company/ State Health Agency to implement the scheme and act as SHA. At the district level also, a structure for implementation of the scheme will need to be set up.

To ensure that the funds reach SHA on time, the transfer of funds from Central Government through AB-NHPMA to State Health Agencies may be done

through an escrow account directly. The State has to contribute its matching share of grants within defined time frame.

In partnership with NITI Aayog, a robust, modular, scalable and interoperable IT platform will be made operational which will entail a paperless, cashless transaction.

This will also help in prevention/detection of any potential misuse/fraud/abuse cases. This will be backed by a well-defined Grievance Redressal Mechanism. In addition, pre-Authorisation of treatments with moral hazards (Potential of misuse) will be made mandatory.

In order to ensure that the scheme reaches the intended beneficiaries and other stakeholders, a comprehensive media and outreach strategy will be developed, which will, inter alia, include print media, electronic media, social media platforms, traditional media, IEC materials and

outdoor activities.

Implementation Strategy…

An Ayushman Bharat National Health Protection Mission Agency (AB-NHPMA) would be put in place to manage at the national level. States/ UTs would be advised to implement the scheme by a dedicated entity called State Health Agency (SHA). They can either use an existing Trust/ Society/ Not for Profit Company/ State Nodal Agency (SNA) or set up a new entity to implement the scheme. States/ UTs can decide to implement the scheme through an insurance company or directly through the Trust/ Society or use an integrated model.

Impact…

In-patient hospitalization expenditure

in India has increased nearly 300% during last ten years. More than 80% of the expenditure are met by out of pocket (OOP). While rural households primarily depended on their 'household income/ savings' (68%) and on 'borrowings' (25%), the urban households relied much more on their 'income/saving' (75%) for financing expenditure on hospitalizations, and on (18%) borrowings. Out of pocket (OOP) expenditure in India is over 60% which leads to nearly 6 million families getting into poverty due to catastrophic health expenditures. AB-NHPM will have major impact on reduction of Out Of Pocket (OOP) expenditure on ground of • Increased benefit cover to nearly 40% of the population, (the poorest&the vulnerable) • Covering almost all secondary and many tertiary hospitalizations. (except a negative list) • Coverage of 5 lakh for each family, (no restriction of family size) The expenditure incurred in premium payment will be shared between Central and State Governments in specified ratio as per Ministry of Finance guidelines in vogue. The total expenditure will depend on actual market determined premium paid in States/ UTs where AB-NHPM will be implemented through insurance companies. In States/ UTs where the scheme will be implemented in Trust/ Society mode, the central share of funds will be provided based on actual expenditure or premium ceiling (whichever is lower) in the predetermined ratio.

AB-NHPM will target about 10.74 crore poor, deprived rural families and identified occupational category of urban workers' families as per the latest Socio-Economic Caste Census (SECC) data covering both rural and urban.

AB-NHPM will be rolled out across all States/UTs in all districts with an objective to cover all the targeted beneficiaries. n www.spoindia.org March 2018 | 27

interview

‘Convergence of CSR and sustainability form the core of The Companies Act, 2013’ Started back in 2009, Fiinovation is a research-based CSR consultancy that helps corporations channelize the resources efficiently for the upliftment of community on societal, economic and ecological aspects in accordance to their company CSR charter. Dr.Soumitro Chakraborty, Chief Executive Officer, Fiinovation tells SPOI of how he looks at CSR & sustainability in the country and what he feels corporates should do for making sustainability as a best practice -

Could you tell us more about your organization?

With a vision to ensure development is not only sustainable and easy to access but also simplistic and scalable. We are determinedly working since 2009 in the social welfare sector with different CSR initiatives across India on Health, environment, livelihood and education projects.

After the Companies Act being mandated, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) has transformed from an auxiliary concept to a strategic practice in business operations across the globe. Consequently, our major focus now is to identify real societal needs and help our partners design focused CSR policies. Formulating a focused policy and guideline is a key element for a business towards a holistic and inclusive growth.

Furthermore, our Initiative Design and Management service is intended to design the requisite programme, plan for the implementation and moreover assist to shortlist the implementing partner for the programme through its in-house “Proposal Research Laboratory”.

More importantly, we facilitate planning of the programme, its implementation, monitoring and evaluation, impact assessment and finally, submission of the respective reports. Our monitoring and evaluation team recognizes the effectiveness and quality of an initiative, thereby ensures accountability towards the stakeholders. The team aligns the methods of the project basis the meticulous findings and suggestions. Need Assessment, Baseline Study, Mid-term & End-term Evaluation Perception Study and Impact Assessment are some of our Monitoring and evaluation processes.

Impact Assessment (IA) is an imperative 28 | March 2018 www.spoindia.org

component of a CSR project management, which enables the programme ideators to analyze the relevant economic, social and environmental impact of a project and precisely focuses on learning and analysis.

Our approach of embedding common indicators of impact assessment and economic valuation has set us apart in the sector.

At Fiinovation, we realize the right ground-level approach to address these challenges with cost-effectiveness and time-orientation. Certainly, there is immense scope and lot of power with corporates to bring about quantitative and qualitative social transformation.

In the Indian context, do you see sustainability as an important agenda for the businesses running here?

The Amendment in the Companies Act 2013 has given a new thrust to Corporate social responsibility as a business strategy.

Though it hasn't reached the expected level, it is seen as a potential trigger.

Several corporates are now making their CSR activities strategic and are aligned as per the societal needs. Sustainability is a comprehensive approach for a business that aims to create and maximize longterm economic goals by keeping a balance of social and environmental aspects in a long run. While focusing on community needs, companies are taking up activities which are sustainable, and are continuously undertaking measures for impact measurement.

CSR and SUSTAINABILITY are inseparable. Convergence of CSR and sustainability form the core of The Companies Act, 2013 (Section 135). The concept focuses both on shareholders

and stakeholders through the social, environmental and economic objectives of a business.

I would say, transforming a business completely sustainable may not be feasible for many. However, a mixture of CSR and sustainability can definitely deliver a measurable impact. Conceivably, there is a need for more strategic, systematic and structured approach for an integrated development that can be addressed through an amalgamation of sustainable and socially responsible practices by businesses.

Could you also share with our readers any of the CSR projects that you are involved with?

One of my close-to-heart CSR projects in India is a project funded by India’s largest multinational flexible packaging materials and solution company Uflex Limited that is working for natural resource conservation and optimization initiatives in Bhind District of Madhya Pradesh, and Gautam Buddha Nagar in Uttar Pradesh.

With a partnership with our organisation, they successfully rolled out rainwater harvesting and plantation interventions through the implementation agency AROH Foundation. Currently, along with UP, we are working in Malanpur in Bhind District of Madhya Pradesh.

Notably, Uflex manufactures PET Chips (raw material for the polyester film) at its plant in Malanpur with a production capacity of 72,000 Tonnes Per Annum.

The initiative aims to build the capacity of the community to conserve and optimize the natural resource base. This would particularly include construction of carefully planned ex-situ rainwater

Dr. Soumitro Chakraborty Chief Executive Officer, Fiinovation

harvesting structures for arresting rainwater and charging the aquifers; organic and inorganic mulching to protect soil cover and focused plantation drives in the villages.

The project was recently acknowledged by ABP News CSR Leadership Award Jury as the 'Best Environment-Friendly Project'.

Around 100 farmers and their families will stand to benefit from the intervention over a period of next three years. The initiative underscores active participation of all stakeholders like village panchayat, farmers, local administration, social workers, schools, men, and women.

What are the loopholes that hinder the growth of CSR in the country according to you? How far is govt intervention important in it?

As it is not very common for everyone to give back to the society, at times it’s due to ignorance, sometimes unwillingness or most of the times less clarity. With the 2013 CSR act, the government hit the right chords and has given an extra edge to the corporates.

According to a report, Indian companies spent Rs13, 828 crore on CSR projects in 2015-16, which is Rs4263 crore more than the previous year. Yet, the CSR mandate has a lot of loopholes as it doesn't focus

on Social Audits as of now. I hope that perception studies and audits will be taken into consideration to ensure a qualitative approach rather than just quantitative. At times, some firms are more focused on CSR activities that also lead to increasing firm profits, such as inculcating goodwill and good public relations.

But the story has to begin with a socially conscious approach. To start with, there is a need to identify real- needs at the ground through effective baseline study, besides, a cost-effective implementation plan on social intervention. Once there is a feasible blueprint, the project needs to be implemented effectively by an implementation wing- a civic body with the required experience, geography and expertise.

In my opinion, it's not feasible for businesses to manage the entire CSR portfolio on their own owing to practical challenges; hence, they require right consultants and implementation partners to ensure the 2% investment on an impactful project. Fiinovation tries to bridge the gap, solve the real-time challenges and make each project impactful and sustainable.

According to you how can corporates help in creating meaningful CSR?

Currently, the biggest challenge for companies is to develop an approach that can truly deliver on the mandate— as of yet, only a few have found their way.

Nevertheless, some innovative companies like Tata execute tremendous CSR campaigns. It only demands real intentions and social consciousness to deliver worthy social interventions.

Corporates must focus on right CSR project design, Programme plans, rigorous Monitoring and evaluation, and efficient implementation partner to achieve the maximum out of their CSR spends.

What will be your roadmap in terms of creating a positive impact on both society and environment?

Going forward, Fiinovation wants to focus on more sustainable and impactful social programmes and support more organizations in implementing the desired activities on the ground. MSMEs are our key focus. We will exhaustively focus more on the research, and strengthen our research and programmes team across India.

Currently, we are working on multiple environment-based projects. One of them being, an environment and livelihood project with PI industries ltd. n www.spoindia.org March 2018 | 29

CORPORATE EVENT

InterraIT organizes a technological event on digital transformation “Digital technologies continue to transform the work, how we interact with colleagues, and the value we deliver to clients and customers,” said Asoke K. Laha, President and Chief Executive Officer, Interra Information Technologies.

Asoke was speaking at an event on ‘The Future of Digital Transformation’ that was organized by InterraIT as its Noida office.

The conclave brought in experts on digital transformation and analytics, including Aniruddha Guha Sarkar of InterraIT; Sameep Taneja of Accenture; Depender Kumar of Grant Thornton; Anshul Kumar of Cvent and Deepak Kumar Sahu of VARINDIA. A wide array of issues pertaining to digital transformation, including artificial intelligence and machine learning were brought up in a lively discussion. According to Depender Kumar, “it is time to make digital decisions and prepare for an interface-less future.”

The panelists were unanimous in the view that it is important to adapt all organizational systems and processes to adapt to digital transformation that is sweeping industries and the corporate landscape. Anshul Kumar pointed out that, “disruptions will do some collateral damage, so let’s be ready for that.”

Laha concluded the event by saying that “decision marking in regards to digital transformation is data driven, and leadership must focus on providing insights to marketing and customer engagements.”

30 | March 2018 www.spoindia.org

www.spoindia.org March 2018 | 31

LEAD STORY

Bad Loans in India growing in Double Digit

(Contd. from Feb 2018 Issue) There seems to be no end to the bank fraud investigation case that is going on currently involving Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi. While the probe might take some time given the magnitude of the case and the number of people involved in it, the latest reports say that the Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) of the Ministry of Corporate Affairs has summoned the ICICI Bank CEO Chanda Kochhar and Axis Bank MD Shikha Sharma in relation to the Mehul Choksi's Gitanjali Gems fraud case.

BSE has also sought clarification from both Axis Bank and ICICI Bank on the news report. ICICI Bank led the 31-bank consortium that extended credit to the tune of Rs 5,280 crore to Mehul Choksi's Gitanjali Group. ICICI Bank alone had given Rs 405 crore loan to Gitanjali Gems.

However, it should be noted that top bank executives are only being questioned for clarifications and not as accused in the loan fraud case. Meanwhile, the ICICI Bank has said its exposure to the Gitanjali Group is not the largest among the consortium lenders.

The CBI had earlier questioned ICICI Bank Executive Director NS Kanan as part of the investigation in India's biggest banking fraud.

The SFIO's Mumbai head while confirming about summoning both Kocchar and Sharma has stated that they have been summoned for giving the loan facility to Gitanjali Group. “Our intention is to get the information from these two banks. We would like to question both of them," it said.

The SFIO also said that the PNB MD and CEO, Sunil Mehta, has been summoned. A slew of agencies, including the CBI and ministerial arms like the Enforcement Directorate as well as the SFIO are probing the scam. According to reports from PTI, V Srinivasan, Deputy Managing Director of Axis Bank was seen one day exiting the SFIO office in south Mumbai. The CBI had earlier detained Vipul Chitalia, the vice-president of Gitanjali Group of Companies, as a part of its probe into the multi-crore Punjab National Bank (PNB) fraud.

Chitalia was apprehended at Mumbai airport and brought to the Central Bureau 32 | March 2018 www.spoindia.org

of Investigation (CBI) office at the Bandra-Kurla Complex for questioning, but did not divulge any other details about Chitalia's alleged role in the PNB fraud.

In the meantime, the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) issued orders restraining Nirav Modi, Mehul Choksi and 60 entities, including various individuals, companies and limited liability partnership firms, from selling their assets so that the government can recover funds siphoned off by them in the Rs 12,700 crore PNB fraud.

In a response to the report, ICICI Bank has said the bank has "no exposure to the Nirav Modi group of companies".

"We (the bank) have not issued any Letter of Undertaking (LOU) nor do we have any buyer's credit exposure against LOUs with respect to the Nirav Modi group of companies as well as the Gitanjali Group of companies." The bank has also clarified that it was "working capital lenders to the Gitanjali group of companies along with several other banks in the consortium".

Saying that the bank was fully cooperating with the investigation agencies, the ICICI Bank said: "Our exposure to the Gitanjali group of companies is not the largest among lenders in the consortium."

In another instance, RBI has slappted Rs. 58.9 crore fine on ICICI Bank for failure to meet disclosure norms on sale of securities.

Gitanjali’s Choksi refuses to join probe…

Meanwhile Jeweller Mehul Choksi has refused to join a CBI probe in the USD 2 billion PNB scam and claimed that "untenable" allegations had resulted in "sudden closure" of his business and exposed him and his family to "threats"

from former associates.

The agency had again asked him to join the investigation, on March 16, through an email dated March 13. The agency had summoned him for questioning in connection with first FIR in which Choksi is named as an accused along with his nephew Nirav Modi, Ami Modi, Nishal Modi. A separate FIR against him and his company Gitanjali group had also been registered by the agency.

In his two-page letter to the CBI dated March 16, Choksi mentioned about his medical condition, suspended passport, media trial to decline the agency's communication asking him to join the probe. "...till date, the Regional Passport Office has not communicated with me and my passport continues to remain suspended...I assure your good offices that I am not making any excuse, whatsoever to travel to India," he said in the letter addressed to investigation officer of the case.

"I reiterate that I'm abroad and have earlier also responded to your notices.

Surprisingly, the issues raised, the same has remained unaddressed, making my fear of safety rise to extreme levels," he said.

The jeweller, who had left the country before Punjab National Bank approached the CBI with complaint against him and Nirav Modi, said the media continued to conduct a trial by itself blowing each and every issue out of proportion. "...I had earlier expressed my apprehension and concern for my family's and my safety. The threat to me and my family continues, and I'm still being

Mehul Choksi (Left) and Nirav Modi (Right) obtained fraudulent LoUs and letters of credit (LCs), worth over 13,000 crore from PNB

threatened by individuals with whom I had business relationships. As there has been a complete and sudden closure of my business, my employees, customers, creditors etc have started to show animosity towards me," he claimed.

Choksi claimed that he was neither a partner of Diamond R US, Stellar Diamond, Solar Exports, companies accused in the FIR, nor did he have any kind of association with them.

"I further inform that requiring me to join the investigation, though leaving me helpless and information-less, by various actions taken by multiple agencies is unfair.

The manner in which the allegations have been exaggerated has left me completely defenceless," he said.

Choksi said he was held up in his business abroad and working hard to resolves the issues it was facing due to the unnecessary closure of the business in India due to untenable allegations. "...I am unable to travel to India due to my persisting health condition...I have been

advised to not travel for a period of 4 to 6 months. The said situation still remains, thus I expected your agency shall consider on humanitarian grounds," he said.

A Recap…

One of the biggest financial scams of the country surfaced when the companies of Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi approached the PNB's Brady Road branch, Mumbai, in January this year, seeking LoU for payments to suppliers. The official handling the case sought 100 per cent cash guarantee before any such letters could be issued to which the company officials said no such guarantee was sought in the past.

Nirav Modi, against whom PNB has filed a complaint was allegedly helped by a former bank employee, Gokulnath Shetty.

He was a deputy general manager in the foreign-exchange department in one of its branches in Mumbai. Shetty allegedly issued several fake letters of undertaking (LoUs) from PNB without any collateral

for Modi. The bank claims that for seven years the employees then bypassed the lender's internal messaging system in order to avoid detection.

Modi had already left the country along with his family in the first week of January, before the alleged scam became public.

Central government agencies — the CBI and the Enforcement Directorate — have registered cases on the complaint by the bank, and launched nationwide searches on dozens of offices and residences of the alleged fraudsters. The bank has named Modi’s brother, his American wife Ami, and uncle Choksi besides some others in the FIR. The CBI has alleged that firms controlled by Nirav Modi and Choksi obtained fraudulent LoUs and letters of credit (LCs), worth over 13,000 crore, from PNB in connivance with some officials of the bank.

Modi's firms allegedly defrauded PNB of over Rs 6,000 crore, while Choksi's firms over Rs 7,000 crore. n www.spoindia.org March 2018 | 33

INTERVIEW

Food Dosti strives to reduce food wastage In the day and age where zero food wastage has become the need of the hour, SamvadSocial Technologies has brought forth a game-changing application that ensures diners dine for a cause. Touted as India’s first zero food wastage platform, Food Dosti application promises a revolutionary dining experience at the drop of a hat SamvadSocial Technologies started a concept that strives to bring together patrons and restaurants over an effortless, user-friendly application, Food Dosti that rewards customers with loyalty points for every clean plate. Based in Pune, the application now has over 190 restaurants registered with them. Food Dosti plans to launch in Mumbai very soon and extend its services to patrons as well as restaurants based in the maximum city.

Food Dosti connects a restaurant to its customers and on the other hand to NonProfits in a bid to minimize food wastage.

It is a win-win alliance which is beneficial to all.The endeavour is to reduce the food wastage footprint on the table and also in the kitchen,” says Sanjeev Neve, the founder of Samvad Social Technologies.

“The app encourages the guests to ensure no food wastage on the table by offering them rewards for every clear plate.”

Apart from this, Food Dosti has numerous, interactive ideas to motivate users who believe in zero wastage.The app has innovative features like PortionSaver which allows the guests to order half a portion if they do not have enough appetite to finish entire portion. They pay for the full portion and are served half portion. The remaining half is credited to their account as points, which can be redeemed anytime later. This way they are not forced to take more than they need and also are eligible for extra cashback points if they finish everything on the table.

“If you leave the restaurant with leftovers, be rest assured that Food Dosti will send this to those in need and put the food to better use. Earn loyalty points with every visit, and participate in a good cause every time you’re out dining with your close friends and family. Food Dosti is perhaps the first stepping stone to what revolutionary dining looks like,” states 34 | March 2018 www.spoindia.org

Sanjeev Neve Founder Samvad Social Technologies Sanjeev.

He further adds, “Though we have Food Dosti Connect to upcycle food to the needy, our final goal is that the restaurants/eateries should not be left with any surplus food to upcycle at all! After all, upcycling also has a cost involved, and it is much more efficient to provide food to the needy using dedicated initiatives. If we are able to achieve optimal production in eateries and eliminate or minimize surplus, we believe that a part of the problem will be addressed automatically.”

The customers along with the obvious features, get specialized offers and discounts for being associated with the initiative. They can use their cashback points not only in the issuing restaurant but a part of the points can be also redeemed in other Food Dosti partner restaurant. This gives them a wider choice.

Also, most importantly, at end of the day,

they feel good that they are contributing to the cause of stopping food wastage.

For the restaurant, it is equally beneficial, as they build customer loyalty while ensuring optimized production costs and reduced waste management issues. They are able to not only retain but also augment their customer base and get repeat business. Especially in a buffet offering, there is a significant saving in production costs.

In case, the restaurant has some surplus food at the end of the session, Food Dosti Connect helps them in ensuring that the food is utilized for greater good. Using the Food Dosti platform, the restaurants can publish the information about surplus food and the same reach local Non-Profit organizations in real time.

The Non-Profits can then claim for the available food based on their requirements and once approved it is kept ready for them to pick up and up-cycle to those in need.

“The response has been extremely good in Pune, as there are more than 100 restaurants who are already a part of this initiative and is being liked by the customers and all the parties involved,” says Sanjeev.

He continues, “In the next stage, we are launching this platform to Mumbai and then we will be taking this to other cities across India. We are also working on implementing Food Dosti platform in corporate and college canteens, where food wastage is a prevailing issue. We are planning to take one city at a time and are hoping to rope in partners for different cities. We are looking at a presence of Food Dosti in at least 5 Major cities by end of 2018.”

The android Food Dosti app available on PlayStore and its features can be enjoyed on any smartphone. n

FACE TO FACE

Tuberculosis—The Scourge Of India

Dr. Shalu Verma Kumar, CORE Diagnostics

Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease variously named consumption, white plague, phthisis, or scrofula. It has been rampant in India, with the first cases being reported as early as 1500 BCE. As we celebrate the WHO World TB Day on 24 March 2018, we need an up-to-date assessment of our efforts to control TB. In 2016, 10.4 million people world-wide became ill with TB, with ~1.7 million people dying of it. As per the Global TB Report 2017, a whopping 26% of these deaths (4.23 lakhs) were reported from India. The incidence of TB in India remains high—2.790 million patients in 2016. However, the incidence has declined during the 2000-2016 period, such that the rate (2016) stood at 211/100000 population/year. India led the world in notification of new TB cases, with a 37% increase during the 2013–2016 period.

The issues of HIV/AIDS, and multi-drugresistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) further complicate TB control in India. The government of India initiative ‘Revised National Tuberculosis Control Program’ (RNTCP) is tasked with TB control in India. India allocated US$ 525 million for TB prevention, diagnosis, and control in 2017. Plans are afoot to carry out a national TB prevalence study in 2018.

Tuberculosis is caused by one of several bacteria belonging to the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTBC). Of these, Mycobacterium tuberculosis is the most important causative agent. One third of the world's population is infected with this bacterium. Those infected may either carry latent TB (these people do not feel sick, do not have any symptoms, can’t spread TB, and are usually positive in PPD skin test), or show active disease. Symptoms of active TB include coughing that lasts ≥3weeks, chest pain, or coughing up of blood, and sputum. Early symptoms may include unexplained weight loss, fever, fatigue, weakness, night sweats, chills etc. Infection spreads when you breathe TB bacteria shed into air by a patient with active disease. Such patients can spread disease by coughing, sneezing, or simply talking. Approximately 10% of people with latent TB infection, go on to develop active TB disease. People

with compromised immune system (such as HIV/AIDS patients), those who inject illicit drugs, and who have past history of inadequately treated TB have increased risk of progression to active TB disease.

Diagnosis starts with a physical examination wherein a doctor examines your lungs with a stethoscope, and checks your lymph nodes for swelling. He/she may next order a chest X-ray or a CT scan which may show white spots (granulomas) in your lungs where your immune system has trapped TB bacteria. Should the chest X-ray be suggestive of TB, your doctor may take samples of your sputum (the mucus brought up by coughing). This is examined under the microscope, and also cultured to find out the strain of bacteria, and which antibiotics are effective. The commonest TB test is a simple skin test called the Mantoux test. In this, the physician injects a substance called PPD tuberculin into your arm. A swelling or bump at the site of injection post 48 to 72 hours shows that you are likely to have TB. Nucleic Acid Amplification Tests are routinely used in TB diagnosis. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved QuantiFERON-TB Gold Plus (QFT-Plus).

Treatment of TB is immensely possible.

It requires close cooperation between the

patient, and the physician. The treatment lasts at least 6 months in duration, but may extend to 12 months. Treatment involves taking one, or several different antibiotics. The most common antibiotics prescribed are Isoniazid (INH), Rifampin (RIF), Ethambutol, and Pyrazinamide.

For a person with latent tuberculosis, the doctor might treat you with isoniazid for at least six months. The side-effects of these drugs may include lack of appetite, nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, skin rashes, joint-pain, blurred/changed vision, ringing in ears, hearing loss etc. However, it is dangerous to discontinue your TB drugs, or not take them regularly. The Tb bacteria could continue to proliferate in your body, and even develop resistance to the prescribed drugs. Thus, drug resistant TB evolves when you are infected with a TB strain that is resistant to one or more of the standard antibiotics. Drug resistant TB is more frequently encountered in people who do not take their prescription drugs regularly or as prescribed, are in close contact with a patient with drugresistant TB, have relapsed disease, or hail from areas where drug-resistant TB is common.

Patients resistant to isoniazid (INH) and rifampin (RIF) are said to harbour MDR-TB. In 2016, there were 147,000 such patients in India, with an incidence rate of 11/100000 population/year.

Patients with MDR-TB are treated with several antibiotics each day for up to two years, but mortality rate in such patients remains high. About 6.2% of MDR-TB cases worldwide have extensively drugresistant TB (XDR-TB). Patients with XDR-TB are resistant to at least four antiTB drugs. Such patients in addition to being resistant to INH and RIF, are resistant to fluoroquinolones (such as levofloxacin or moxifloxacin) and to at least one second-line drug (amikacin, capreomycin or kanamycin). Once treatment of such patients is initiated, isolation is usually neither necessary nor appropriate.

Tuberculosis control shall entail a sustained commitment by scientific, political and social authorities in India. n www.spoindia.org March 2018 | 35

SPO FOUNDATION

'The Mid-day Meal has been a great success for Akshay Patra Foundation' When Akshay Patra Foundation first started, its main objective then was to fight hunger and malnutrition. But as time passed, the foundation realised that having made a measurable impact in all these years, the next logical goal would be to go beyond meals and empower children to flourish in a fast changing world. In a conversation with SPOI, Shridhar Venkat – CEO, The Akshaya Patra Foundationspeaks of how despite challenges, the foundation continues to fight for various causes in the society -

How are you looking at continuing the CSR Vision for the year 2018?

Significant time has elapsed since theCompanies Act 2013 came into force.

This has given both, corporates and nonprofits sufficient time to understand its nuances. Today, both sides are better equipped to make the most of this opportunity. While non-profits are assuming the frontline role, corporates ought to actively participate in the implementation and, more importantly, monitoring part to maximize the impact of the initiative. Thus, we are aiming for long-term partnerships built around implementation and monitoring of the programme.

Could you tell us something about your initiatives for ‘Rotis for Love’ initiative you are starting this Valentines?

We have partnered with Rotimatic, a USbased company producing a Wi-Fi-enabled kitchen appliance, to makes flatbreads from the scratch in just 90 seconds. Being Wi-Fi enabled,Rotimatickeeps a record of every roti prepared using it.As a part of our campaign, the company decided to donate 5 cents for every Rotimatic roti made in the world between1stand14th February.

In addition, every time someone buys a Rotimatic, the company has promised to support one child’s midday meal for an entire year.

You have collaborated with different corporates and foundations to work for the underprivileged.

What are the implementation methods followed in each such projects?

36 | March 2018 www.spoindia.org

Over the course of 17 years, we have partnered with several organisations. Each of these organisations have contributed towards our cause in various ways.

While most of them opt for strategic philanthropy through fundraising or inkind contributions, such as donating a delivery van or setting up a new kitchen, others help with promotional campaigns, event sponsorships, innovation, etc.

What inspired you to start initiatives such as after school tuition and skill development?

When we started the initiative 17 years ago, our main objective was to fight hunger and malnutrition, and at the same time, encourage children to come to school by promising them a wholesome meal as an incentive. Over the period, we realised that we had made a measurable impact. The next logical premise, we thought, would be to go beyond meals and empower children to overcome adversity and flourish in a fast changing world.

Over the years, we have introduced several initiatives that would support the cause. One such initiative that was launched last year was Giving Every Dream a Chance, a mentorship programme to provide beneficiary children a platform to nurture and showcase their talents.

What kind of response have you received from different states while proposing to run kitchens to feed underprivileged children? ?

Over the last 17 years, AkshayaPatra has established itself as a credible organisation. Along the way, several State Governments have come ahead to partner with us. Today, we provide mid-day meals

to over 1.6 million children across 12 states. The promise of a meal serves as an incentive for children to come to school, thus helping eradicate classroom hunger.

The impact of the Mid-Day Meal Programme has been positive on enrolment and attendance in Government and Government-aided schools across these locations. It has also helped address the issue of children dropping out to work and support the family or learn housework.

There have been several studies to highlight the impact of Mid-Day Meal Scheme.

In 2014, for instance, we collaborated with the Sigma Research and Consulting Pvt Ltd for a baseline study to assess the outcomes of the programme implementation across 8 states. This study showed that enrolment and attendance had increased significantly after the introduction of mid-day meals in these schools.

Please brief on various supports you receive from the Government?

The Mid-Day Meal Scheme is the flagship programme of the Government of India. We work with the Government as the implementing partners for the programme. Each meal costs us a specific sum. While a part of it is provided by the Government, we are authorised to raise the deficit amount through donations from individual and corporate donors from within the country and abroad. The permission to collect donations from within the country is granted by the Ministry of Finance, whereas the permission to collect donations from abroad is granted by the Ministry of External Affairsunder the Foreign Contributions (Regulations) Act (FCRA). In addition to cash subsidies, which vary from state to state, grains are

Shridhar Venkat CEO, The Akshaya Patra provided by the Government through the Food Corporation of India (FCI) and Food and Civil Supplies Corporations.

What are the new goals the foundation has set to achieve in the year of 2018?

We will continue to expand our footprint in the MDM space by focusing on increasing capacity utilisation of existing kitchens and setting up new kitchens. This will add to the feeding volume. In addition, we will step up our advocacy efforts to spread awareness about classroom hunger and the need and means to eradicate it.

Do you face any challenge when it comes to implementing a program successfully?

Challenges will always be there; all the more so when we are operating at this scale. When we started the school lunch programme to eradicate classroom hunger, we were concerned about the funding part to sustain the initiative in the long run. That is when many like-minded people came ahead to help us. When we got into partnerships with states in North India, we realised that it was difficult to manually prepare rotis (flatbreads), which

are integral to the diet in these regions. The solution came in the form of a customized roti-making machine with the capacity todish out 40,000 rotis in just under an hour. Over the course of 17 years, every time there has been a problem, we have found a solution in the form of people or technology.

Speaking of challenges, there is one more thing that is worth mentioning. We have always believed in the need to reach out to as many children as possible. With that in our mind, when we tried to reach out to children in remote areas such as Baran (Rajasthan) and Nayagarh (Odisha), we realised that the terrain and remoteness of these regionsmade it difficult for us to set up a centralised unit there. So we decided to opt for the decentralised model, wherein every school would have a small kitchen with Women Self-help Groups (SHGs) preparing food for children and the whole process being monitored by Akshaya Patra.

How is CSR looked at in India today?

Has the perception changed after the Company’s Act of 2013?

The concept of giving is not an alien concept for India Inc. Indian corporates

have long been incorporating their philanthropic values into their business goals to give it back to the society. Almost all the major business houses in the country have been indulging in philanthropy in some or the other form for years—some even establishing their philanthropic wing to carry out the same. What the Companies Act, 2013 did is that it provided impetus to the concept with more companies coming forward to do their bit for a cause.

Can you advise on how more corporate can add value to your services you are offering?

More and more corporates are coming forward to contribute towards socio-economic development of the countryand that bodes well for our pursuit of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The rise in CSR spends in the aftermath of Companies Act 2013 has been a major boost to the social sector as it is helping non-profits reach out to more people with quality services. Corporates should understand that corporate social responsibility goes beyond signing cheques, that it is equally important that they make informed decisions and be a part of the whole process all along. n www.spoindia.org March 2018 | 37

MOVEMENT

R Subramanyamappointed Secretary, Higher Education

Anil Mukim appointed as Secretary, Mines

C. Chandramouli appointed as Secretary, Personnel

Raghavendra Rao appointed as Secretary, Chemicals and Petrochemicals

R Subramanyam has been made Secretary, Higher Education, as part of a major bureaucratic reshuffle effected today by the government, according to an official order.Subrahmanyam, who is at present special secretary in Department of Higher Education, succeeds K K Sharma, who has superannuated.

Tamil Nadu cadre’s C. Chandramouli has been appointed as Secretary, Personnel, in the government. He is a 1985 batch IAS officer.The government appointed new secretaries for important departments like mines, personnel, parliamentary affairs, animal husbandry and higher education.

S.N. Tripathi appointed Secretary, Parliamentary Affairs S.N. Tripathi has been made Secretary, Parliamentary Affairs. Tripathi also is a 1985 batch IAS officer.The orders, after the shortlisted names of new secretaries were cleared, were issued by the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT).

Debashish Panda appointed as Additional Secretary, Financial Services Debashish Panda from UP has been brought in as Additional Secretary, Financial Services in the Ministry of Finance. He isa 1985 batch IAS officer.

The government announced a reshuffle in March in the administration with appointments at the secretary, joint secretary and additional level.

38 | March 2018 www.spoindia.org

Gujarat’s Additional Chief Secretary (finance) Anil Mukim has been appointed as Secretary, Mines. . He is a 1985 batch IAS officer. The Central government in March carried out a reshuffle in the administration with appointments in top bureaucracy at secretary level.

Raghavendra Rao has been appointed as Secretary, Chemicals and Petrochemicals.

He is a 1985 batch IAS officer. The names of the new secretaries were cleared by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet, headed by Prime MinisterNarendra Modi.

B.B. Swain posted as Additional Secretaryin the Department of Commerce Gujarat’s Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) B.B. Swain has been posted in the Department of Commerce as Additional Secretary.The new list of secretaries that has been issued in March as a result of a reshuffle also includes bureaucrats in the middle level from joint secretary to additional secretary.

Rajiv Ranjan Mishra appointed Director General, National Mission for Clean Ganga

Rajiv Ranjan Mishra has been made Director General, National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG), an ambitious flagship project to clean the Ganga river.

NMCG is the implementation wing of National Ganga Council which was set up in October 2016 under the River Ganga (Rejuvenation, Protection and Management) Authorities order 2016.

www.spoindia.org March 2018 | 39

RNI No.: DELENG/2016/69058 Printing Date 27 & 28

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Date of Posting Date 29 & 30 Every Month