News from November

8/10/2019 News from November

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The Rub of the Green

(Card)Ishani Duttagupta

Obama's use of executive powers to push through immigration reform has

brought cheer for Indians in the US. Here's why

On Thursday night, when US president Barack Obama took recourse to exec utive

action to push through a much anticipated immigration reform plan, there were sighs of

relief heard in many pockets in the US that are home to Indian students and skilled

work ers !owever, there is some reading of the fine print that many of them will need

to do before they can un cork the champagne

Unsurprisingly, the maximum ben efits from US immigration reforms as far as

Indians are concerned address the highly skilled workers "many of them on !#B and $#

work permits and waiting in long green card %ueues

There are, in fact, thousands of skilled Indians in the US whose peti tions

&employment"based ' ( ) catego ries* for green cards were filed many years back and

have become sub+ect to annual number caps and country"wise caps Thousands of

Indians are wait ing in the US in green card %ueues

-ost of them are on !#B extensions .beyond six years/ 0resident Obama has

directed the US 1iti2enship and Im migration Services and department of state to work

things out so that visa numbers that remain unused from the total number cap are

reallocated to those waiting in the line !ow these un used numbers are to be allocated

will become clear after the regulations are issued, says -umbai immigration law yer

0oorvi 1hothani


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3or Indian students on 3# visas who are graduating from US institutions of higher

education in the science, tech nology, engineering and mathematics &ST4-* streams,

there5s reason to re +oice The optional practical training &O0T* period "when they can

finish their courses and look for a +ob "is be ing extended from '6 months to )7

months This policy initiative is likely to further enable education as a path way for

attracting and retaining future skilled migrants to 8merica

!owever, steps are also likely to be taken by the US department of home land

security &9!S* to bring educa tional institutions, students and their employers under

greater scrutiny to prevent the misuse of the O0T facility :hile the definition of ST4-

streams may be expanded to include additional programmes and the period extended,

this will come with tighter process control over students, institutions and employers

4arlier government reports had raised concerns about the potential misuse of the O0T

programme, which are likely to be plugged, says 9r ;ahul 1houdaha, chief knowledge

officer at :orld 4ducation Services, a


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significantly help Indians in 8merica and technology companies are the addressing of

the ambiguity in $# visa ad+udications and potentially reducing the lead times to obtain

green cards and providing more flexibility to change employers during the arduous

green card process, says 8nu+ Sarin, director, product management at I


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Achtung BabyIshani Duttagupta

If Germany is replaced by Sansrit in schools! will languages lie "rench

and #andarin too go out of the window $and with them Indian students'

prospects in the global village%

3or a Bavarian, -ichael Steiner counters the stereotype easily Unlike his brethren

from Aermany5s biggest state who love their meat and beer, the Aerman ambassador in

India is a vegetarian and teetotaler :hen in Bavaria, you5re more likely to find him

dining in an Indian restau rant than in a bier caf

8nd guess where the Steiners are headed during the 1hristmas vacationsC


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Aiving Aerman the proverbial short shrift has come as a bolt from the blue In an

interview to 4T -aga2ine &see 0age #)*, eminent +urist 3ali


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1lass IL, has opted to study 3rench, though she could have dropped it at the 1lass FIII

stage

-eanwhile, the Supreme 1ourt issued a notice to the government on 3riday asking

for an explanation on the decision to drop Aerman as a third language in the EFs This

was after a group of parents of EF students challenged the government decision in

court

8ctivist and Bollywood actor Aul 0anag, who studied at six EF schools, feels

studying a foreign language helps children to become well"rounded individuals in a

globali2ed world :hen I was a student at EF, I would have been very happy if I got an

opportunity to study AermanI don5t think a language can be studied as an extra"curric

ular activity and should be offered full time I hope that the !;9 ministry will do a

rethink, 0anag told 4T -aga2ine

ha, president of the Sanskrit

Shikshak Sangh, and a teacher at a 9elhi government school, is emphatic that in

introducing Aerman in the EFs as a third language option, the former government had

flouted the law, which says the third language has to be Indian 8 foreign language canbe taught at the hobby classes as an extra"curricular activity, says >ha, who had filed a

case against the introduction of Aerman

>ha contends that it5s not only foreign languages that are relevant in a global

villageG Sanskrit can be, too, and globally there are many universities "including some

in Aermany "where Sanskrit studies are supported Steiner too sees a reverse trend of

a greater interest in culture and all things Indian back in Aermany There5s a yoga

centre in every locality in large Aerman cities Indian restaurants, Bollywood films and

music are also very popular, thereby creating an interest in the !indi language, he

adds


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=et, considering that Aermany is emerging as a leading destination of higher

education for Indian students, especially in the area of science and technology, learning

Aerman has its virtues $earning the Aerman language will help young students during

their overseas studies, and to get good +obs, avers Steiner

;ohini 1hawla, a senior re searcher at the Indian 8gricultural ;esearch Institute,

lived in Aermany for three years after completing her masters degree, and later worked

at -ax 0lanck Institute for 0lant Breeding ;esearch in 1ologne 1hawla agrees that a

basic knowledge of Aerman is an advantage for students who go to study in that

country 8lthough most masters level programmes are taught in 4nglish, having basic

knowledge of Aerman helps to interact more easily with lo cal people

$ike her, 8run Soma dathan, who now works as a business process con sultant in

3rankfurt, too believes that knowledge of Aerman helps make life easier and opens

many doors 4ven as a student here, language skills helped me find internships, part

time +obs and networking with the right people Today, in an office full of Aermans, I

am a better team player because I know the language well, he says 1urrently,

Aerman colleges and universities, none of which charges any tuition fees from

international students, have over M,7?? Indian students on their rolls

$ooking Beyond Aerman

But it5s not only Aerman that Indian students are keen to learn There has been a

huge rise in demand to learn other international languages such as 3rench, -andarin,

>apanese, Spanish and 0ortuguese in India among school and college students and

young professionals The need and desire to learn 1hinese amongst different

categories of people in India is growing The reasons are an increased tourist flow into

India from 1hina and more business ventures by 1hinese companies in various sectors

in India The demand for people with 1hinese language skills will keep increasing in

India, says 8bhilasha 8grawal, director and trainer of The -andarin School of India in


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Bengaluru The profile of her students is as diverse as IT professionals, importers and

international school students who have opted for -andarin as a second language

3rance too is attracting a large number of Indian students for higher education,

with more than ),??? expected to be +oining universities there in '?#6 3rench, not

surprisingly, is also a foreign language of choice among students in schools and colleges

in India with a network of #) 8lliance 3rancaises, universities and private institutes

catering to their needs 3or those students who plan to go to 3rance, it is possible to

start 3rench language courses one year before leaving

It is not essential but definitely advisable for Indian students and professionals to

pick up 3rench language skills before moving as, outside of the office or

universityschool, very few 3rench nationals speak 4nglish, says 3iona -ougenot, who

runs 4xpat 0artners, an immigration services consultancy in 0aris3or anything from

renting an apartment, to setting up an internet connection, opening a bank account,

immigration with the 3rench administration post"arrival, travelling and daily shopping,

knowledge of 3rench language will be very useful, she adds

Other 4uropean languages such as Spanish and 0ortuguese too are finding takers inIndia because of growing business and economic ties with $atin 8merican countries,

feel experts There are many call centres operating out of Bengaluru and !yderabad

which offer full services in Spanish and 0ortuguese languages and cater to 4uropean

and $atin 8merican geographies There5s a growing interest among students in various

Indian cities to pick up these languages as additional employability skills both in India

and globally, says ;ita ;ay, a faculty member at Eolkata5s >adavpur University School

for $anguages ( $ingusitics and a teacher of 0ortuguese


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How New-Economy

Firm - !anage an "#d-economy $or%forceTV Mahalingam

&$tailers and radio cabs are learning to cope with the vagaries of woring

with a sieable blue$collar worforce that includes delivery boys and drivers

On the morning of Fishwakarma 0oo+a in September, 8shish Shah received a series

of images on his smartphone via instant messaging service :hats8pp Shah is the chief

operating officer of 0epperfry, an on line furniture store The images were pho tographs

of decked"up trucks that the com pany uses to deliver the furniture the com pany sells

on its portal The images were sent by the drivers, loaders and assembly men who

make deliveries happen

That act of the blue"collar staff sending across a series of messages to a 1LO of a

two"year"old startup is a big moment

Typically, startups are associated with flat organi2ational structures

They are also associated with young, highly %ualified teams

But a bunch of startups, especially in the e"commerce space, are increasingly

learning to work with a large bluecollar workforce 8nd integrating the two worlds "a

new economy business and an old economy workforce "is often not easy


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That5s the challenge, says Shah, who co"founded -umbai"based 0epperfry two

years ago along with 8mbareesh -urty Today, the company delivers everything from

three"seater sofas to a bathrobe across #6? towns in India It does so with the help of

'K"odd blue"collar workers

Sachin, Binny, -any -ore

On October 6 this year, most people who had bought anything from e"tailer 3lipkart

got an email with the sub+ect lineH 8 special message from Sachin and Binny .co"

founders of the portal/ The message, a teaser for the 3lipkart Big Billion a teaser for

the 3lipkart Big Billion 9ay Sale, promised to change the way India shops It also

made a mention about 3lip kart5s #?,??? dedicated field staff that would make the

deliveries possible

It5s a number that5s likely to burgeon in the near future In the last one year, our

delivery staff has %uadrupled, says


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founder of a 9elhi"based e"tailer who had initially taken blue"collar workers on his

company5s rolls but got bogged down by the challenges of managing them

So, what are the biggest challenges of managing a blue"collar workforceC -eru

1abs manages a fleet of #6,??? drivers, which has seen a growth of )KN year on year

It has encountered unionism, strikes and political interference :e don5t have an

employee"employer relationship :e look at them as entrepreneurs, says Siddhartha

0ahwa, chief executive, -eru 1abs :hat does that translate toC 3or one, -eru says it

provides help in getting financing options for drivers so that they ultimately end up

owning the cars they drive Over half of our drivers own the cars they drive, says

0ahwa

-eru drivers don5t get a fixed salary eitherInstead, they are expected to put in a

minimum set of hours every day and if they answer calls, a minimum salary is

guaranteed 3or instance, most cab drivers make D#',???#),??? a month but -eru

drivers make a minimum of D #J,??? per month If they have done their mandated #'"

hour shift and still don5t make that amount, we don5t collect our share of revenue, says

0ahwa, pointing out that the average -eru driver makes about D'K,??? a month and

can earn up to D#' lakh a month

The one thing that most companies fret on is training -eru says all drivers undergo

a four"day training programme, including classroom training which focuses on soft

skills 3or instance, drivers ferrying women passengers are trained to maintain a foot5s

distance at all time, not to make direct eye contact and, once the passenger is in the

cab, avoid resetting the rear view mirror

0epperfry emphasi2es on grooming The delivery staff is the face of the company

:e insist that our staff is well groomed :e provide a cap and a uniform, says Shah

To demonstrate the importance of delivery, 0epperfry5s senior management, including

the cofounders, accompany the blue"collar staff at the time of delivery when the


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company begins operations in a new city Shah, for instance, visited the home of a

customer in 1hennai when it began operations in the city

$ocalBanya, a -umbai"based grocery e tailer, has a delivery team of #'?"odd

people, who are on the rolls of a third"party logistics company The company says its

focus, so far, has been on training the delivery staff in basic conversational skills, to

understand and communicate the product portfolio that the company sells, manage

basic transactions like generating a bill and handling customer %ueriesSo far, the

founders themselves were very hands"on in training the delivery staff but now we have

created video"training modules, says 8mit Bhartiya, co"founder, $ocalBanya

;ewards, 1rime and 0unishment

But training is +ust half the +ob >ust because you have trained staff, things won5t

happen automatically, says -eru5s 0ahwa So, -eru has engineered a complex system

of rewards for good behaviour and penalties for poor standards 3or instance, every

time a driver gets a five"star rating for service, he gets a small monetary reward 8t the

same time, there is a five"stage programme for errant behaviour Take an over"

speeding driver, for instance 4very time a driver breaches the speed limit, anautomated system warns the driver If he still keeps speeding, he is called in for

counselling 8fter that comes a warning Stage three is a token financial penaltyStage

four is a suspension 8nd the last stage is the termination of the contract -eru says

the system is paying off as dangerous accidents involving -eru5s cabs have come

down from '? in '?#? to +ust one this year

4"commerce sites have their own sets of uni%ue experiences as well The 9elhi

based e"commerce company %uoted earlier says that recently a delivery boy walked

away with a day5s collec tion during this festive season In this case, the damage was

D?,??? "ap proximately three and a half months of the employee5s salary


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:e ask our partners to get their delivery staff verified by police as we don5t want

somebody with a criminal background to have access to a customer5s house, says

3lipkart5s 8ggarwal

Technology investments too help The point is some of these boys are from meager

backgrounds and they will be delivering costly products like bottles of premium olive oil

or expensive chocolate, explains $ocalBanya5s Bhartiya

Initially, we took it in our stride But now we have invested in technology like

barcoding, among others, which makes pilferage harder, he adds Bhartiya contends

that the lure of a steady +ob, which pays better, will ultimately trump the momentary

urge to stealH If the same guy worked in a local store, he would probably make D7,???

a month In these +obs, he can make D#K,??? a month

:elfare and


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Unioni2ation and local political interference is something companies are wary

ofThe key is to treat the blue"collar workforce like you would treat the rest of your

workforce and make them feel a part of the growth of the company, says Shah In

8ugust, the company held an offsite in Aoa for all staff, including its blue"collar

workforce8bout 'K? people turned up


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How & Ga'e Gandhi a TanRajesh Ramachandran

(n &) writer had little choice but to sully his hard$earned savings to buy a

sliver of land in his hometown

Black money is one of the grand themes of our times It was large ly responsible for

the smooth passage of the Bharatiya >anata 0arty &B>0* to ;aisina !ill with +ust about

everyone believing that Sonia Aandhi and the entire 1ongress party and their allies had

stashed away all the wealth of India in black polythene bags in some phoren bank, in

some phoren country, where most prob ably Italian is spoken


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unprofessionalismH !ow could you have ever ac cepted money by che%ue in a real

estate businessC The poor friend, who had an uncanny ability to lose money in all the

businesses he had tried out, bowed down to the 185s wisdom This was his last chance

to redeem himself !e meekly pleaded with me to bring the rest of the money in

black


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is undervalued and pegged at the official circle rates as if Indians transact property busi

ness only according to the market wisdom of the local government Step into a

+ewellery shop and the salesman tells you not to ask for a bill as there is an option to

evade tax

:hy should those who have already paid a lot of money by way of tax spend a lot

more for the government to send their incompetent sleuths abroad to bring back all

that black money stashed away in numbered or coded accountsC $ike the Bofors pay

back which never came home or the coffin scam case that reached no where, we will

never get to see the black money in Swiss poly bags

$et us first step into our homes and bring out all the black money stashed in our

cupboards, under the beds, behind the almirahs and in the septic tanks $et us first put

an end to all cash transactions be fore sending our famous investiga tors abroad, lest

they pocket the black money after claiming all the travel expenses in white
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Nothing "fficia# About &tShinie Antony

Sexual harassment in fluid workplaces poses a bigger challenge

Things are going downhill for the aver age eve-teaser !ad Touch has "een identified A "ureaucrat too# a minis

actress too# an e%-"oy friend to court$ a female judge even too# a male judge to court A profile of the se%ual offender i

is just anyone Among us$ with access to us$ he merits a poster of his own

&ompared to previous decades when the harassed was hushed up for it re flects "adly on her and deflects mar ri

handed

(arassment happens everywhere) not a single area can "e cordoned off as safe *ot schools$ not streets$ not of f

harassment as top issueThe Delhi (igh &ourt is rapping government #nuc#les over the latter's failure to implemen

instances have hit headlines for people to put their hands in their poc#ets than on a co-wor#er

/0nofficial' 1or#places

!ut what a"out those who have to fend off a

1ho cannot cite the Se%ual (arassment of 1omen at 1or#place 34revention$ 4rohi"ition and Redressal5 Act$ 6789$ as

danceaero"ics teacher who can get touchy-feely without eye"rows "eing raised The teenager left alone with a tuition te

actor$ author or sportsman meeting adoring fans a"out a promised role$ manuscript or used "atA doctor at a charity cam

help say when the master of the house wal#s

(er office is his home: In a fluid wor#place$ li#e when student-volunteers help out in event management on daily wag

get handsy Adolescent girls might "e as#ed to stay "ehind$ sent to deserted areas$ "e shouted at or socialised withM

women$ may compliment too freely Since such occasions are a one-off$ no corporate coating is given to the event$ no


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free hand$ literally

;ne presumes the person at the receiving end can wal# off$ "ut there's uncertainty over what constitutes harassmen

of crying wolfAlso$ there's grooming -the act of an older$ senior$ /successful' person preparing would-"e victims "y

mentoring

The predator even sees himself as a moral cleanser) he only wants to teach her a lesson$ to #eep her in her place$

social crusader (e maintains a neutral loo# if snu""ed$ specialises in snea# attac#s$ is wont to gra" from "ehind and

sport

1hat's the irls ro""ed of their gi

The ro""ed are now coming out to recount$ "raving stigma and pointed fingers If there is a rape story in the pa

There is no end to the stories !ut let's end the silence


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ay He##o to tartu that *+ their ,roduce Coo#Vasumita Adarsh

Pune:
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tartu #i%e Ecoen. Co#dt,romethean and Coo#ify tha

acce to o#ar and hybrid-torage o#ution are turningfarmer who are #oing o'er roduce becaue of oi#ing

Ecoen o#ution. tarted in*haragur a#umnu 5e'end

6i'e% ,andey and ,ratee%

offer o#ar-cum-hybrid co#dfarmer in rura# &ndia1


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7The roduct wor% on o#ar

ue therma# torage a the eu1 The cot of the o#ution dthe commodity to be tored1

fruit farmer hou#d be ab#e tthe cot within three year a#eat twice of what he earn Guta1

ince horticu#tura# commoderihab#e and there i no tfarmer are forced to e## the

at throwaway rice during htime. aid Guta. adding tha


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been rice f#uctuation of o'e

certain commoditie17$e aim to de-ri% thee farf#uctuation and a#o #ay a b

ro#e in the nationa# food uThe co-founder ha'e in'et94: #a%h o far in Ecoen. whre'enue target of 1

923 crore by 234:-4;1imi#ar#y. !aachuett &nTechno#ogy tudent Ra


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the bac%-end of the fruit an

u#y chain in &ndia1 Currefinihing the i#ot with thio#ution in Eat Africa. eth

#aunch in &ndia in 234:. aftefrom !&T1 7$e were awardeinno'ati'e buine idea by 5eartment of Agricu#ture. >

9;3-#a%h rie money1Thi i an &T-enab#ed o#utiofarmer with a marthone ca

the torage container and etemerature.8 aid ethi1


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Coo#ify i et to #aunch in th

rura# be#t ne?t year17&n 234:. the firt year of #au#an to get a minimum of :3

unit on ground. and thereafurther1 $e want to introducyou-ue mode# for the farme@4:-bi##ion (about 1

9/.333 crore) oortunity &ndia.8 ethi added1Co#dtar. which u#ie ref

torage to mu#tinationa# combig farm that in turn ta%e it


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to retain >ua#ity of erihab#

noted o'er 40 of &ndia fru'egetab#e roduce worth 194/./33 crore goe wate an

to #ac% of or oor co#d chain &ndia175e'e#oing an integrated cochain can a'e u to 1

9/3.333 crore annua##y andreduce watage of erihab#eaid hagun *aoor Gogia. f

director of Co#dtar. #auncheadding the comany i eein


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increae in demand e'er yea

er'ice o'er D3 #ocation thnetwor% of #arge-ca#e toragconnect them with it tran

networ%1 The 'enture ha beincubated by Tucan 6enturha et u a 6C fund focued#ogitic1 7ince 2343. we ha

witneed around four organta%ing hae and e?iting m#ayer ca#ing u1 "'er the

year. we ee #arge ub#ic waand co#d torage and tran


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being bui#t and the reach be

e?anded e'en#y acro ectgeograhie in the country.8ameer 6erma. rincia# at

6enture1&ndia i the econd #arget fruit and 'egetab#e. with oabout 233 mi##ion tonne e'e

the tota# co#d torage caaciti on#y about 2/1; mi##ion toaccording to 6a#ueNote 5a

The indutry reort add theindutry ha been growing a


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CAGR and wi## reach @43 bi#

9;2.333 crore) by 2341i%e fruit and 'egetab#e. moi# >uic%#y without imme

to co#d torage1 ,rometheanthi area. offering raid mi#%#arge dairie uch a Amu# a5airy beide regiona# #aye

Chita#e in !aharahtra17$e offer our roduct to th

who in turn inta## them at t

co##ection centre in the ruraenab#e farmer to de#i'er m


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high>ua#ity mi#% to dairie. t

increaing their o'era## re'eorin Grama. co-founder of ,ower ytem. which i act

23431 The mi#% chi##er wor%e#ectricity and ha'e a ane# tenergy17torage ytem running on

become huge#y e?eni'e toaid Grama. who did hi ma!&T1

Beide mi#% chi##er. the comu#ie 'egetab#e torage co


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#arge farm and food coma

7&n &ndia. the demand for mthan u#y. hence by imroecoytem with effecti'e co#d

o#ution. higher >ua#ity mi#mi#% roduct can come intomar%et.8 aid Grama. who be?erimenting with o#arba

chi##er1 The comany aw infrom angam 6enture amoand e?ect to earn a re'enu

9; crore by 234:1


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reasons, they should be allowed, sub+ect to their meeting tougher loss"absorbing"

capacity norms

Second, India, a seriously under"banked country, needs more banks and financial

inclusion The ;eserve Bank of India needs to clear banking licences continuously, with

flexible norms for different lenders 8 company that lends to truckers and does a large

part of its business in cash, cannot have the same policy rigidities as a bank that lends

working capital to large companies -obile banking must be encouraged 0olicy

flexibility and more competition are the only way forward

E&TENT&A5&E!!A - To Be or Notto Be. Ric% A% ,ot=ber Ride

Bengaluru | New Delhi |

Mumbai:Team ET

8s taxi aggregators vie to wean passengers into the comfort of affordable cabs,

autorickshaw drivers are becoming +ittery !aving earned notoriety for rudeness and

overcharging harried passengers, many are now asking if cheap cabs pose an
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existential threat that must compel them to undergo a radical image makeover I see

auto drivers parked at stands whiling away their time and refusing to ply They do not

speak courteously to passengers, said E


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between P7 billion & D)7,??? crore* and PM billion & DK6,??? crore*, only 6"7N is

organised, meaning that this is +ust the beginning The autorickshaw market, on the

other hand, is mostly unorganised and only +ust beginning to see corporate

interest-etropolitan cities such as -umbai, 9elhi and Bangalore have about more than

one lakh autos each Some, such as Shashank ;ao, the assistant general secretary of

-umbais biggest autorickshaw union, believes that the price war in the taxi market is

not sustainable and only aimed at gaining marketshare Therefore, cabs and taxi

aggregators may not pose a long"term threat, but they do spoil the business

atmosphereQ 8ccustomed to protection from the government which sets the fare and

issues licences, a few associations in Bengaluru are turning to Fidhana Soudha for help

8darsha, one of the auto unions, has threatened to go on a strike if the Earnataka

government fails to rescue them by acting against the cab firms 8nd there are also

others who say that business continues as usual

But for B 1handrashekar, general secretary of the Earnataka ;a+iv Aandhi 8uto

1halakara Fedike, representing '?,??? drivers, there is a lot to be concerned about

:e are meeting to decide whether we need to reduce our fares or increase the

minimum fare distance from #J km to over ' km,Q he told 4T

Su+aya ;athi, an expert in urban transportation at the Bengaluru"based 1entre for

Study of Science, Technology and 0olicy, is of the view that that competition among

private players could be counter"productive for the city whose residents they serve

In terms of price, it makes no difference now whether it is a cab or an auto I dont

think autos can be replaced !owever, we need to focus on public transportation,Q she

said


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our 6oice## Be ourignature ine4ayal >anguly

Hyderabad:
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Service providers are using more and more of voice biometrics as an

additional layer of security for remote transactions

Service providers from telecom operators to banks and government agencies are

increasingly experimenting with voice biometrics as an additional layer of security for

remote transactions Some foreign banks allow customers to use voiceprint to skip call"

centre security %uestions Signing contracts remotely, authenticating candidates on

telephone interviews and keeping electronic records safe are +ust some of the

opportunities the technology opens up

In India, agencies collecting data for the 8adhaar uni%ue identification pro+ect may

record your voiceprint as well with fingerprints and iris impression if a current proposal

is accepted

To remotely identify a person, this tool uses voiceprint R a set of characteristics of

the voice that is measurable and uni%ue to each individual R which is then verified with

the print already taken and stored in the database

The process does not need additional e%uipment, such as scanners used every time

the fingerprint is verified =ou could +ust speak over the phoneFoice biometrics is the

only technology solution for security which works remotely for authentication and does

not re%uire any physical device This works well for inclusion in schemes where

solutions such as pin or passcode have to be keyed in,Q said Umesh Sachdev, co"

founder and chief executive of Uniphore Software Systems

The 1hennai"based company that provides software solutions for services ranging

from mobile marketing to speech recognition and audio mining expects contribution of

voice biometrics solutions to make up 6?N of its revenues by '?# Incorporated in

'??J, Uniphore is targeting annual revenue of P'? million &more than D#'? crore* by

'?# 8part from solutions for banks and government pilots, Uniphore has devised


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products for authenticating candidates in telephone interviews and for patients to

protect electronic medical records

In India, a large number of solution providers utilising speech recognition and

authentication are startups and growth"stage companies focusing on the enterprise

solutions market

The potential is huge, with the government now aiming to deliver services through

smartphones under the 9igital India initiative

Foice biometrics has the potential to become a P#K billion industry by '?#J#M in

India, said 8nil Eona, partner, fraud investigation and dispute services, 4rnst ( =oung

India In India, voice biometrics is proposed to be used by the 8adhaar pro+ect as a

secondary level of authentication

The other industries using the tech nology are currently banks with backend

operations in the country , which are using voice biometrics and analysis at their B0Os

to authenticate the user as well as monitor the salesforce

Barclays Bank is one of the first to implement voice biometrics for authentication

8ll the validation done by B0Os can now be done through voice biometrics :e are

looking at entertainment and e"commerce as entry points into the market, said Farun

1handra, co founder and 14O of In1ights -obile Solutions

Incorporated in '?#?, the company raised D# crore last year and is running cash

positive on ongoing pilot pro+ects

The voice tool will likely have a ma+or role to play in online retail


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4ach cell, the basic unit of life, has a conscious intelligence that5s self"referencing,

self"sustaining, autonomous, embedded with 9


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he !ore Thing Change.The !ore 111 ,o#itic5ictate 6&, ecurity

Co'er =nder N5A Tooamansharma

NewDelhi

8 top B>0 leader was on the hot line with !ome -inister ;a+nath Singh5s office last

3riday with a rather pressing %uery the status of yoga guru Baba ;amdev5s demand for@"level countrywide security 8 nod was soon communicated and Baba ;amdev was

promptly informed the same day that he would now get a 1;03 cover of 'J commandos

and a convoy of two escort vehicles

The


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8s per the updated list accessed by 4T, ##? FI0s are now protected by nearly K,???

men of the four central forces harkhand chief minister and a key player in the

upcoming assembly elections in the state is a significant addition as a @"plus level

protectee

uestions have also been raised on the top security cover granted to B>0 president

8mit Shah and -u2affarnagar riots accused Sangeet Som by the new government

though they are said to be under a serious terror threat

:hat took the cake, however, was the decision to grant a @"plus cover to media

baron and B>05s first"time -0 from Earnal, 8shwani Eumar

The government has meanwhile cited credible terror threats to upgrade security

cover of


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well have been protected by the state police rather than increase the burden of the

central forces

0un+ab 9e puty 1hief -inister Sukhbir Singh Badal has a @"plus cover from the

1IS3 in 0un+ab and 9elhi since '?#? 1IS3 wants this to be reviewed but that hasn5t

happened so far

3ormer steel minister Beni 0rasad Ferma has @"plus cover across India since '?#'

8ll this needs review, the official pointed out

One of the high"profile protectees, who also did not wish to be identified, said many

state leaders seek central security cover since usually the party in power in the state

does not give security to its political opponents

-any BS0 leaders in U0 and 1ongress leaders in 0un+ab therefore asked the U08

for security cover 8mar Singh, the former Sama+wadi 0arty leader, has @"plus cover

from 1IS3 in entire Uttar 0radesh since '??J, when -ayawati was in power there, the

person said

3ormer home minister Sushil Eumar Shinde decided to grant @"level central cover in

similar scenarios to -0 ;avneet Singh, the grandson of former 1ongress chief minister

of 0un+ab Beant Singh, and @"plus cover of the 1IS3 to BS05s -0 Bra+esh 0athak

There have, however, been stray cases of a central force also saying no to the home

ministry5s orders for taking over security of a FI0 In '?#', the 1IS3 said no to the

home ministry5s order to take over the security of the ;SS chief -ohan Bhagwat

1IS3 suggested to the home ministry that the arrangement of -aharashtra 0olice

protecting Bhagwat was more feasible rather than it moving in There has been no

change in the situation since then


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1;03, 1IS3 and


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A#e "'erbi##ing a "ne-off &ntanceI &nfyVarun Sood

Bengaluru

*o dismisses tal of auditing all bac office divisions in +, countries

Infosys has dismissed talks that it may conduct an audit across all the facilities of

its back office division in #) countries, saying that the case of overbilling one of its

mar%ue clients, 8pple, was limited to +ust one facility in 12ech ;epublic

The company does not see any adverse impact on business at its back office and

none of the #66 clients of Infosys B0O have raised any concern with the company,

according to a senior executive of the parent, Infosys

In the first such incident at Indias sec ond largest IT services exporter, Infosys

announced the firing of the finance chief of its back office arm on


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expected to sack up to six more employees at its Brno facility in 12ech ;epublic for

overstating the man hours deployed for handling customer support work for 8pple

This was +ust a one"off case limited to one facility, which is small and handles only

one client,Q said a senior executive of the Bengaluru"head%uartered company, declining

to share details :e have all the checks and balances and regularly have internal

audits undertaken So there is absolutely no need to set up any panel to check other

facilities,Q added the executive, who did not wish to be identified 8n Infosys

spokeswoman declined to comment

Infosys B0O facility in Brno, 12ech ;epublics second"biggest city, employs about

)?? engineers who handle customer support services for 1upertino"based 8pple, the

maker of the iconic i0ads and i0hones, according to two people familiar with the

sub+ect

Business continues normally , said the executive cited earlier, adding that no

client has raised concerns The executives misstated the hours of work put in by

agents, who offer basic to moderately complex support to 8pple customers on 8pple

products, according to an executive familiar with the incident This was then wronglybilled to 8pple, which is reported to have paid Infosys B0O

In the normal course, the head of fi nance of Infosys B0O should have taken action

against the executives who were overbilling for they were looking for incentives,Q said

the executive 8ll the executives were locals, people familiar with the matter said

But after &parent* Infosys unearthed this case, they remitted back the credit to the

client &8pple*,Q said an executive :hile 4T could not independently confirm this

transaction and the %uantum, Infosys has said it was financially insignificantQ

Some analysts maintain that the managements swift action against the top bosses

at Infosys B0O underline the companys intolerance for financial impropriety


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The news of suggested impropriety of the 13O of Infosys B0O came out of the

blue for many industry stakeholders,Q said Tom ;euner, an analyst at Ovum, a $ondon"

based IT research firm

$riting on the $a##V 4remShan#er

Chennai

)H& -&G)H&IG SH(/O0 &xperts sceptical as the 123 loos to cash in

on the release of five )amil fishermen on death row in Sri -ana

The release this week of five Indian fishermen on death row in Sri $anka after the

intervention of 0- 0 a golden opportuni ty

to %uickly establish a strong position for itself in Tamil 0

flying the five free fishermen to 9elhi from 1olombo, rather than being brought to Tamil
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0 said it felt wounded55 But experts say , what will hurt the B>0

more is their inability to work at ground level locally Tirunelvelibased sociologist and

political observer 0erumal -anikandan saidH The B>05s south Tamil


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B>0 state president Tamilisai Soundara+an told 4TH The regional parties have

always wanted only a temporary solution to problems because their politics depended

on it But people will have to think nationally to get permanent solutions :e have been

advocating deep sea fishing &in the Indian Ocean* to Tamil fishermen as an alternative

to crossing international maritime borders and going to $ankan waters 8nd we will talk

about interlinking of rivers as a solution to interstate water disputes

Tamilisai is confident that securing the release of fishermen is definitely a big

boost But analysts ask as to why the B>0 failed to take politically pro"active steps like

holding rallies or mobilising support, especially if they were confident that the 0- was

going to intervene and bring about a solution in the case

A44T88$I

Citing - &nno'ate &nterna##yA*I= RAT(I

@Design the ne%t "ig thing@ is not a good challenge statement Ma#e your challenge statement or uestion focus on

pro"lem to "e solved As companies grow$ they "uild up massive repositories of #nowledge$ resources and intellectua

assets that "ecome so large$ even their own employees and e%ecutives are not fully aware of its "readth

=everage this content "y encouraging contestants to access this data =ay out a step-"ystep process so your emplo

overwhelmed


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As with most new "usinesses and patents$ most innovation contests do not lead to su"stantial results right away

reason$ it's important to emphasise the "enefits that contests yield

*o matter what finally happens with the eventual winning idea$ well-managed internal competitions teach empl

s#ills$ connect them across multiple departments and amplify the company's overall creative am"ience


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!ere we have summarised some excerpts from a section in which 9alio outlines his

habitsH

# :orking for himself and not what others wanted him to do

9alio writes that he hated school as a boy because he could not find practical

applications for things he was forced to memorise !e decided that he wanted to be

successful, re%uiring him to be motivated 8nd to be motivated, he had to work for

himself

' 1oming up with the best independent opinions he could to advance his goals

:hen he started investing as a kid, he began cutting out coupons from 3ortune

maga2ine that could be mailed in for annual reports for 3ortune K?? companies !e

gathered as many as possible and took an amateur shot at figuring out the market It5s

the same attitude he5s taken toward managing his employees

) Surrounding himself with smart people and learning from them

9alio says that as a novice investor, he started asking the opinion of anyone he

deemed a somewhat savvy investor "his stockbroker, the people he caddied for, and

even his barber

I never cared much about others5 conclusions "only for the reasoning that led to

these conclusions, he writes Through this process, I improved my chances of being

right, and I learned a lot from a lot of great people

6 Being wary of overconfi dence and limiting expo sure to high"risk situations

9alio has grown Bridgewater so tremendously because he lowers his risk as much

as possible before making a decision


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Sometimes when I know that I don5t know which way the coin is going to flip, I try

to position myself so that it won5t have an impact on me either way In other words, I

don5t make an inadvertent bet, he writes K ;eflecting on how he made decisions and

figuring out why they led to either success or failure 8 ma+or portion of 9alio5s manual

is dedicated to decision"making and analysis of results !e says that learning to

appreciate failure early on was very valuable for himH I learned that each mistake was

probably a reflection of something that I was &or others were* doing

wrong, so if I could figure out what that was, I could learn how to be more

effective


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C5 EC=&6E - i#icon

,hi#ooher

3ay3al co$founder! Silicon 4alley savant! and serial investor! 3eter )hiel on

)im *oo's painful 5ob and where the next "aceboo will come from. 1y

3riyana Sangani

Technology entrepreneur and investor That5s the short bio for 0eter Thiel 8 more

detailed one would readH 1o"3ounder of 0ay0al, 1larium, 0alantir Technologies,

3ounders 3und, -ithril 1apital -anagement and The Thiel 3oundation Thiel wears many

hatsH entrepreneur, investor and self"confessed conservative libertarian

Through his 3ounders 3und and personal investments, Thiel has invested in 4lon

-usk5s SpaceL, 3acebook, $inkedIn, =elp, and SpotifyThe Thiel 3oundation, on the

other hand, was set up to promote freedom in all its forms, be it political, personal or

economic In '?#?, Thiel set up the Thiel 3ellowship to identify and nurture the tech

visionaries of the future To this end, he has also formed Breakout $abs to help

independent scientists, inventors and engineers to work on their most radical ideas

Teaching a course on start"ups at his alma mater in '?#' set the foundation for his

new book, @ero to OneH


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shoots straight and explains why the concept of management is more about politics

than solving real problems4dited excerptsH

:hat5s the power law you talk about in the bookC

8 power law describes any exponential distribution The distribution of success

among companies is a concrete exampleH the most successful company in any given

cohort will tend to be more valuable than every other company combinedThat means

the '??th employee of the most successful company will do vastly better than the

founder and 14O of the '??th ranking companyIt5s the most important pattern in

business, but it5s hard to grasp intuitively because we rarely encounter such

unevenness in our daily lives

9o you believe that entrepreneurs don5t benefit much from modern business

educationC

Business education is mostly irrelevant to entrepreneurs =ou may meet some

smart people while you5re there, but when you take into account the opportunity cost, I

think it ends up being a neutral or negative proposition If 0eter Thiel was to give

advice to wouldbe entrepreneurs researching multiple ideas, what would be the key

factors you would ask them to look atC

Three things matter for deciding whether to work on an idea One, you should care

strongly about getting it done Two, you should have good reason to think it will

actually work 8nd three, you should be the only one working on it The first %uestion is

about your own motivation The second %uestion is about the substance of a specific

plan The third %uestion is about avoiding competition


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Both statements are trueH the i0hone was a breakthrough, but successive versions

of the i0hone have been incremental improvements Those incremental improvements

have made a lot of money because of the monopolistic lead that 8pple opened up at the

start Their phone business still generates such huge profits that 8pple will struggle to

invent anything that makes an impact by comparison, and that5s why Tim 1ook has the

hardest +ob in Silicon Falley in following Steve >obs

8n Indian e"commerce player 3lipkart was valued upwards of P billion within

years of starting upThe company has been chasing topline growth aggressively and

F1s are funding the growing lossesIs this a sustainable modelC

;elentless reinvestment works when there is a definite plan for how to make profits

in the future even if that may be very far out in the future, as with 8ma2on, where

3lipkart5s founders used to work I can5t speak to the specifics of their plan, but I do

think markets always underrate longterm thinking

:hich three tenets of modern management do you disagree withC

One should be wary of disruption and leanness, but it5s much more important to

understand that there is no formula for creating a uni%uely valuable business It5s not

that some bu22words are good and others are badG the point is that you don5t become

successful through bu22words The problem with management as a concept is that it5s

strangely genericH it5s about how to administer a big organi2ation, no matter what the

organi2ation is trying to do That means it5s really about politics rather than solving

concrete problems

9o you think society will benefit more if entrepreneurs focus more on other sectors

than technology, which has been for some time been the poster boy of

entrepreneurshipC


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techni%ues, or medicines are all very much examples of technology, and very much in

need of entrepreneurs I would argue that it5s only because of stalled progress outside

computers that we have settled for such a limited definition of technologyG in the first

half of the '?th century, everyone understood it to include chemicals, aviation,

agriculture, and do2ens of other fieldsI think that5s what we need to get back to

:hy is old money &traditional business power houses* finding it difficult to get a

grip over the digital economyC

I would flip this %uestion aroundH it5s not remarkable that old businesses have

trouble dominating new fieldsThat is always going to be hard :hat is really impressive

and unusual is for an established company to create new things 3or example, 8pple5s

second wave of success re%uired an extraordinary second founding by Steve >obs-ost

businesses don5t have a founder available to take charge

In which areas of the world economy do you see bubbles and in what areas do you

see opportunitiesC

I think the biggest bubble is the government bubble, which starts with bonds and

extends to anything that acts like a bond in generating income, for example blue chip

e%uities that pay dividends I think the opposite of the government bubble is in

technology companies working to create products that will generate huge value in the

future, no matter what the 3ed does

By when do you think the next big global idea like 3acebook or airbnb will come

from the emerging economies like India or 1hinaC

I predict that leadership will come from the richer countries, simply because new

technology is the only way forward for a place like the United States India and 1hina

both have incredibly talented and driven people, but they can create tremendous wealth

+ust by moving peasants from the countryside into new cities It5s not easy to create


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new cities, but it doesn5t necessarily re%uire new technology 19

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"een involved with the pic#ing and pac#ing of inventory has run into this pro"lem on an annual "asis

Moving forward$ the era of digital and autonomous machines is underway In this period$ everything has a digital c

active participants in "usiness interactions$ and machines are "eginning to operate in an autonomous mode that doesn't

point at which almost any virtual or real-world process can "e altered with a minimum of overhead and setup time artner


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acredne ha an E?iry5ate

(doration in organisation is circumstantial! says /evdutt 3attanai

0rayag, the point where the river Aanga +oins the river =amuna, near 8llahabhad, is

a sacred place in !induism But it be comes especially sacred on the new moon day

&amavasya* in the month of -agh &>anuary"3ebruary* when the planet >upiter enters

the @odiac !ouse of 8%uarius &Eumba* and the sun enters the @odiac !ouse of 8ries

&-esha*, an astronomical event that happens once in twelve years :hen this
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alignment of stars and planets happens, the waters become especially sacred and

millions come to bathe in the river 0eople believe a dip in that time will bestow upon

them all good fortune This, of course, is a matter of belief:hat is important to note,

however, is that the sacredness of the river is restricted by time Before the celestial

alignment, and after it, it becomes an ordinary river:ithin the Dmuhurat5 it is special

:hen market forces creates a Dmuhurat5 then a devata5s role becomes especially

important

This same idea is seen when !indus conduct rituals in the house invoking various

deities In keeping with ancient Fedic practice, the devata &deity* is invoked &avahana*,

appeased with offerings, and then bidden farewell &visar+an* This is also done at a

special time, the muhurat, to ensure the deity has maximum Dpower5 to satisfy our

wishes and grant us blessings

Both the rituals at the river and in the household pay great importance to the idea

of timing or Dmuhurat5 So it is with people in the corporate world 4verybody is actually

a muhurat"wala devata, meaning of value to the organisation in a par This same idea is

seen when !indus conduct rituals in the house invoking various deities In keeping withancient Fedic practice, the devata &deity* is invoked &avahana*, appeased with

offerings, and then bidden farewell &visar+an* This is also done at a special time, the

muhurat, to ensure the deity has maximum Dpower5 to satisfy our wishes and grant us

blessings

Both the rituals at the river and in the household pay great importance to the idea

of timing or Dmuhurat5 So it is with people in the corporate world 4verybody is actually

a muhurat"wala devata, meaning of value to the organisation in a par ticular period of

time, not before and not after 4very member of the organisation is valued as a deity or

devata, but their value rises astronomically when market forces or the will of the

shareholders creates a Dmuhurat5 when one personrole or another becomes especially

important


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Thus, when the market is shrinking, the marketing role becomes very important 8

new marketing head is called for and celebrated as the most important person in the

organisation, much to the irritation of the old devatas :hen cost has to be brought

down, then the finance head becomes the muhurat"wala devata :hen its time to end

the financial year, the sales department matters more than marketing :hen the

business decides to enter the digital world, then the geeks in town, those who

understand software and internet become the darlings of the organisation :hen

licenses are re%uired, then the liaison office that deals with government becomes

especially sacred

8 devata must never get carried away by the devotion of the ya+aman &the wor

shipper* !e must remember that the devotion is based on a particular need fuelled by

a particular circumstance:hen the circumstance changes, when the need passes, the

adoration ceases and the worship ends In other words, devotion for a devata has a

very clear expiry date This can be traumatic for the devata if the devata does not keep

in mind that all such relationships are contextual and never permanent It is easy to get

carried away by the affection and adoration of the ya+aman, assume that the love with

last forever It does not

-any devatas therefore work hard not to solve the problem they have been invoked

for They keep the problem going to ensure devotion of the ya+aman Thus the 14O will

always keep the fires burning so that the Dmuhurat5 is extended and the shareholder

has valid reason to extend his term again and again


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ecret "f HaineITime

)ime! not! money is the ey to happiness. )hat insight has interesting

implications for mareters

:harton marketing professor 1assie -ogilner researches happiness In a series of

papers "!appiness from Ordinary and 4xtraordinary 4xperiences, co"authored with

9artmouth professor 8mit Bhattchar+eeG !ow !appiness 8ffects 1hoice and The

Shifting -eaning of !appiness, both co"authored with Stanford professor >ennifer
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8aker and -IT professor Sep EamvarG and The 0ursuit of !appinessH Time, -oney and

Social 1onnection "-ogilner looks at the different experiences and emotions that factor

into human contentment, finding that happiness isn5t +ust one thing, but also isn5t as

uni%ue to each person as we might think In a conversation with Enowledge:harton,

she discusses her findings and their implications for consumers and marketers 4dited

transcriptH

On the connection between time and happiness

I research people5s happiness, and what I5ve found across the work is that time

plays a critical role 3or instance, I5ve looked at what is the effect of merely drawing

people5s attention to time, as opposed to our other resource of money !ow does that

impact people5s levels of happinessC !ow do age and, more specifically, the amount of

time people feel like they have left in life influence both how people experience

happiness, as well as the types of experiences that elicit greater happinessC

3or example, I have found that focusing on time leads to greater happiness than

focusing on money The way that I explored that was building on prior work, which

tracked how people spend their days and also how people feel over the course of their

days, finding that people are happiest when they are connecting with other

peopleThey5re least happy when they are doing work or commuting I wanted to see if

thinking about time vsmoney would influence people5s tendencies to behave in

particularly happy or unhappy ways

The most surprising conclusions of the research

I thought it was really interesting that when a '? year"old says, I feel happy, and

when a 7? yearold says the very same thing they5re likely feeling very different

things One will be feeling excited, and the other, a greater sense of calm I also think

it5s surprising "and actually %uite nice "that ordinary experiences, those little moments

that pop up every day, can produce as much as happiness as extraordinary moments I

think that5s really powerful in terms of where people find the happiness in their life


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positioning themselves with a respect to Is it exciting, extraordinary, types of

experiencesC Or is it those more every day, mundane experiences that will really

resonate with their target consumerC

!ow !appy &the song* relates to the research

There was a news story from a couple of weeks ago when six Iranians were

arrested for posting on =ouTube a video of them dancing to the 0harrell song !appy

3irst of all, the fact that the 0harrell song !appy has become a phenomenon in and of

itself suggests that this emotion of happiness is so fundamental and so motivating and

so resonant with people

On the misperceptions dispelled by the research

!appiness is not a singular thing that people are pursuing and will someday find

It5s also not purely idiosyncratic and something different to everyone Instead, there is

predictable regularity in how people experience happiness, as well as in the experiences

that elicit happiness 8lso, there is a systemic shift over the course of people5s lives

whereby when people are younger, happiness is more about feeling excited, and as

people get older, hap piness is more about feeling calm

On what sets the research apart

:e should be shifting our attention away from money and toward time There is a

lot of attention and business research focused on money and the bottom line There is

also psychology and happiness research %uestioning if money does buy happiness I

would argue "and my research would argue "that there is a lot of value in shifting

attention altogether toward the other resource that is so fundamental to usH time

;eproduced with permission from Enowledge:harton '?#6 and the Trustees of

University of 0ennsylvania 8ll rights reserved


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6A=E "AR F"=R-

F"5 &N A EAR -Jomato Adding !ore
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Obedovat in Slovakia, and Aastronauci in 0olandThese ac%uisitions have worked well

for us


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N5&A-= ,HAR!A FRACA5onKt wa##ow Bitter ,i##=eena Menghaney

In the wa#e of 4rime Minister *arendra Modi's first official visit to the 0S$ a joint 0S-India statement was release

pu"lic health advocates rather worried !uried in the section on /economic growth and increasing foreign direct inv

commitment from the Indian government to ta#e part in a new /high-level' wor#ing group on intellectual property 3I45

The 0S' trade policies and its pharmaceutical industry have long sought to undermine the capacity of

manufacturers to compete and produce more afforda"le medicines A severe case in point "eing the 0S


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India's patent regime is seen "y the 0S as undermining the interests of American companies "y including i

safeguards that limit a"usive patenting practices It's e%pected that this wor#ing group will give the 0S a dedicated forum

pressure the new government on its laws and policies$ including constantly demanding that India repeal its tough

criteria$ adopt data e%clusivity monopolies and patent term e%tensions$ and restrict the use of compulsory licences 0lt

is aimed at diluting competition from Indian pharma companies$ which e%cel at producing and mar#eting low-cost ge

for a variety of diseases and medical conditions The 0S has never really "een supportive of low-cost generic competi

That the 0S Trade Representative 30STR5 and pharma companies oppose India's stricter standards on patenta"ility

well-#nown and documented This pressure is nothing new

The esta"lishment of a "ilateral wor#ing group is just the latest in a long line of strategies aimed at wea#en

safeguards and its use of legal fle%i"ilities under international trade rules

India is perpetually on the 0STR's annual Special 978 watch list$ a "lac#list of countries that are seen to "e u

interests on I4More recently $ at the reuest of several mem"ers of the 0S &ongress$ the 0S International Trade &omm

an intimidating fact-finding investigation into India's trade policies$ including its patent regime and its use o

safeguardsThe report from this first investigation is scheduled to "e released "y *ovem"er 97 Already $ several mem

&ongress have reuested a second investigation in 678B

;nly a wee# after 4rime Minister's visit to the 0S$ the 0STR announced the start of a Special 978 out-of-cycle re

I4 policies and practices This new effort underscores the relentless pressure "y the 0S pharma industry towards govern

supported patent regimes and policies that "alance I4 protection with the need to foster generic competition to inc

afforda"le medicines Much of this vitriol has "een directed toward India

India$ for its part$ has remained firm$ maintaining that its patent regime is compliant with international trade ru

have to defend it .ach country can$ and does$ have the right to determine how it wishes to "alance the patent regime ag

provide afforda"le medicines to its people

The 0S li#es to forget that countries need only to answer to standards defined "y the 1T; and that there are le

availa"le to ensure access to medicines -something the 0S has used for its own "enefit in the past

India now faces a pu"lic challengeIt is clear that access to essential medicines for millions in the coming years wi


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Indian government's decisions and the #ind of patent regime it endorses Today $ India's patent laws and policies are clo

its !rics peers and other developing countries South Africa and !rail are loo#ing to Indian legislation to reform the

a"use of the patent system

4rime Minister Modi is in a uniue position of responsi"ility in glo"al health (is handling of the intense pressu

successfully $ without undermining access to medicines$ will "e #ey to India retaining its standing as the pharmacy of

world on which millions around the world rely The writer is South Asia Regional (ead 3Access &ampaign5$ MGdecins


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The Cutomer i *ing

*ongMilind Deora

2(;; 1< )H& 1(< et neutrality must be bundled with universal

connectivity in India

US 0resident Barack Obama recently coaxed the 3ederal 1ommunications

1ommission &311* to adopt the strongest possible rules on net neutrality, throwing

the cat among the pigeons for 8merican cable companies and telcos The underlying

philosophy of treating broadband as a utility , like electricity, can have a colossal impact

on the short"term profitability of telcos who are playing a 2ero"sum game with over"

the"top &OTT* service providers like :hats8pp and SkypeObama5s statement

immediately attracted criticism from baiters like ;epublican Senator Ted 1ru2, who was

%uick to tweet,


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favourite songs and videos, Skype to make free or low"cost international calls over your

neighbour5s :i3i connection &not me*, :hats8pp for messaging &3acebook didn5t value

it at P#M billion for nothing* and subscribe to 'A)A$T4 services, 8pple, Skype,

:hats8pp and your telco believe that they Down you

In realityH all hail the real boss "you, the customer

Today , telcos are more powerful than OTT service providers and smartphone

manufacturers such as 8pple or Samsung That5s because they control the distribution

network and the last mile :ith net neutrality , that could change

0ipe Owners 0rotest

In India, the 1ellular Operators 8ssociation of India has presented a strong case for

net partiality to India5s 311, the Telecom ;egulatory 8uthority of India &Trai* Their

contention with OTT service providers is that messaging apps eat into telcos5 S-S

revenues, video apps choke congested networks, leading to additional network

improvement costs, and because popular apps like :hats8pp and Skype are foreign"

owned and hosted, they pose a security challenge for our law enforcement agencies

4ven before I took oath as India5s minister of state for communications and

information technology , I5ve always been a proponent of net neutrality It5s a proversus

anti"choice debate Shortly after 0resident Obama intervened,


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The more and bigger the cars, the merrier for highway operators

Instead of rehashing what the U08 set out to do and limiting its ag enda only to

mobile penetration, the 0rime -inister5s 9igital India initia tive should take the Trai on

board and think net neutrality through

1hampioning universal connectivi ty with limited consumer choice is a futile

endeavour It5s also against innovation, attracting investments and the principles of

transparency and information democratisation

!urting ;ural Initiative

9uring my three"year stint in the ministry , I helped coordinate the rollout of a

state"funded fibre"optic network to connect rural India Its present avatar, the Bharat

Broadband


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The writer is a former Union minister

iritua# Atheit -C#ean#ine for ,eace
http://epaperbeta.timesofindia.com/Article.aspx?eid=31815&articlexml=The-Customer-is-King-Kong-20112014014009http://epaperbeta.timesofindia.com/Article.aspx?eid=31815&articlexml=The-Customer-is-King-Kong-20112014014009http://epaperbeta.timesofindia.com/Article.aspx?eid=31815&articlexml=The-Customer-is-King-Kong-20112014014009


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*ARAA*I >A*.S(

ack Sim5s

initiative to pull off what seems impossible in a culture that exalts inner cleanliness

&flushing out negative thoughts and bad karma* while ignoring or neglecting the outer,

causing poor sanitation and health Both inner and outer cleanliness are crucial to

support any effort to evolve as better human beings

If the future lies in togetherness and living in harmonious communities, we need to

crank up our civic consciousness and standards of environmental and personal hygiene

to trigger a cultural revolution that would subsume all other ideological movements

1lean surroundings and a pure consciousness can only foment positive thinking andpeaceful living


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Citing - Ban%ing

cenarioSA*> RIM &(;I.T A=

:e update three earlier articles on the determinants of interpenetration of financial

centres by banks by adding the year '?#? to our analyses for #M? and #MJ?, #MM?,

and '??? In addition, we also re"estimate our model to include data for

Bei+ingShanghai, and add those emerging centres for '?#?

;eplicating our earlier work using the same methods and models enables us to

attribute the changes that we see to changes in the phenomenon, rather than possibly

to changes in approach 3irst, the number of banks in our data and the number of their

offices in other centres has fallen by 67N and '6N since peaking in #MM?

Second, our matrix saw less turbulence than in the prior two decades as density

and number of presences in other centres per bank increasedThird, $ondon had

regained the first place from


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3ourth, 0aris and 3rankfurt!amburg have regained some centrality 3ifth, our

gravity model approach continues to model the data well, with distance between

centres continuing to depress interpenetration, as it did in '???

$astly, the primary effect of introducing Bei+ingShanghai as a centre has increased

the importance of interpenetration as banks from Bei+ing and Shanghai are going to

centres from which banks are coming to Bei+ing and Shanghai3rom Banks and the

:orld5s -a+or Banking 1enters

The New F!CG Brigade

Entrepreneurial ventures of a bunch of energetic and bright young professionals are now taking off

in the FMCG space !hey are winning over customers and investors with their irreverent approach

towards giants that dominate the market" writes #ala $i%ayraghavan

In naming his start-up (ector !everages -after the Trojan prince who was slain "y >ree# warrior Achilles

-*eeraj ?a##ar$ &.; and one of the founders$ wasn't afraid to ac#nowledge that failure was a real possi"ility

!ut in the four years that have gone "y since$ (ector !everages has not only earned the right to live$ "ut also

the money it needs to do so Two of its "rands -inga$ an energy drin# and 4aper !oat$ a range of traditional

drin#s li#e aam panna -together sell 9 million pac#s a month It e%pects to triple sales to a"out /877 crore in

two years Investors have given it the money it needs to live -Seuoia &apital and others have so far invested

J88B million 3/KB crore5 in the company

Rohan Mirchandani$ an investment "an#er-turned-ice cream ma#er$ is another who shouldn't "e living to

tell the tale !ut he is (e is also turning out to "e a pain for glo"al "rands including (agen Das and !as#in

and Ro""ins (is /(o#ey 4o#ey' "rand of ice cream outsells "oth at


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iD


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preneurs in terms of availa"ility of funds$ technology and talent$@ he says @(aving said that$ the spirit of

entrepreneurship must always "e applauded@

@ou can no longer thin# regional$@ says Darshan 4atel$ founder and &.; of Vini &osmetics$ which has

launched some innovative and successful personal care "rands such as ate &onsulting and

a former &o#e manager@They are not afraid of M*&s unli#e the earlier set of entrepreneurs who did not uite

get over the M*& comple%$@ he adds

Third$ the newer entrepreneurs are investing in the "rand more than earlier@1hat e%cites me the most

a"out wor#ing with new age entrepreneurs li#e *eeraj is their nim"le thin#ing and their strong "elief in "rand

"uilding$@ says >V ?rishnan$ e%ecutive director at =owe =intas @.arlier entrepreneurs placed their faith and

investment more on product and distri"ution$@ he adds A couple of trends playing out in the larger consumer

goods ecosystem are also wor#ing in favour of these new ventures ;ver the past few years$ M*&s in the

space have "ecome more and more centralised glo"ally @The speed and independence with which a

(industan 0nilever earlier would launch a 1heel to ta#e on a local player is not there anymore$@ says


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!haradwaj of Seuoia &apital @An integrated M*& strategy has #illed the nim"le footed strategy of the local

su"sidiary@ This is giving newer entrepreneurs the space and opportunity to grow

This apart$ talent is also now more willing to wor# in start-ups$ sometimes even preferring it over a stint

at esta"lished companies Almost all the new age companies are a"le to attract top talent from "usiness schools

and "igger organisationsMirchandani of (o#ey and 4o#ey says he has hired talent recently from Infosys and

>. @1e don't pay the "est$ "ut yes the stoc# options$ growth opportunities and challenges ma#e organisations

such as ours more attractive$@ he says

!ut as these newer players gra" more growth$ revenues and mar#et share$ they are li#ely to "ecome

acuisition candidates for larger esta"lished players 0nli#e the earlier lot$ the newer entrepreneurs won't "e

averse to selling (ector !everages cofounder *eeraj ?a##ar sums it up "estC @I am loo#ing at an enterprise

that will last for 877 years) "ut it is not "eing "uilt to "e handed over to my son If there is someone "etter than

me to ta#e over the reins$ I should "e prepared to let go@

4aper !oat

(ector !everages is a foolish idea That's one admission that its three founders all former &o#e

employees readily ma#e 1hat else could one call the plan for a new venture in head-on competition with cola

majors2

!ut with two rounds of investments worth J88B million from &atamaran Venture


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*eeraj ?a##ar$ *eeraj !iyani and Lames *uttal were the co-founders of (ector !everages 1harton

"atchmate *uttal has since moved out The duo put in their own funds to set up the company They later sought

"outiue research and development firms in .urope for a @magic@ formula that would provide an afforda"le

Indian energy drin# They finally settled on one such formula$ adding their own touch to it with natural

ingredients such as lemon and ginseng and choice fruit flavours That was how Tinga was "orn

After its early success$ (ector also found support in Shripad *ad#arni$ cofounder$ Mar#et>ate (e helps

the team with mar#eting strategies and has also personally invested in the company

More funding support came in March 6788$ when Infosys founder *arayana Murthy's venture capital firm

&atamaran$ !angalore-"ased


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&;M4A*C (.&T;R !.V.RA>.S

!RA*DSC Tinga and 4aper !oat

!0SI*.SS M;D.=C Traditional and functional Indian "everages without preservatives with a shelf life of

four months

>R;1T( &0RV.C &urrently growing at 7

I*V.ST;RSC


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as compared to /99B to /,6B retailed "y imported "rands This is the right value offered to Indian consumers$@

he says

=ast Diwali at (o#ey 4o#ey parlours$ there was a special flavour gula" jamuns mi%ed with ice cream on

cold stones As it loo#s to scale up$ (o#ey 4o#ey will raise euity from e%ternal investors @1e are tal#ing to

several investors and may have an institutional round of funding "y the second half of the fiscal$@ he says

*ad#arni$ mentor and investor in the company$ says he stepped in for two reasonsC innovation and great

promoters@The time is right for some good innovation in this sector and these entrepreneurs are creating the

right "u with some great offerings$@ he says

Mirchandani proposes to step up e%pansion and invest more in infrastructureC setting up a plant$ supply

chain and mar#eting @Also we plan to spend higher on mar#eting to over B of revenue$@ he says

anesh ?rishnamoorthy E partners Milap Shah and 0day Tha##er

&;M4A*C DR0MS R;1T( &0RV.C currently growing at 677 per annum I*V.ST;RSC Shripad *ad#arni$ Apurva

Salarpuria$ Dr 4eter Rajsingh

1(AT *.NTC .%panding to new cities$ increase S?0 sies and increase product lines

&hef's !as#et

1hen *ipun ?atyal$ co-founder$


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@These are original glo"al cuisines specially created to meet the unmet needs and palette of Indian

consumers$@ says ?atyal @They are not watered down mass versions offered "y "rands li#e IT& or Maggi

Indian consumers are see#ing world cuisine and we are offering portion pac#s of all the original ingredients

that can "e put together and coo#ed at home$@ he adds

The company also engaged the help of a Romanian designer to help create innovative pac#aging

Second$ is the pricing$ which "y Indian standards$ is uite high Most ready-tocoo# foods fall under the

/877 price pointSome &hef's !as#et products are priced four times higher @1e are not cheap since what we

are offering is the real product aimed at the /mass premium' category$@ says ?atyal The company also plans to

launch the casual gourmet "rand$ .%plorer$ for mass mar#et penetration 1ith this$ the company hopes

revenues will grow from /9 crore a year to /86 crore "y the end of the year

The third is its early distri"ution strategy A "ul# of sales for &hef's !as#et comes from the modern trade

route and e-commerce stores li#e Amaon$ =ocal !anya and !ig !as#et .commerce$ says ?atyal$ is the

company's fastest growth channel @1e were surprised at how many tier-II consumers are pic#ing up our

products online$@ he says Modern trade is the ne%t priority The company has tied up with while ?atyal moved out of consulting firm !oo E &o to tap what they

call this huge gap in the mar#et If they get the product right$ then offers a lot of opportunities to grow

and scale$ they "elieve

They have "ootstrapped through the early days with personal funds and a few angel investors @


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*e%t stepC to prove his "oast true and raise funds for the ne%t round of growth


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about passionSimultaneously, I knew the IS$ was happening and I am a huge football

fan So I started looking into that as well

9id you consult anyone from the film industry before investing in sportsC

I discussed it with my dad, showed him the presentation !e was exci

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