HCL Infosystems reports revenue of Rs. 2456 crores
January 8, 2013 at 4:11 pm | Posted in Additional business, The Market | Comments Off on HCL Infosystems reports revenue of Rs. 2456 croreshttp://www.ciol.com/ciol/news/121537/hcl-infosystems-reports-revenue-rs-2456-crores
HCL Infosystems reports revenue of Rs. 2456 crores
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Computer Systems segment registered growth across different verticals
News | by CIOL Bureau
NEW DELHI, INDIA: HCL Infosystems announced its financial results for the first quarter ending September 30, 2012, said a press release.
Computer Systems segment registered strong growth across different verticals:
The company was awarded one of the largest IT contract ever for the Managed Service Provider (MSP) from UIDAI (Unique Identification Authority of India).
In the BFSI segment, the company bagged a significant order for Corporation Bank for Automated Data Flow with HCLs BancScan. Also Financial Inclusion order from Rajasthan Gramin Bank and Performance Management System order from RBI were gained by the business
The Manufacturing, Retail and Oil vertical won important orders from IOCL and HMSI
One of the top 5 undergraduate degree for 2013 is Bachelor’s degree in Forensic and Criminal Science
January 7, 2013 at 11:25 pm | Posted in Additional business, Infrastructure, The Market | Comments Off on One of the top 5 undergraduate degree for 2013 is Bachelor’s degree in Forensic and Criminal Science
- Bachelor’s degree in Forensic and Criminal Science
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Another degree in high demand is a bachelor’s degree in forensic and criminal science. This degree can lead to a number of different career paths including forensic engineer, crime laboratory analyst and more. A degree in forensic and criminal science allows you to investigate crime from behind the scenes. Due to the growing levels of violent crime in North America, which rose 18% in 2011, this is…
Corp Bank launches RuPay Aadhar card
January 6, 2013 at 8:31 am | Posted in Additional business, The Market | Comments Off on Corp Bank launches RuPay Aadhar cardCorp Bank launches RuPay Aadhar card
A. J. VINAYAK
MANGALORE, JAN 5:
Corporation Bank has launched Corp RuPay Aadhaar card.
A bank release said here that this product is primarily aimed at providing easy and hassle-free banking services to the financially excluded and underprivileged sections of the society having Aadhaar number.
The card can be used at the conventional ATMs, micro ATMs or at the handheld machines used by business correspondents and at point-of-sale terminals at merchant establishments. The fascia of the card contains the Aadhaar number and this card can be a photo card or a non-photo card, it said.
Direct cash transfer scheme
Corporation Bank is a partner in the direct cash/benefit transfer scheme launched by the Government. This scheme will enable the Government to directly credit various social security benefits and subsidies to the accounts of the citizens, the release added.
vinayak.aj@thehindu.co.in
Vinod Khosla sets up entity in India for start-up incubation
January 5, 2013 at 7:02 pm | Posted in Additional business, Data, Technology, The Market | Comments Off on Vinod Khosla sets up entity in India for start-up incubationhttp://www.business-standard.com/india/news/uidai-launches-portal-to-access-data/195419/on
Vinod Khosla sets up entity in India for start-up incubation
Pradeesh Chandran / Bangalore Nov 10, 2012, 15:46 IST
Here’s good news for the young and budding entrepreneurs in the country with a social orientation. One of the co-founders of Sun Microsystems, venture capitalist and founder of Khosla Ventures, Vinod Khosla, is planning his first entity outside the US.
Khosla Labs, the new entity, will act as an incubator for technology start-ups in India. It is expected to start full-fledged operations within six months.
Khosla has hired Srikanth Nadhamuni, Head of Technology at Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), as the CEO of the labs. Nadhamuni was instrumental in building the technology backbone for India’s ambitious UID project ( Aadhaar ) which aims at giving unique identity for 1.2 billion residents. As of now, UIDAI has provided identification numbers to about 200 million residents, and aims to enroll around 400 million by 2014.
According to sources, Khosla Lab will act as a centre to help Indian entrepreneurs develop solutions and businesses primarily focusing on solving the various issues and problems in the country. Khosla does not have any plan to set aside a specific corpus for India. But, through the labs, he will help in creating ventures that can solve issues like social inequality, governance issues and public grievances in the country, they added.
When contacted, Nadhamuni confirmed his resignation from the UIDAI and said all technology needs of UIDAI have been fulfilled and managed service provider who has won the bid to run Aadhaar number repository and its IT infrastructure has the capability of taking the mission further. “I will associate with UIDAI whenever they need me,” he added.
However, he declined to comment on the future plans of Khosla Labs. “We are in an early stage, and have not charted out any plan. It will take a minimum of six months to make a proper plan. We also need to form a team to take Khosla Labs’ mission forward,” he added.
Before joining the UIDAI, Nadhamuni was the Managing Trustee at e-Governments Foundation, a non-profit trust founded by him along with Nandan Nilekani in 2003. It focuses on improving governance and public services delivery in Indian cities using a suite of in-house municipal ERP products.
According to a senior industry person who did not want to be quoted, Vinod Khosla is planning to make his presence felt more by setting up the Labs in India. “We know that Khosla is planning an entity in India through which he is planning to do some exciting stuffs in the country that will address many issues of ours.”
Some of the investments made by Khosla in India in the social sectors include SKS Microfinance, CASHPOR Financial and Technical Services and MokshaYug Access.
At present, the Khosla Labs is operating out of a rented premise in Bangalore. But it is in discussion with real estate developers for finding a location to set up the incubation centre.
Khosla who attended the Nasscom Product Conclave in India last year had interacted with about 10 start-ups to explore opportunities of funding. “India is slowly witnessing changes in the start-up ecosystem and interesting technology products are coming from the country. There are problems to be resolved in the country,” he had told Business Standard in an earlier interaction.
In 2011, Khosla Ventures had raised a new fund worth $1.05 billion for seed investment in the areas of clean tech, IT and internet.
UIDAI launches portal to access data
January 5, 2013 at 7:00 pm | Posted in Additional business, Data, Technology, The Market | Comments Off on UIDAI launches portal to access datahttp://www.business-standard.com/india/news/uidai-launches-portal-to-access-data/195419/on
UIDAI launches portal to access data
Public can access for several types of data through http://data.gov.in
Press Trust of India / New Delhi Nov 09, 2012, 20:40 IST
The Unique Identification Authority of India ( UIDAI) today said it has launched a portal, which the public can access for several types of data.
“The public data portal is in consonance with the larger vision of the Government of India to make data available through data.gov.in,” an official statement said.
The UIDAI has also been sharing information about the latest developments of the project in the public domain through its website (www.uidai.gov.in),” it added.
Apart from adhering to the requirements of the Right to Information Act of providing information suo-moto to the public at regular intervals through the internet, the UIDAI proactively puts out quarterly statements of its expenditure, various technical documents related to biometrics, proof of concept studies and working papers in the public domain.
“Public data portal is a major step in enabling transparency for improving UIDAI’s operations. Using data to enhance decision making capabilities and informed decision making is at the core of the rationale for the public portal”, UIDAI Chairman Nandan Nilekani said in the statement.
The Government of India notified the National Data Sharing & Accessibility Policy (NSDAP) in March this year to promote data sharing and enable access to central government-owned data for national planning and development.
Aadhaar will save govt Rs. 1,10,000 crore says a plan panel study
January 5, 2013 at 6:58 pm | Posted in Additional business, Arguments For, Projections, The Market, UID Propaganda | Comments Off on Aadhaar will save govt Rs. 1,10,000 crore says a plan panel studyhttp://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/Print/957673.aspx
Aadhaar will save govt Rs. 1,10,000 crore says a plan panel study
Saturday, November 10, 2012
HT Correspondent, Hindustan Times
New Delhi, November 10, 2012
First Published: 15:48 IST(10/11/2012)
Last Updated: 15:52 IST(10/11/2012)
The UPA government’s ambitious unique identification number project Aadhaar, would result in savings of about Rs 1,10,000 crore by 2020, around 58% of the expenditure of major public welfare schemes, a Planning Commission study released on Saturday said. The Prime Minister’s Office had given April 2014 as a deadline for disbursing cash transfer through UIDAI platform for all major government schemes.
A cost benefit analysis done by National Institute of Public Finance and Policy (NIPFP) says the savings for the government would be by plugging the leakage in implementation of government welfare schemes.
“A full edged cost benefit analysis of Aadhaar is hampered by two problems. First, many of the gains from Aadhaar are difficult to quantify as they are intangible. A main benefit of Aadhaar is that it can make many of the existing government programmes more demand-led, empowering the beneficiaries to hold programmes accountable for their entitlement,” said the study released by planning commission deputy chairperson Montek Singh Ahluwalia and UIDAI chairperson Nandan Nilekani.
The institute studies 11 major government schemes including Public Distribution System (PDS), LPG and Fertilizer subsidy, Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, pensions and scholarships costing government around Rs 2,00,000 crore annually.
In PDS, once beneficiaries are enrolled within the system, it becomes easier for them to claim their benefits because they can authenticate their presence as beneficiaries. It also reduces leakages due to better matching of supply with demand, the study said.
“Aadhaar will make the migration experience in search of jobs easier by giving an identity to migrants in their destination locations. Similarly, rights and entitlements can be decoupled from the location of the resident,” the study said.
The study also said that Aadhaar enabled system will reduce transaction costs involved in enrolling for a ration card in a new towns and villages, especially for migratory labour. “Such costs are expected to be driven down with a national identification mechanism and Aadhaar can play this role effectively,” it said.
http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/Print/957673.aspx
NIPFP Study finds large returns from Aadhaar project
January 5, 2013 at 6:57 pm | Posted in Additional business, Arguments For, Projections, The Market, UID Propaganda | Comments Off on NIPFP Study finds large returns from Aadhaar projecthttp://pib.nic.in/newsite/erelease.aspx?relid=88975
NIPFP Study finds large returns from Aadhaar project
A research team from the National Institute of Public Finance and Policy presented the cost-benefit analysis of the Aadhaar programme to the Deputy Chairman, Planning Commission today. The study finds that substantial benefits would accrue to the government by integrating Aadhaar with schemes such as PDS, MNREGS, fertilizer and LPG subsidies as well as certain housing, education and health programmes. After taking into account all the costs, and making modest assumptions about leakages, the study finds that the Aadhaar project would yield an internal rate of return of 52.85 percent to the Government.
The Twelfth Plan document as approved by the Cabinet aims at financial inclusion by providing Aadhaar linked banking services to all desirous households and progressively moving to ‘cash transfers’ for major subsidies and beneficiary payment programme.
The NIPFP study argues that if we were to add more programmes and expand the scope of the analysis, and also include the intangible benefits, the likely returns will be higher. Full details of the calculations have been released by NIPFP at the URL http://goo.gl/JzwaV on the web, so that other scholars and policy analysts can modify some assumptions and explore alternative outcomes. The full study is also available at the Planning Commission website at the link
‘Large returns expected from Aadhaar’
January 5, 2013 at 6:56 pm | Posted in Additional business, Arguments For, Projections, The Market, UID Propaganda | Comments Off on ‘Large returns expected from Aadhaar’http://www.indianexpress.com/news/large-returns-expected-from-aadhaar/1029776/0
‘Large returns expected from Aadhaar’
Agencies Posted online: Sat Nov 10 2012, 17:29 hrs
New Delhi : Integrating unique identification number project “Aadhaar” with various social sector schemes like rural employment guarantee programme and PDS, would yield rich dividends for the government, says a study.
According to cost benefit analysis study done by the National Institute of Public Finance and Policy (NIPFP), the investment on Aadhaar project would provide a return of as high as 52.85 per cent to the government.
Substantial benefits, it added, would accrue to the government by integrating Aadhaar with schemes such as PDS, MNREGS, fertiliser and LPG subsidies as well as certain housing, education and health programmes.
“After taking into account all the costs, and making modest assumptions about leakages, the study finds that the Aadhaar project would yield an internal rate of return of 52.85 percent to the Government,” NIPFP said in a statement.
The NIPFP study argues that “if we were to add more programmes and expand the scope of the analysis, and also include the intangible benefits, the likely returns will be higher.”
As per the projections, the benefits accruing from implementation of Aadhaar scheme would exceed the expenditure in 2015-16 and in 2020-21 the total benefit would be Rs 25,100 crore as against the expenditure of Rs 4,835 crore.
Earlier yesterday, the government has announced rolling our of the ambitious electronic Direct Cash Transfer scheme for beneficiaries of subsidised items from January next year.
The programme is expected to cover 16 states by April 2014. The scheme, which is aimed at curtailing corruption and pilferage of subsidised items, will be based on the payment platform of Aadhaar which is also to be rolled out speedily in line with it. The 12th Plan document as approved by the Cabinet aims at financial inclusion by providing Aadhaar linked banking services to all desirous households and progressively moving to ‘cash transfers’ for major subsidies and beneficiary payment programme.
The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) implementing the Aadhaar project, will set up a dedicated cell of technical experts in UIDAI to facilitate Aadhaar enabled Direct Cash Transfers and help individual ministries.
Govt eyes food security, shifts focus to traditional crops
January 5, 2013 at 6:47 pm | Posted in Additional business, The Market | Comments Off on Govt eyes food security, shifts focus to traditional cropsGovt eyes food security, shifts focus to traditional crops
Arvind Singh Bisht, TNN Nov 13, 2012, 07.52AM IST
Tags:
UP government|
Traditional crops|
nutritional values|
Healthy lifestyle
LUCKNOW: Traditional crops have once again made their presence felt, be it because of their nutritional values or awareness pertaining to a healthy lifestyle. Waking up to the prevailing trend, the UP government has made a shift in its agro-policy giving impetus to the cultivation of these crops, once a pride of the locals.
According to BM Singh, agriculture director, a blueprint has been drawn up for this purpose, which envisages to promote the farming of maize and millets-commonly known as Jwar (Sorghum), Bajra, (pearl millet), Kodo (kodo millet), Manduwa (finger millet), and Sawan (barnyard millet). They are the cheap, healthy food items, but have lost their importance mainly due to lack of knowledge about their nutritional value.
However, they are now much in demand and consumed in variety of forms by people who understand their value. For instances, corn, which was known to be consumed mostly by way of baking, is now eaten in many ways – from steamed ones to being used as a component in various dishes. Likewise, millets are now being increasingly recognised as nutrient rich, which contains low calorie diet consisting of low fat and less sugar.
So, apart from making contributions to health and nutrition, the traditional crops also play role in income generation of people. Thus focussing the agro-policy on this perspective, agriculture director said that 3.50 lakh hectares of land are set to be covered under maize cultivation during the ongoing fifth five-year plan. At present, the scheme is proposed to be undertaken in 24 districts, viz: Ballia, Gonda, Bahraich, Srawasti, Balrampur, Jaunpur, Sultanpur, Barabanki, Sitapur, Hardoi, Unnao, Farrukhabad, Kannauj, Kanpur Nagar, Ramabai Nagar, Kanshiram Nagar, Bulandshahr, Etah, Badaun, Mainpuri, Aligarh, Sonbhadra, and Aurraiya. Cultivators under the scheme would be given 50% of their total cost by the state government and 25% by the food processing companies engaged to buy their products. This way, the cultivators would also have the assured marketing support for their produce.
For better farming methods, farmers would be imparted training in new farming techniques to be organised at selected districts. With this, the yield of the maize per hectare is targeted to increase from existing 14 quintals to 50 quintals. Correspondingly, the total production is set to be increased in the selected districts from 4.90 lakh tonne to 17.50 lakh tonne and income of the cultivators is likely to multiply by three times.
Likewise, the cultivation of millets will be encouraged in half-a-dozen districts-Pratapgarh, Jalaun, Allahabad, Hamirpur, Banda and Chitrakoot, where these crops are grown traditionally. The incentive and training inputs would also be applicable to cultivators in these areas also.
The popularisation of these traditional crops, Singh said, has been clubbed with the food security programme in which the state had set to increase its foodgrains target to 537.38 lakh tonne during 2012-13. This comprises 332.11 lakh tonne of wheat and 145.59 tonne of rice. For the traditional corps, he said, “They are now used more as a part of balanced diet. This is because nutrition, health and wellness are intricately inter-linked.” Therefore, the benefits of eating right are greater and long lasting, as The trend was now catching up with people, who were aware of the adverse affect of preservatives like artificial colorants, addictive and chemicals, used by modern food industry. Contrary to this, the food items made of millets and corns have high anti-oxidant strength. So, returning to the cultivation of these corps is essentially a part of food security plan, he added.
Visa offers network for distributing cash subsidies to Aadhar cardholders
January 3, 2013 at 4:08 pm | Posted in Additional business, Problems, The Market | Comments Off on Visa offers network for distributing cash subsidies to Aadhar cardholders2 JAN, 2013, 03.50AM IST, GULVEEN AULAKH,ET BUREAU
Visa offers network for distributing cash subsidies to Aadhar cardholders
NEW DELHI: Global electronic payments firm Visa International has offered the use of its nationwide network for the government’s ambitious direct benefit transfer scheme aimed at distributing subsidies directly to beneficiaries.
Last month, the company, together with a consortium of banks, rolled out Saral Money, a payment service that allows Aadhaar cardholders to deposit and withdraw money from their low-cost bank accounts through existing ATMs, point of sale terminals, bank branches and proposed micro-ATMs. The banks Visa has tied up with include the State Bank of IndiaBSE 0.91 %, HDFC BankBSE 0.40 %, ICICI BankBSE 1.19 %, Indian Overseas BankBSE 1.83 % and Axis BankBSE 1.73 %.
Last month, it partnered with UIDAI to allow an Aadhaar cardholder to instantly open a bank account using biometric recognition or fingerprints for authentication of personal information. The cardholder will get an instant Visa debit card which can be used for depositing or withdrawing cash at any of the 500 business correspondent outlets that Visa is setting up across the country.
“We’re in talks with the government through the consortium of banks that we have tied up with. We’re talking to them for trying to use us in any of the 51 districts or any of the schemes they are planning,” said Visa’s group country manager for India and South Asia, Uttam Nayak.
“We have told the government that you give us a file of Aadhar numbers and the money credited to them and we will push the money to the account of whoever has a Saral Money card. Those who do not have an account, we will offer to instantly create a bank account. We will make sure that we create bank accounts for everybody who is getting benefits from the government,” Nayak added.
The government on Tuesday launched its direct cash transfer scheme under which subsidy payments will be directly transferred to bank accounts of some 2 lakh beneficiaries across 20 districts across the country. The first set of payouts will come from seven schemes.
These include scholarships for SC, ST and OBCs students, the Indira Gandhi Matrutva Sahayata Yojana, Dhanalakshmi scheme and a stipend scheme for SC & ST job seekers. The direct benefit transfer scheme will eventually include payouts from 26 schemes. Starting next month, 11 more districts will be covered and another 12 districts will be covered from March 1, taking the total to 43
BioEnable Technologies gets STQC certification for single-finger scanner, to be used in UIDAI Aadhaar project
December 28, 2012 at 10:23 pm | Posted in Infrastructure, Process, The Market | Comments Off on BioEnable Technologies gets STQC certification for single-finger scanner, to be used in UIDAI Aadhaar project
November 22, 2012 –
The eNBioScan-C1, the FBI-certified single-finger scanner from BioEnable Technologies, was recently awardedStandardization Testing and Quality Certification (STQC) certification for the Unique Identity Authority of India’s http://uidai.gov.in/ (UIDAI) Aadhaar project.
BioEnable Technologies has been developing biometric solutions for identification, automation and tracking solutions for commercial and government clients over the past 10 years.
The UIDAI program employs biometrics in an effort to identify India’s 1.2 billion residents. Under the program, which started in 2010, each man woman and child will have their fingerprints and iris scanned. Information gathered will be embedded in a unique 12-digit identification card, called Aadhaar.
“STQC has strict testing guidelines and the eNBioScan-C1 fingerprint scanners have successfully passed the tests under the STQC’s Biometric Device Certification Scheme, designed to facilitate the availability of quality-assessed biometric devices to identity verification agencies,” BioEnable managing director Pradeep Bhatia said.
“We are honored to have the eNBioScan-C1 receive this certification as this is now required for most Indian fingerprint procurements. Our goal has always been to provide quality biometric products and solutions over the last 10 years. Obtaining STQC certification is confirmation of that goal.”
The company will provide technical support required to kick-start integration with the UIDAI AADHAAR authentication server. In addition to its STQC certification, the eNBioScan-C1 is alsoFBI Personal Identity Verification (PIV) certified and International Organization for Standardization (ISO) compliant.
As reported previously in BiometricUpdate.com, BioEnable Technologies recently launched its new biometric Child-ID system, to help reduce incidents of newborn child swapping and child thefts.
Aadhar card may save small retail business
December 28, 2012 at 10:14 pm | Posted in Additional business, Arguments For, Process, The Market | Comments Off on Aadhar card may save small retail businessAadhar card may save small retail business
Aparna Ramalingam, TNN | Dec 28, 2012, 07.29AM IST
CHENNAI: Foreign direct investment in retail is expected to spell doom for the neighbourhood kirana stores and many of them are looking at various methods to retain their daily customers. Companies, too, are looking to tap the extensive network of five crore small retail establishments in the country to distribute their products and services.
Last week, 500 kirana stores in Delhi became part of Saral Money, an initiative by international payment gateway operator Visa. The service is linked to an individual’s Aadhar number, a 12-digit unique individual identification number.
Saral is the joint effort of Visa and five banks (State Bank of India, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Axis Bank and Indian Overseas Bank) built on the UIDAI (Unique Identification Authority of India) platform with Visa as the payment network provider.
According to the scheme, the enrolled retailers will be equipped with a micro ATM device, which would issue Saral Money cards to customers on the basis of their Aadhar number. Customers can use these cards to withdraw money, remit payments, receive government disbursements and so on.
“Small stores are very open to the idea, as they see this to be a potential revenue stream and also footfalls,” said the group country manager, India and South Asia of Visa, Uttam Nayak.
Visa estimates 600 million people to have access to Saral cards in the next 20 months. “For this, around 30 lakh outlets should have access to micro ATMs in the next three to five years,” Nayak said. While Visa would get a commission for each swipe, the ratio of revenue share would vary from the bank and merchant establishment.
From Aadhaar to mobile banking, strategies for India’s war on cash take shape
December 23, 2012 at 9:18 pm | Posted in Additional business, Data, Infrastructure, Technology, The Market | Comments Off on From Aadhaar to mobile banking, strategies for India’s war on cash take shapeFrom Aadhaar to mobile banking,
strategies for India’s war on cash
take shape
Mayur Shetty, TNN | Nov 25, 2012, 11.40AM IST
MUMBAI: Very soon bank account holders can access their accounts, transfer funds, check balances and request cheque books by simply punching in *99# from their mobile phones including the most basic GSM handsets.
On Saturday at the annual Banker’s Conclave ( Bancon) in Pune finance minister P Chidambaram outlined the government’s strategy to shift most transactions to electronic mode. The mainstay is to have Aadhaar-enabled bank accounts for all and to transfer government benefits such as pension, scholarships and subsidies directly to individual accounts. The government has set December 2013 as the deadline to banks to ensure that all beneficiaries have Aadhaar numbers linked to bank accounts are immediately given an account if they do not have one.
Another part of the initiative is the electronification of Kisan Credit Cards. Although KCCs were launched way back in ’98 until now they were more like identity cards. On Saturday Bank of Maharashtra, hosts of the Bancon2012, became the first to issue a Rupay KCC -India’s answer to Visa and Mastercard. This will provide KCC holders access to 1.04 lakh ATMs and enable merchant payments as well.
Besides ensuring speedy transfers and reducing leakages banks have a collateral benefit of these measures to eliminate cash. “The total cash in circulation is almost Rs 11 lakh crore, even if Rs 1 lakh crore would come into bank accounts it would go a long way in augumenting resources of banks” said Pratip Chaudhuri, chairman, State Bank of India.
What sets apart the *99# initiative from other mobile telephony services presently offered is that the *99# connectivity is under the Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) platform where each dial-in results in a live connection with the banks server. This is similar to the system used in pre-paid phones to check balances and numerical literacy would be enough to operate the account. Also since it is not based on SMS or GPRS connectivity and there is no charge on the user.
The government is pushing mobile banking also because it will provide those in remote areas an opportunity to access their Aadhaar accounts even if banks are not around nearby.
The service is the first time banks and telecoms have come together at industry level is the brainchild of the National Payment Corporation of India (NPCI). According to AP Hota, MD & CEO, NPCI the new service best suits India as it is simple and secure as no information is stored in the mobile device. ” Ninety percent of phones used in the country are GSM phones and this service works on all GSM phones irrespective of handset make, cost, operating system or even the telecom service provider” said Hota.
MTNL and BSNL have been the first to get on board and are offering fund remittance facilities. Twenty-three banks including ICICI Bank, Punjab National Bank and Canara Bank have already gone live. The other telecom operators and banks are also coming on board.
Government may rope in private sector to help check cyber threats
December 23, 2012 at 9:10 pm | Posted in Additional business, Applications, The Market | Comments Off on Government may rope in private sector to help check cyber threatsGovernment may rope in private sector to help check cyber threats
DEVESH K. PANDEY
The Union Government plans to rope in the private sector besides other stakeholders to build up necessary capabilities, expertise and infrastructure to put in place a capable set of overlapping institutions with clear mandates and responsibilities to respond to cyber threats faced by the country.
Addressing the first one-day national conference of Chief Information Security Officers (CISOs) of various critical information, government and public sectors like energy, economy and transportation organised by the National Critical Information Infrastructure Protection Centre (NCIIPC) here, National Security Adviser Shivshankar Menon said critical sectors — interdependent physical and cyber-connected assets — were sectors whose incapacitation or destruction would have a debilitating effect on national security, economy, public health and safety.
“Protecting Critical Information Infrastructure (a physical or virtual information system that controls, processes, stores or exchanges electronic information vital to the functioning of critical sectors) will also mean working not just in government but with other stakeholders, particularly the private sector whose networks and assets are integral to our cyber security and whose expertise is essential to this purpose. The NCIIPC is setting up a joint working group under Indian Institute of Science Associate Director N. Balakrishnan with representatives of industry associations to bring out guidelines for protection of CII,” said Mr. Menon, expressing hope that the conference would help formulate legal frameworks, create necessary expertise and suggest practical measures within a clear timeframe to achieve the goal.
Mandated under the Information Technology Act to undertake necessary measures including research and development to protect CII, nodal agency NCIIPC envisages prevention, issuing early warnings, detection, mitigation and response to cyber attacks, focusing simultaneously on resilience and recovery of the systems. At the conference attended by Cabinet Secretary Ajit Seth, National Technical Research Organisation (NTRO) Chairman P.V. Kumar, Senior NTRO Adviser Alhad Apte and Adviser NTRO Dr. M. S. Vijayaraghavan besides over 200 representatives of the stakeholder community, NCIIPC centre director Muktesh Chander apprised the participants of the varied nature of internal and external cyber threats to critical sectors.
“Over 1.9 crore distinct malware have been identified so far…the threats may originate from individuals, disgruntled/former employees, hackers, cyber criminals, mercenaries, hostile States, non-State actors and even terrorist groups. The attacks may result in damage or destruction of CII, disruption of services, loss of sensitive and strategic data and may have cascading effects on several CII (interlinked). According to the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team, 13,000 incidents were handled by it in 2011,” said Mr. Chander, citing examples of cyber attacks that crippled systems in Estonia (2007), Georgia (2008) and Lithuania (2008).
While some of the critical sectors have been identified by NTRO, the NCIIPC now ventures in its five-year plan to identify more such sectors, earmark organisations in terms of criticality, to ascertain whether they are interconnected and, if so, protected, and if not, conduct security audit and recommend required measures. The instant goal is to develop a set of mandatory minimum guideline to be followed to ensure protection of CII.
Apart from issuing periodic alerts, advisories and analysis on attacks, tracking trends and organising training and awareness programmes, the NCIIPC is to set up a 24×7 helpdesk.
It is learnt that such a nodal centre was set up in the U.S. over a decade ago and is also functional in countries like South Korea.
Although many critical sectors have appointed information security officers, officials said the appointments are yet to be made in several others.
Suprema fingerprint live scanner receives final SQTC certification for UID project
December 12, 2012 at 10:38 am | Posted in Infrastructure, The Market | Comments Off on Suprema fingerprint live scanner receives final SQTC certification for UID projectSuprema fingerprint live scanner receives final SQTC certification for UID project
Suprema fingerprint live scanner receives final SQTC certification for UID project
December 4, 2012 –
Suprema Inc.’s RealScan-G1 fingerprint live scanner tested in full compliance and received final certification from the Government of India’s Standardisation Testing and Quality Certificate (STQC) for the country’s UID-based fingerprint authentication needs.
All products used as a part of the (Unique Identification) UID program in India must receive SQTC’s final certificates on top of their existing provisional certification, which are only valid for six months. Smart Identity Devices (Smart ID) Ltd., Suprema’s strategic partner in India, supported the SQTC certification process.
The UID program employs biometrics in an effort to identify India’s 1.2 billion residents and is administered by the Unique Identity Authority of India (UIDAI). Under the program, which started in 2012, each resident will have their fingerprints and iris scanned. Information gathered will be embedded in a unique 12-digit identification card, called Aadhaar.
Suprema’s RealScan-G1 is a compact fingerprint live scanner which provides range-leading capture speed and clear image quality, using an optical image processing system. Besides this most recent SQTC certification, the RealScan-G1 has also been FBI PIV-IQS, FIPS 201 and Mobile ID FAP 30 certified.
“RealScan-G1 has been specially developed to meet high-level requirements for India’s UID authentication project which demands fast and high quality image capturing and extra durability in India’s harsh environments. The device also features dust and waterproof rugged structure with IP54 certification required by UIDAI,” Young S. Moon, VP at Suprema said. “Key technology in RealScan-G1 is based on our in-depth expertise in biometrics and image processing as well as our years of experience in large-scale government and public projects.”
As reported previously in BiometricUpdate.com, Suprema was also recently awarded a contractfor passport reader and authentication devices as a part of a nationwide electronic passport project in Mexico.
All your faces belong to us: Breaking Facebook’s Social Authentication
December 12, 2012 at 10:32 am | Posted in Technology, The Market | Comments Off on All your faces belong to us: Breaking Facebook’s Social AuthenticationAll your faces belong to us: Breaking Facebook’s Social Authentication
You should enable two-factor authentication everywhere that you can [1]. Facebook previously added and then removed mobile phone numbers as two-factor authentication [2] ‘Login Approvals [3]’ because “Facebook’s reverse lookup feature [4]can be abused to search for thousands of sequential phone numbers in order to find any Facebook profiles associated with them.” Facebook has another two-factor authentication mechanism known as Social Authentication [5] (SA) to add another layer of security to help fight against stolen account passwords. When a suspicious login is detected, then Facebook will show you a series up to seven photos of your friends and ask you to identify them in order to verify your account.
At the Annual Computer Security Applications Conference (ACSAC2012), on Friday, Dec 7, researchers will present All Your Faces Are Belong to Us: Breaking Facebook’s Social Authentication [6] by Jason Polakis, Marco Lancini, Georgios Kontaxis, Federico Maggi, Sotiris Ioannidis, Angelos D. Keromytis, and Stefano Zanero.
[7]
Because Facebook is presenting authentication based on user-related social information, it is supposed to stop an attacker who would not know whose name goes with what Facebook friend photos. Some people have complained that photos can be tagged with a friend’s name, despite it not being a photo of a person. Previous research has shown that we can maintain a stable social relationship with a maximum 150 “friends,” [8] so another issue for some people is that they have friended so many people that they really don’t “know” their friends to identify the photo. However, researchers said, that Facebook’s SA, “to the best of our knowledge, is the first instance of an authentication scheme based on the ‘who you know’ rationale.” And then the researchers successfully set out to create an automated system capable of breaking Facebook’s Social Authentication system.
All Your Face Are Belong to Us: Breaking Facebook’s Social Authentication [PDF [9]]:
We implement a proof-of-concept system that utilizes widely available face recognition software and cloud services, and evaluate it using real public data collected from Facebook. Under the assumptions of Facebook’s threat model, our results show that an attacker can obtain access to (sensitive) information for at least 42% of a user’s friends that Facebook uses to generate social authentication challenges. By relying solely on publicly accessible information, a casual attacker can solve 22% of the social authentication tests in an automated fashion, and gain a significant advantage for an additional 56% of the tests, as opposed to just guessing. Additionally, we simulate the scenario of a determined attacker placing himself inside the victim’s social circle by employing dummy accounts. In this case, the accuracy of our attack greatly increases and reaches 100% when 120 faces per friend are accessible by the attacker, even though it is very accurate with as little as 10 faces.
The security researchers said in their paper, “71% of Facebook users expose at least one publicly-accessible photo album.” An attacker “needs access to the victim’s friends list” so he or she can “see the photos and try to befriend the victim’s friends, further widening the attack surface.” The victim “must have at least 50 friends and the ‘user’s friends must be tagged’.” Next, an attacker can extract the tags of people’s faces and keep the photos. They explained the image below as an “Overview of our automated SA-breaking system. It operates in four steps:”
[9]
In Step 1, we retrieve the victim’s friend list using his or her UID. Then, in Step 2 (optional), we send befriend requests, so that we have more photos to extract faces from and build face classifiers in Step 3. In Step 4, given a photo, we query the models to retrieve the corresponding UID and thus match a name to face.
When asked about the “All Your Face Are Belong to Us” research, Stefano Zanero, from the Department of Electronics and Information, Polytechnic of Milan, Italy, told me: “Social authentication is an interesting proposal to make it easier for users to log into a website without having to remember complex passwords. Our research aims to show what are the pitfalls in designing such a system, and what level of security can be achieved with it.”
Is Facebook aware of the SA vulnerability, and, if so, then what did the company reply?
Zanero: First of all – as you may have glimpsed – our work is somehow broader than “Facebook’s SA is broken.”
Our research aims to point out the potential flaws in the concept of “social authentication”, using Facebook’s specific one (the most widely deployed and thus the most interesting example!) as a case study.
We made Facebook aware of the work recently. We contacted our POC at Facebook, and this is the answer that Alex Rice of Facebook allowed us to forward to you:
Thanks so much for reaching out to us and recognizing that keeping the internet safe is a collaborative effort, and that people, like yourself, around the world can make valuable contributions. We encourage security researchers who identify security problems to embrace the practice of notifying security teams of problems and giving us the opportunity to address the vulnerability. In this case, your research has provided deeper insight into characteristics of our authentication system that we have been aware of during its evolving development.
We employ multiple layers of security and Social Authentication is only one of several potential responses that our authentication systems may trigger when suspicious activity is detected. While Social Authentication is not designed to stop small-scale or targeted attacks, it has proven incredibly effective at stopping large-scale phishing attacks. It is also important to keep in mind that users are only enrolled in Social Authentication after they have provided the correct password to the account.
For those who want to take additional steps to secure their account, we have provided true two-factor authentication with our Login Approvals product.
We remain confident in the ability of Social Authentication to combat the current threat presented by large-scale phishing attacks. As we move forward, we will continue to improve these systems to become more sophisticated and configure our protections to be more robust against any emerging threat that seeks to compromise user accounts.
When I commented that their research was interesting, but also a bit scary, Zanero said, “We would not see the result as scary, but definitely we do agree it’s interesting 🙂 The point is to explore how robust this form of authentication can be made, without making it too difficult for users. It’s a bit like the CAPTCHA you find on forms and websites: designed to tell humans from computers, they are becoming so annoying that humans are getting turned aside as a result.”
Links:
[1] http://www.lifehacker.com.au/2012/09/two-factor-authentication-the-big-list-of-everywhere-you-should-enable-it-right-now/
[2] https://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=10150172618258920
[3] https://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9232380/Facebook_removes_two_factor_authentication_mobile_numbers_from_search
[4] http://www.pcworld.com/article/2011396/facebooks-phone-search-can-be-abused-to-find-peoples-numbers-researchers-say.html
[5] http://www.facebook.com/blog/blog.php?post=486790652130
[6] http://www.acsac.org/2012/openconf/modules/request.php?module=oc_program&action=summary.php&id=138&OPENCONF=194daaf21a420ab14a1a6674e10a30ca
[7] http://blogs.computerworld.com/blog.facebook.com/blog.php?post=486790652130
[8] http://www.npr.org/2011/06/04/136723316/dont-believe-facebook-you-only-have-150-friends
[9] http://www.cs.columbia.edu/~angelos/Papers/2012/soauth-break.acsac12.pdf
Cash Transfer System under PDS
December 10, 2012 at 7:27 pm | Posted in The Market | Comments Off on Cash Transfer System under PDS| Cash Transfer System under PDS | ||||||
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The Department proposes to introduce a pilot scheme in six Union Territories (UTs), namely Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Chandigarh, Dadra & Nagar Haveli, Daman & Diu, Lakshadweep and Puducherry for direct transfer of food subsidy under Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS). Under the proposed scheme,foodgrains will be issued by Food Corporation of India at the economic cost. The cash subsidy equal to the difference in the economic cost and the present issue price will be credited to the bank account of the beneficiary in advance to enable the beneficiary to purchase the foodgrains at this cost. The proposal does not involve dismantling the TPDS as foodgrains shall continue to be distributed to the beneficiaries under TPDS through the Fair Price Shops. The scheme details of which will be finalized in consultation with UTs. etc. is expected to check leakages/diversion of foodgrains under TPDS and test the feasibility of launch of the scheme in other States.
The food subsidy released under Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS) and Other Welfare Schemes (OWS) during 2011-12 and current year is as under:
(Rs. in crore)
The proposed scheme does not envisage any change in the quantum of food subsidy being presently paid to the six UTs.
This information was given by the Minister of State (IC) for Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution Prof.K.V.Thomas in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha today. |
Brokers make Rs 500 on ‘free’ Aadhaar cards
December 1, 2012 at 6:19 pm | Posted in Additional business, The Market | Comments Off on Brokers make Rs 500 on ‘free’ Aadhaar cardsBrokers make Rs 500 on ‘free’ Aadhaar cards
Vinod Khosla Sets Up Startup Incubator Khosla Labs In India
November 15, 2012 at 8:46 pm | Posted in The Market | Comments Off on Vinod Khosla Sets Up Startup Incubator Khosla Labs In IndiaVinod Khosla Sets Up Startup Incubator Khosla Labs In India
Updated below
Vinod Khosla, a Silicon Valley based venture capitalist, will be setting up an incubator, Khosla Labs, for technology start-ups in India, reports Business Standard.
Srikanth Nadhamuni, Head of Technology at Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), will head the operations. It’s not clear whether the incubator has raised any funds yet.
Update: Khosla Labs has also hired Sanjay Jain as Entrepreneur In Residence. What’s interesting is that Jain also comes from UIDAI, where he worked from June 2010 to June 2012.
According to the report, the incubator will take at least six months to start functioning in its entire capacity. The incubator will help Indian entrepreneurs develop solutions focusing on solving issues and problems in the country including social inequality, governance issues and public grievances. Khosla Labs already has a rented office in Bangalore, however, they are in the process of finding a real estate location for the incubator.
Vinod Khosla, one of the co-founder of Sun Microsystems, has previously invested in startups in India in social sector including SKS Microfinance, CASHPOR Financial and Technical Services and MokshaYug Access. In 2004, Khosla had set up a venture capital firm, Khosla Ventures, in Silicon Valley, which has raised a total of $2.35 billion in funding. Khosla Ventures focuses on environmentally friendly technologies in addition to the traditional venture areas such as the Internet, computing, mobile and silicon technology arenas.
Other incubators: Recently, Mayfield Fund, a California based global venture capital firm, announcedthat it will be backing AngelPrime, a Bangalore-based incubator. Last month, GSF Accelerator, the startup accelerator launched by former Reliance Entertainment President Rajesh Sawhney hadinducted 15 startups in its inaugural batch. Other incubators include The Morpheus, Startup Village, Innovation and Entrepreneurship (SINE), IIT Mumbai, Indian Angel Network, among others.
iGate to focus on projects such as UIDAI in India
November 15, 2012 at 8:45 pm | Posted in The Market | Comments Off on iGate to focus on projects such as UIDAI in IndiaiGate to focus on projects such as UIDAI in India
S. RONENDRA SINGH
To invest $120 million in 3 years
Information technology firm iGate said the company will focus on Government projects like Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) for the domestic business.
The company that generates around 80 per cent of its revenue from the US alone, said it is building solutions for Government projects such as the UIDAI.
“UIDAI is a large focus. We are doing some work and we hope to continue to expand that. The cash subsidy or transfer system for LPG is built by us. We have done initial work with UIDAI as a pilot project, but now it will come out with tender and we will bid for it,” President and Chief Executive Officer, Phaneesh Murthy, told Business Line.
He said the company will invest $120 million over the next three years to expand its centres and develop new technologies for customers in banking, financial services and insurance, mortgage, and pharmaceuticals.
It will also hire around 1,000 people by end of this year across its centres globally, including the new centre in Pensacola, US, he said. The company has around 27,000 employees right now.
It has around 250 people in the Pensacola centre done through lateral hirings. At the entry level, it will hire around 25 in the next placement season (June-July), he said.
The company is building a 50-acre campus in Mumbai and a 35-acre residential campus in Pune and expanding the Bangalore campus, Murthy said.
He said the company has a cash reserve of $600 million and would look at acquisitions and mergers as and when the company requires.
“Right now, the first thing to do is after 2014, we need to start reducing [cash] by paying off some of the debts. That will be our first strategy. We have more than $1.2 billion as total debt,” he said.
On the IT industry scenario, he said the market is still uncertain, especially companies like iGate (mid tier companies).
“In 2013, my sense is that the IT budgets are not going to do well. When we did our survey, we found that roughly about 20 per cent of the companies are going to increase their budgets, 30 per cent are actually going to decrease their business and rest 50 per cent is relatively flat. So, that to me is not the best of scenario because we would like more percentage to be increased in their budgets,” he said.
However, industry body Nasscom on Monday said the IT-business process management industry is expected to grow at double digit rate for the year financial year 2013.
S. RONENDRA SINGH
To invest $120 million in 3 years
Information technology firm iGate said the company will focus on Government projects like Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) for the domestic business.
The company that generates around 80 per cent of its revenue from the US alone, said it is building solutions for Government projects such as the UIDAI.
“UIDAI is a large focus. We are doing some work and we hope to continue to expand that. The cash subsidy or transfer system for LPG is built by us. We have done initial work with UIDAI as a pilot project, but now it will come out with tender and we will bid for it,” President and Chief Executive Officer, Phaneesh Murthy, told Business Line.
He said the company will invest $120 million over the next three years to expand its centres and develop new technologies for customers in banking, financial services and insurance, mortgage, and pharmaceuticals.
It will also hire around 1,000 people by end of this year across its centres globally, including the new centre in Pensacola, US, he said. The company has around 27,000 employees right now.
It has around 250 people in the Pensacola centre done through lateral hirings. At the entry level, it will hire around 25 in the next placement season (June-July), he said.
The company is building a 50-acre campus in Mumbai and a 35-acre residential campus in Pune and expanding the Bangalore campus, Murthy said.
He said the company has a cash reserve of $600 million and would look at acquisitions and mergers as and when the company requires.
“Right now, the first thing to do is after 2014, we need to start reducing [cash] by paying off some of the debts. That will be our first strategy. We have more than $1.2 billion as total debt,” he said.
On the IT industry scenario, he said the market is still uncertain, especially companies like iGate (mid tier companies).
“In 2013, my sense is that the IT budgets are not going to do well. When we did our survey, we found that roughly about 20 per cent of the companies are going to increase their budgets, 30 per cent are actually going to decrease their business and rest 50 per cent is relatively flat. So, that to me is not the best of scenario because we would like more percentage to be increased in their budgets,” he said.
However, industry body Nasscom on Monday said the IT-business process management industry is expected to grow at double digit rate for the year financial year 2013.
Digital financial services market to be $70 bn by 2020: McKinsey
November 15, 2012 at 8:39 pm | Posted in The Market | Comments Off on Digital financial services market to be $70 bn by 2020: McKinseyDigital financial services market to be $70 bn by 2020: McKinsey
6
inShare
MUMBAI: Digital financial services opportunity in the country will grow eight times to up to $70 billion by 2020 as the usage of the Internet goes up, says a McKinsey report.
The present market size of the domestic digital services is $8 billion and this will grow to $60-70 billion by 2020, says the McKinsey & Company report.
Attributing the possibility of a steep rise in revenue to the increasing online consumer base, McKinsey India senior partner Alok Kshirsagar says in a report that “consumers are using technology to rapidly change the way they access financial services, and financial institutions will have to respond even faster in order to support and accelerate the behaviour that is already changing.”
The growth will be possible, “thanks to a rapidly evolving pool of Internet savvy users and easy online access via mobile phones and tablets,” he said.
Most of the projected opportunity will come from changes in customer behaviour, wherein a person gets influenced by research on the web and buys a product offline, it said.
The “fully digital” pie, wherein a customer searches, researches and purchases online, will account only for $6-10 billion of the overall revenue pool by the end of the decade, it says.
The current Internet user base is 122 million, of which 27 million are “digital high value” consumers accounting for nearly a third of the overall household saving pool of all online users, it says, adding the two numbers are expected to jump to 350 million and 70 million, respectively, by the end of the decade.
The McKinsey study further said the revenue growth in the digital space is likely to grow at up to 30 per cent annually during the remaining part of the decade, which is twice that of the overall revenue pool.
The study added that while demand is increasing, domestic financial institutions are currently ill-equipped to serve online consumers and capture the emerging opportunity.
HCL Infosystems Q3 net declines 57%
July 28, 2012 at 4:35 pm | Posted in The Market | Comments Off on HCL Infosystems Q3 net declines 57%HCL Infosystems Q3 net declines 57%
NEW DELHI: Domestic IT hardware player HCL Infosystems on Wednesday reported a sharp decline of 57% in its Q3 net profit to Rs 23 crore, down from Rs 53 crore, in the same quarter last year.
This is a third consecutive decline in net profit for the Noida based company, which makes computers and distributes telecom and office automation products. The company’s share price has more than halved from Rs 110, a year ago. HCL Infosystems shares closed at Rs 45 on Wednesday on the Bombay stock exchange.
Harsh Chitale, CEO of HCL Infosystems however felt optimistic. “After a slow period of almost four quarters, this quarter we have seen some positive movement in large contracts with enterprise and government sector customers.” Revenues from both segments of its business the computers systems services and its telecom and office automation business declined. Revenues for three months ended March, also declined 5% to Rs 2611 crore from Rs 2758 crore, a year ago.
HCL Infosystems has won a letter of intent from Unique ID Authority of India, for managing its entire IT infrastructure, a contract worth Rs 2200 crore. The firm is yet to get the final award letter. It also won a Rs 250 crore order from Electronics Corporation of Tamil Nadu Ltd. (ELCOT) to provide 2 lakh laptops to state aided schools and colleges across Tamil Nadu.
Industry analysts close to the deals however say both contracts are low margin deals, and may not result in highly improved profits for the company in near future. “Cost of hardware has significantly gone up since the bids for UIDAI deal last year, due to currency volatility,” said an industry expert on condition of anonymity.
The company relies heavily on its telecom distribution business for Nokia handsets, whose market share has fallen considerably in last 12 months in India. Revenues from its telecom business declined from Rs 1856 crore last year to Rs 1733 crore this year. Nokia’s market share in India has succumbed to competition from local players, falling from about 60% to less than 40% in just two years.
UIDAI contracts
July 6, 2012 at 10:07 am | Posted in The Market | Comments Off on UIDAI contracts
Why UIDAI has not given any data with respect to money?
How much public money did UIDAI give to each contract?
What is the duration of contract?
What was the process?
Why a particular firm was selected? On that grounds?
What is the time frame of completing the contracts?
What are the consequences if contracts are not completed on time?
http://uidai.gov.in/contracts-awarded-link.html
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Contracts Awarded
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S.No. |
Agency |
Description |
Order Date |
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1 |
HCL Infosystems | Design, development, maintenance and support of Intranet and Knowledge Management portal | 07-07-2011 |
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2 |
M/s HP India Sales Pvt Ltd | Aadhaar Document Management service | 07-06-2011 |
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3 |
M/s Wipro Ltd. | Deployment of 7 Project Managers | 02-05-2011 |
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4 |
M/s MAC Associates | Renovation/Remodelling of 9th Floor, UIDAI office, Delhi | 28-04-2011 |
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5 |
M/S. Wipro Ltd | Supply, Installation, Commissioning for Hardware & Software for Data Centre at Bengaluru & NCR | 29-03-2011 |
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6 |
National Informatics Centre Services Inc. | Purchase of 68 Blade Servers | 08-03-2011 |
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7 |
M/S. Wipro Ltd | Deployment of 32 Resource Personnel and Monitoring Tools | 03-02-2011 |
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8 |
Sagem Morpho Security Pvt. Ltd. | Purchase of Biometric Authentication Devices | 02-02-2011 |
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9 |
Totem International Ltd | Purchase of Biometric Authentication Devices | 02-02-2011 |
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10 |
Linkwell Telesystems Pvt. Ltd. | Purchase of Biometric Authentication Devices | 02-02-2011 |
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11 |
Sai Infosystem (India) Ltd. | Purchase of Biometric Authentication Devices | 02-02-2011 |
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12 |
Geodesic Ltd. | Purchase of Biometric Authentication Devices | 02-02-2011 |
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13 |
HCL Infosystems Ltd. | Purchase of Biometric Authentication Devices | 02-02-2011 |
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14 |
I D Solutions | Purchase of Biometric Authentication Devices | 02-02-2011 |
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15 |
NISG | Order for preparation of DPR for setting up of UBCC | 31-01-2011 |
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16 |
STQC | Hiring of Agency for Security Audit of IT infrastructure at UIDAI | 21-01-2011 |
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17 |
Telsima Communication Pvt.Ltd | Hiring of space for UBCC at Bengaluru | 27-01-2011 |
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18 |
Wipro Limited | Hiring of Data Centre Space (2000 sqft) & Facilities for UIDAI at Delhi/NCR | 23-12-2010 |
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19 |
Aircel, Bharti Airtel Ltd, BSNL, RailTel Corporation of India Ltd, Reliance Communications, Tata Communications | Piped Data Connectivity | 29-11-2010 |
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20 |
HCL Infosystems Ltd. | Disk Array Enclosures, SATA Disk Drives and Upgrade Pair 4G FC Ports | 29-11-2010 |
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21 |
National Informatics Centre Services Inc. | Video Conferencing for UIDAI HQ & ROs | 03-08-2010 |
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22 |
Satyam Computer Services Ltd. (Mahindra Satyam) | Implementation of Biometric Solution for UIDAI | 30-07-2010 |
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23 |
L1 Identity Solutions Operating Company | Implementation of Biometric Solution for UIDAI | 30-07-2010 |
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24 |
Accenture Services Pvt. Ltd. | Implementation of Biometric Solution for UIDAI | 30-7-2010 |
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25 |
Percept H. Pvt. Ltd. (Media) | Advertising Agency for designing Creative Content | 01-07-2010 |
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26 |
Bharti Airtel Ltd. | Hiring & Data Center Space (2000 sq ft.) & facilities for UIDAI at Bangalore | 25-06-2010 |
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27 |
Intelenet Global Services | Setting up and Operating Contact Centers for the UIDAI | 15-6-2010 |
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28 |
Tata Consultancy Services Ltd. | Re-Design, Development, Maintenance and Support of UIDAI Web Portal | 11-06-2010 |
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29 |
National Informatics Centre Services Inc. | Purchase of Storage Systems for Data Centre | 05-05-2010 |
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30 |
Mindtree Ltd. | Application Software Development, Maintenance and Support Agency for UIDAI | 27-04-2010 |
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31 |
National Informatics Centre Services Inc. | Purchase of Hardware for Data Centre | 07-04-2010 |
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32 |
National Informatics Centre Services Inco | Purchase of Blade Servers and Hardware for Data Centre | 05-04-2010 |
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33 |
Tata Consultancy Services Ltd. | Purchase of Biometric Devices | 10-03-2010 |
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34 |
HCL Infosystems Ltd. | Purchase of Biometric Devices | 10-03-2010 |
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35 |
Ernst & Young | Consultancy Services to UIDAI for Setting up of Central ID Data Repository (CIDR) and Selection of Managed Service Provider (MSP) | 26-02-2010 |
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36 |
4G Identity Solution Pvt. Ltd. | Purchase of Biometric Devices | 24-02-2010 |
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37 |
e-Smart Systems Pvt. Ltd. | Purchase of Biometric Devices | 22-02-2010 |
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38 |
Base Systems Pvt. Ltd. | Purchase of Biometric Devices | 22-02-2010 |
SAFRAN : Morpho first to receive provisional certification in India for single fingerprint scanners
July 2, 2012 at 2:03 pm | Posted in Additional business, The Market | Comments Off on SAFRAN : Morpho first to receive provisional certification in India for single fingerprint scannersSAFRAN : Morpho first to receive provisional certification in India for single fingerprint scanners
04/18/2012 | 05:28am US/Eastern
Morpho first to receive provisional certification in India for single fingerprint scannersPRESS RELEASE
Paris, April 18, 2012
Morpho (Safran group) is the first company to receive provisional certification in India for its single fingerprint scanners. The provisional certification, granted by India’s STQC*, confirms that the devices meet the Unique Identification Authority of India’s (UIDAI) requirements for reliability, safety and security.
Morpho’s single fingerprint scanners have successfully passed the tests under the STQC’s Biometric Device Certification Scheme, designed to facilitate availability of quality assessed biometric devices to identity verification agencies.
The provisional certification covers a compact biometric module (MorphoSmart™ CBM-E), a USB scanner (MorphoSmart™ Optic 1300 E) and a device combining a fingerprint scanner and a smartcard reader (MorphoSmart™ Optic 1350 E). These all-in-one compact devices not only capture high quality fingerprint images, but also embed powerful biometric feature extracting and matching algorithms.
In addition to being a trusted partner in Aadhaar’s enrollment phase, Morpho is also a key solution provider for the multiple biometric verification applications currently being deployed in India. Aadhaar is the world’s largest biometric project designed to secure the identity of 1.2 billion residents of India.
MorphoTop™, Morpho’s ten fingerprint scanner already received official STQC certification in 2011.
*STQC: Standardization, Testing and Quality Certification (STQC) Directorate for Government of India’s Department of Information Technology (DIT) and the UIDAI
* * *About Morpho
Morpho, a high-technology company in the Safran group, is one of the world’s leading suppliers of identification, detection and e-document solutions. _ Morpho is specialized in personal rights and flow management applications, in particular based on biometrics, a sector in which it is the world leader, as well as secure terminals and smart cards.
Morpho’s integrated systems and equipment are deployed worldwide and contribute to the safety and security of transportation, data, people and countries.
Morpho (groupe Safran)
Communications Department
11 boulevard Gallieni
92130 Issy-les-Moulineaux
Nathalie Jullien
Tel: +33 1 58 11 89 62 Press Contacts: _ Email :nathalie.jullien@morpho.com
Christelle Kinkead
Tél. +33 (0)1 58 11 87 44
Email:christelle.kinkead@morpho.com
- www.morpho.com -* Follow @MORPHO_NEWS on Twitter
PRESS RELEASE
Micro payment venture launched
July 2, 2012 at 2:02 pm | Posted in The Market | Comments Off on Micro payment venture launchedMicro payment venture launched
RANCHI: The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Nabard), Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) and National Payment Corporation of India have joined hands to start micro ATM-based payments to beneficiaries and have launched a pilot programme in the state to identify the practical impediments and come up with solutions.
Executive director of Nabard, V Ramakrishna, led a study team to Porio village on Monday where Aadhaar-enabled micro payments for MGNREGA labourers have already begun.
Prior to the field visit, Ramakrishna said Aadhaar numbers – along with core banking solution and biometric identification of individuals – have redefined payment options for the beneficiaries of government schemes through micro ATMs. “We have decided to conduct a field study on how the entire programme runs so that the bottlenecks could be identified and removed when such payments are nationally linked to Aadhaar numbers,” he said.
The results of the study will be shared with the chairmen of five regional rural banks from different parts of the country. Bank of India regional manager Tarlochan Singh coordinated the visit with Ramakrishna as the team leader. The UIDAI officials were present to see if the Aadhaar number was effective in practically verifying the identity of individuals through the biometric information provided. Singh, in his welcome speech, said the banks would make additional efforts to conduct the financial inclusion drive. UIDAI deputy director general Rajesh Bansal gave details of UID-enabled accounts and called upon other banks to utilize the CBS-enabled quick identification platform for instant payments.
The programme will be followed by a two-day conference on Aadhaar-enabled quick payment of government subsidy.
Aadhaar authentication can help Indian telecom operators save over Rs 1000 crore per year
July 2, 2012 at 1:56 pm | Posted in Additional business, The Market | Comments Off on Aadhaar authentication can help Indian telecom operators save over Rs 1000 crore per yearhttp://telecomlead.com/inner-page-details.php?id=8257&block=Service%20Provider
Spending on mobile subscriber verification has been a major issue in India. On average, telecom operators add 10 to 12 million subscribers every month. In 2010, telecom operators said verification norms increased the cost for operators to register new subscribers.
Adopting Aadhaar authentication can result in substantial savings of over Rs 1,000 crore annually for the telecom industry, according to a study called Leveraging Aadhaar in Telecom Sector by UIDAI. UIDAI is a body which is implementing Aadhhar project under which every resident of the country would be given a unique number.
The authority has been entrusted the task of enrolling 60 million residents. It has enrolled 20 million residents. Aadhaar authentication is an online real-time service and only responds with a yes or no.
According to UIDAI’s study, the discussions with industry experts indicate that paperless Know Your Customer (KYC) using Aadhaar can save substantially per subscriber by avoiding TERM fines and paper-based backend processes.
The TERM fines are imposed on operators who fail to verify subscribers identity and address as per prescriber norms.
According to the annual report of Department of Telecom for 2010-2011, the Telecom Enforcement Resource and Monitoring cell imposed a penalty of Rs 700 crore on telecom operators related to subscriber verification.
The estimate indicates that the telecom operators are issuing over 30 million mobile phone connections every month.
UIADAI gets to enrol another 40 crore people in 16 States
The UIDAI has been given permission and finances to the tune of an additional 5,791 crore to enrol another 40 crore people in 16 States under its Aadhaar scheme. The NPR will accept the biometric data collected by the UIDAI in those States and continue to collect its own data through the Registrar-General of India in the remaining States.
The UIDAI had been mandated to enrol 20 crore people by March 2012. While the UIDAI is a voluntary scheme, the NPR is mandatory for all residents. What this means is that if a resident has enrolled himself with the UIDAI and has had his fingerprints and iris scanned, he can merely give his Aadhaar number to the NPR registrars rather than submitting himself to biometric data collection twice.
Recently, te UIDAI has claimed the data cannot be accessed even by the operator, enrolling agency or the multiple registrars engaged in the exercise.
HCL Infosystems receives LoI from UIDAI regarding appointment of Managed Service Provider for UIDAI’s Central ID repository
June 29, 2012 at 3:33 pm | Posted in Additional business, The Market | Comments Off on HCL Infosystems receives LoI from UIDAI regarding appointment of Managed Service Provider for UIDAI’s Central ID repositoryhttp://www.equitybulls.com/admin/news2006/news_det.asp?id=102677
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HCL Infosystems receives LoI from UIDAI regarding appointment of Managed Service Provider for UIDAI’s Central ID repository |
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| Government of India, Planning Commission, Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) has on March 30, 2012, issued a Letter of Intent (LOI) to HCL Infosystems Ltd. BR>As per the LOI, “HCL Infosystems Ltd’s bid has been rated as Best Evaluated Bid. The UIDAI, therefore, intends to award the work, for appointment as the Managed Service Provider (MSP) to Implement and Manage the Central ID Repository (CIDR) for UIDAI, to HCL Infosystems Ltd.” The HCL Infosystems Ltd stock closed the day at Rs.45.45, up by Rs.1.80 or 4.12%. The stock hit an intraday high of Rs.46.15 and low of Rs.43.70. The total traded quantity was 0.99 lakhs compared to 2 week average of 0.70 lakhs. |
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| Source: Equity Bulls | |
| Posted On: 2012-03-31 00:49:54 |
Nilekani’s UID project gets Rs. 14,000 cr
May 23, 2012 at 10:17 am | Posted in Process, The Market | Comments Off on Nilekani’s UID project gets Rs. 14,000 crhttp://www.ciol.com/News/News-Reports/Live-updates-on-Union-Budget-2012/161408/0/
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This is expected to help enrollments of about 40 crore Indian residents and the project is aimed to be complete by June 2013.
Finance Minister Mukherjee informed the Lok Sabha during his Union Budget address that UIDAI has completed about about 20 crore enrollments. About 14 crore Aadhaar numbers have been issued till date. For the introduction of Goods and Services Tax, the government has set up an Empowered Group headed by Nandan Nilekani, Chairman, Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI)
The National Securities Depository Limited (NSDL) has been selected as technology partner for incubating the National Information Utility that will establish and operate the IT backbone for the GST.
Highlights of Budget 2012
1.FY12-13 GDP expected to grow 6.9pc
2. Expect inflation to come down shortly
3. FY 13 Focus on domestic demand
4. Nandan Nilekani’s UID project gets a boost with Rs. 14,000 cr allotment
5. Govt to retain 51 pc in PSUs
6. Tax relief for retail
7. Rs. 15888 crore allocated for banks
8. Considering 49 pc FDI in airlines
9. FY 13 divestment target Rs. 30000 crore
10. GST network to start in August
11. To present new micro Finance Bill
12. Slowdown attributed to slow industrial growth.
13. DTC implementation defereed
14. Companies initiating IPO for Rs. 10 cr or more, will be in electronic form
15. Credit link subsidy programme for micro enterprises
16: Tax exemption limit increased just by Rs. 20,000 – Upto Rs. 2 lakh: Income Rs. 2-5 lakh – 10 per cent tax; From Rs. 5-10 lakh 20 per cent
17. NO change in corporate tax rate
18. Restriction on venture capital investment goes
19. Tax deduction extended up to 200 per cent for research
20. School education exempt from service tax
21. A Rs.. 193,407-crore provision for Defence services in 2012-13
22. Rs.. 1000 crore for National Skill Development Corporation
23. 14 crore Aadhar enrolment planned in the year, starting from April 2012
24. Government allocates Rs.. 5,000 crore venture fund for MSME sector
25. Defence Budget increased by more than 17 per cent!
Centre changes strategy to stay competitive globally in IT sector
May 23, 2012 at 10:13 am | Posted in Additional business, Infrastructure, New Business, The Market | Comments Off on Centre changes strategy to stay competitive globally in IT sectorhttp://www.thehindu.com/news/national/article2999469.ece
Centre changes strategy to stay competitive globally in IT sector
SANDEEP JOSHI
To promote sector’s growth, it increases IT adoption within country
Competition to India’s information technology and IT-enabled services (ITeS) companies from other cost-effective nations and protectionist moves of some key markets like the U.S. have caught the attention of the government. As a result, the government is not only changing its strategy to stay competitive globally but also taking initiatives to promote growth of the sector by increasing IT adoption within the country.
“Some of the challenges faced by the IT and ITeS sector include increasing competition from other countries with incentivised low costs, rising cost in India with wage-push inflation, increasing costs of relevant talent and skilled personnel, infrastructure constraints with over 90 per cent of risks like currency fluctuations and security, both physical and data related, and rising protectionists sentiments in key markets,” the Economic Survey 2011-12 said.
As per industry estimates, India’s IT and BPO sector (excluding hardware) revenues were $87.6 billion in 2011-2012 (a growth of 14.8 per cent) – $68.7 billion exports and $19 billion domestic, while it generated direct employment for nearly 2.8 million people and indirect for around 8.9 million people.
As a proportion of national GDP, IT and ITeS sector revenues have grown from 1.2 per cent in 1997-98 to around 7.5 per cent in 2011-12.
“Consistent demand from the U.S., which increased its share from 61.5 per cent to 62 per cent, characterised 2011-12. Emerging markets of the Asia Pacific and the rest of the world also contributed to overall growth,” the Survey pointed out.
Referring to future strategy for the sector, the Survey said the government had been a key catalyst for increased IT adoption – through sector reforms that encouraged IT acceptance, National e-Governance Plan (NeGP), and the Unique Identification Development Authority of India (UIDAI) programme that created large-scale IT infrastructure and promoted corporate participation.
Talking about electronics hardware production, the Survey said it was expected to grow by 27.6 per cent in 2011-12 and cross Rs.1.55-lakh crore ($33 billion). Electronics hardware exports is expected to grow by 12.8 per cent and cross Rs.47,090 crore ($10 billion) in 2011-12 as against Rs.41,721 core ($8.86 billion) in 2010-11. In its recently released draft, the National Policy on Electronics (NPE), the government projected that the electronics system design and manufacturing industry was likely to reach a turnover of $400 billion by 2020, involving investment of about $100 billion, besides creating 28 million jobs.
Aakash’s next could be Aadhar apps
May 18, 2012 at 1:56 pm | Posted in Additional business, New Business, The Market | Comments Off on Aakash’s next could be Aadhar appshttp://www.indianexpress.com/news/aakashs-next-could-be-aadhar-apps/920473/
Aakash’s next could be Aadhar apps
Among those in queue for the Human Resource Development Ministry’s Aakash tablet is the Unique Identity Authority of India that issues Aadhar numbers. It is considering a switch to the inexpensive gadget.
A team from the HRD Ministry recently demonstrated before UIDAI officials how easily the Aakash tablet can be used for data verification and how its applications can be developed to support Aadhar-related work. The UIDAI currently uses expensive, micro-ATMs for biometric authentication.
“We are definitely looking at a collaboration with the HRD Ministry on Aakash. While a micro-ATM costs around Rs 15,0000-20,000, the Aakash tablet is said to be under Rs 3,000 each which will considerably reduce our expenditure,” a highly placed official said.
Micro-ATMs are handheld devices for biometric authentication that can help with cash deposit and withdrawal besides balance inquiry and remittances.
The HRD ministry confirmed that UIDAI is interested in the Aakash tablet; the new, upgraded version of the tablet for which bids will be invited next month will factor in their requirements.
The HRD Ministry plans to use the Aadhar number in the school system by embossing the number on certificates awarded to students. This, they feel, will help track student attendance, track retention of students, monitor entitlements and check for other discrepancies. A pilot project has already been initiated in districts of Kerala, Madhya Pradesh and West Bengal and it will be extended to Tamil Nadu, Orissa, Himachal Pradesh and Rajasthan.
RCom bags Rs 300-cr contract for managing Aadhaar numbers
May 18, 2012 at 1:52 pm | Posted in Additional business, The Market | Comments Off on RCom bags Rs 300-cr contract for managing Aadhaar numbers
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Anil Ambani-led telecom services provider Reliance Communications (RCom) is understood to have bagged a project worth Rs 300 crore from the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) for managing the network and subscriber numbers.
UID boost for micro-ATM makers
May 18, 2012 at 1:49 pm | Posted in Additional business, The Market | Comments Off on UID boost for micro-ATM makershttp://www.rediff.com/business/report/tech-uid-boost-for-micro-atm-makers/20120305.htm
UID boost for micro-ATM makers
The demand for one million micro-ATMs for the Aadhaar-based payment system has emerged as a bonanza for the technology industry.
Manufacturers are ready to lap up the opportunity as soon as the government gives it the go-ahead. The plan will likely figure in this year’s Budget.
A task force led by Unique Identification Authority of India’s (UIDAI) chairman, Nandan Nilekani, has recommended a payment platform using micro-ATMs to disburse cash subsidies and entitlements under government schemes.
The requirement of one million units would entail a huge market for firms such as HCL Infosystems [ Get Quote ], Geodesic, VeriFone, Visiontek and others manufacturing micro-ATMs.
Pran Mehra, executive director, VeriFone India sales, believes the roll-out of micro-ATMs is a huge opportunity.
“As a company, we are well entrenched in this space as we already work with most of the banks. But, with UIDAI rolling out micro-ATMs, every partner in this programme will need a device for payment.
From an opportunity aspect, I will highlight just one area: India has 550,000 ration shops and each will need at least two devices to capture user biometrics,” he says.
Mehra says, at present, the company imports 55,000-65,000 payment devices quarterly, which would rise.
The technology firms that have shown interest in Aadhaar payments include AMDL, Evolute, Geodesic, HCL [ Get Quote ], Ingenico, Integra, Nokia, VeriFone and Visiontek. All are manufacturers of handheld devices that can be used for micro-ATM processes.
According to industry players, micro-ATM prices are Rs 10,000-20,000 each.
These devices have a built-in biometric system and allow customers to conduct basic financial transactions using only their Aadhaar number and fingerprint as identity.
Micro-ATMs will support functions like deposits, withdrawals, fund transfers and balance enquiries.
In the Aadhaar-based payment model, the total funds that can be disbursed through micro-ATMs is Rs 1.5 lakh crore (Rs 1.5 trillion) in entitlements under various schemes and the same amount in subsidies – Rs 3 lakh crore (Rs 3 trillion) in all.
The amount is likely to rise to Rs 5 lakh crore (Rs 5 trillion) in the next few years, says A P Singh, Deputy Director General, UIDAI.
Mumbai-based Geodesic, already working with UIDAI and Bank of India [ Get Quote ] in Jharkhand on a pilot for this system, feels with this project and banks’ financial inclusion efforts, the use of technology and such devices would become mainstream. That, it seems, convinced the company to set up a manufacturing plant in Rourkee in 2009.
“We started by manufacturing 60 devices a day and have now scaled up to almost 300. When the demand goes up, we are well placed to double or treble production,” says Arnab Ganguly, VP-Business Development, Geodesic. He says the deal size from a bank could range Rs 7-8 crore (Rs 70-80 million). “That will go up, depending on the number of devices banks need,” he says.
Keeping the huge business opportunity in mind, most of these vendors are already working with banks on financial inclusion initiatives. For instance, VeriFone is working with Axis bank.
HCL Infosystems is working with Bank of India, Bank of Baroda [ Get Quote ], Central Bank, Syndicate Bank [ Get Quote ], Punjab National Bank [ Get Quote ] and UCO Bank [ Get Quote ], among others.
A P Singh says a micro-ATM costs around Rs 10,000, which would come down with economies of scale to about Rs 5,000. Micro-ATMs are like push terminals installed in purchasing stores but with a biometric reader. Adding a biometric reader to the push terminal costs nearly Rs 2,000.
Aadhaar may ditch India Post
May 18, 2012 at 1:14 pm | Posted in Infrastructure | Comments Off on Aadhaar may ditch India Posthttp://www.livemint.com/2012/03/04232714/Aadhaar-may-ditch-India-Post.html
Surabhi Agarwal
New Delhi: After sparring with the home ministry over biometric data collection and national security concerns, the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) has found itself in a new row, this time with the state-owned postal network. The authority says India Post is delaying the delivery of letters informing residents of the unique identity numbers allotted to them under the government’s Aadhaar project.
The upshot is that the authority, led by Infosys Ltd co-founder Nandan Nilekani, is considering handing the job of delivering the letters to private sector firms.
Work in progress: People being enrolled for UID in Tumkur, Karnataka. Photo: Abhijit Bhatlekar/Mint
While UIDAI has allotted Aadhaar identities to 130 million residents, only around 50 million have received letters sent by the authority through India Post informing them about their 12-digit unique identification numbers. The letters have been mailed since the the first set of Aadhaar numbers were issued in September 2010. Some 450,000 letters have been returned to UIDAI.
“The backlog is of 8 crore letters as of now,” Kumar Alok, deputy director general of UIDAI, said in an interview on Wednesday.
“We have been receiving a lot of complaints about the letters not reaching the right people or not reaching at all,” he said. “So we are trying to gauge the interest from private players for this job.”
Although India Post has the widest reach in the country, the state-run postal network hasn’t been able to cope with the pressure, Alok said.
India Post, which comes under the ministry of communications and information technology, was engaged by UIDAI in 2010 to print and deliver letters containing Aadhaar numbers. The postal agency was guaranteed revenue of at least Rs. 400 crore for the delivery of the initial 200 million Aadhaar letters, so its loss will be considerable if the job is taken away from it.
The job of printing the letters has already been taken away from the agency which, according to its website, is the world’s largest postal network with 155,015 post offices as on 31 March 2009. Three private sector firms were given the printing job in January-end after India Post wasn’t able to take the load.
UIDAI, which is implementing one of the key projects of the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government, has had its share of rough weather since it was established in 2009. Most recently, in January, the cabinet had to step in to resolve a conflict between the authority and the National Population Register, which is ultimately overseen by the home ministry, over the collection of biometric data.
UIDAI has the mandate of providing unique identities to 600 million people by 2014, enabling them to access the government’s welfare programmes and services such as banking for financial inclusion. For the government it will serve as a tool to better target social spending by making sure that benefits such as subsidies reach the poor.
UIDAI is now exploring the option of roping in private sector express delivery firms to deliver the Aadhaar letters, Alok said.
The authority invited expressions of interest in mid-February from private companies.
“The crisis should be over in the next three to four months,” he said. “We may split the order” between India Post and private companies to clear the backlog and ensure the letters are delivered on time.
An official at India Post acknowledged that there had been several issues with the delivery of Aadhaar letters and conceded the fact that the state network may lose out on the lucrative contract if private sector firms are enlisted for delivering the letters.
“Yes, there have been delays. They are blaming us for it but they are as much to blame,” said the official, who didn’t want to be identified. “There has been a complete lack of planning from their side.”
When it won the contract for printing and delivering the Aadhaar letters, the order was for 2.5 million letters a year, he said. When the printing job was taken away from India Post, there was no backlog and the department was delivering almost one million Aadhaar letters a day, the official said.
“We thought it was a small order but then the work increased tremendously to almost 3-4 crore letters every year,” he said. “We are being misunderstood as a printing press, which we are not.”
The India Post official said it would be “unethical” for UIDAI to split the order in such a way that private firms get to deliver the letters in cities and towns and India Post is retained only for rural areas. Some 90% of its post offices are located in rural areas.
“Our cost of delivering in rural areas is compensated by the profits made in urban areas. If they split the contract, it will be not be fair,” said the official.
Beyond protesting, there isn’t much that India Post can do. “We being a government department can’t take another government department to court but we will surely protest if this happens,” said the official.
surabhi.a@livemint.com
HCL Info shares surge 17% on buzz of winning UIDAI order
May 18, 2012 at 1:11 pm | Posted in The Market | Comments Off on HCL Info shares surge 17% on buzz of winning UIDAI orderhttp://business-standard.com/india/news/hcl-info-shares-surge-17buzzwinning-uidai-order/466605/
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HCL Info shares surge 17 pc on buzz of winning UIDAI order
May 12, 2012 at 8:44 am | Posted in The Market | Comments Off on HCL Info shares surge 17 pc on buzz of winning UIDAI orderMumbai, March 02, 2012
Shares of HCL Infosystems today soared 17% on the bourses amid reports that it has won contract worth of Rs. 2,200 crore from the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI).
Buoyed by the reports, shares of the company jumped 16.62% to Rs. 51.20 on the BSE in the morning
trade.
On the NSE, the scrip gained 17% to Rs. 51.20.
As per reports, the Aadhaar number repository and its IT infrastructure will be run by HCL Infosystems.
HCL Infosystems is now expected to develop an IT backbone for the Aadhaar project, and ultimately handle the data of all 120 crore Indian residents, the report added.
Meanwhile, the broader market, the BSE barometer Sensex was trading over 90 points higher at 17,680 at 1058 hours.
Jairam provides boost to Aadhar
May 12, 2012 at 8:42 am | Posted in The Market, UID Propaganda | Comments Off on Jairam provides boost to AadharIn a big relief to beneficiaries of various welfare schemes under the National Social Assistance Programme (NSAP), the government has announced that payments will be done through the Unique ID system – Aadhar – from next fiscal.
This would end the circuitous route through which assistance reaches beneficiaries, including senior citizens, widows and the physically disabled, often causing long delays in actual disbursement to people in dire need of grants.
Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh said on Tuesday that the architecture for the new system, being put in place jointly with the Nandan Nilekani-headed Unique ID Authority of India (UIDAI), should be ready by March 10.
“The new system will be a marked improvement over the present one. Time is of essence in implementing assistance schemes. Cases of delays caused are quite common,” he said.
The four programmes – Indira Gandhi National Old Age Pension Scheme, Indira Gandhi National Widow Pension Scheme, Indira Gandhi National Disability Pension and National Family Benefit Scheme – account for an annual outgo of around Rs.8,500 crore at present.
There has been a clamour for enabling changes in NSAP schemes which may be considered by finance minister Pranab Mukherjee when he presents the budget next month.
The disability pension scheme provides a monthly grant of Rs.200 to persons with severe and multiple (or 80 per cent) disabilities. The new proposal if for reducing the criteria to a simple 40 per cent disability for which it is easier to obtain medical certificates.
The change would cost an extra Rs.1,000 crore. There is also a suggestion to bring persons in 5-18 age group under the scheme.
The widow pension scheme covers beneficiaries who are more than 40 years old. Women organisations have proposed that all widows above the age of 18 should be covered. This would put an additional annual burden of Rs.220 crore on the exchequer.
The suggestion appears to be in line with the compulsions of the social system and hardships faced by young widows.
The one-time grant of Rs.10,000 under the family benefit scheme was fixed in 1996.
The money is provided to ‘below poverty line’ (BPL) families who lose their main breadwinners. The proposal calls for increasing the grant to Rs.20,000 at an additional burden of Rs.435 crore per year.
The primary objective of issuing Aadhar numbers to residents was to ensure that benefits of welfare schemes are better targeted and reach the actual persons on a real-time basis.
Ramesh said that the new architecture would ensure that for the first time.
The actual implementation of the new system is critically dependent on the ongoing Socio Economic and Caste Census (SECC), which would enumerate BPL families on the basis of inclusion and exclusion criteria.
Biometrics, mobile ID tech drive expansion of civil ID programs
February 21, 2012 at 8:07 am | Posted in The Market | Comments Off on Biometrics, mobile ID tech drive expansion of civil ID programshttp://www.thirdfactor.com/2012/01/18/biometrics-mobile-id-tech-drive-expansion-of-civil-id-programs
Looking back at the last 18 months, I am amazed by the progress biometric civil ID programs have made around the world. Whether it is the national elections in Brazil and Nigeria, or the widespread ID enrollment program in India, fingerprint biometrics have been a significant factor in the success of many Civil ID programs.
As we look at what’s to come in 2012, one thing stands out: mobile devices and fingerprint biometrics will come together to enable more widespread civil ID programs that can deliver a multitude of services to even the most rural locations.
There are two developments that point to mobile biometric identity solutions breaking out in 2012. The first is the acceptance of biometric technology in emerging nations as a common form of citizen identification. Both Brazil and Nigeria have used the technology in their national elections, and in doing so gained international support and approval.
Five-years ago, this was not the case. But, in countries where election fraud has been rampant for as long as citizens have been voting, fingerprint biometrics has created a new reality. One citizen now means one vote. Not only does this give everyone peace of mind, it also significantly reduces the political and societal turmoil that had become commonplace after contested elections.
The benefits of fingerprint biometrics didn’t stop with elections. The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) continues on its quest to establish identity for all of its citizens, even in the most remote parts of the country.
The second trend that is beginning to take shape is advancements in technology that enable for the extension of fingerprint biometrics to mobile devices. Anyone who has attended biometrics or security conferences in 2011 can attest to the interest in this convergence.
Mobile ID terminal manufacturers are ramping up their research and development efforts to make the terminals smaller, more affordable and more adept at interacting with central databases. Biometric technology developers are improving their algorithms to be more accurate and power efficient for easier integration. Both of these groups are collaborating to make the complete package less expensive and easier to use. It is my belief that these combined development efforts will bear fruit in the coming year.
So, what does the convergence of mobile devices and fingerprint biometrics mean for international governments and their citizens?
In 2012, we will see biometrically-enabled mobile terminals adopted by governments in emerging nations in many parts of the world. The adoption of the technology will continue to be led by Africa, India and South America, and we will begin to see greater uptake in Eastern Europe.
Mobile biometrics technology will first be used to create national ID databases containing all citizens, not just those in major cities. Governments will begin to use the new ID system to not only refine their election processes, but to also extend fingerprint identification to other services, such as entitlements, micro-finance and the delivery of healthcare services.
From this effort, we will see social change and the reduction of fraud in services. In the end, honest delivery of social services will mean more people receive their benefits, and in some cases, their civil rights. It is my belief that 2012 will be a significant year for the growth of biometrics and mobile technologies and the social change they will help create.
About the AVISIAN Publishing Expert Panel
At the close of each year, AVISIAN Publishing’s editorial team selects a group of key leaders from various sectors of the ID technology market to serve as Expert Panelists. Each individual is asked to share their unique insight into what lies ahead. During the month of January, these panelist’s predictions are published daily at the appropriate title within the AVISIAN suite of ID technology publications: SecureIDNews,ContactlessNews, CR80News, NFCNews, DigitalIDNews, ThirdFactor, RFIDNews,EnterpriseIDNews, FinancialIDNews, GovernmentIDNews, HealthIDNews,FIPS201.com, IDNoticias es. ![[end]](https://i0.wp.com/www.thirdfactor.com/resources/bullet/thirdfactor-4.gif)
We plan to link Aadhaar to rly tickets, says DG
February 21, 2012 at 8:01 am | Posted in Additional business, The Market | Comments Off on We plan to link Aadhaar to rly tickets, says DGWe plan to link Aadhaar to rly tickets, says DG
Director general of Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) R S Sharma was here recently to review the progress of Aadhaar linked retail payment. Following is the excerpt of his interview
Q. How does one benefit from an Aadhaar number?
It helps indentify a resident of a particular place irrespective of his geographical location. Technologically, it is unique. A random number is issued to an individual against details of his biometrics, name, parents’ name and address. It helps an individual establish his identity before public and private agencies in the country.
Q. What does the number symbolize?
Aadhaar numbers, apart from being unique, are a set of 12 digits randomly selected and printed in three sets of four digits. They don’t indicate the state, district or village of the individual. Nor is there any digit to establish whether the number holder is a male or female.
Q. What is the security level of the data bank?
The data pool being created by collection of biometric and demographic details is being stored in a highly secure server. It is directly monitored by the government. The general information about someone’s Aadhaar number is of practically no use because the identity of a person is established not by the number but by using his biometrics and sorting it out from the recordstored with UIDAI.
Q: When is the project expected to be completed?
Once the entire population is covered, the mandate of UIDAI will be to update the records and establish the identity of individuals in service in different government and private agencies.
Q: Is there any plan to include Aadhaar numbers with newer fields?
A high powered committee is working to try out different applications of Aadhaar numbers. The beginning has been made with different welfare schemes of the government by linking the Aadhaar number with bank accounts. Once the bank account is opened, cash transactions with the account for unlettered persons will become easy. Transfer of cash subsidy on LGP cylinders, grains of public distribution system and fertilizers directly to the account of the beneficiary and payment of MGNREGA wage are being experimented. Soon we may link the Aadhaar number with railway tickets so that in case of some mishap, establishment of the identity becomes easier.
RIL 4G to offer high speed broadband at low rates
February 1, 2012 at 3:06 pm | Posted in Additional business, The Market | Comments Off on RIL 4G to offer high speed broadband at low ratesRIL 4G to offer high speed broadband at low rates
Soma Banerjee & Joji Thomas Philip, ET Bureau | Jan 7, 2012, 01.24PM IST
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RIL is currently developing a ‘platform-neutral technology’.
NEW DELHI: In an informal interaction with ET late last year, Mukesh Ambani narrated the advice his father gave him before the launch of the then-unified Reliance group’s telecom business in 2002. “He ( Dhirubhai Ambani) told me our competitor was not any rival mobile operator, but the postcard (which then cost 15 paise),” said the Reliance Industries chairman. Reliance won the price line in telecom, but could not win over customers – something it will need to change to make a success of its upcoming broadband offering.
Ten years on, Mukesh is applying the same cost doctrine to his broadband rollout, which is expected in late 2012 and one of whose many pieces were put in place earlier this week when it received preferential access to all Network18 content. “We want to do in video what we did in voice,” a senior RIL official managing the rollout told ET in December on the condition of anonymity.
“It will be a play on the four screens in your life,” is how the official explained the planned RIL broadband offering. He said the plan, for which RIL is currently developing a ‘platform-neutral technology’, is to stream high-speed, cheap and exclusive content on the four screens an individual engages with: mobile, computer/tablet, TV and billboards.
A successful rollout will require the group to achieve something it has not: win over the customer. “RIL’s consumer-centric and knowledge-based businesses face certain challenges, which it may need to overcome to create value,” said a June 2011 report of Kotak Institutional Equities Research by Sanjeev Prasad, Gundeep Singh and Tarun Lakhotia.
For Mukesh, a Hindi film buff, broadband will be his fourth effort at transiting from servicing industrial customers to also catering to individual consumers. Each of the group’s first three attempts to cross over has failed to draw consumers, either because of policy bumps (oil retailing) or the company’s shortcomings in deciphering the nuances of the target set (telecom and retail).
The Reliance DNA – size, sweep and pricing – is present in what one knows about its broadband offering so far.
Reliance’s Broadband Plan
“It will be a repeat of the (first) big bang,” says independent consultant BK Syngal, who was the architect of Mukesh’s previous entry into telecom, and headed that business from 1999 to 2002.
RIL is the only company with pan-India wireless broadband spectrum, bought for about 17,600 crore. It has also committed to invest $5 billion in the first two years. On this, it can offer fourth-generation (4G) services that reportedly have speeds of 50-100 Mbps in testing – or three times the fastest 3G services its rivals currently offer. Its main competitors such as Bharti Airtel, Vodafone and Idea are doing the rounds of regulatory forums on whether they can patch together a national presence through tie-ups, that too for 3G. The legal verdict on the 3G roaming pacts will determine if the likes of Bharti, which has 4G spectrum in 4 circles, can also offer wireless broadband services on a pan-India basis through roaming agreements.
The recent conciliatory posturing between the estranged brothers has made a tie-up between Mukesh’s broadband venture and Anil’s Reliance Communications – which the brothers launched together in 2002 to take on the postcard – a possibility. The two groups have been talking, says an industry executive in the know, to see if Mukesh’s broadband business can use Reliance Communications’ formidable infrastructure and also tie up with it to offer calls.
RIL has also grabbed the lead in content. This week’s deal gives RIL preferential access to all of Network18’s TV, Internet and digital content, across languages and genres. RIL is also talking to other media and entertainment companies, including Walt Disney’s Indian venture UTV Software, for more gaming and entertainment content, say industry executives in the know. In November, it acquired 38.5% in Extramarks Education, a company focused on school education and digital learning, for an undisclosed amount.
And lastly, there’s the RIL philosophy of disruptive pricing. According to RIL executives aware of the development, the company is looking to bundle data services at about 10 per GB, which is one-tenth of current 3G prices. It is, they say, also planning to bundle this with entry-level tablets powered by Google’s Android operating system that would cost 3,000-8,000. That the demand for low-cost tablets is robust is evident from the 1.4 million bookings that Aakash, the 2,500 tablet made by UK-based Datawind and subsidised by the government of India, received in 14 days after it was put up for sale online. The RIL official quoted in the first instance says the company is also looking to offer online services in “security, health and education”. So, for example, by paying, say, 30 a month, a customer can access doctors online 24X7. He said the company was also talking to the government to link up with the database of unique IDs being created for every Indian, called Aadhaar.
Nandan Nilekani, the chairman of the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), which is implementing Aadhaar, confirmed this. “We have had preliminary discussions (with RIL) on how Aadhaar and the platform can be used to offer applications,” he said. “You may not have a cardiologist for every village, but a 100 of them could be available to millions through this hub-and-spoke model on the cloud (computing).” RIL is targeting these millions. Targeting millions is something RIL never did late in the last century, when its first wave of growth came as a producer of industrial goods – petrochemicals, oil refining and oil exploration.
Marketing consultant Harish Bijoor says there are distinct differences between a B2B (business to business) and a B2C (business to consumer) company in terms of management and operating styles. “You can see it if you speak to a Hindustan Unilever and a RIL executive,” says the CEO of Harish Bijoor Consults. “While the manufacturing guy will be more focused on back-end strategies, precision in product quality, timely implementation, processes, systems and receivables, the consumer company is geared towards the front-end.”
Several other prominent industrial groups, including the AV Birla Group and the Mahindras, have traced this arc from industrial to individual. “Ours is a consumer-driven economy,” says veteran banker Deepak Parekh. “No matter what business you are in, consumer interests have always played a big role for all industry, irrespective of the genre.”
Consumers are what Mukesh was after when he launched the group’s telecom operations in 2002, through what was then called Reliance Infocomm (now Reliance Communications, and steered by brother Anil since June 2005, after the brothers split). Its maiden ‘Monsoon Hungama’ scheme offered handsets at 501 and a tariff of 40 paise per minute for calls made to Reliance phones. In 10 days, it had 1 million users.
“Everything was in place before the launch,” says Syngal, senior principal, Dua Consulting, who headed Reliance Infocomm till its launch. “The planning started in 1999 and a decision was taken to roll out 90,000 km of fibre and invest 32,000 crore with a peak negative cash flow of 20,000 crore. Such plans were massive compared to other players in the sector then.”
By 2005, Reliance Infocomm had dislodged Bharti from the top spot. But its customer orientation was fraying at the edges. It suffered from a downmarket image, billing complaints from customers were frequent and it faced regulatory action for alleged ‘illegal’ routing of international calls. “By the time we launched, most of the high-end customers were already taken,” says Syngal. “Next, customers soon realised that, while the service was very good, it was restricted to cities.” Dealing directly with consumers is a different ball game, says a veteran industrialist from the auto sector, not wanting to be identified. “Such companies need skills in marketing, advertising, and have to constantly reinvent themselves,” he says. Adds Bijoor: “The biggest disadvantage in a transition is that a B2B company has to learn to say, ‘I do not know my customer’, which they are not used to.”
Retail is the other consumer-centric business that RIL moved into, in 2006. “The results have not been encouraging so far,” says Arun Kejriwal, head of Mumbai-based investment consultancy KRIS.
Speaking on the condition of anonymity, the CEO of a leading retail chain that competes against Reliance Retail says the latter initially thought that since modern retail is under-penetrated, throwing capital would fetch immediate results. “But they did not realise that capital is not a substitute for competencies in merchandising and store operations,” he says. “They are now beginning to get things right.”
Will its ability to draw and keep customers in the broadband business be better? Harminder Sahni, managing director of Wazir Advisors, a retail consultancy, thinks so. “RIL is good at managing consumer businesses where the service offering is more centrally decided and driven, and the competition is among a few organised players,” he says. Telecom and broadband fit that profile, retail doesn’t.
(With inputs from Ratna Bhushan)
MFIs welcome aboard as enrolling agencies, says UIDAI chairman
December 24, 2011 at 6:29 pm | Posted in Additional business, Process, The Market | Comments Off on MFIs welcome aboard as enrolling agencies, says UIDAI chairmanhttp://www.thehindubusinessline.com/industry-and-economy/economy/article2711235.ece
MFIs welcome aboard as enrolling agencies, says UIDAI chairman
VINSON KURIAN
The Chairman of the Unique Identification Development Authority of India (UIDAI), Mr Nandan Nilekani, has said that micro-finance institutions are welcome to join the initiative as enrolling agencies.
Addressing the annual micro-finance summit 2011 here, Mr Nilekani, however, said that it was not being envisaged that MFIs be given full-fledged ‘Registrar’ status to support UIDAI’s massive exercise of creating an ‘unique, online and variable identity’ to the country’s citizens.
No Panacea
“We would welcome MFIs as enrolling agencies or outreach partners,” Mr Nilekani told one of the delegates who had flagged the issue of UIDAI having expressed the desire of taking MFIs on board and holding discussions for more than a year.
The concept of unique identity is just that — it is not the panacea for all the ills afflicting the society. It is just a ‘starting block’ of a platform on which various useful applications can be developed for public good.
And this is why the open architecture has come to be used with the system, Mr Nilekani said. The unique identity settles the problem of identity, based on which public services are expected to be rolled out in the future.
For instance, it does away with the fungibility/portability of PDS entitlements of an individual.
Family card
As for the ration card, it is at best a family card, and does not identify individual beneficiaries, which lends itself to being tampered with and misused.
But the UIDAI seeks to plug this ‘gap’ by establishing the identity of each of the individual mentioned as members of the family in the ration card.
Nor does it contain any more data than the bare essentials — name of the individual, date of birth, place of birth and sex — Mr Nilekani said, and any attempt to ascribe the motives of invasion of privacy is totally unfounded.
On the other hand, the benefits flowing out from the unique identity are much more than facilitating proof of authentication and ensuring entitlements.
Micro-ATM
It also provides a ‘financial address’ to where social payments such as wages under
MNREGS and pension products, among others, should be directed to.
The ‘micro-ATM’ effect is the other significant facility being deployed to the beneficiary for conducting a range of transactions based on biometric authentication. A pilot project is being tried out in Jharkhand, Mr Nilekani said.
Online, one-time password obviating lifecycle management issues cuts down transaction costs, which is what intended as part of the project.
Micro Tech – Outcome of Board Meeting
November 30, 2011 at 12:36 pm | Posted in The Market | Comments Off on Micro Tech – Outcome of Board Meetinghttp://www.moneycontrol.com/stocks/stock_market/corp_notices.php?autono=496998
Micro TechBSE: 532494NSE: MICROTECHISIN: INE358B01012
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14th-Nov-2011 17:43Source: BSE
Micro Tech – Outcome of Board Meeting
Micro Technologies (India) Ltd has informed BSE that the Board of Directors of the Company at its meeting held on November 14, 2011, inter alia, has transacted the following :
1. The Board was informed that Micro secure solutions Ltd., a Company promoted by Micro Technologies has entered into an agreement with M/s. D. B. Corp Ltd (Dainik Bhaskar) for subscription of 2,25,000 shares at the rate of Rs. 450/- for consideration of Rs. 10,12,50,000/- only thereby pegging the valuation of the Company at Rupees 381.5 crores only.
2. The Board also noted the progress that after successful implementation of vehicle security in the logistic and supply chain management for oil companies the Company has now penetrated by taking care of their premises security including pipeline security and other such security avenues.
3. Further the Board was informed that the Company has been empanelled as an Enrolling Agency (EA) with the Planning Commission of India”s UIDAI (Unique Identification Authority of India) for undertaking demographic and bio metric data collection, The Company has also already entered into successful empanelment far Defence agencies and the Banking sector with various banks.
4. The Board was informed that Micro Secure Solutions Ltd. has set up a Subsidiary Company named Micro Secure Solutions HK Ltd. in Hong Kong. Considering the strategic location of Hong Kong through its easy access to tap the huge potential of the Chinese, Taiwanese and the other South East Asian Markets which shall result in ease of operations for the Company in lieu of its long terms vision.
UIDAI ropes in TCIL for printing Aadhaar cards
November 22, 2011 at 3:20 pm | Posted in The Market | Comments Off on UIDAI ropes in TCIL for printing Aadhaar cardsUIDAI ropes in TCIL for printing Aadhaar cards
PTI | 07:11 PM,Nov 09,2011
New Delhi, Nov 9 (PTI) UIDAI, which issues national identity numbers to residents in the country, has roped in state-run Telecommunications Consultants India Limited (TCIL) to print Aadhaar cards to increase and expedite their distribution. TCIL will start printing Aadhaar numbers generated by the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) at its facility in Mumbai tomorrow, Deputy Director General of the authority Kumar Alok told PTI. “It will help in printing of about five lakh Aadhaar cards in a day”, he added. Besides the Mumbai facility, TCIL will soon float tenders to set up two more units having a capacity of 5 lakh each, which will be operational by December end. TCIL, he further said, “will only be responsible for printing Aadhaar numbers and supply them to India Post for mailing it to residents. Besides, India Post will continue to print and post these numbers”. Initially, UIDAI had entrusted the printing and posting of Aadhaar cards to India Post, which could not manage the work load in view of its inadequate printing facilities at Kolkata and Delhi. At present, India Post prints about 1.5 lakh Aadhaar cards a day whereas the UIDAI enrolls over 10 lakh residents daily, Alok said. The printing capacity constraint has created a big backlog, he said, adding as many as 4 crore Aadhaar numbers, which were generated under the UIDAI scheme could not be printed and distributed.
MorphoTop certified for UID
November 22, 2011 at 3:19 pm | Posted in The Market | Comments Off on MorphoTop certified for UIDhttp://www.securitydocumentworld.com/public/news.cfm?&m1=c_10&m2=c_9&m3=e_0&m4=e_0&subItemID=2633
MorphoTop certified for UID
07 November 2011
MorphoTop, Morpho’s latest fingerprint image capture terminal, has been officially certified for India’s unique identification (UID) programme. The three-year Certificate of Approval was issued by the Standardization, Testing and Quality Certification (STQC) Directorate for the Government of India’s Department of Information Technology (DIT) and the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI). The terminal has passed all the required tests and trials, confirming that it offers highest-level image quality for capturing fingerprints in less than two seconds.
Morpho, which is part of Safran Group, says this positions it as a trusted end-to-end provider of world-class hardware and software solutions in the Aadhaar program. Aadhaar is the world’s largest biometric project designed to secure the identity of 1.2 billion residents of India.
Jean-Paul Jainsky, chairman and chief executive officer of Morpho says: “This certification is a significant milestone which strengthens our presence as the world’s leading biometrics solution and service provider. We are pleased to be pursuing our association with a project as ambitious and game-changing as Aadhaar. I am confident that this certification will help us offer the best technical solutions and contribute positively to this pioneering project.”
In addition to providing biometric acquisition and verification terminals, Morpho acts as an enrolment agency through its subsidiary Smart Chip and supplies the multi-biometric de-duplication system of UIDAI’s central database.
Hard at work
November 15, 2011 at 10:25 am | Posted in Labor | Comments Off on Hard at workhttp://www.hindustantimes.com/India-news/NewDelhi/Hard-at-work/Article1-762940.aspx
Hard at work
Hindustan Times
October 30, 2011
First Published: 22:45 IST(30/10/2011)
Last Updated: 17:58 IST(31/10/2011)
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30 applicants for post of Member (PPP) in NHAI
Sudhir Kumar, a joint secretary in the Power Ministry is the frontrunner for the post of Member (Public-Private Participation) in the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI). Thirty persons including half-a-dozen officers
from NHAI and road transport itself have applied for the post which was created to specifically handle all issues related to PPP in the road sector. The post has been lying vacant ever since it was created about a year ago and it was only recently that the ministry had initiated the process to fill it.
Civil aviation ministry may relax eligibility criteria
Having failed to find a suitable candidate to head the directorate general of civil aviation, the civil aviation ministry might relax the eligibility criteria for the post. The DGCA is being headed by EK Bharat Bhushan, an IAS official. He was appointed last November for six months and was given an extension in May. The ministry plans to raise the age from 56 to 58 and relax the condition.
AI to hire COO again, but will go for an Indian
Air India, the ailing national carrier, has decided to hire a chief operating officer (COO) again. After burning its fingers last time when it offered a package of R3.1 crore, AI has fixed a salary cap of R1 crore for new COO this time. Also, it has decided that only an Indian will be selected for the top job.
UIDAI-plan panel officials spat comes in open
The uneasy relationship between babus of planning commission and unique identification authority of india (UIDAI) became apparent recently, when UIDAI’s director general RS Sharma accused a senior plan panel official of leaking information to media. The official hit back saying that UIDAI was not adhering to government norms and what media was reporting was factually correct.
Govt approves Rs. 8,800 crore for Aadhaar project
November 15, 2011 at 10:22 am | Posted in The Market | Comments Off on Govt approves Rs. 8,800 crore for Aadhaar projecthttp://www.livemint.com/2011/10/24002230/Govt-approves-Rs-8800-crore-f.html
Govt approves Rs. 8,800 crore for Aadhaar project
The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) will use the money to pay registrars who are enrolling people for Aadhaar, as well as to build the project’s technical systems
Surabhi Agarwal & Asit Ranjan Mishra
New Delhi: The finance ministry has approved a budget of Rs. 8,814.75 crore for the nodal agency executing the government’s Aadhaar project, under which all residents of India will be provided unique identification (UID) numbers.
Building a database: Residents being enrolled under the UID project in Tumkur, Karnataka. Photo: Hemant Mishra/Mint.
The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) will use the money to pay registrars who are enrolling people for Aadhaar, as well as to build the project’s technical systems.
The UIDAI, which pays registrars Rs. 50 per enrolment, is mandated to enrol 200 million people until March. The national population register (NPR) is supposed to carry out enrolments after that.
The UIDAI had recently demanded Rs. 17,863.9 crore along with the mandate to enrol the country’s entire population of 1.2 billion.
The expenditure finance committee approved the budget in a meeting on 15 September, said a finance ministry official, asking not to be identified.
A UIDAI official confirmed the development, requesting anonymity.
Finance minister Pranab Mukherjee had sanctioned Rs. 120 crore for the UIDAI project in the budget for fiscal 2010, and Rs. 1,900 crore for fiscal 2011.
The agency spent Rs. 268.41 crore in the last fiscal and Rs. 174.29 crore until September this year, according to data available on its website. It has so far enrolled 100 million people and issued UID numbers to half of them.
Buddhist monks to get ID cards in Bodh Gaya
October 19, 2011 at 11:48 am | Posted in Additional business | Comments Off on Buddhist monks to get ID cards in Bodh Gayahttp://www.inewsone.com/2011/09/02/buddhist-monks-to-get-id-cards-in-bodh-gaya/72971
Buddhist monks to get ID cards in Bodh Gaya
Patna, Sep 2 (IANS) Authorities have decided to issue special identity cards to all Buddhist monks in Bodh Gaya in Bihar for security reasons, an official said Friday.
?All monks belonging to different countries and staying in Buddhist monasteries in Bodh Gaya will get the cards to week out the fake monks,’ Bodh Gaya temple advisory board secretary Vivek Kumar Singh said.
Vivek Singh, who is also the Magadh division commissioner, said it had been reported that some people in the garb of monks were found involved in petty crimes including theft in the temple complex.
He said the district administration will consult monastic heads of different countries before issuing the cards.
Hundreds of monks live in Bodh Gaya and daily visit the temple. The shrine also attracts thousands of tourists from across the world.
It was in Bodh Gaya where the Buddha attained enlightenment some 2,500 years ago.
Bodh Gaya is an integral part of the Buddhist pilgrimage circuit that usually starts in Delhi or Kolkata.
It includes places associated with Lord Buddha such as Lumbini in Nepal where he was born and places in India like Bodh Gaya, Varanasi, Sravasti, Rajgir and Nalanda.
The 1,500-year-old Bodh Gaya temple stands behind the sacred Bodhi Tree under which the Buddha attained enlightenment.
Patna, Sep 2 (IANS) Authorities have decided to issue special identity cards to all Buddhist monks in Bodh Gaya in Bihar for security reasons, an official said Friday.
?All monks belonging to different countries and staying in Buddhist monasteries in Bodh Gaya will get the cards to week out the fake monks,’ Bodh Gaya temple advisory board secretary Vivek Kumar Singh said.
Vivek Singh, who is also the Magadh division commissioner, said it had been reported that some people in the garb of monks were found involved in petty crimes including theft in the temple complex.
He said the district administration will consult monastic heads of different countries before issuing the cards.
Hundreds of monks live in Bodh Gaya and daily visit the temple. The shrine also attracts thousands of tourists from across the world.
It was in Bodh Gaya where the Buddha attained enlightenment some 2,500 years ago.
Bodh Gaya is an integral part of the Buddhist pilgrimage circuit that usually starts in Delhi or Kolkata.
It includes places associated with Lord Buddha such as Lumbini in Nepal where he was born and places in India like Bodh Gaya, Varanasi, Sravasti, Rajgir and Nalanda.
The 1,500-year-old Bodh Gaya temple stands behind the sacred Bodhi Tree under which the Buddha attained enlightenment.
The Mahabodhi Temple is a World Heritage Site.
UIDAI empanels 5 agencies for Aadhaar campaign in Delhi
October 17, 2011 at 11:02 am | Posted in The Market | Comments Off on UIDAI empanels 5 agencies for Aadhaar campaign in Delhihttp://www.exchange4media.com/e4m/news/fullstory.asp?Section_id=45&News_id=43745&Tag=36239
UIDAI empanels 5 agencies for Aadhaar campaign in Delhi
October 10, 11
Deepika Bhardwaj
The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) has empanelled five agencies for its headquarters in Delhi to work on the multi-media campaign for Aadhaar. It is learnt that the decision for Mumbai and Lucknow has also been taken. Some of the empanelled agencies in Delhi include Dentsu Communication, Airads, Centum Advertising and Newfields Advertising.
UIDAI had called a pitch for empanelment of agencies across regions, floating tenders in around eight cities, including New Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Lucknow, Chandigarh, Guwahati, and Ranchi in the month of July.
The agencies empanelled at the headquarters in New Delhi will work on Information, Education, Communication (IEC) campaign and other activities for Aadhaar at a national level. The focus will be on formulating a national level communication strategy to ensure the specified target audience understand Aadhaar, its enrolment process and its benefits. The agencies will have to prepare complete strategy, creatives and production for all communication channels. This empanelment will hold for a period of one year.
For the record, UIDAI is a committee set up by the Government of India to provide a Unique Identification Number to all residents in order to improve their lives and also cut down on the annual costs incurred in verifying identities. The project is headed by former Infosys Chairman Nandan Nilekani. Though it is targeted across sections of the society, the scheme is expected to benefit the poor the most, who are generally deprived of various benefits and schemes that the government offers and face a lot of barriers in accessing welfare related opportunities.
Nandan Nilekani Launches Aadhaar Hindi Website
September 21, 2011 at 1:59 pm | Posted in Additional business | Comments Off on Nandan Nilekani Launches Aadhaar Hindi Websitehttp://pib.nic.in/newsite/erelease.aspx?relid=75972
| Nandan Nilekani Launches Aadhaar Hindi Website |
|
Chairman, Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), Shri Nandan Nilekani, launched the Hindi version of the UIDAI web portal, here on Wednesday to mark Hindi Diwas. “The website is quite comprehensive and is a complete Hindi translation of the UIDAI portal. Unlike other websites translated into Hindi, this Hindi portal is a sensible translation of the master website,” said Shri Nandan Nilekani. Detailing the objective of launching the Hindi website, Shri RS Sharma, Director General & Mission Director, UIDAI said, “Hindi is our national language and considering the fact that the UIDAI is for all Indian residents, we needed to give the website a pan-India appeal and hence the Hindi website.” He added, “The website will offer updated information in real time and no compromises will be made in terms of the quality of information on the website. Both, Hindi and English websites, would be in sync with each other.” Shri Sharma even lauded the efforts of Shri BB Nanavati, DDG, UIDAI, who facilitated the entire exercise of website translation. The Hindi website link has been provided on the UIDAI website (www.uidai.gov.in). In his address, the UIDAI Chairman called for due respect to the national language and encouraged the UIDAI staff to use the national language in the day-to-day functioning of the UIDAI. His views were echoed by the UIDAI DG and Mission Director, Shri RS Sharma as well. He said, “Wherever it is practical, we must use Hindi for official communication.” He underlined that the UIDAI would be diligently observing the Hindi fortnight. Apart from the website launch, several other activities also marked the day at the UIDAI Headquarter. A cultural programme, organized to celebrate 62-years of the national language status accorded to Hindi, was quite appreciated by the audience, including the Director General and Mission Director, UIDAI, RS Sharma. The program commenced with the welcome address by Shri Devendra Kumar, Deputy Director General (DDG), followed by saraswati vandana and a cultural performance by a few UIDAI staffers. Later, Kumar Alok, (DDG) read out the Home Minister’s Hindi Diwas address. The program concluded with the vote of thanks delivered by the Assistant Director (Rajbhasha). *** DS
(Release ID :75972) |
Biometric cards to be used in cycle manufacturers body polls
August 31, 2011 at 3:27 pm | Posted in Additional business, Applications | Comments Off on Biometric cards to be used in cycle manufacturers body pollsBiometric cards to be used in cycle manufacturers body polls
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Raakhi Jagga
Tags : United cycles parts, biometric cards, thumb impression, biometric impressions, Varinder Kapur
Posted: Tue Aug 30 2011, 00:45 hrs
Ludhiana
In a bid to check bogus voting in their association elections, the members of the United cycles parts and manufacturers association(UCPMA) have introduced biometric cards. The cards will contain thumb impressions of the registered members. A machine at the association office will match a thumb impression taken on election day with a previous stored one. The card making is in process and they will be delivered to each member after their biometric impressions are recorded.
The elections of this Asia’s largest association will be held on September 15. D S Chawla, the current president of UCPMA said: “ I lost three elections in the past due to bogus voting. Identity cards have been given to the members, but after exchanging the photos on the cards, many fake voters have voted in the past. Now biometric thumb impression will check bogus voting and it is a transparent manner as well”.
This system will also allow the association to check the attendance of members during meetings. A total of Rs 22,500 has been spent on the new machine. The members, however, have welcomed the step but point out that it should have been done much before the elections. With 2,240 registered members, doubts have been raised if the cards will be ready before election day. Chawla, however, said: “The work is almost complete and members will get cards much before the election day”.
Meanwhile the incumbent president Chawla now has the support of many who belonged to his rival group under Charanjit Vishvkarma. Varinder Kapur, who used to be in the Charanjit group has now joined hands with Chawla while Inderjit Singh Navyug who in the previous election contested against Chawla for the president’s post is now in his group. Pardeep Wadhawan, Ajit Kumar and few others who were in the Charanjit group are now standing by his side while there have been a few defections from the Chawla group as well.
Back to basics
August 22, 2011 at 10:12 pm | Posted in The Market | Comments Off on Back to basicshttp://www.business-standard.com/india/news/back-to-basics/446508/
Back to basics
Leslie D’Monte / Mumbai August 22, 2011, 0:59 IST
MindTree tried its hand at making wireless handsets but failed. Now co-founder Ashok Soota has moved on to start a competing business. What’s the way forward?
Till about two years back, MindTree appeared to be doing everything right to get to its revenue target of $1 billion by 2014. Then, it made a move it regrets till date. It signed an agreement with Kyocera Wireless Corp (KWC) to acquire its Indian subsidiary Kyocera Wireless India (KWI) by shelling out $6 million or around Rs 30 crore.
MindTree had identified product engineering services as one of its key areas of growth in 2009. It believed the Kyocera move would pay dividends as it strengthened this business — to offer design and technology services that range from chips to cloud computing. It christened KWI as N!Mo (Next in Mobility) and announced it would develop a ready-to-brand mobile handset product platform which would operate as the company’s newest business unit. All the 600 people, who were earlier part of KWI, were to work with this new business unit.
“We did see mobility as a good business opportunity, and we also shipped 45 million mobiles to the US. But the capital requirements were higher than we envisaged. Besides, clients were expecting us to hold inventory and also market the mobiles. That’s not our strength. We were simply into white-label smartphones. We did not see this coming,” acknowledges Krishnakumar Natarajan, chief executive officer and managing director of MindTree. The company is still paying the price for making such a move. Around 200 people are “still billable”.
Simple formula
The MindTree management had its work cut out. It had to cut losses and re-energise its workforce and business units. To this end, the company first repositioned the Kyocera product unit to a handset design service unit. The company will continue to sharpen its focus on the Bluetooth-related intellectual property segment and also the digital platform. “We should get a handle back on this business in the next one or two quarters,” asserts Natarajan.
The MindTree management also began re-organising its entire business practice. A year back, it had seven business units. This April, it devised a new strategy which involved trimming down the units to just two — IT services (which accounts for 62 per cent of the company’s revenues) and product engineering (38 per cent).
“Our customers are demanding expertise and specialisation. Hence, one of the key elements of this rejig was to choose segments we did not want to be in,” says Natarajan. And simplify it did. Under its IT services division, MindTree is concentrating only on a few verticals — banking, financial services and insurance, manufacturing, travel and transportation, retail and media. It moved out of the telecom, healthcare, energy and utility verticals.
Similarly, under the product engineering services segment, MindTree has consolidated its research and development services, software product engineering services and ‘next in wireless’ units. The company has consolidated its data and analytic services; data warehousing and business intelligence practice and knowledge services that will be combined to form data and analytics solutions (DAS).
In terms of growth enablers, MindTree has identified three offerings — DAS, infrastructure manufacturing services (IMS), and independent testing. “The idea of the rejig is to focus on niche areas where we will be counted among the top 5 players in the next few years. We have also found that customers are looking for partners who are specialists in certain areas. Though we have some clients in the energy and utility space and it is growing well, I do not think that in the next five years we can be among the top players in that segment,” says Natarajan. Even within the manufacturing vertical, the company will focus only on the consumer and packaged goods and automotive segment.
MindTree does not envision any impact on its revenue lines as it drops a few verticals. Natarajan admits that a few clients could move away. As of March 31, 2011, MindTree had 277 active customers, including 48 Fortune 500 clients.
Bumpy ride
Even as the company was juggling with the Kyocera hit, the company’s co-founder and executive chairman Ashok Soota quit MindTree this March. “His transition was factored in right at the time of the company’s IPO (initial public offering) in 2007. It came into effect in 2008. Initially, there were queries from the clients. But there has been zero impact on deliverables,” asserts Natarajan.
Soota has since been selling his stake in MindTree to fund his new venture, Happiest Minds, which will be a competitor to MindTree. Natarajan acknowledges that the “markets are similar”. However, “in the last four months, we have only lost two senior people. We may lose more but we have a leadership programme that consistently produces new leaders,” says chief financial officer Rostov Ravanan. MindTree’s Subrato Bagchi — vice-chairman who also has the title of Gardener — engages with the top 100 executives personally.
Incidentally, all of Soota’s shares were acquired by Coffee Day Group’s Coffee Day Resorts owned by VG Siddhartha who has now become the single largest stake-holder in MindTree through his group entities Coffee Day Resorts and Global Technology Ventures (around 14.58 per cent). “This will not have any impact on the company’s day-to-day operation since Siddhartha has been on MindTree’s board since 1999. He is on our forex advisory committee and helps with client relationships. He lends a huge tactical value,” asserts Natarajan.
The company has also had its share of successes. For instance, MindTree, which has traditionally been strong in embedded technologies, acquired strong capabilities in software domain when it acquired Aztecsoft in May 2008. Aztecsoft had over 2,200 employees and catered to the North American, European, Indian and Australian markets. It had four delivery centres in India. For MindTree, which aims to be a $1-billion company, the acquisition makes sense, say analysts. Besides gaining in scale, it got a captive client base. And while MindTree was strong on the IT services front, Aztecsoft focused on the growing outsourced product development space and in testing, and catered to the product engineering business. “Aztecsoft has catapulted us into the top 10 independent testing companies,” asserts Ravanan.
And last April, MindTree bagged the application development services segment of the Nandan Nilekani-headed Unique Identification number (UID) project called Aadhaar. The company recently launched MWatch, an integrated IT infrastructure management services platform, which will allow it “to increase operational efficiencies and stability”. The company will use MWatch to provide IMS as managed services from India. The business engages around 1,000 people, and is one of its fastest-growing service lines.
MindTree is also trying to diversify by getting into areas like automating highway tolls to avoid leakages and classify vehicles even under bad weather and light conditions. The company is partnering with Getronics in the area of remote IT infrastructure management, telecom and application support services to help it take up large-scale engagements and be measured on stringent service level agreement or SLA-based deliverables for managing critical IT infrastructure.
This February, MindTree announced RUBIC (re-usable business intelligence components) GAZE, an intuitive business intelligence framework that enables rendering of data on top of live maps, including Google and Bing, for interactive data visualisation.
“Our strategy of simplifying the organisation and focusing on our core strengths is yielding results. Our focus in the coming year will be to improve operational efficiency, concentrate on fewer verticals and, most importantly, take a leadership role in many of them. As per NASSCOM estimates, the Indian IT industry is expected to grow at 16-18 per cent in 2011-12. We are confident of delivering higher growth than the industry estimates,” concludes Natarajan.”
Homeland security market in India to double by 2018
August 17, 2011 at 4:01 pm | Posted in Additional business, Natgrid, The Market | Comments Off on Homeland security market in India to double by 2018http://www.orissadiary.com/ShowBussinessNews.asp?id=27397
Homeland security market in India to double by 2018
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
New Delhi: The homeland security market is expected to expand from 8 billion dollars (about Rs 36,800 crore) now to 13 billion dollars (about Rs 59,800 crore) by 2014 with a significant opportunity for the private sector to participate, security experts and policy makers said today.
By 2018, this market comprising of capital spend from government, private sector and some part of export demand is likely to be worth 16 billion dollars (about Rs 73,600 crore), they said at the 4th edition of INDESEC conference-cum-expo organised by industry body ASSOCHAM and the Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises.
“The government and industry should collaborate to upgrade and modernise security systems and communication networks,” said Mr M. Venkaiah Naidu, chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Home Affairs.
He said India’s homeland security is shaped by internal, regional and global factors. A porous border which needs fencing and the largely-unmanned 7,516 km coastline pose new challenges.
“We have cross-border terrorism in the north, insurgency by various militant groups in northeastern states and the Maoist insurgency throughout central India with varying shades of lethality,” said Mr Naidu. “A combination of internal disturbances presents unprecedented challenges of an all-embracing security framework.”
Chairman of ASSOCHAM’s national defence council P.C. Bhasin said there is a plethora of state security agencies with a minimal ability to coordinate while dealing with these threats in an effective manner.
He said the government is gearing up for a long-term with an organised and targeted development of homeland security focused infrastructure. Vice Admiral (retd) Bhasin referred to the National Information Grid being set up by combining individual databases of several government agencies, and setting up of a crime and criminal tracking networks and systems.
ASSOCHAM secretary general D.S. Rawat said the homeland security sector employs more than 60 lakh workers and the number is projected to double in the next four to five years. He said the industry has already taken note of the potential growth opportunities.
Chairman of INDESEC advisory board D.R. Kaarthikeyan said India, Britain, Germany and France will emerge as the largest players in global homeland security market in the next ten years as opposed to the present situation where the United States continues to be a dominant player with nearly 35 per cent of total procurement.
He called for a holistic expansion of the offset policy under Defence Procurement Procedure to include equipment for the homeland security sector besides improvement in overall governance and delivery systems of public goods and services.
Others present during inaugural session of the three-day exhibition were Mr P. Balaji, vice-president of Ericsson India, Mr Ateeq Rahman Khan, chief executive officer of Biostream Axxonsoft, Mr M.P. Aggarwal, chairman and managing director of Shyam Telecom, Mr S.D. Pradhan, former chairman of the task force on intelligence mechanism at the Prime Minister’s Office, and Ms Nicky Mason, managing director of Informa Exhibitions India.
Over 100 exhibitors from 25 countries are participating in the meet.
TCS stock up…UIDAI shortlisted co for IT contract
August 17, 2011 at 3:56 pm | Posted in The Market | Comments Off on TCS stock up…UIDAI shortlisted co for IT contractTCS stock up…UIDAI shortlisted co for IT contract
India Infoline News Service / 11:26 , Aug 16, 2011
The stock has hit a high of Rs. 971 and a low of Rs957.
Shares of TCS Ltd have gone up 1% after reports stated that Unique Identification Authority of India has shortlisted the company for the IT sourcing contract.
The stock is currently trading at Rs964, up Rs12.95.The stock has hit a high of Rs. 971 and a low of Rs957.
Total traded quantity on the counter stood at over 0.38 lakh shares.
Five IT cos shortlisted for UIDAI’s Rs 2,000 cr contract
August 13, 2011 at 3:21 pm | Posted in The Market | Comments Off on Five IT cos shortlisted for UIDAI’s Rs 2,000 cr contracthttp://www.indianexpress.com/news/five-it-cos-shortlisted-for-uidais-rs-2-000-cr-contract/831405/
Five IT cos shortlisted for UIDAI’s Rs 2,000 cr contract
Five home-grown technology bluechips are in the last lap for India’s largest domestic IT outsourcing contract worth R2,000 crore. The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) has shortlisted TCS, Wipro, HCL Infosystems, Tech Mahindra and Mahindra Satyam for the lucrative contract. UIDAI is currently going through the companies’ technical bids. The winner will manage all IT-related operations of the prestigious Aaadhar project.
Out of the original nine bidders, Accenture, IBM, HCL Technologies and HP did not make it to the short list, while Infosys Technologies, the country’s second-largest IT firm, did not participate in the bidding process.
“Infosys didn’t participate in the bids. Moreover, we were looking for large systems integrators and not software companies. Hence, these companies were shortlisted,” said a UIDAI official.
The winning managed services provider (MSP) will manage IT systems and data of all Indian residents during the project’s 7-10 year duration. The authority has awarded 38 contracts of smaller size so far. MSP services include design, development and implementation of the authority’s Central Information Data Repository (CIDR) based on the functional and technical requirements of the CIDR.
The selected firm will have to do the procurement, supply, installation, and commissioning of IT infrastructure components.
The chosen MSP will be responsible for the rollout of 600 million Aadhaar numbers by 2014 and manage end-to-end logistics.
It will also be responsible for system and database administration, besides managing the technical help desk and facilitation centres.
The MSP will handle the required infrastructure, integration and management services for all data centres and administer the computer servers. It will also have to offer services in the fields of application, hardware, networking, data centre operations, hosting along with biometrics application.
Aadhaar number to be must for LPG services
August 11, 2011 at 11:51 am | Posted in Additional business, Applications, The Market | Comments Off on Aadhaar number to be must for LPG servicesAadhaar number to be must for LPG services
Lawrence Milton, TNN Aug 8, 2011, 11.28pm IST
MYSORE: Months after announcing the new LPG subsidy reform, the Centre has initiated the process to pilot the scheme in the city.
The Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL), Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL) authorities have started the process of collecting Aadhaar number and bank account information from a section of LPG customers.
The Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL), Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL) authorities have started the process of collecting Aadhaar number and bank account information from a section of LPG customers.
IOCL (LPG sales) deputy manager V U Baby told TOI they have selected customers from three gas distributors– one each from three oil companies for the proposed pilot project. They have requested nearly 80,000 customers attached to Venus Gas Services (IOCL), Little Gas Company (HPCL) and Prasad Gas Services (BPCL) in Mysore to submit details in a prescribed format given to them soon.
IOCL (LPG sales) deputy manager V U Baby told TOI they have selected customers from three gas distributors– one each from three oil companies for the proposed pilot project. They have requested nearly 80,000 customers attached to Venus Gas Services (IOCL), Little Gas Company (HPCL) and Prasad Gas Services (BPCL) in Mysore to submit details in a prescribed format given to them soon.
Under the system, LPG distribution will be restricted only to customers having Aadhaar number issued by the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) and hereafter, Aadhaar number will be mandatory for all transactions related to LPG supplies. Besides, LPG refill delivery too will be based on that. It will ensure timely delivery of refills and also prevent multiple connections and diversion of refills which happens in the absence of authentication at the time of delivery, Baby explained.
Under the system, LPG distribution will be restricted only to customers having Aadhaar number issued by the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) and hereafter, Aadhaar number will be mandatory for all transactions related to LPG supplies. Besides, LPG refill delivery too will be based on that. It will ensure timely delivery of refills and also prevent multiple connections and diversion of refills which happens in the absence of authentication at the time of delivery, Baby explained.
Q&A: Sandeep Mathur, MD, Oracle India
August 11, 2011 at 11:49 am | Posted in The Market | Comments Off on Q&A: Sandeep Mathur, MD, Oracle Indiahttp://www.business-standard.com/india/news/qa-sandeep-mathur-md-oracle-india-/445059/
Business India
Thursday, Aug 11, 2011
Q&A: Sandeep Mathur, MD, Oracle India
‘Global aspirations of Indian firms offer an opportunity’
Pradeesh Chandran / August 07, 2011, 0:34 IST
Oracle, one of the largest database software product providers, is cashing in on the global aspirations of Indian companies, which, it feels, is an opportunity for growth. The company’s Indian business operations, which accounts for accounts for 7,000 customers in fields as diverse as telecom, banking and governance, is exploring new businesses with its new solutions. Sandeep Mathur, the newly-appointed Managing Director of Oracle India, in an interview with Pradeesh Chandran, outlines the company’s new model. Edited excerpts:
How is your India business panning out?
Our company is doing exceedingly well in India. Most Indian companies use our platforms for running their businesses. About 100 per cent of Indian telecom companies and over 80 per cent of Indian banks run on Oracle technologies.
Which are the verticals that you are focusing on in India?
We have traditionally been focusing on banking, telecom and government verticals, and these continue to be our focus verticals.
Spending on information technology (IT) by Indian companies is quite less, compared to their global counterparts. How are you adapting to their IT spending?
India is a growing market for technology adoption and it is undergoing a transformation. Indian companies have global aspirations and they are actively looking to enter global markets, either through organic or inorganic routes. Our technologies help them integrate the businesses as quickly as possible. Keeping this in mind, we are trying to make our technologies simpler to reduce the IT complexities. Our plan is to integrate every layer of the technology stacks, so that they work together as a single system.
Being a database solutions provider, what kind of opportunities do you see in the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) project? Are you a part of the project?
Yes. We are closely partnering UIDAI for many initiatives. But I can’t discuss the specifics of it. One thing I can say is UIDAI aims to create a database of the entire population, and this is one of the world’s largest database projects. And, we are one of the world’s largest database solutions providers.
What is the contribution of Sun Micro in your new journey?
In India, the amalgamation of Sun Networks is not yet complete. Globally, however, our integration is over. Sun hardware systems revenues stood at around $1.2 billion for the fourth quarter of 2010-11. We are doing a lot of work on Sun platforms.
In India, small and medium-sized business (SMB) is a fast-growing segment, while you focus mainly on enterprise businesses. Do you have any specific plan for the SMB segment in India?
In India, we have around 7,000 customers, which include all kinds of customers. We have a strong partner programme in India, which helps us take our solutions across all these levels. Similarly, we have a good relationship with independent software vendors and system integrators who customise our solutions for all business sizes. SMBs are fast adopters of the cloud technology in India. We have solutions for both private and public clouds, which would help us address the growing need of SMBs in India.
Cash subsidies on LPG, kerosene, fertilisers in seven states by Oct
August 7, 2011 at 9:01 pm | Posted in Additional business, Applications, Infrastructure, Process | Comments Off on Cash subsidies on LPG, kerosene, fertilisers in seven states by Octhttp://www.tribuneindia.com/2011/20110706/main3.htm
Cash subsidies on LPG, kerosene, fertilisers in seven states by Oct
Nandan Nilekani task force submits report to govt
Sanjeev Sharma
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, July 5
In what could be a major step in ensuring that subsidies actually reach the poor, a task force headed by Unique Identification Development Authority of India (UIDAI) Chairman Nandan Nilekani has recommended phased implementation of transferring subsidy for LPG, kerosene and fertiliser directly to bank accounts by leveraging the Aadhar database. It has also recommended capping of subsidised cylinders for households.
The task force had been set up in the Budget this year to find ways of stopping leakages in subsidies on which the government spends Rs 80,000 crore a year.
Pilot projects for transfer of direct cash subsidy will be launched in seven states – Tamil Nadu, Assam, Maharashtra, Haryana, Delhi, Rajasthan and Orissa — from October and a final report will be prepared in December.
Finance Minister Mukherjee said that direct transfer of subsidies would help in curbing pilferage and leakages. He said distribution of solar lanterns and solar cookers through LPG outlets and petrol pumps should be looked into.
He further said that the success of direct transfer of subsidy on kerosene would also depend on the state governments as its distribution was done by them.
He stated that subsidy on kerosene should be linked to PDS reforms.
The task force has taken a phase-wise approach on all the three products for the transition.
On LPG, the report says that in Phase I, a cap on subsidised cylinders was discussed. Though this is a policy decision of the government and not a specific recommendation, the task force recommended that the cap be introduced with a robust authentication framework.
In phase II, which does not depend upon phase I, direct transfer of subsidy to customers’ bank account was recommended. In phase III, it recommends segmentation and targeting of customers and direct transfer to these customers. A transparency portal of all customers of LPG of the three OMCs with details of their consumption was also strongly recommended.
On fertiliser, the report in phase I recommended complete information visibility of the supply chain upto the retailer level. This would enhance transparency across the supply chain. In phase II, direct transfer of subsidy is recommended to the retailer’s bank account while in phase III, direct transfer of subsidies is recommend to the farmer’s account. A transparency portal was also recommended for Fertilizer movement and stocks. On Kerosene, the report says there is a need for wider consultation with state governments. Direct transfer of subsidy for kerosene will depend to a large extent on PDS reforms which are being implemented by the States.
It has recommended direct transfer of subsidy through state governments and UT administrations in Phase I.
UIDAI ropes in NSDC to train 300,000 workers
August 5, 2011 at 10:45 pm | Posted in Labor | Comments Off on UIDAI ropes in NSDC to train 300,000 workershttp://www.business-standard.com/india/news/uidai-ropes-in-nsdc-to-train-300000-workers/439383/
The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) will need skilled manpower of 300,000 for making the Aadhaar project a success, a top company official has said. To meet this skilled manpower shortage, the authority has signed a memorandum of understanding with the National Skill Development Corporation to create a pool of trained workers for enrollment agencies of Aadhaar. “To make the Aadhar project a success, you need skilled man power. For the ultimate rollout, we need 50,000 machine and it needs nearly 200,000 operators. Along with that we have to create a strong pool of 300,000 as there would be drop outs and we have to support the back end operations also. We have signed an agreement with NSDC regarding training of these people from our enrollment agencies,” said R S Sharma, director general of the authority. UIDAI would use NSDC trained workers for jobs like handling technologies and for other back-end operations of the authority.
“NSDC, through its partners can help empaneled agencies of UIDAI to address this challenge by developing a pool of adequately skilled and certified manpower at local level across the country,” the agreement said. The authority, headed by former Infosys Technologies co-chairman Nandan Nilekani, is responsible for implementing Aadhaar identity cards for about 600 million people by 2014. UIDAI started enrollment in September 2010 in the tribal village of Tembhli in Maharashtra. A registrar of the authority conducts it through empaneled enrollment agencies. Sharma said that UIDAI would issue Aadhaar cards to about 15 to 20 crore people this financial year and has issued 8.5 million cards till now. The authority has about 300 permanent staff. “In an effort to cover every body under the programme, we have conducted camps for marginalised sections like poor, homeless and blind in some areas,” he said. However, the manpower need is expected to decrease after some years. “Since, we are in the earlier stages of the programme, need for manpower shortage is high. After sometimes, there will be machines at selected areas only,” Sharma said. |
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Unique Biometric Applications Create Vast Market In India
August 5, 2011 at 10:44 pm | Posted in Additional business | Comments Off on Unique Biometric Applications Create Vast Market In Indiahttp://www.efytimes.com/e1/fullnews.asp?edid=64545
Unique Biometric Applications Create Vast Market In India  |
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YASH to support India’s UID initiative, Aadhaar and Bharat heavy electricals limited.
August 5, 2011 at 10:42 pm | Posted in The Market | Comments Off on YASH to support India’s UID initiative, Aadhaar and Bharat heavy electricals limited.http://www.newswiretoday.com/news/92406/
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YASH Technologies Selected as Technology Partner for Various Government and PSU Initiatives in India
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NewswireToday – /newswire/ – Indore, India, 06/14/2011 – YASH to support India’s UID initiative, Aadhaar and Bharat heavy electricals limited. |
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YASH Technologies, a leading technology services and outsourcing partner for global companies, today announced that it has been selected as both a software solution provider and complete end-to-end solution provider by the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) for its Unique Identity (UID) initiative, Aadhaar. UIDAI (uidai.gov.in) issued the first UID number in September 2010 with a long-term plan to enroll 600 million residents in the next five years. To accelerate the rollout, the numbers will be issued through various registrar agencies across the country. YASH will present on unreserved railway ticketing UID integration on June 14th, 2011 at a workshop for engagement of Consultants and Software Solution Providers from the empanelled list of UIDAI at Vigyan Bhavan, New Delhi. More than 100 government officials and stakeholders will attend to discuss approaches for integration of Aadhaar and processes involved in various scenarios. In addition, YASH will begin a software development project for Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited, the premier organization of the Government of India, to include the integration of Planning & Management System (PMS), Materials Management (MM) and Finance department via a web-based enterprise wide solution. About YASH Technologies YASH Technologies (yash.com) focuses on customer success. As a leading technology services and outsourcing partner for medium and large global customers, we leverage technology and our flexible delivery models to drive performance and business value throughout a customer’s enterprise. YASH’s comprehensive service approach incorporates a holistic view of our customers that extends beyond delivery. This approach integrates enterprise solutions and services, proprietary best practice offerings, strategic application and maintenance outsourcing, as well as consulting and integration services. YASH is a SEI CMMI (Level 3) and an ISO 9001:2008 certified company with U.S. and India headquarters and regional sales and development offices spread across three continents. YASH is also part of a select group of companies that are SAP-certified global providers of application management services. SAP and all SAP logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of SAP AG in Germany and in several other countries. |
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Top 200 IT cos log $84 bn revenue
August 2, 2011 at 7:48 am | Posted in New Business, Questions, The Market | Comments Off on Top 200 IT cos log $84 bn revenueFact-
According to an IE report the IT sector in India is booming again.
Question-
How was this possible.
What role did UIDAI play in this upsurge.
Why is the Indian state redistributing money to this failed sector.
Why is the money not invested in other sectors, especially labor intensive sectors that benefits a lot of small enterprises like agriculture or handlooms or iron smithry or brass tool and object making or tannery or semi precious jewels or public health.
Why is the Indian state seems to benefiting few people over others.
Why is Infosys on top now.
Is that just a coincidence or there is a relationship to the fact that Nandan Nilekani its former boss is sitting smugly in Delhi and manning over UIDAI
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/top-200-it-cos-log-84-bn-revenue/826056/0
Top 200 IT cos log $84 bn revenue
The top 200 IT companies in India logged a combined revenue of USD 84 billion (Rs 384,250 crore) to achieve an average growth rate of 25 per cent in 2010-11, the highest in the past four years, according to a survey.
The revenues of these companies stood at Rs 307,126 crore in 2009-10 and Rs 289,093 crore in 2008-09.
The combined revenue of the top 20 IT companies was USD 54 billion (Rs 247,808 crore) in 2010-11, also representing a growth of 25 per cent. This is significantly higher than the 8 per cent growth recorded in 2009-10 on the back of revenues of Rs 198,017 crore.
The 2010-11 growth surpasses the 24 per cent growth witnessed in 2007-08, the year before the slowdown, according to the annual research findings on the Indian IT industry by Dataquest, the flagship journal of specialty publishers CyberMedia.
Each of the top 20 IT companies earned over USD 1 billion in 2010-11, together posting revenues of USD 54 billion (Rs 247,808 crore), contributing 64 per cent to the top 200 companies’ revenue.
According to the findings, the top five Indian IT companies in 2010-11 were TCS, Infosys, Wipro, HP and Cognizant, with revenues of Rs 33,112 crore (25 per cent growth over last year), Rs 25,997 crore (22 per cent), Rs 24,899 crore (13 per cent), Rs 23,227 crore (30 per cent) and Rs 21,393 crore (37 per cent), respectively.
Wipro, which recorded the slowest growth in the top five, surrendered the number two slot to Infosys after six years, the findings said.
The number six slot went to the Indian subsidiary of 100-year-old global tech behemoth IBM (revenues Rs 14,132 crore, year-on-year growth of 14 per cent)
The two companies founded by Shiv Nadar — software major HCL Technologies and hardware firm HCL Infosystems – posted revenues of Rs 14,111 crore (28 per cent growth) and Rs 12,137 crore (2 per cent), respectively, to bag the number seven and number eight slots in the list.
Two product distribution companies, Ingram Micro and Redington, with revenues of Rs 9,766 crore (35 per cent) and Rs 9,274 crore (32 per cent), bagged the number 9 and number 10 slots.
The survey notes that significant leadership changes have taken place at the senior levels in nearly one-third of the top 200 IT companies.
“Very rarely has a more fundamental change swept across the Indian IT industry in the past,” Dataquest Editor Shyamanuja Das observed.
As many as seven of the Top 20 companies — TCS, Wipro, Cognizant, HCL Infosystems, Accenture, Microsoft and Oracle — effected changes in their top leadership, while a leadership change at Infosys would come through this month.
While Mahindra Satyam has made a re-entry in the list after two years, it hasn’t changed the ranking of the top 20 companies significantly. However, the revenues of the next 30 companies (ranked 21-50) grew at 29 per cent, faster than the top 20 companies.
Four companies recorded triple-digit growth, while 150 of the 200 companies (129 Indian companies and 71 foreign ones, who are active players in the Indian market) recorded double-digit growth.
In 2009-10, only one company grew at a rate over 100 per cent, while 78 recorded double-digit growth. In general, companies focused on the domestic market have grown faster than those focused on exports. As many as 18 of the 20 fastest growing companies are focused on the India market.
Coincidentally, the top company, TCS, with a revenue of Rs 33,112 crore (minus BPO), was over 200 times the size of the two companies at the 200th rank — Aftek Limited and Datamatics Global Services — which posted revenues of Rs 155 crore each in 2010-11, the survey said.
Company INFO
Aadhaar Presents A Plethora Of Opportunities For India Inc
July 25, 2011 at 10:08 pm | Posted in Arguments For, The Market, UID Propaganda | Comments Off on Aadhaar Presents A Plethora Of Opportunities For India Inchttp://www.vccircle.com/500/news/aadhaar-presents-a-plethora-of-opportunities-for-india-inc
Aadhaar Presents A Plethora Of Opportunities For India Inc
The $1.6 billion ‘Aadhaar’ initiative by the Indian government will change the lives of a billion residents very soon. Initially conceived by the Planning Commission, Aadhaar is basically a 12-digit unique number which the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) will issue for every Indian resident. The numbers will be stored in a centralised database and linked to the basic demographics (name, age, gender and address) and biometric information (photograph, 10 fingerprints and iris) of each individual. According to current plans, by 2014, around one million new ids will be issued every day, thus completing 50 per cent of the enrolment. Needless to say, such an initiative will also create numerous opportunities in IT services, biometrics, credit profiling, banking, education and hospitality space.
Experts converging at the VCCircle Insights on The Aadhaar Project, held at the ITC Grand Central, Mumbai, on May 27, 2011, discussed the implications in great details. The event did witness prominent investors, architects and builders behind the initiative meeting on a common platform to discuss its mission, as well as the investable opportunities created by the project.
The event featured many prominent personalities who shared their views on the implication, challenges and future possibilities of the Aadhaar project. The speakers included Sanjay Jain, chief project manager (Product Monitoring Unit), UIDAI; Govindraj Ethiraj, volunteer, UIDAI; Abhinav Sinha, co-founder, Eko India Financial Services Pvt Ltd; Sreeni Tripuraneni, chairman & CEO, 4G Identity Solutions Pvt Ltd; Dinesh Nandwana, chairman & MD, Vakrangee Softwares and Sanjay Swamy, a former volunteer of UIDAI.
They covered a wide range of topics including the possible opportunities that Aadhaar might throw open for Indian corporates, its impact on economy and finance, the opportunities it would present for IT, technology & hardware, products and innovation, as well as retail, telecom and e-commerce, and finally, the challenges faced during the project implementation.
UIDAI & The Aadhaar Project
Established in February, 2009, the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) was set up with the single purpose of providing every Indian resident with a unique identification number. The authority would come up with a database containing simple biometric data including iris and fingerprints. A venture of the Planning Commission of India, the initiative has appointed Nandan Nilekani, former co-chairman of Infosys Technologies, as its first chairman. Ram Sewak Sharma, an IAS Officer of Jharkhand government, is the Director General and Mission Director of the Authority.
“Aadhaar is a federal government project and not a joint venture,” clarified UIDAI volunteer Govindraj Ethiraj. “Its focus is to provide a portable ID to all the residents in India. It will also focus on providing identities to the people, ‘outside’ the reach of the developmental programmes,” he added.
The residents will have to submit their photographs, their biometric data (iris and fingerprints) and demographics (name, date of birth, gender and address) to an enrolment agency (currently a total of 200 are operating) which, in turn, will send the recorded data to a registrar. These agencies are enrolled by the registrars (currently 60 in number), which are basically government bodies like the state governments or NSDL. The data collected by the registrars will be sent to the UIDAI who processes the data and based on the information, sends an Aadhaar letter to the concerned individual via the Indian Post.
While Karnataka government has taken a somewhat slow approach towards UID enrolment, Maharashtra has started the initiative in right earnest and begun the enrolment process in all the 34 districts. Till date, Andhra Pradesh has started enrolment in six districts. A total of 7.1 million Aadhaar letters have already been issued and twice the amount of data is being processed.
How Aadhaar Helps
“The Aadhaar project will provide IDs to all the residents of the country. I say residents and not citizens because the UID is for everyone who are residing in India legally, which means even a foreigner can get himself registered for UID if he has a work permit and is working in the country,” said Sanjay Swamy, a former volunteer of UIDAI. “The enrolment process is voluntary as of now, but the focus of the government is to make the services so lucrative that everyone will enrol.”
The Aadhaar project will provide a portable ID to every Indian resident, with the help of which he/she can open a no-frill bank account in any Indian city, irrespective of the residential address. One can also purchase mobile SIM cards without worrying about identity and address proof. Also, a business correspondent (appointed by a bank) can provide access to basic banking services using the microATM device. The services include making deposits, dispensing cash for withdrawals, process funds transfers or answering balance enquiries. The users can transfer money from his/her UID in exchange goods or hard cash from the business correspondent.
The UID can also function as a national skills register. Therefore, when you call a plumber to your place, you can actually track his credibility and his experience.
“The head of the family can actually introduce all other members of the family. But we are providing everyone with a personal UID to solve the problem of dependency,” added Jain.
Biz Opportunities
Aadhaar will create an eco-system with the potential to drive many other applications. It will drive a demand for applications and services, for products, for the Internet connectivity, for identification and authentication devices and also for new channels to ensure service delivery. According to Dr Sreeni Tripuraneni, chairman & CEO of 4G Identity Solutions, the company is working closely with four registrars across 16 states and will cover about 50 million residents. It is also the first ones to conduct Proof of Concept (POC) for the Aadhaar project.
IT Companies: The potential applications will include identification services for delivery of government welfare programmes like Public Distribution System, National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, social security pension and girl child schemes. IT companies can also develop applications for immigration and border control systems like biometric passports which will comply with ICAO standards, biometric visas and e-Gate systems.
In addition, Aadhaar can revolutionise the way healthcare is delivered across the country by introducing electronic patient record. This will push the demand for suitable software which can be used in hundreds of hospitals and other healthcare institutions. It will also assist in electronic identification of patients.
Since Aadhaar can help deliver financial services, there will be further opportunities for software development firms. The potential clients can be banks and other finance and micro-finance institutions.
There are opportunities in the mobile space as well, as Aadhaar can link one’s cell phone to the bank account and change the way payments and transactions are made.
Hardware Companies: Aadhaar will soon ensure integration of service delivery for all schemes and services. This, in turn, will lead to an increased demand for hardware and software, as well as databases and middleware.
The demand for point of sales devices (POS), which are used for authentication of residents and delivery of services, will only increase with time. The existing POS devices have limitations in terms of fingerprint matching (due to poor quality of fingerprints). Also, the quality of algorithms used is poor and hence, there will be a growing requirement for POS devices which have more accurate and faster matching capabilities, good quality sensors and faster algorithms. Additionally, the iris-based POS devices will have huge potential. Since the PDS itself requires more than 5 lakh POS devices, the requirement can actually go into millions. Also, there will be requirements for smart cards for secure credentials.
In fact, there can be requirement for millions of authentication devices at different places like the citizen service centres, offices, educational institutions, healthcare facilities, stations and airports. Additionally, access control can be used for granting safe access to public zones and high-security areas. Iris-based ATMs can also be introduced which will help prevent identity theft, electronic fraud and employee fraud.
Other Tech Companies: The technology companies can provide verification algorithms, identification algorithms and matching engines. Then there is the fingerprint sensors for enhancing the quality of the images captured. Technology companies can also help enable fingerprint/iris authentication using mobile phones.
The Challenges Ahead For Aadhaar
While biometric registration can start at the age of 15, demographic data can pose a problem for many. If the demographics of a person are not available, then an introducer, who is already registered, can vouch for the person concerned. But although it may work well in villages, it is sure to pose problems in large cities. Moreover, the authentication process can only take place online and hence, it becomes a problem where Internet connectivity is absent.
As of now, there is no policy as to what happens if someone misplaces his or her Aadhaar letter. And finally, in spite of handicap enrolment being done, authentication at the point of purchase is a problem yet to be solved.
“Although 69,67,735 Aadhaar have already been issued as on May 24, 2011, 99 per cent of the population are still to be reached. A lot of infrastructural changes will have to be made for creating mass human resources for UID enrolment and reducing the timeframe for issue of UID,” said Dinesh Nandwana, chairman & MD, Vakrangee Softwares.
Now, a contest for students to develop UID software
July 25, 2011 at 10:06 pm | Posted in Labor | Comments Off on Now, a contest for students to develop UID software
Now, a contest for students to develop UID software
PUNE: Students from engineering and science colleges in the state will now compete with each other to develop an application software which the government will use to provide various services to the unique identification (UID), or ‘Aadhaar’, number holders.
The state department of information technology (DIT), which falls under the general administration department ( GAD), has announced a university- and state-level competition for college students to zero in on the best application software for the UID project. Moreover, projects prepared by the participating students will be treated as a part of their regular course activity.
‘Aadhaar’ is a 12-digit unique number which the Unique Identification Authority of India will issue to all residents. The number will be stored in a centralised database and linked to the basic demographics and biometric information – photograph, ten fingerprints and iris – of each individual.
The randomly generated number, devoid of any classification based on caste, creed, religion and geography, will go a long way in eliminating duplicate and fake identities in government and private databases.
Once residents enroll for ‘Aadhaar’, the service providers will no longer face the problem of performing repeated Know Your Customer checks. They will no longer have to deny services to residents without identification documents. Residents would also be spared the trouble of repeatedly proving identity through documents each time they wish to acquire a bank account, passport, driving license etc.
Aadhaar will empower poor and underprivileged residents in accessing services such as the formal banking system and give them the opportunity to easily avail various other services provided by the government and the private sector. The centralised technology infrastructure of the UIDAI will enable ‘anytime, anywhere, anyhow’ authentication. Aadhaar will thus give migrants mobility of identity.
On May 13, the DIT issued a government resolution (GR) detailing the format of the competition, starting with the formation of four teams, each comprising four students, at the college level; submission of the projects to the affiliating university; shortlisting of projects for the state-level contest, etc.
A state-level evaluation committee, comprising experts from the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay and representatives of the ‘Aadhaar’ management unit and coordination department, will select the five best projects from the entries forwarded by the universities.
“We will soon announce an apt timeframe for the submission of projects for the university-level contest and the ensuing state-level contest,” DIT under secretary Santosh H Bhogle, who issued the GR, told TOI on Monday.
The director of technical education, too, has sent letters to all technical and science institutions asking them to encourage their students to participate in the contest.
UIDAI seeks other IT vendors to bid for the 2,000-crore outsourcing contract as IBM and HP drop out from the race
July 23, 2011 at 12:15 pm | Posted in corporate complaints | Comments Off on UIDAI seeks other IT vendors to bid for the 2,000-crore outsourcing contract as IBM and HP drop out from the raceBy Ruchika Mehta, 18 May 2011 at 07:07
Major tech giants – IBM and HP have reportedly dropped out of the 2,000-crore UIDAI (Unique Identity Development Authority of India) bid, the race to manage all IT and national repository, which will contain data of all Indian citizens.
After IBM and HP opted out, the UIDAI approached other vendors for the bid. UID officials further confirmed the participation of remaining five vendors- Accenture, Wipro, TCS, HCL Infosystems and Mahindra Satyam in the 2,000 crore UID bid.
The tech majors had earlier complained to Unique ID Authority of being biased towards products of certain vendors (EMC Corp and Cisco). The authority postponed the bidding last month and made changes to the tender specifications after a fiery meeting in the capital with the bidders.
While denying submission of any bids, IBM and HP clearly indicated the conditions didn’t matched their requirements and disclosed the decision to quit from the bidding process was truly at the disposal of its Global HQs. Things had become pretty hostile between the tech majors and the authority over the weeks.
The timely selection of the IT vendor is critical to the success and implementation of the UIDAI project, which aims at giving 600 million Unique ID numbers by 2014.
Being defensive, the company officials opined their chances to win the project were not as bright, which was cited as a major reason for their non-participation. This came as a surprise as both companies got selected and participated in all pre-bids as well.
According to UIDAI officials, it will take about three months to decide on the winner from the bidders. The selected vendor will manage all IT infrastructure for the project. Only large firms with at least 4,000 people and sales of 6,000 crore in the last three years were allowed to bid.
Bear of the Day: Stock that lost over 50% in six months
July 21, 2011 at 1:58 am | Posted in The Market | Comments Off on Bear of the Day: Stock that lost over 50% in six months
 Bear of the Day: Stock that lost over 50% in six months Published on Thu, May 12, 2011 at 17:01 | Source : Moneycontrol.com Updated at Fri, May 13, 2011 at 08:24 Post Office® Savings www.PostOffice.co.uk/Savings New Inflation Linked BondApply before September 2nd Ads by Google
Mastek has plunged 51.48% in the last six month. Despite being one of the IT firms that have qualified and empanelled for the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) project, the stock slipped 7.27% or Rs 8.05 today and ended at Rs 102.70 on the BSE. Today’s stock performance: The share touched an intraday high of Rs 110.55 and an intraday low of Rs 101.05. The total traded volumes were of 633,839 shares. How far is it from its 52-week high/low? The company touched its 52-week high Rs 311.95 and 52-week low Rs 89.05 on July 16, 2010 and May 10, 2011, respectively. Currently, it is trading -67.08% below its 52-week high and 15.33% above its 52-week low. Its market capitalisation stands at Rs 276.79 crore. The company’s trailing 12-month (TTM) EPS was at Rs 0.96 per share. The stock’s price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio was 107.92. The latest book value of the company is Rs 140.28 per share. At current value, the price-to-book value of the company was 0.74. The dividend yield of the company was 3.14%. Management say: Commenting on UIDAI project, Mastek said CNBC-TV18 today that the project is big, but not as large as reported. However, it sees a lot of scope “over a period of time.” The company’s chairman, managing director and CEO, Sudhakar Ram said, the firm’s empanelment need not guarantee them winning an order, nevertheless, Mastek is “interested in the public distribution deals (PDS) that have been of the size of Rs 5 crore to Rs 10 crore.” Ram also said that the margins made in government projects are lower than those in the international deals. “In India, we would operate at between 55% and 75% of our international margins,” he added. Also Read: Mastek empanelled for UIDAI, keen on PDS deals of Rs7-15cr Third quarter results: The company has declared its third quarter results. The company’s Q3 consolidated net sales were up at Rs 150.4 crore versus Rs 149.8 crore, quarter-on-quarter, QoQ. Its consolidated net loss declined at Rs 7.1 crore versus net loss of Rs 27.7 crore, QoQ. About the company: Mastek is a high-end provider of vertically-focused enterprise technology solutions and platforms that unleash the potential of its clients’ organisation and enable business transformation. Peer comparison:
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Moneycontrol » News » Business » Business News Mastek empanelled for UIDAI, keen on PDS deals of Rs7-15cr
July 21, 2011 at 1:55 am | Posted in Additional business | Comments Off on Moneycontrol » News » Business » Business News Mastek empanelled for UIDAI, keen on PDS deals of Rs7-15cr
 Mastek empanelled for UIDAI, keen on PDS deals of Rs7-15cr Published on Thu, May 12, 2011 at 11:05 | Source : CNBC-TV18 Updated at Thu, May 12, 2011 at 16:59 Post Office® Savings www.PostOffice.co.uk/Savings New Inflation Linked BondApply before September 2nd Ads by Google
If media reports are to be believed, the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) project is likely to introduce one of the largest IT contractsworth many a crore. As one of the IT firms that have qualified and empanelled for the UIDAI,Mastek says that the project is big, but not as large as reported, however, it sees a lot of scope “over a period of time.” The company’s chairman, managing director and CEO, Sudhakar Ram says, the firm’s empanelment need not guarantee them winning an order, nevertheless, Mastek is “interested in the public distribution deals (PDS) that have been of the size of Rs 5 crore to Rs 10 crore.” Ram also says that the margins made in government projects are lower than those in the international deals. “In India, we would operate at between 55% and 75% of our international margins,” he adds. Below is a verbatim transcript of Sudhakar Ram’s interview with CNBC-TV18’s Udayan Mukherjee and Mitlai Mukherjee. Also watch the accompanying video. Q: Can you start off by confirming for us whether indeed there is a UIDAI deal? Is it open in the market, what is the size and what is the tenure that is being talked about? A: There have been set of companies empanelled and Mastek is one of the companies that qualified. We need to go through a full process before the empanelment is complete. Having been empanelled, it allows us to play in deals where there is an interface to UIDAI either at the state level or at a central level. Though it is not as large as reported but things will mature over a period of time. Q: Can you give us any sense of the nature of work involved in these kinds of projects? What are your estimates of these individual order sizes that you would be bidding for? A: We have been involved in the public distribution system and we have our own IP built there. Now, public distribution system will have a UID interface and therefore, it will clearly be something that is in our sweet part. Typically, the public distribution deals would be about Rs 7 crore to Rs 15 crore of applications, which is an area that we are interested in. While the overall deal, in terms of the entire hardware and the systems could be much larger, however, for someone like Mastek, it is about Rs 10 crore kind of a deal. We do a lot of work around social justice, things like e-scholarships and looking at tribal welfare and so on, where UIDAI could play a role. There are a number of areas where Mastek has expertise which will benefit UID because the basic identity integration needs to be done. The projects could vary from a few – it could be under a crore to maybe Rs 10 crore to Rs 15 crore kind of an application for us. Q: In projects ranging of the size of Rs 1 crore to 10 crore, are your margins for government projects comparable with what you would get from an international vendor? Or do you operate on slightly lower margins for this government businesses? A: In India, we do operate on lower margins. We cannot get the same margins as we get from – the insurance sector globally or a UK government engagement because of the dynamics of this market place. We, therefore, target a lower margin for our Indian operations. Q: What kind of tenure does it work in if you were to bag a Rs 10 crore contract over? Over how many quarters does that go through for you? A: Rs 10 crore will be implemented in a timeframe of over six to eight quarters. Q: How many other companies have been empanelled at this point? What is the list that sits along with Mastek? A: The list runs to almost eight companies, as per my knowledge. It is not an exclusive list by any means and each company would obviously be bidding for each of this engagements. The most competitive and most technologically attractive will probably be winning the deal. Hence, all this gives us the license to play; it does not guarantee any deals for us Q: What is the nature of the UIDAI project? How much of the eventual IT outlay will be hardware oriented and how much will it be software centric? Where do companies like yours come in? A: Software is a one time cost while hardware is going to be required at each level in the chain. Hence, some of these deals tend to have only about 10% to 15% play for application software and 80% to 90% is hardware networking and other infrastructure elements. Q: Would it surprise you if the software part of it is more than Rs 1000 crore to Rs 1500 crore? A: The applications in over 4-5 years should add up to Rs 1000 crore to Rs 1500 crore. Hence, the number would not surprise me. Q: What is the usual gap between margins of a contract of this nature versus your own margins? A: In India, we would operate at between 55% and 75% of our international margins. Q: When do you expect to hear a final confirmation, in terms of deals being put out and locked with IT companies? Do you think it is going to happen within this calendar year or it is probably going to get pushed back to the second half of FY12? A: As of now, we have no indication when could these deals happen. |
Tera Software Bags Rs.62.74 Cr. Order
July 21, 2011 at 1:53 am | Posted in The Market | Comments Off on Tera Software Bags Rs.62.74 Cr. Orderhttp://www.rttnews.com/Content/IndianNews.aspx?Id=1620523&SM=1
Tera Software Bags Rs.62.74 Cr. Order
(RTTNews) – Tera Software Ltd. said it had bagged fresh work orders aggregating to Rs.62.74 crore for Unique Identification Authority of India or UIDAI and NPR Projects.
The first UIDAI Order received from Central Bank of India, State Bank of Travencore, Dena Bank, State Government of Goa for AADHAAR implementation in the States of Kerala, Karnataka, Tamilnadu, Madhya Pradesh and Goa. The value of the work order would be approximately Rs.48.67 crore covering 148 lakh population over a period of one year.
The second one was NPR order received from Electronics Corporation of India Ltd., Hyderabad, for Rs.14.07 crore for implementation of National Population Registry pertaining to in State of West Bengal.
The company said its board recommended increasing the equity towards margin money for funding UIDAI, NPR and Nagaswan projects.
At the BSE, Tera Software shares are being traded at Rs.52.65, up by 3.13 percent from the previous close.
by RTT Staff Writer
For comments and feedback: editorial@rttnews.com
HP, IBM: UIDAI tender process unfair
May 15, 2011 at 10:22 am | Posted in corporate complaints | Comments Off on HP, IBM: UIDAI tender process unfairHP, IBM: UIDAI tender process unfair
NEW DELHI: The world’s two largest technology companies — US-based HP and IBM — raised concerns in a meeting at Unique ID Authority of India (UIDAI) last week over their technical disqualification, in a Rs 200-crore storage solutions contract, that is won by Wipro Technologies. As a result, bids for the Rs 2,000-crore managed-service provider contract , which were due to be submitted on April 8th, are now postponed by a month, due to disagreement amongst bidders.
In a meeting of world’s largest technology companies held last week to discuss on the formalities of the upcoming Rs 2,000 crore UIDAI tender for managed service provider, heads from HP and IBM raised the issue of technical disqualification in the previous tenders, citing UIDAI’s tender process as being unfair to them.
HP also raised the issue of the UIDAI picking up a technology which it says will become obsolete in three years. A senior head from a US-based tech major in the meeting went ahead to term the piece of hardware procured by the UIDAI for storage as ‘junk’.
UIDAI chairman Nandan Nilekani remained absent from the meeting, which was attended by heads from Accenture, Ernst & Young, Wipro Technologies, Tata Consultancy Services, HCL Infosystems and HCL Technologies, besides heads from HP and IBM. A top UIDAI official cited large scale deviation in specifications to be quoted in the tenders of both HP and IBM as major reasons for technical disqualification.
“We had meetings with both companies especially with HP, at least twice, to understand what went wrong. We don’t undermine the repute of these large tech majors, but we award tenders on what is presented to us on the table,” the official said. He added that the selection is done by an inter-ministerial group, and is not the prerogative of the authority alone.
The UIDAI apparently went with SATA storage devices to be supplied by Cisco and EMC which are partners to Wipro Technologies in the tender. HP and IBM have complained that since SAS is the way forward for storage devices, India would be locked in a technology which might become obsolete in next three years. “We selected SATA and FC storage, as we don’t need SAS which is still costly and no used in prevalence. Numbers once generated would not be needed too frequently and SATA storage is apt for such storage,” reasoned UIDAI top official.
In a letter addressed to Nilekani, contents of which were reviewed by ET, HP complained that it is perceived that the UIDAI mandates and propagates only one OEM solution (EMC and Cisco) and all shortlisted bidders have to necessarily quote that only. “While it is an extremely risky and unfair preposition for a government project to be solely dependent on one OEM technology only, it also deprives the government from getting competitive rates,” said HP in the letter.
UAE Deputy Prime Minister to open ID World Abu Dhabi 2011
May 14, 2011 at 6:11 pm | Posted in The Market | Comments Off on UAE Deputy Prime Minister to open ID World Abu Dhabi 2011http://www.ameinfo.com/260752.html
UAE Deputy Prime Minister to open ID World Abu Dhabi 2011
ID World Abu Dhabi 2011, the annual EMEA summit, ID World Abu Dhabi 2010, will open its doors in the UAE on May 3 and 4, under the patronage of UAE Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior, H.H. Sheik Saif bin Zayed Al Nahyan, who will address the conference on day one together with Pakistan’s Federal Minister for the Interior, The Honorable Rehman Malik.
Wise Media, organizer of the high level event is endorsed by the European Commission, the Emirates Identity Authority and the Abu Dhabi Police, has confirmed that some of the most senior and influential decision makers in the world of identity, global security and ICT driven innovation will participate throughout the summit.
High-ranking government and senior international organization figures will discuss key areas of world concern such as global migration, the globalization of crime and international interchange of money, alongside end user presidents and CEOs who will address these issues and many more by leading the innovation debate on security, mobility and traceability.
“With this superlative line-up of distinguished guests and speakers, ID World Abu Dhabi reaffirms its exclusivity as the only EMEA summit where decisions are made at the highest levels, directly affecting the wider world of ICT-driven innovation,” says President of Wise Media, Sophie B. de la Giroday.
Over the two days, top-drawer protagonists will power a vibrant elite of decision makers as they debate and explore the world of identity, global security and ICT driven innovation.
Among some of the most senior and influential decision makers in the world who will participate at ID World Abu Dhabi 2011 are His Excellency Ronald K. Noble, Secretary General of Interpol, Leonard McCarthy, VP Integrity at The World Bank, Luigi Soreca, Head of International Affairs at the European Commission’s Directorate General of Home Affairs, Pedro Janices, Cabinet Office Chief of the National Office of Information Tech from the Government of Argentina, Bhushan Pandey, Deputy Director General, UIDAI Unique Identification Authority of India, Chris Onyemenam, Director General & CEO of the National Identity Management Commission of Nigeria, Dr. Ali Al-Khouri, Director General of the Emirates Identity Authority, Major General Md Shafiqul Islam, Former Military Secretary of the Bangladesh Army, Alain Boucars, Superintendent from the Belgium Federal Police, Major General Ahmed Nasser Al Raisi, Director General, Abu Dhabi Police, Dr Ajay and Dr. Muhamad Saleh Benten, Chairman and President of Saudi Post.
Other key speakers from governments around the world including Azerbaijan, Kenya, Pakistan, Tajikistan and the Ukraine, will participate in the ID World Abu Dhabi Conference on both days, along with end-users and influential industry players.
For the home market, ID World Abu Dhabi is positioned as a truly regional initiative committed to furthering industry growth in the Middle East by involving local and regional players in government and transportation security, healthcare, postal and shipping services as well as advanced smart technologies in the banking and telecommunications sectors.
Over 2 days, the event is designed to give stakeholders across the entire ICT value chain a deeper insight into different strategic, technical and operational issues surrounding automatic identification adoption and implementation. Key topics around which discussions will center, include “Global Migration”, “Next Generation Mobility”, “Citizen ID Schemes”, “Border Control”, “Future Cities”, as well as “Traceability” and “Object-to-Object Communication” in all sectors The two-day conference and exhibition will welcome an array of influential industry leaders and luminaries and public figures to discuss the super-highway that is built on automatic identification and its impact on the future of IT and security infrastructures in every sector.
The Institute of Management Technology, Ghaziabad announces its Convocation 2011 on Thursday,March 17 at 4 PM at its campus in Raj Nagar, Ghaziabad.
May 14, 2011 at 6:05 pm | Posted in Labor | Comments Off on The Institute of Management Technology, Ghaziabad announces its Convocation 2011 on Thursday,March 17 at 4 PM at its campus in Raj Nagar, Ghaziabad.The Institute of Management Technology, Ghaziabad announces its Convocation 2011 on Thursday,March 17 at 4 PM at its campus in Raj Nagar, Ghaziabad.
Online PR News – 23-March-2011 –The Institute of Management Technology, Ghaziabad announces its Convocation 2011 on Thursday,March 17 at 4 PM at its campus in Raj Nagar, Ghaziabad. Mr. Nandan Nilekani, Chairman of the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), Government of India, will be delivering the convocation address. The function will be presided over by Mr. Kamal Nath, Union Minister of Urban Development,
Government of India and President, Board of Governors, Institute of Management Technology.
The programme will begin at 4 PM sharp. All the guests are requested to take their seats on time to avoid late rush. The inauguration of the programme will be done with the lighting of lamp and Saraswati Vandana. After the reading of the Driector’s report, Mr Kamal Nath will address the audience. Mr Nandan Nilekani’s convocation address will follow.
Mr Nandan Nilekani was the CEO of Infosys, one of the largest IT companies in India till July 2009. He left Infosys to serve as the chairperson of the Unique Identification Authority of India in the rank of a cabinet minister after invitation from the Prime Minister of India, Dr Manmohan Singh. Mr Nilekani also co-founded India’s National Association of Software and Service Companies (NASSCOM) and the Bangalore Chapter of The IndUS Entrepreneurs (TiE).
The rest of the Convocation programme includes awarding of medals, felicitation of distinguished alumnus and administration of management oath. There will be awarding of the diplomas to PGDM programme students, with specializations in fields like Marketing and Operations, Human Resources,Finance, International Business, Information Technology and Operations Management. The closing of
convocation will be followed by dinner for all the invitees.
For the Editor:
About Institute of Management Technology, Ghaziabad
The Institute of Management Technology (IMT), Ghaziabad is ranked among the top 10 business schools in India. With constant moulding of curriculum to match the fast changing business and social environment over the last three decades, IMT Ghaziabad is widely acknowledged as the centre of excellence in management studies. The institution is located in Ghaziabad, near Delhi.
IMT Ghaziabad offers the best infrastructure in the country to its students. They have the best faculty in the industry and the best quality courses that have actually set the trend in management studies. Having a rich alumnus, the college boasts of dedicated student fraternity, who diligently work to excel in the competitive world of modern business.
Suprema Inc. and 4G Identity Solutions Wins Largest Contract for Supply of Biometric Devices for India’s NPR Project
May 8, 2011 at 2:44 pm | Posted in The Market | Comments Off on Suprema Inc. and 4G Identity Solutions Wins Largest Contract for Supply of Biometric Devices for India’s NPR Projecthttp://en.acnnewswire.com/Article.asp?Art_ID=6210
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| Suprema Inc. and 4G Identity Solutions Wins Largest Contract for Supply of Biometric Devices for India’s NPR Project | |||||||||
Seoul, Mar 22, 2011 – (ACN Newswire) – Suprema Inc. and 4G Identity Solutions announced that they have been awarded the contract to supply 4-4-2 Fingerprint Slap Scanners for India’s National Population Register (NPR) project. This contract is one of the world’s largest orders for supply of biometric devices. 4G ID in partnership with Suprema executed this large order in record two weeks time to supply, install and commission 1540 numbers of Suprema’s Realscan-10 (UID) Fingerprint Slap scanners. Realscan-10 (UID) is certified for deployment in India’s Unique ID (UID) project by Standardization Testing & Quality Certification (STQC) Directorate. The certification ensures that these devices are reliable, safe, secure and meet the technical specifications of Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI). NPR Project is taken up by Consortium of Public Sector Undertakings (CPSUs) consisting of Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL), Electronic Corporation of India Limited (ECIL) and ITI Limited (ITI) in 9 Costal States. NPR is a comprehensive identity database to be maintained by the Registrar General and Census Commissioner India, Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India (RGI). NPR biometric enrolment will adopt standards formulated by UIDAI and shall use the biometric devices certified by STQC. Suprema and 4G have partnered for providing Realscan-10 (UID) Fingerprint Slap scanners for India’s UID and NPR Project. Earlier in 2009, 4G ID and Suprema have also won the contract to supply Biometric hardware and software for the Coastal ID project to CPSUs. The Suprema fingerprint slap scanners supplied by 4G ID have been successfully deployed in this project and have outperformed the other fingerprint devices in terms of image quality, ruggedness, ease of capture and ability to operate in extreme climatic conditions. Dr.Sreeni Tripuraneni CEO and Chairman of 4G ID said “We have the history of providing the best of breed biometric products and solutions that are best suited for Indian environmental conditions and at the most cost effective prices. For India’s UID/Aadhaar and NPR programme we have examined, evaluated and chosen the finest biometric products that produce best quality images and are field proven”. “The India NPR project is one of the largest government-level projects in biometric industry at the moment and we are confident on our Real Scan fingerprint live scanners in its image quality, durability and practical usability in India’s environment,” said Young S. Moon, Vice President at Suprema. “Key competencies in our live scanners are based on our in-depth expertise in biometrics and image processing as well as our years of experience in large-scale government and public projects,” Young added. About 4G 4G ID is a leader in unique ID research, development, products, solutions and consultancy. It is credited with creating the world’s largest citizen unique ID database, achieving over 6.2 quadrillion matches in a record two months. 4G ID’s projects, solutions and products are engineered for country-level scalability, accuracy, availability, usability, flexibility, inter-operability, cost-effectiveness, security and speed. 4G ID is trusted by governments, corporations and international bodies. About Suprema Inc. SUPREMA is a leading global provider of biometric and identity management solutions and systems. The company’s range of products include live-scanners, biometric access control systems, fingerprint modules and e-passport readers. In 2010, the company also won government projects in Brazil, China and EU countries in supplying biometrics and electronic passport solutions. SUPREMA has worldwide sales network over 100 countries and also a listed company in South Korea’s stock exchange (KOSDAQ). For more information, please visit www.supremainc.com . Contact: Andy Ahn Marketing Manager, Suprema, Inc. Tel: +82-31-783-4502 Fax: +82-31-783-4503 Email: sales@supremainc.com Mar 22, 2011 |
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IrisGuard Receives STQC Certification for India’s Aadhaar UID Project
May 8, 2011 at 2:43 pm | Posted in The Market | Comments Off on IrisGuard Receives STQC Certification for India’s Aadhaar UID Projecthttp://financial.tmcnet.com//news/2011/03/17/5384633.htm
IrisGuard Receives STQC Certification for India’s Aadhaar UID Project
LONDON –(Business Wire)–
IrisGuard, the world’s leader in Iris recognition technology, announced that its IG-AD100® Iris recognition camera received certification for deployment in India’s Aadhaar/Unique ID (UID) project from STQC (Standardization Testing & Quality Certification). The STQC Directorate is an attached office of the Department of Information Technology (DIT), Government of India. The biometric devices certified by STQC ensure that these devices are reliable, safe, secure and meet the specifications of Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI).
IG-AD100® Dual-Eye Iris Camera received an extraordinary Zero False Match Rate (T-FMR) and Zero False Non Match Rate (T-FNMR) never previously achieved before in any iris camera during the recently conducted independent testing by International Biometrics Group (IBG) USA, biometric research lab.
The IrisGuard IG-AD100® iris recognition camera is built on the proven IrisGuard technology platform and gives users the latest technology in personal identity. The fast dual-eye acquisition process provides greater ease of use, significantly improved dependability, usability and accuracy. The camera was specifically designed for large-scale national depoyments such as the UID project.
Banking on financial inclusion
May 8, 2011 at 2:42 pm | Posted in Arguments For, The Market | Comments Off on Banking on financial inclusionhttp://www.business-standard.com/india/news/bankingfinancial-inclusion/428828/
More than a political obligation, extending financial services to the vast unbanked population could be a large opportunity for the sector. Consider this: India is expected to grow 8.6 per cent in 2010-11 and 9 per cent in 2011-12. This makes the country the second-fastest growing large economy after China. And, more than half the population does not have bank accounts. These are two aspects that throw up two contrasting sides of one country — India. Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee had last year directed banks to provide appropriate banking facilities to all habitations that have population in excess of 2,000 by March 2012. Banks have, through State-level Banker Committees (SLBCs), formulated their road maps for financial Inclusion and identified approximately 73,000 habitations with population of more that 2,000. These habitations have been allocated to commercial banks, regional rural banks and cooperatives banks to provide banking facilities in a time-bound manner. Is this huge untapped potential a business opportunity for banks? Or do banks have to go for financial inclusion only because political masters want it?
Nobody has summarised this challenge in a manner as apt as RBI Governor D Subbarao, who recently said banks considered financial inclusion as obligation and there was a need to make them realise that it was also a business opportunity. In fact, financial inclusion remained an obligation for banks in the past due to focus on traditional banking and absence of new technology. A recent report by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and Boston consulting Group (BCG) says banks have, historically, struggled to build an efficient and low-cost distribution network to serve the marginal customers. The high distribution costs translate into a cost-income ratio of 10-12 (compared to the desired ratio of 0.5) in a traditional branch-based banking model. In fact, if the traditional banking model is used to include all the currently excluded households, it will result in an annual obligation to the tune of Rs 20,000 crore. Not surprisingly, financial inclusion has, for long, been seen as an obligation by financial service providers. Since this obligation is unviable to fulfil, formal banking continues to overlook the needs of the marginal customer. As a result, these customers continue to rely on informal sources like money lenders, friends and family for most of their needs. Not any more, perhaps. With the advent of cutting-edge mobile and information technologies, financial inclusion may no longer a dream. Changes like the introduction of Business Correspondents (BCs) and disbursal of government payments through the banking system have begun to improve the economics of the ecosystem for financial inclusion. However, despite all these positives, financial inclusion continues to remain an obligation for the formal sector. The key issue to be worked on now is ascertaining what could turn this obligation into an opportunity for the sector. Chief Economic Advisor Kaushik Basu says financial inclusion is indeed an opportunity, but, of course, not an automatic one. “If it was an automatic opportunity, private banks would have probably done that. So you need a regulatory system for it to become an opportunity,” he says. The CII-BCG report says recent developments like the creation of a national unique identification infrastructure — through Aadhaar, the multi-purpose programme of the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) — could provide impetus to financial inclusion. But this requires challenging the existing paradigms. Mere incremental tweaking of existing business models may not work. It would need a deep understanding of customer needs and innovative collaborative cross-industry business initiatives to reduce the cost of service delivery. According to the report, there are two possible routes forward. First, financial service providers take a set of actions around reducing cost (manpower, distribution, technology, etc) and increasing revenue potential of their initiatives (targeted products, new business models, etc). To achieve this paradigm, financial service providers would need to levy adequate charges on the customer and focus on delivery of products and services that are profitable. This would increase the penetration of formal financial services from 47 per cent to nearly 65 per cent, with an additional profit potential of Rs 1,500 crore for financial services providers by the fifth year. The charges paid by the newly-included customers in this model would be higher than that charged by banks in their traditional banking models from the richer existing customers. But these would be significantly lower than the cost they to incur while availing of services from the informal sector, if they can access the services at all. This approach could be supplemented by a second possible route, where policy makers create an enabling ecosystem through a set of regulatory and policy changes. Here, benefits through regulatory and policy changes are passed on to the end consumers. For example, interest rates on loans can be brought down to 18-20 per cent a year, while remittance costs could come down to 2 per cent, if this approach is adopted. This paradigm requires a combination of some initiatives, together with some targeted subventions by the government and the regulator. These may include targeted incentives to promote financial inclusion viability and allowing non-banking financial companies to be business correspondents. This would lead to an increase in the penetration of formal financial services from the current level of 47 per cent to approximately 80 per cent. This paradigm should create an additional profit potential of Rs 3,500 crore for the financial service providers by the fifth year, according to the report. In an environment vitiated by strong arm tactics of some microfinancial institutions, financial inclusion could be a business opportunity. Basu says financial inclusion is a business opportunity, “if you have a proper system in place, within which borrowing and repayment take place. After all, you do want a system where repayment takes place regularly”. However, he adds a word of caution, too. “You cannot go and harass a person to pay back a loan. If it is obligatory for the person to pay back a loan and it is being done under a legal system, that is what we mean by financial inclusion,” he adds. |
India issues two millionth UIDAI number using Morpho’s technology
May 8, 2011 at 2:40 pm | Posted in Technology, The Market | Comments Off on India issues two millionth UIDAI number using Morpho’s technologyhttp://www.dailyindia.com/show/430123.php
India issues two millionth UIDAI number using Morpho’s technology
From ANI
New Delhi, Mar 16: Morpho, a high-technology company that provides identification, today announced that its technology has enabled the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) to issue its two millionth identification number under the Aadhaar program.
Officially launched in September 2010, this is the world’s largest biometrics-based identity program.
Morpho’s latest-generation technology deployed by the Mahindra Satyam/Morpho consortium has played a pivotal role in the program for de-duplication of the biometric records enabling issuance of unique identification numbers.
The Aadhaar project aims to deliver a unique number to each Indian resident, which will provide highly secure access (using fingerprint and iris recognition) to a wide range of benefits and services.
The Mahindra Satyam/Morpho consortium is one of the three biometric solution providers contracted for the initial phase of this program during which 200 million residents are expected to be registered.
“We are truly proud that our cutting-edge biometric technology has allowed the UIDAI authority to reach the two million milestone in this large-scale project,” said Jean-Paul Jainsky, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Morpho.
“This achievement highlights the efforts and commitment of all the partners involved to make the Aadhaar program a success,” he added.
The UIDAI plans to issue 600 million Aadhaar numbers over the next four years.
Wipro arm becomes lowest bidder, gets Aadhaar project
May 8, 2011 at 2:39 pm | Posted in The Market | Comments Off on Wipro arm becomes lowest bidder, gets Aadhaar projecthttp://www.livemint.com/2011/03/15221904/Wipro-arm-becomes-lowest-bidde.html?atype=tp
Wipro arm becomes lowest bidder, gets Aadhaar project
Surabhi Agarwal, surabhi.a@livemint.com
An arm of Wipro Ltd has emerged as the lowest bidder for providing server, storage and networking solutions to data centres in Bangalore and New Delhi for the Aadhaar project, under which the government seeks to provide unique identification numbers to all residents.
Wipro Infotech Ltd has put in a bid of Rs.200 crore to implement the project, according to four officials familiar with the tender process, who declined to be named.
The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), which is spearheading the project, opened the commercial bids on Tuesday.
During the technical evaluation stage, UIDAI had short-listed Wipro, HCL Technologies Ltd and HCL Infosystems Ltd, which had bid along with solution providers Cisco and EMC, according to the officials.
Tata Consultancy Services Ltd, International Business Machines Corp. and Hewlett-Packard were disqualified at this stage. Some of these companies have objected to the way the contract was awarded.
“The entire tender process was a waste of time for other vendors as UIDAI clearly wanted the technical specifications that only Cisco and EMC could match,” said an official with one of the companies that was disqualified. “They are looking for solutions that they might not even need right now and are also very expensive.”
One of the vendors has approached the ministry of communications and information technology on the matter. “DIT (department of information technology) has referred it back to UIDAI,” said another official.
A UIDAI official, who did not want to be named, rejected the claims of the disqualified vendors. “The bids were rejected because of non-compliance with the specifications and requirements we had laid out in the tender document,” the official said. “For a project of such magnitude, we need very high enterprise quality products and solutions provided by EMC and Cisco were not the only solutions needed. There was a whole stack of products and software which were considered in the technical evaluation process.”
Spokespersons of Wipro, Cisco and EMC declined to comment.
The present contract is also considered a precursor to the managed service provider (MSP) contract, which is expected to be about 10 times its size.
“Maybe this is an indication that the UIDAI wants all vendors to bid along with EMC and Cisco only,” said the first official quoted above.
The contract will manage the applications and the infrastructure for the data centre which is required to store the Aadhaar enrolment. So far, UIDAI has issued unique identification numbers to two million people.
Earlier, UIDAI had given the contract to set up the data centres in Bangalore and New Delhi to Bharti Airtel Ltd and Wipro respectively.
“The mandate of the MSP, when it will get selected, will be to put all the different pieces of the technology together—such as the biometrics, application development etc and make sure that they all talk to each other and are continuously upgraded,” said another official from one of the firms involved.
The official added that the MSP contract will also include the server, storage and network component as it will be required to scale up the operations. So far, UIDAI has shortlisted nine technology companies for the MSP contract, which is expected to be the biggest of all the projects UIDAI has given out so far.
The shortlisted firms will submit bids for it following which UIDAI will select a service provider.
MaxID and I.D. Solutions Team Up to Address the Indian Identity Market
May 8, 2011 at 2:38 pm | Posted in The Market | Comments Off on MaxID and I.D. Solutions Team Up to Address the Indian Identity MarketFAIRFAX, Va. and NEW DELHI, March 16, 2011 /PRNewswire/ — MaxID, a leading provider of mobile identity solutions and I.D. Solutions, a leading provider of identity and security solutions in India are pleased to announce that they have teamed up to address the potentially explosive market for identity hardware and software driven by the efforts of the Unique Identification Authority of India, known as the UIDAI.
“MaxID is extremely fortunate to be working with I.D. Solutions in the Indian marketplace. The UIDAI opportunity is one of the largest in the world for companies in the identity market, and I.D. Solutions has built a very solid reputation and track record in the Indian Subcontinent. We look forward to a fruitful and prosperous journey together,” said Brian Skiba, President of MaxID Corp US.
The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) is an agency of the Government of India responsible for implementing the Multipurpose National Identity Card or Unique Identification card (UID Card) project underway in India. The Authority was established in February 2009, and owns and operates the Unique Identification Number database which is expected to be the largest of its type in the world. The authority has begun providing a unique identification number to all Indians.
“MaxID has one of the most durable, powerful and reliable handheld mobile devices for field-deployed identity management, the iDL500. We believe the MaxID products are extremely well-suited for the Indian identity opportunity, and we will be promoting the use of their product throughout our network of integrators across India,” said Saurav Khemani, Managing Partner at I.D. Solutions.
The iDL500 is a multi-modal, rugged, mobile computer that offers a complete set of features – including QWERTY keyboard, contact and contactless card, barcode, optical fingerprint, optional magnetic swipe and MRZ readers. With a digital camera, GPS, and comprehensive communications capabilities such as 3G GSM and WiFi, the iDL500 is a complete, integrated mobile solution for all field-based enrollment, badging and identity management requirements.
About MaxID Corporation
MaxID Corp is a leading provider of mobile identity and security solutions. It designs, manufactures, and sells identity solutions. The company is headquartered in Fairfax, Virginia and has offices in the United Kingdom, Taiwan and South Africa. MaxID Corp maintains a global research and development team that has more than 20 years experience introducing new technologies. The company’s most advanced biometric handheld devices and application software solutions are manufactured in the United States and distributed worldwide. More than 25,000 identity devices are being deployed worldwide by customers such as the US Department of Defense, the US Department of Homeland Security, border and law enforcement agencies, and power generation and maritime facilities. For more information about MaxID Corp, call +1 (703) 573-0125 or refer to the websiteswww.maxidcorp.com or www.maxid.in.
About I.D. Solutions
Established in 2002, I.D. Solutions is headquartered in New Delhi, India and is a group company of Eureka Poly Products Pvt. Ltd. I.D. Solutions’ core areas of specialization are Plastic Card, Smart Card, RFID and Biometric Solutions. The company has provided unique solutions for the Corporate, Defense, Government, Utilities & Communications, Transportation, Power and Enterprise IT sectors. I.D. Solutions has sales offices and a business network throughout the region and with an in-depth understanding of the Indian markets, I.D. Solutions emerges as a leader in the identity market. For more information about I.D. Solutions, please call +91 9810932993 or refer to the website www.idsolutionsindia.com.
Available Topic Expert(s): For information on the listed expert(s), click appropriate link.
Brian Skiba: https://profnet.prnewswire.com/Subscriber/ExpertProfile.aspx?ei=99287
SOURCE MaxID Corp
Making UID Mandatory for Securities Transactions
May 5, 2011 at 12:56 pm | Posted in The Market | Comments Off on Making UID Mandatory for Securities Transactionshttp://pib.nic.in/newsite/erelease.aspx?relid=69985
| Making UID Mandatory for Securities Transactions |
| Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) has suggested constituting a joint working group of Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) and UIDAI to work out the modalities for recognizing ‘Aadhaar’ as a proof of address and proof of identity for Know Your Client (KYC) purposes in the securities market.
The Unique Identity number will eventually form the basic, universal identity infrastructure over which Registrars and Agencies across the country can build their identity-based applications. Government of India in December 2010 notified “Aadhaar” number issued by UIDAI as an officially valid document to satisfy KYC norms for opening of accounts with banking companies, financial institutions and intermediaries. SEBI has constituted an internal group with members from various departments to examine the modalities for making UID applicable for KYC norms and to formulate their views. This information was given by the Minister of State for Finance, Shri Namo Narain Meena in written reply to a question raised in Rajya Sabha today. DSM/BY/S |
Accenture will increase India market focus, says new MD
May 5, 2011 at 12:51 pm | Posted in The Market | Comments Off on Accenture will increase India market focus, says new MDAccenture will increase India market focus, says new MD
BANGALORE: Global technology outsourcing and consulting firm Accenture sees a big opportunity in India with the aspiration of local companies to go global at an all-time high.
Accenture India’s new managing director Avinash Vashistha told TOI that clients globally had matured and their expectations too had changed. “They are looking for better insights and specific business outcomes of high value. Indian customers are no different and they too want to grow quickly and become global. This means a huge opportunity for us across multiple businesses,” he said.
Task force under Nilekani to look into direct subsidy to individuals, families news
May 5, 2011 at 12:50 pm | Posted in Infrastructure | Comments Off on Task force under Nilekani to look into direct subsidy to individuals, families newshttp://www.domain-b.com/economy/general/20110216_direct_subsidy_oneView.html
| Task force under Nilekani to look into direct subsidy to individuals, families news | |
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| 16 February 2011 | |
| http://www.domain-b.com/latestreports.aspx?docid=Qzk0m1mc6Sc%3dThe centre has constituted a task force under the chairmanship of Nandan Nilekani with a view to set up a suitable mechanism for providing direct subsidies to individuals or families that are entitled to kerosene, LPG and fertilisers.
The task force has the mandate to evolve a model of direct transfer of subsidies on these items through revamp of current systems, processes and procedures in the implementation process. Under Nilekani, who is chairman of the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) the task force would undertake designing appropriate IT systems and aligning these with the issue of UID numbers. Others on the panel would be drawn from secretaries in the department / ministries of expenditure, financial services, chemicals and fertilisers, agriculture, food and public distribution, petroleum and natural gas, and rural development. The solutions would be designed to bring about changes in the administration and supply chain management. The task force will be required to submit an interim report within four months of its constitution with its recommendations to be implemented on a pilot basis by the ministries concerned. This would be undertaken under the supervision of the task force in the six months of the date of submission of the interim report. The final report to be submitted thereafter would include the results of the implementation of the solutions in the field. The centre views the current policy of supplying kerosene at subsidised prices to below poverty line families under the PDS as involving a lot of waste, leakage, adulteration and inefficiency, according to the finance ministry. The government’s release in the matter said, it therefore found it imperative that the system of delivering the subsidised kerosene be reformed on an urgent basis. The case of subsidised LPG supply to intended beneficiaries also needs to be similarly overhauled, according to the government. “Fertiliser subsidy, as it exists today, is available to all farmers. It is not possible to differentiate the segments for which the subsidy should be given in this sector. There is a need to evolve a mechanism for direct subsidies to individuals who are entitled to them,” the government press release added. Chief economic advisor Kaushik Basu has called for direct transfer of subsidies to the individual beneficiaries, and letting the market decide the prices. The government had said in the winter session of the parliament that the price of kerosene to BPL families had not been revised for a long time. Also the possibility of diversion of kerosene supplied through the PDS cannot be ruled out due to the huge price difference with petrol / diesel it added. As on 1 December 2010, the under recovery on kerosene supplied to the PDS stood at Rs16.88 per litre and Rs 272.19 per cylinder on domestic cooking gas. |
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UID puts revenue stream on hold; authentication free till 2013
May 4, 2011 at 2:59 pm | Posted in The Market | Comments Off on UID puts revenue stream on hold; authentication free till 2013http://www.livemint.com/2011/02/16010317/UID-puts-revenue-stream-on-hol.html?atype=tp
UID puts revenue stream on hold; authentication free till 2013
The offer will benefit service providers such as banks and telcos that need to verify customer details
Surabhi Agarwal, surabhi.a@livemint.com
Striking out an earlier plan to earn hundreds of crores of rupees from verification services, the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) has decided to initially offer its authentication platform free to service providers such as banks and telecom operators.
The authority, which is spearheading the ambitious project to give each resident individual a unique identity number under Aadhaar, had earlier projected a turnover of nearly Rs.300 crore a year, at Rs.5-10 per verification of details like address and biometric data.
“We have decided to not charge for verification from whoever…wishes to use the Aadhaar platform for authentication till December 2013, keeping in mind the public good,” said director general Ram Sewak Sharma.
“Aadhaar is not a commercial venture after all. It is the government of India’s social delivery project based on inclusive growth.”
Adopting the Aadhaar platform would offer significant operational and financial benefits to both government and private service providers, who need to verify details of their customers, spending Rs.100-500 or more per verification.
UIDAI is building an information technology (IT) infrastructure that will make it possible to authenticate individual as also biometric data online.
In a draft consultation paper in November 2009, UIDAI had said it would charge Rs.5 for every address verification and Rs.10 for every biometric authentication, while offering identify verification free.
The authority had identified banks, credit card, telecom, insurance and cooking gas companies as well as government agencies such as the passport office as potential users of the service. UIDAI estimated a revenue of Rs.288.15 crore through these authentication services, of whichRs.159.55 crore was to come through address verification alone.
“The foremost priority for UIDAI right now is to get people hooked on to using its applications and by making it free, it is just doing that,” said an analyst who is working on the project but did not want to be identified.
“While opening deposit accounts, banks roughly spend in the range of Rs.5-25 (on verification). But at the time of opening borrower accounts, banks spend more as they have to investigate in detail the credit worthiness of the borrower,” said B.R. Bhat, general manager, Corporation Bank. “The greater the loan amount, the higher is the amount spent on verification. The amount spent on verification in this case can go up to Rs.500.”
A UID number will cover the know-your-customer guidelines and help banks save verification costs, he added.
To verify details provided by customers, service providers often employ external agencies. These, in turn, either physically visit the potential customers to check their details or approach local police stations for the purpose. The process is cumbersome and yet, not fool-proof.
Once UIDAI has a critical mass of enrolments, service providers could instead send customer details to the authority either physically or electronically for confirmation.
UIDAI would then check these details with its central data repository and return a yes or a no—to ensure it does not part with any sensitive information on individuals.
Done electronically, the verification can be done in real time. UIDAI’s online authentication platform will be built using cloud technology—making the data accessible over the Internet. This will be covered by a managed service provider; the process for selecting one is under way. “I think it will be a game-changer for the telecom industry,” said Rajan S. Mathews, director general of the Cellular Operators Association of India. “The government has entrusted the industry with a lot of responsibility for adequate documentation and appropriate security clearances, which proves to be quite expensive for the telecom firms. In certain cases, the cost even goes up to Rs.1,000 per verification.”
Notifications from the finance ministry and the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India have already made it possible for people to use Aadhaar numbers to open bank accounts, for financial transactions, and for new telecom connections. Aadhaar plans to issue 600 million numbers by 2014 and has already enrolled more than one million people.
Remya Nair contributed to this story.
NPCI working with UIDAI to offer bank transactions on mobile
May 4, 2011 at 2:45 pm | Posted in Applications, The Market | Comments Off on NPCI working with UIDAI to offer bank transactions on mobileNPCI working with UIDAI to offer bank transactions on mobile
“It may be to open an account, make a cash depositor a withdrawal… We will use the UIDAI number along with thecustomer”s thumb impression (for offering this service)”, PCIChief Operating Officer M Balakrishnan told reporters today.
The 10 banks that promote NPCI are State Bank of India,Punjab National Bank, Canara Bank, Bank of Baroda, Union bankof India, Bank of India, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, Citibank andHSBC.
Asked when the project would be implemented, he said, “Weare doing a pilot study in Jharkhand. Maybe after some time wewill be able to inform you”.
Besides, he said the NPCI are working on offering “chequetruncation” services to be launched in few months” time, whichwould enable paperless transaction.
Balakrishnan and senior officials were here to announcetheir association with Karur-based Lakshmi Vilas Bank to offerInterbank Mobile Payment Service for its customers.
dishtv aligns with Aadhaar; accepts the UID number as KYC norms
May 3, 2011 at 6:22 pm | Posted in Additional business, The Market | Comments Off on dishtv aligns with Aadhaar; accepts the UID number as KYC normshttp://www.indiaprwire.com/pressrelease/television/2011020376758.htm
dishtv aligns with Aadhaar; accepts the UID number as KYC norms
The pioneers and leaders of the Direct-To-Home (DTH) industry in India, dishtv, today in a major move announced its alignment with ‘Aadhaar’ – a 12-digit unique number which the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) is issuing to all residents of India. dishtv will now be accepting the UID as a Know Your Customer (KYC) validation for address and identity proof.
New Delhi, India, February 3, 2011 /India PRwire/ — The pioneers and leaders of the Direct-To-Home (DTH) industry in India, dishtv, today in a major move announced its alignment with ‘Aadhaar’ – a 12-digit unique number which the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) is issuing to all residents of India. dishtv will now be accepting the UID as a Know Your Customer (KYC) validation for address and identity proof. In a first for the industry, the DTH operator will be acknowledging the UID numbers of all Aadhaar holders as an “officially valid document” for installation and subscription purposes of its services.
Commenting on the move, Mr. Salil Kapoor, Chief Operating Officer, dishtv, said, “dishtv is proud to align with UIDAI to recognize and support the country’s largest movement to provide unique ID numbers to its residents. Not only will this be of convenience to consumers across the nation, the move will also facilitate the reach of digital content into far out and rural areas of the country where establishing proof of identity is a predicament. Aadhaar will also serve an additional payment option to dishtv as the UID has a direct connect to the banks and financial institutions. As an industry leader, dishtv has always been at the forefront of innovations such as these and has pioneered several firsts in the industry.”
The UID numbers issued to over a million residents, with a target of 600 million by 2013, will be accepted as officially valid documents through all dishtv dealers and channel partners across the country. This association will be of immense value to the existing and potential customers of dishtv with screening of identity and address proof made easy and quick through the unique numbers allotted to all Aadhaar holders.
Notes to Editor
About Aadhaar
Aadhaar is a 12-digit unique number which the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) is issuing to all residents of India. Aadhaar is linked to the resident’s demographic and biometric information, which they can use to identify themselves anywhere in India, and to access a host of benefits and services. Aadhaar, which translates into ‘foundation’, or ‘support’ and is present across most Indian languages.
The Aadhaar number itself is random, devoid of any classification based on caste, creed, religion and geography. The name Aadhaar communicates the fundamental role of the number issued by the UIDAI the number as a universal identity infrastructure, a foundation over which public and private agencies can build services and applications that benefit residents across India. Aadhaar’s guarantee of uniqueness and centralised, online identity verification would be the basis for building these multiple services and applications, and facilitating greater connectivity to markets.
About dishtv India
dishtv is India’s largest direct-to-home company and part of the biggest media conglomerate – Zee Group. dishtv has on its platform 267channels and services including 21 audio channels with over 9.4 million subscribers, which is growing. The company has a vast distribution network of about 1400 distributors and 55,000 dealers that spans around 6600 towns across the country. dishtv has 24*7 call centre with 1600 seats in 11 different languages to take care of subscriber requirements at any point of time. For more information on dishtv, visit http://www.dishtv.in
Nilekani submits TAGUP report to Pranab
May 3, 2011 at 6:20 pm | Posted in Additional business, The Market | Comments Off on Nilekani submits TAGUP report to Pranabhttp://www.thehindu.com/news/national/article1156635.ece
Nilekani submits TAGUP report to Pranab
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It details inter alia recommendations for various IT-intensive projects of the Finance Ministry
Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) Chairman Nandan Nilekani, who was handpicked by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee to head the Technology Advisory Group for Unique Projects (TAGUP), on Friday submitted the seven-member group’s report to Mr. Mukherjee, detailing, among other things, specific recommendations for various IT-intensive projects pertaining to the Finance Ministry.
Mr. Mukherjee said the report was submitted “at the right time” and would help in various IT projects such as Tax Information Network (TIN), New Pension Scheme (NPS), National Treasury Management Agency (NTMA), Expenditure Information Network (EIN) and Goods and Service Tax (GST). He lauded the report as a result of good teamwork.
Key recommendations
Among the recommendations, the TAGUP has suggested that for complex IT-intensive projects, National Information Utilities (NIUs) working in the spirit of partnership with the government be put in place to handle all aspects of IT systems.
The report noted that while strategic control is to be retained by the government at all times, NIUs should be set up as private companies with a public purpose. They should be financially independent and empowered to take quick and efficient business decisions pertaining to attracting and retaining talent, procurement, rapid response to business exigencies and adopting new technologies, among other things.
On challenges to human resource, it said strong support from the top leadership within the government, dedicated team at the level of project implementation, and ownership and commitment at various operational levels were necessary concomitants of success of any project.
“The group recommends that every project should have a dedicated Mission Leader within the government with a Mission Execution Team. The team should be manned by personnel, who possess a diverse set of skills, including intimate familiarity with the government processes, specialisation in verticals such as technology, outreach, law, as well as the ability to manage a large decentralised organisation, among others. The group also recommends certain monetary and non-monetary incentives for the team,” it said.
The report also addresses the challenges faced by large complex IT projects in the government, and then applies this framework to the evaluation of GST, TIN, EIN, NTMA and NPS at hand.
The group was asked to address and make recommendations on a host of issues — human resource, including modification in government rules, procedures, etc; appropriate placement of tasks and allocation of responsibilities within the government; contracting, commercial terms and charges, including procedures for competitive bidding, pricing models and suggestions on user charges; road map from start-up to going concern for each of these projects, which would also focus on legal/regulatory change, if any; technology architecture and ways for co-ordination among the Centre, States and local governments; accountability and self-corrective mechanisms; and protection of individual’s right to privacy with focus on safeguards in the IT systems to protect legal and constitutional rights, etc.
Post offices to distribute unique ID number
May 3, 2011 at 6:18 pm | Posted in Infrastructure, The Market | Comments Off on Post offices to distribute unique ID numberhttp://www.sify.com/news/post-offices-to-distribute-unique-id-number-news-national-lcepEfhbafg.html
| Post offices to distribute unique ID number | |
| 2011-02-04 15:40:00 Last Updated: 2011-02-04 16:33:42 New Delhi: Indians will get their unique identification number from post offices. An agreement to this effect was signed here on Friday by the department of post and the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), which is in charge of the mammoth project. ‘This is not a tactical but a strategic partnership where UIDAI will leverage the existing infrastructure of (post offices) to reach out to the masses,’ said Nandan Nilekani, chairman of UIDAI. The department will also open a request for quotation in the next few days to finalise the agency to manage the infrastructure for registration and distribution of the UID numbers across post offices. The UIDAI was established in February 2009 to operate the unique identification number database. It will provide a unique number with associated identifying biometric data and photographs to all Indians. The ID aims to prevent rigging in elections and check widespread embezzlement of government subsidies and poverty alleviation programmes. Post offices are spread across India and is the only organisation that can provide a comprehensive solution to the requirements of the UIDAI, an official statement said. The postal deparment signed its first agreement with the UIDAI April 30, 2010 to cover printing of communication carrying the UID number addressed to resident. This facility is expected to print and dispatch about one crore UID letters upto March 31, 2011. In 2011-12, the postal department is expected to print and deliver about 12 crore UID letters. More than 3,700 post offices in the country have been identified to become enrolment stations. Communications Minister Kapil Sibal, who was present on the occasion, said that this partnership will empower people. ‘The empowerment will take place through post offices, we want to move in step with the authority,’ said Sibal. |
11th Plan to miss investment target of Rs 14.32 lakh crore
May 3, 2011 at 6:13 pm | Posted in The Market | Comments Off on 11th Plan to miss investment target of Rs 14.32 lakh crorehttp://www.deccanherald.com/content/133171/11th-plan-miss-investment-target.html
| 11th Plan to miss investment target of Rs 14.32 lakh crore | |
| New Delhi, Jan 30 (PTI) | |
| The Eleventh Plan investment target of Rs 14.32 lakh crore is unlikely to be met, as the government would need to increase the Gross Budgetary Support (GBS) by 42 per cent in 2011-12 — the terminal year of the plan — and that won’t be possible. | |
| “Gross budgetary support to the plan needs to be raised by 42 per cent in 2011-12, if the government intends to meet 11th plan (2007-12) target of Rs 14,31,711 crore at constant prices”, a source in the Commission said.
Besides, sources pointed out that as the central assistance to State plans has already exceeded the projection, the GBS for central plan will have to be increased by 67 per cent (in 2011-12) to meet the overall targets. GBS is the financial assistance provided through the Union Budget for the social sector and other development schemes of the centre as well as the states. Pointing out that such hike in outlay was not possible for the government, sources said, priority this year would be to continue funding ongoing social sector programmes. The Commission has already brought to Prime Minister’s notice the factual position to ensure that no big ticket programmes were taken up in the terminal year of the plan. In view of the constraints, it is unlikely that efforts would be made to expedite the introduction of food security and other big ticket programmes involving the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) and National Knowledge Network programme. The focus is likely to be on the ongoing schemes, especially in the sectors of education and health which are integral part of UPA Government’s flagship programmes. Indications are that these two Ministries would get 20-25 per cent increase. No major increase is expected in the rural development as surplus funds are already parked with the states for the implementation of these programmes and the Budget may commit additional funds as and when required. Sources said as the Commission is confident that rural connectivity is helping in improving agricultural growth, the budget may see a substantive increase in PMGSY and Integrated Watershed Development programme. |
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TCS ex-CEO Ramadorai appointed PM Advisor on skill development
May 3, 2011 at 6:12 pm | Posted in People, The Market | Comments Off on TCS ex-CEO Ramadorai appointed PM Advisor on skill developmentTCS ex-CEO Ramadorai appointed PM Advisor on skill development
- DAVOS: S Ramadorai, former chief of IT giant firm TCS, has been appointed as an Advisor to Prime Minister on Skill Development, a move seen as part of the government’s efforts to rope in private sector professionals to assist on policy matters.
Ramadorai retired as CEO of the country’s largest software firm TCS in late 2009 and is currently on board of many private sector firms, including some Tata group companies.
As an advisor to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Ramadorai would enjoy the rank equivalent to a cabinet minister, a top government official said here on the sidelines of the annual World Economic Forum summit.
Ramadorai holds a Bachelors degree in Physics from Delhi University, a Bachelor of Engineering in Electronics and Telecommunications from Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore and a Masters degree in Computer Science from the University of California.
After Infosys former CEO Nandan Nilekani, Ramadorai is the second high-profile professional from the IT sector to have been brought on board by the government for assisting in policy matters.
Earlier in 2009, the government had appointed Nilekani, one of the founders and former chief of IT giant Infosys, as Chairman of the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), in the rank and status of a Cabinet Minister for an initial tenure of five years.
Subsequently, the Prime Minister’s Council of UIDAI Authority of India was set up on July 30, 2009, to advise on UIDAI Programme, methodology and implementation to ensure co-ordination between Ministries/Departments, stakeholders and partners.
The Unique identification project was conceived as an initiative that would provide identification for each resident across the country and would be used primarily as the basis for efficient delivery of welfare services.
130-Member CII delegation to attend World Economic Forum’s Davos Meet
March 14, 2011 at 6:19 am | Posted in The Market | Comments Off on 130-Member CII delegation to attend World Economic Forum’s Davos Meethttp://www.orissadiary.com/ShowBussinessNews.asp?id=24153
| 130-Member CII delegation to attend World Economic Forum’s Davos Meet | ||
| Monday, January 24, 2011
Mumbai: A 130-member strong, Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) delegation from India will participate in the World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting in Davos-Klosters, Switzerland, from 26 – 30 January 2011. The delegation comprises of high-ranking Government Officials, CEOs of major Indian companies, Media and Civil Society representatives. The main attraction at this year’s Annual Meeting will be CII’s ‘India Inclusive’ campaign, which aims to raise India’s profile as a vibrant democracy, a fast growing stable economic power, and a hub of culture and art. The campaign plans to bring the best of India in business, politics, arts and culture, social entrepreneurship, science and technology, young leaders, to the Global participants at Davos. A Steering Committee under the Co-Chairmanship of Mr. Mukesh Ambani of Reliance Industries and Mr Sunil Bharti Mittal of Bharti Enterprises has been formed to guide this effort. The theme paper for the ‘India Inclusive’ campaign has been drafted by Mr. Nandan Nilekani, Chairman, Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI). According to him, “the country’s (India’s) role as a ‘Goldilocks economy’, where growth is high yet stable and sustainable, makes it an attractive investment destination. And its growing emphasis on inclusive development will aid India’s dynamism in the decades to come”. This year’s theme of the World Economic Forum (WEF’s) Annual Meeting is ‘Shared Norms for the New Reality’. The Indian contingent is part of the over 2500 participant-strong community that will include 30 heads of state or government, key finance, foreign, trade and energy ministers, along with religious, media and cultural leaders, social entrepreneurs and heads of non-governmental organizations from 50 countries. Davos 2011 reflects the foremost concern of many leaders – namely, living in a world that is becoming increasingly complex and interconnected and, at the same time, experiencing an erosion of common values that undermines public trust in leadership as well as future economic growth and political stability. Ms. Chanda Kochhar, Chairperson, CII’s Banking Committee & Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, ICICI Bank, will Co-Chair the Meeting, along with Paul Bulcke, Chief Executive Officer, Nestlé, Switzerland; Yorihiko Kojima, Chairman of the Board, Mitsubishi Corporation, Japan; Ellen Kullman, Chair of the Board and Chief Executive Officer, DuPont, USA; Jacob Wallenberg, Chairman, Investor, Sweden; and Wei Jiafu, Group President and Chief Executive Officer, China Ocean Shipping Group Co., People’s Republic of China. Mr P Chidambaram, Home Minister ; Mr. Anand Sharma, Minister of Commerce & Industry; Mr. Kamal Nath, Minister for Urban Development, Mr. Praful Patel, Minister for Heavy Industries and Dr. Montek Singh Ahluwalia, Deputy Chairman, Planning Commission of India, are among the dignitaries who would participate in the Summit. Noted Musician and Singer, Mr A R Rahman, will receive the Crystal Award. 39 members of the Indian delegation will join the discussions in around 40 sessions over the five days to lend an important Indian perspective to global issues ranging from climate change, innovation, science & technology, employment, inclusive growth and good governance. The programme will also feature two sessions on India that will look at various economic changes, political priorities and global issues, which will shape the future of India. CII and Indian companies would be organizing several events on the sidelines of the Annual Meeting. While CII will organize its traditional annual “India Reception” and breakfast sessions in partnership with Indian companies, many Indian companies like Wipro, Mahindra Satyam, Bajaj Auto, Infosys will organize sessions, receptions and Bollywood music evenings in Davos. The CII delegation includes : Mr. Hari S Bhartia, President, CII and Co-Chairman and Managing Director, Jubilant Bhartia Group; Mr. Mukesh Ambani , CMD, Reliance Industries; Mr Nandan Nilekani, Chairman, Unique Identification Authority of India ( UIDAI); Mr Kris Gopalakrishnan,CEO & MD Infosys Technologies Ltd.; Mr Kumar Mangalam Birla, Chairman, Aditya Birla Group; Mr Malvinder Singh, Chairman, RHC Holding Pvt Ltd.; Mr Adi Godrej, Chairman, Godrej Group, Godrej Industries Ltd.; Mr Jamshyd N Godrej, Past President CII & CMD, Godrej & Boyce Manufacturing Co Ltd.; Mr Chandrajit Banerjee, Director General, CII; Mr Sunil Bharti Mittal , Past President CII & Chairman & Group CEO, Bharti Enterprises; Mr Rahul Bajaj , Past President CII & Chairman, Bajaj Auto Ltd.; Mr Y C Deveshwar, Past President CII & Chairman, ITC Ltd.; Mr Azim Premji, Chairman, Wipro Ltd.; Mr Vijay Mallya ,Chairman, CII National Committee on Civil Aviation & Chairman, The UB Group; Mr Atul Punj, Chairman, Punj Lloyd Ltd.; Mr Vineet Nayar, Vice-Chairman & CEO, HCL Technologies Ltd.; Mr Natarajan Chandrsekaran, CEO & MD, Tata Consultancy Services Ltd.; Mr Ajit Gulabchand, CMD, Hindustan Construction Co. Ltd.; Mr Sanjeev Chadha, President Middle East & Africa Region, PepsiCo India Holdings Pvt Ltd., amongst many others.
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Are you ready for M-banking?
March 14, 2011 at 6:18 am | Posted in Additional business, The Market | Comments Off on Are you ready for M-banking?http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/are-you-ready-for-m-banking/422760/
| Are you ready for M-banking? |
| Priyanka Joshi / Mumbai January 24, 2011, 0:05 IST |
Airtel, Vodafone and Idea are rolling out mobile banking services, but it remains to be seen how the concept catches up with consumer interest in 2011.
Mobile phone penetration is set to reach 60 per cent of India’s population in 2011, but banking touch points lag at about 0.07 touch points per 1,000 people, said a Deloitte-Assocham’s estimates.
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However, with telecom and banking majors stepping up mobile banking services, 2011 is poised to be the year that would transform your banking habits — making payments or checking your account balance on your mobile. Yet, currently just about five per cent of all mobile subscribers are registered for mobile banking and more significantly, only 0.5 per cent actively use mobile banking (as per industry estimates), the customer base is woefully small.
| TOP THREE BFSI APPS ON MOBILE | |
| Company | Usage (in %) |
| SBI freedoM | 37.30 |
| ICICI Bank IMobile | 2.50 |
| Markets on Mobile | 1.50 |
| Source: Infomate India | |
But telecom players exude optimism about the platform providing business, financial services and insurance (BFSI) on mobiles. Ambrish Jain, director (operations), Idea Cellular says: “At Idea, we have an agreement to run a pilot project for various banking applications like branchless banking, payments etc. At an industry level, we add about 15-20 million new mobile subscribers every month. Even if a fraction of the over 700 million subscribers in the country take the service, it will be a good beginning.”
Recently, Bharti Airtel and State Bank of India announced a deal to offer mobile banking services. Separately, Vodafone Essar, too, tied up with ICICI Bank to offer mobile banking products. Axis Bank has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Idea Cellular where Idea will act as a Business Correspondent of Axis Bank to provide a range of financial products and services offered by the bank, through the mobile operator’s retail outlets.
Not to be left behind, Union Bank of India recently tied up with Nokia and Obopay to roll out their mobile banking services. Deepak Chandani, CEO of Obopay says: “Mobile banking is going to be the next revolution in the telecom and banking sectors and almost all companies are tapping this segment for its obvious advantages.”
Most banks in India, including Standard Chartered, HSBC, Kotak and Yes Bank, provide SMS alerts on your mobile: credit/debit information and cheque status.
The good news is…
Banks are clearly kicking their heels to service new customers on the mobile network. S K Mitra, president (agri business & rural banking), Axis Bank says: “We were keen to adopt additional delivery channels to drive financial inclusion and particularly keen on a mobile-based channel, considering the reach and the low-cost service delivery platform.” Mitra says only 41 per cent of the adult population has bank accounts, whereas more than 70 per cent of adults own a mobile connection — associating with a telecom service provider is therefore the right choice.
Parents and the elderly are more likely to use mobile banking to pay utility bills, person-to-person payments to merchants and send money to their relatives. Youngsters use mobile banking primarily to recharge or top-up their cellphones or pay for caller tunes etc,” says Chandani.
In India too, remittance services via mobiles, banks and other financial institutions can attract new customers to related financial products such as deposits, loans and insurance, articulates the Deloitte-Assocham report.
Samaresh Parida, director corporate strategy of Vodafone is hopeful that the company can leverage “a few thousands” of the 1.5 million retail outlets as Business Correspondents who are empowered to make or receive payments on behalf of the bank. “We will roll out the first phase of the mobile banking services along with ICICI Bank this year. The focus will be the unorganised sector like migrant labours that need money remittance services,” says Parida.
Countries like Africa are a successful example for most Indian telcos where mobile banking gateways have seen great success. A case in point is Vodafone’s mobile payment solution M-Pesa in Kenya, which has been cited as a driver for the doubling of bank accounts from six million to 12 million in a year.
Device diversity, Paperwork might play a spoilsport
Telcos are concerned that the existing identification processes (i.e. Know Your Customer or KYC norms) might keep the rural or semi-urban users away. “A mobile account, which every user has to open for mobile banking and transactions, should be approached differently than opening a bank account to ensure profitability,” says Parida of Vodafone.
RBI requires all banking customers to abide by strict KYC and anti-money laundering norms. “These norms will be a major challenge for rural customers to fulfil as they usually do not have the requisite identification documents (address proof, ID proof, etc.) Although, the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) will start issuing unique identity numbers to Indian residents by February 2011, the government may consider relaxing KYC norms for the rural population in order to promote financial inclusion,” suggests Sachin Sondhi, senior director, Deloitte, India.
But the solutions are being worked out. Recently, an Inter Ministerial Group (IMG) constituted by the Cabinet Secretariat said mobile banking users should be provided a mobile linked no-frills account (like a regular ‘No-Frills’ bank account) where the maximum value of each kind of transaction (deposit/withdrawal/transfer) will be Rs 5,000 per day and Rs 25,000 per month. IMG has also suggested that the 1.55 lakh post offices across the country should be used to provide banking services with the help of mobile phones the rural populace.
Sondhi of Deloitte estimates that SBI usually opens two million no-frills accounts every year. “With the scale that Airtel (telecom partner for mobile banking) brings, they are hoping to open approximately five million no-frills accounts.” As most of these new customers would be first-time banking users, they would need to be made aware of the mobile banking platform as well as about the best ways to use this innovative platform (this will help banks as the cost of serving a customer on mobile banking channel is typically 1/10th of the cost of serving them using traditional channels like bank branches).
Another worry is the diversity of devices and different mobile operating systems that exist today. Banks and telecom companies are expected to launch mobile apps, WAP sites that will run on all handsets and OSes, feel experts. Jain of Idea agrees: “Handset and OS diversity does pose a challenge. To overcome that, we plan to offer services via device and OS agnostic bearers like voice, Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD, which is session oriented unlike SMS that is a store-and-forward, transaction-oriented technology) and SMS.” Idea will also deploy delivery channels like WAP portals and App Stores that dynamically identify the handset and offer the right compatible banking application for download.
But Sondhi of Deloitte warns: “There are genuine concerns about the security aspect of mobile banking and hence the rate of adoption will be gradual over the next five years.”
Plus, issues like complex and non-standard services, reluctance of customers to learn new technology, lack of pertinent initiatives from banks to move people to mobile banking channels, limited incentives for customers to use a new channel may also limit wide-spread adoption of mobile banking channels in the next two to three years.
Piloting a success story in mobile banking
Axis bank and Idea has flagged-off a “remittance pilot” between Dharavi in suburban Mumbai and Allahabad in Uttar Pradesh, which will enable money transfer using the mobile platform. During the “remittance pilot”, a remitter in Dharavi will be able to send money back home to his family in Allahabad. The remitters have the option of sending money to the beneficiary through either of the following routes:
- Through ‘Account to Account Transfer’ whereby the remitter, having an account with Axis Bank, deposit money to the beneficiary’s account with the Axis Bank.
- Through the Empays Payments Systems’ Instant Money Transfer (IMT) module whereby the remitter, with an Axis Bank account, remits money to the beneficiary, who has a registered mobile connection, even if he/she does not have a banking account.
Idea and Axis Bank will also explore extending the association to include other banking products and services like savings, credit, micro insurance, micro-SIP and micro-pensions in a phased manner
DoT, UIDAI mull unique scheme
March 14, 2011 at 6:12 am | Posted in Process, The Market | Comments Off on DoT, UIDAI mull unique schemehttp://www.hindustantimes.com/DoT-UIDAI-mull-unique-scheme/Article1-652338.aspx
New Delhi, January 19, 2011
The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) is considering a proposal by the Unique Identity Authority of India (UIDAI) to bring about 700 million telecom users under an unique identification programme. The UIDAI plans to issue a 12-digit unique identity number — Aadhaar — to all residents, based on
information such as fingerprint and iris.
To verify a single customer, operators incur between Rs 50 and Rs 70. A large number of customers are still not verified.
In the case of new customers, it will be very easy for operators to activate SIM cards if customers have Aadhaar. “The whole process of verification and activating SIM will not take more than five minutes if the customer has Aadhaar,” said Ashok Pal Singh, DDG, UIDAI. At present, it takes about two to three days for verification and activation of SIM cards.
“It is too early to say what kind of relationship will be there between operators and the UIDAI. The DoT has not discussed anything with telecom operators on this issue,” said an industry representative.
Meanwhile, the DoT issued a notification on Tuesday saying that Aadhaar should be treated as a valid proof of identification for the purpose of getting new telephone connections.
“…it has been decided that the ‘Aadhaar’ issued by the UIDAI shall be treated as valid proof of identity and proof of address for purpose of obtaining new connection,” it said.
Rural banking big opportunity for Indian banks
March 5, 2011 at 3:20 pm | Posted in Additional business, The Market | Comments Off on Rural banking big opportunity for Indian bankshttp://www.mydigitalfc.com/companies/rural-banking-big-opportunity-indian-banks-641
Rural banking big opportunity for Indian banks
By Rana Kapoor Jan 03 2011
RELATED ARTICLES |
lucrative and the ‘vulnerable’ rural population needs to be protected with a patronising approach.
Such directed approach has undermined the financial sustainability of the rural banking sector. This has been looked upon in the banking sector as a regulatory obligation, and for the banking staff, rural posting got equated with ‘punishment’. This led to perpetual brewing of negativity towards rural banking in India.
Despite having one of the world’s largest network of about 79,000 banking
outlets, (out of which 31,000 are in rural areas), we have just 15 crore savings bank accounts for a population of 118 crore.
Access to a savings bank account is the very basic. However, it is definitely not a sufficient indicator of financial inclusion.
In order to meaningfully tap the rural banking opportunity, we need to find solutions to three important challenges namely (1) infrastructure set-up costs, (2) operating costs and (3) risk mitigation strategies. However, the conventional banking approach has so far failed to address these challenges, and therefore, we need to adopt the ‘frugal innovations’ approach to develop a scalable and sustainable business model.
Frugal innovation is a whole new management philosophy, which integrates specific needs of the bottom-ofthe-pyramid, as a starting point, and works backwards to develop appropriate
solutions which may be different from existing solutions designed to address needs of other customer segments.
One very pertinent example of frugal innovation for rural banking is our homegrown self help group (SHG)-bank linkage programme. SHG is a voluntary, often non-registered association of up to 20 persons which bridges the ‘last mile’ gap between a rural branch and poor households living in its vicinity. Due to the efforts of RBI, Nabard, SCBs, state governments and numerous civil society organisations, about 9.7 crore households now have access to banking through SHGs.
Interestingly, this model has a strong pro-rural, pro-poor and pro-women bias.
The business correspondent (BC) model advocated by RBI is another pertinent example of potential frugal innovation in the financial inclusion space.
The use of BCs enables banks to extend banking services to the hinterland.
Banks use various types of hand-held devices (aptly nicknamed micro ATMs) to authenticate micro-transactions at the BC location and to synchronise the same with a central server.
A working group constituted by RBI for developing common open standards for such devices has opened up the possibility of nationwide networking of such micro-transaction devices based on the common authentication system that will be provided by the unique identification authority of India (UIDAI). When put in practice, this will become the world’s biggest ATM network developed at nominal costs.
Innovations should not be restricted only to technology. Commensurate innovations on the risk management front are also necessary. Banks need to retrospect why despite a proven track record
of more than 15 years, the per person credit outstanding in SHG-bank linkage model is merely Rs 4,128, whereas the microfinance institutions, which organise joint liability groups, are able to take an initial exposure of almost double this amount. Banks also need to study how several gold loan NBFCs are able to provide gold-based secured lending at a rate much higher than what banks charge for a similar product.
The risk management framework needs to adapt itself to the changing macro-economic scenario and new opportunities emerging as a consequence thereof. In sum, from processes, procedures, technologies and even human intervention, frugal innovations should be extended to every aspect of banking to deliver a holistic range of financial services to the rural areas in a cost-effective and efficient manner.
MasterCard Develops Payment Solution for ‘Aadhaar’
March 5, 2011 at 3:16 pm | Posted in Additional business, The Market | Comments Off on MasterCard Develops Payment Solution for ‘Aadhaar’| MasterCard Develops Payment Solution for ‘Aadhaar’ |
| Announcement / Corporate December 07, 2010, 15:00 IST |
MasterCard Worldwide, a leading global payments company, today said it has developed a payment solution for ‘Aadhaar’. The solution will enable Aadhaar holders to perform payment transactions using UID numbers with biometric authentication.
The solution is based on the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) platform and MasterCard’s payment network and family of brands. The solution will empower ‘Aadhaar’ account holders to move away from cash and towards electronic transactions.
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‘Aadhaar’ a 12-digit Unique Identification Number (UID) will capture basic demographic and biometric information of Indian residents. The UID will make it possible for residents to establish their identity with financial institutions thereby providing them a gateway into the formal banking system.
The solution supports prepaid, debit and credit payment products in a broad based offering to drive UIDAI’s objective of Financial Inclusion.
As part of the proposed solution, it enables participating banks to issue a 16-digit Primary Account Number (PAN) to individuals enrolled into ‘Aadhaar’. MasterCard has developed a direct interface with Aadhaar to perform UID biometric authentication of such payment transactions. With this solution, payment transactions will be performed using the Aadhaar authentication infrastructure and MasterCard’s authorization, clearing and settlement infrastructure.
“MasterCard is proud to collaborate with the UIDAI in enabling financial inclusion for a significant portion of the Indian population by facilitating payments.” said Mr. T.V. Seshadri, General Manager, South Asia, MasterCard Worldwide. “MasterCard has been at the forefront of driving secure payment transactions in India and strongly believes the Aadhaar initiative will have a radical and transformative impact on the payments industry in India. It is indeed a decisive step for MasterCard towards achieving our national goal of displacing cash with electronic payments and opening up immense payment possibilities in India. MasterCard is confident that this state-of-the-art solution also brings safety, security, speed and efficiency in the evolving payment industry”.
For the proof-of-concept, MasterCard has integrated and collaborated with ElectraCard Services Pvt. Ltd. (ECS) and Integra Micro Systems (P) Ltd. (Integra) for front-end processing and terminal deployment respectively. Today’s demonstration will showcase a working model of this integration that brings advantages of scale, flexibility and innovation.
ECS provides enterprise solutions and third party processing services around credit, debit and prepaid card management and EFT switching to financial institutions across 25 countries. As part of its product innovation strategy, ECS has enhanced its electra platform to process UID biometric enabled transactions, thus providing a secure and convenient payment mechanism for Aadhaar holders.
Integra Micro Systems is a leading technology & service provider for several leading Banks in India. The International Award winning terminal, iMFAST, is a popular front end device for use in the Financial Inclusion program that includes Aadhaar, NREGA and e-governance solutions. Integra is playing a vital role in the financial integration program by way of significant investments in new generation innovative solutions.
Each Unique ID number costs Rs 100: Nilekani
February 12, 2011 at 8:34 am | Posted in Nandan Nilekani, The Market | Comments Off on Each Unique ID number costs Rs 100: Nilekanihttp://www.hindustantimes.com/Each-Unique-ID-number-costs-Rs-100-Nilekani/H1-Article1-633800.aspx
New Delhi, December 03, 2010
Last Updated: 09:31 IST(3/12/2010)
(UID) and another Rs.50 on back-end costs, he said.
In his address at the annual Rajinder Mathur Memorial Lecture here, Nilekani said that the aadhaar number will help in making public expenditure more equitable and in building new services for the people.
Nilekani, who took questions after speaking of benefits of the UID, said the country needed well-defined privacy laws to prevent any malicious use of data.
Answering queries about the demand by social activists like Aruna Roy and Jean Dreze against linking the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGA) to the UID, he said that the number should not be used in a way that it denies benefits to anyone.
“Aadhar should not be a basis of discrimination,” he said.
The social activists had, in a statement, said plans to link MGNREGA to Aadhaar should be revoked as it “threatens to cause havoc” in the fragile structure of the scheme that provides for 100 days of jobs a year to rural households.
Nilekani said the UID can be sufficient identity to open a bank account or get a mobile phone SIM card. Pointing out that penetration of banks was quite low in rural areas, he said the UID can facilitate extending banking to every village.
The UID number will also be beneficial for people who migrate from one part of the country to the other, he added.
Answering queries about possibility of data being misused, he said that the only service provided by the UIDAI was authentication.
“UID is one part of privacy issue. We need a larger privacy and data protection law,” he said.
Nilekani said he wrote to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on the issue in May and the government has come out with an approach paper to elicit the people’s viewse.
He said the authority’s target was to provide the UID to 600 million Indian residents in the next four years.
The lecture was organized by the Editors Guild of India.
Intelligence agencies keen to tap data base
February 12, 2011 at 8:04 am | Posted in Infrastructure, Privacy Law, Problems | Comments Off on Intelligence agencies keen to tap data basehttp://www.thehindubusinessline.in/2010/12/02/stories/2010120254020400.htm
Intelligence agencies keen to tap data base
| UNIQUE ID. |
Rahul Wadke
Mumbai, Dec. 1
Human rights activist and other advocacy groups have been raising a hue and cry over the recently launched unique identification programme over privacy issues. But intelligence and investigation agencies see it as an opportunity for extracting information.
The programme is being implemented by Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) with a mandate to issue every resident in India a unique identification number (UID) linked to the resident’s demographic and biometric information. With this, they can identify themselves anywhere in India, and access a host of benefits and services.
A number of banks, insurance companies, financial institutions, and government departments such as the Rationing Department, have also entered into Memoranda of Understanding with UIDAI for enrolling citizens into the UID system.
These organisations are acting as registrars for the UIDAI. In a couple of years these registrars will use the UID numbers to accurately identify account holders and beneficiaries. It is this vast customer database which is being created that the investigative and intelligence agencies are the most keen to tap.
Former chief of National Investigation Agency Mr Radha Vinod Raju said that at times anti-national elements dealing in fake currency use PAN cards to open accounts in banks. But with UIDs, it would be easy to get all details of bank accounts, addresses and other details of such suspects, “It will yield easily traceable tracks of suspected persons,” he said.
He said sometimes criminals commit offences in the country and then move overseas. If the agency has biometric data like fingerprints and iris scans then it will become easy to extradite the suspect.
“The UID would help in getting impeccable evidence which could be used for getting a warrant and search and seizure notice. The weight of the judiciary would be behind the agencies,” Mr Raju said.
According to a senior intelligence officer, tracking hardened criminals and terrorists at times can be very difficult as they are always on the move and have many aliases. The UID with its interlinked database could supply more information on them.
“Currently if we track a suspect to a particular house or a flat, our teams have to go to the Census and Rationing offices and dig out the data on the family staying there, but the process is time-consuming. If we make any enquires in the vicinity of the house, then there are a chances that it may alert the suspect. But with UID linked to the Rationing offices, we would get the information in real time,” the officer said.
Data security
Vast amounts of personal data in Government offices are also vulnerable to theft and misuse, therefore data needs to be accessed only by authorised personnel.
Mr Shantanu Ghosh, Vice-President, India Product Operations, Symantec, said that putting the right data security measures in place, involves first defining policies around who can access confidential information. Sharing of data between different arms of the government will require the authorities to find methods of spelling them out and enforcing these policies, he said.
UIDAI to join banks for financial products
February 12, 2011 at 8:02 am | Posted in Additional business, Infrastructure | Comments Off on UIDAI to join banks for financial productshttp://www.business-standard.com/india/news/uidai-to-join-banks-for-financial-products/416551/
| UIDAI to join banks for financial products |
| BS Reporter / Chennai/ Hyderabad November 30, 2010, 0:37 IST |
The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) is looking at the possibility of partnering public sector banks to co-design Aadhaar-enabled financial products, V S Bhaskar, deputy director general of UIDAI, said here on Thursday.
“We are currently weighing this option and would sign memoranda of understanding (MoUs) with banks at an appropriate time to implement the same,” he told reporters, while refusing to comment further.
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UIDAI today signed an MoU with State Bank of Hyderabad (SBH), following which it will act as a registrar for the unique identification project Aadhaar. |
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According to the agreement, SBH, the 16th bank to be roped in by the UIDAI so far, will execute the enrollment exercise through its over 1,200 bank branches spread across 14 states and two Union territories.
SBH has also been allotted five districts in Andhra Pradesh for the implementation of smart card project for EBT (electronic benefits transfer) payments. While Nellore and Adilabad districts were allotted under one-district-one-bank model, Mahabubnagar, Karimnagar and Medak districts were allotted under service area. The payment through the EBT mode will start by the end of next month.
Stating that SBH had drawn a detailed road map for the implementation of the financial inclusion plan, SBH managing director Renu Challu said the bank would be covering 318 villages in Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka with 1.4 million population in Phase I, which will be completed by March 2011.
“In Phase II, we will be covering the remaining 750 villages with a population of 3.13 million. This would be completed by March 2012. Implementation of the total financial inclusion plan will be through kiosk and point-of-sale model, facilitating both enrollment and operations,” she added.
“Of the total 1.3 million beneficiaries, we have so far issued 900,000 biometric smart cards — which also have a provision for UIDAI — as part of the financial inclusion plan. Whether we can use the same card for UIDAI that has to be looked at, going forward,” she said.
UIDAI and PSBs will together design financial products
February 10, 2011 at 2:34 pm | Posted in Additional business, Infrastructure, Process | Comments Off on UIDAI and PSBs will together design financial products| UIDAI and PSBs will together design financial products |
| By Ankit Sharma |
| Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) is planning to join hands with public sector banks in creating financial products suited to ‘Aadhaar’. The information was given by VS Bhaskar, deputy director general of UIDAI.
“We are currently weighing this option and would sign memoranda of understanding (MoUs) with banks at an appropriate time to implement the same,” he said. State Bank of Hyderabad is the recent bank to have tied up with UIDAI as its registrar. As per the agreement, the bank will take forward UIDAI’s enrollment process through its 1200 branches which are present across 14 states and 2 union territories. The bank has also been given the responsibility of implementing smart card project for EBT (electronic benefits transfer) payments across 5 districts of Andhra Pradesh where it majorly operates. The service will start from the coming month. As per the financial inclusion plan is concerned, MD of the bank, Renu Challu said that the bank would be encompassing 318 villages in Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka thereby engulfing 1.4 million population in the first phase of the project which is aimed to be completed in March 2011. “In Phase II, we will be covering the remaining 750 villages with a population of 3.13 million. This would be completed by March 2012. Implementation of the total financial inclusion plan will be through kiosk and point-of-sale model, facilitating both enrolment and operations,” she added. “Of the total 1.3 million beneficiaries, we have so far issued 900,000 biometric smart cards — which also have a provision for UIDAI — as part of the financial inclusion plan. Whether we can use the same card for UIDAI that has to be looked at, going forward,” she said. |
Oriental Bank sets eyes on expanding overseas business
February 10, 2011 at 2:29 pm | Posted in Additional business, Infrastructure, New Business | Comments Off on Oriental Bank sets eyes on expanding overseas businesshttp://www.thehindu.com/business/companies/article898641.ece
Oriental Bank sets eyes on expanding overseas business
SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT
Launches the process of enrolment for ‘Aadhar’ project
Setting its eyes on expanding business overseas, Oriental Bank of Commerce (OBC) on Friday announced that it hoped to launch its Dubai operations in the next three months and was looking at opening another four branches in other countries.
Talking to newsmen here to launch the process of enrolment for the Unique Identification Authority of India’s (UIDAI) ‘Aadhar’ project, bank Chairman and Managing Director T. Y. Prabhu said the bank expected to receive Reserve Bank of India’s nod for setting up its first overseas branch in Dubai in the next three months.
Plans branches abroad
The bank plans to have a total of three branches abroad in three-four years as part of plans to meet the funding requirement of Indian companies working in foreign markets.
The first overseas branch is planned at the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC). “We have asked for approval from RBI and we are waiting for the permission for the branch in DIFC. I think we should get the permission within the next three months. Then we will apply to DIFC,” he added.
“According to our medium-term objective, we envisage setting up of at least three overseas branches within 3-4 years. We have not identified all the locations and the entire process of opening a foreign branch generally takes between one and one-and-a-half years,” he said.
The bank had already announced plans for major domestic expansion, involving the addition of 500 new branches by 2012-13, including 175 this year.
The bank currently operates 1,555 branches across the country, catering to a 1.6 crore-strong client base.
OBC is among the 22 financial sector players to have entered into a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Nandan Nilekani-headed UIDAI.
Mr. Prabhu said the bank would provide UID number cards to all 16,000 of its employees and 1.6-crore clients, besides the populace of all 570 villages put under its charge by the RBI as part of the government’s financial inclusion programme.
Mr. Prabhu, however, said the bank has not fixed any timeframe for completion of the enrolment process.
Visa cards for those registered with UIDAI
February 8, 2011 at 2:34 pm | Posted in New Business, UID Propaganda | Comments Off on Visa cards for those registered with UIDAI16 NOV, 2010, 04.34AM IST,ET BUREAU
Visa cards for those registered with UIDAI
Visa is partnering TSYS — a US-based tech company that focuses on credit card transactions — to help it use biometric verification for issue of cards. With this technology in place, the card company can check the applicant’s credentials by verifying his fingerprints or iris impression.
The UIADI, through the Aadhaar scheme, aims to provide every Indian with a unique identity number which can be ascertained by his fingerprints or iris impression. The authority plans to issue Aadhaar numbers to 600 million residents over the next four years, with a 100 million expected to be enrolled in the first year.
According to Visa, a very small proportion of the Indian population has bank accounts. As a part of the proposed solution, once an individual enrolls into Aadhaar, the partner bank can issue a Visa payment card (linked to his/her Aadhaar).
Visa group executive Elizabeth Buse said: “Many Indians have little or no access to the banking system in India. Now they will be able to benefit from all the security, reliability and convenience that a Visa payments card has to offer. This is a ground-breaking initiative and a great example of a public-private partnership in action. I am delighted that Visa is part of such an important project in India.”
Over 1,000 get degrees at Thapar varsity convocation
February 8, 2011 at 2:06 pm | Posted in Labor | Comments Off on Over 1,000 get degrees at Thapar varsity convocationhttp://www.indianexpress.com/news/over-1-000-get-degrees-at-thapar-varsity-convocation/710487/
Over 1,000 get degrees at Thapar varsity convocation
Over 1,000 students were today conferred degrees at the 24th Convocation of Thapar University, here today. Nandan Nilekani, Chairman of the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), Pawan Munjal, Managing Director of Hero Honda and Gautam Thapar, President, Thapar University and Chairman, Avantha Group presided over the ceremony.
Abhijit Mukherjee, Director, Thapar University conferred the degrees to the graduating students. Gautam Thapar and Mukherjee also discussed Thapar University’s `Vision 2030′ with the students. Nandan Nilekani was awarded a Doctor of Science (Honoris Causa) for his outstanding contribution to, and remarkable achievement in, economic sciences and politics.
Gautam Thapar, President of Thapar University and Chairman Avantha Group *said, “I congratulate all the students who have graduated today and wish them a bright future. I have full confidence that the university will continue to inspire the present and coming generations of Thaparians to explore new frontiers of knowledge.”
Director of Thapar University, Abhijit Mukherjee said, “My heartiest congratulations and best wishes to all graduates receiving their degrees today, and 30 graduates receiving the awards/medals for their outstanding achievements.”
“I am sure through responsible and innovative use of their knowledge, the students will make this world a better place to live,” he added.
Morpho successfully issuance of India’s first UIDAI number
February 8, 2011 at 1:59 pm | Posted in Additional business, Infrastructure | Comments Off on Morpho successfully issuance of India’s first UIDAI numberhttp://www.secureidnews.com/2010/11/09/morpho-issues-first-uidai-number-in-india
Morpho successfully issuance of India’s first UIDAI number |
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Tera Software to empanelment with Unique Identification Authority of India (AADHAAR) project, a prestigious project of Government of India to enroll 120 crore population, as T2F4 vendor in 15 States
February 8, 2011 at 1:52 pm | Posted in New Business | Comments Off on Tera Software to empanelment with Unique Identification Authority of India (AADHAAR) project, a prestigious project of Government of India to enroll 120 crore population, as T2F4 vendor in 15 States
Tera Software stock jumps on bagging UID project |
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Morpho successfully issuance of India’s first UIDAI number
February 8, 2011 at 1:48 pm | Posted in New Business | Comments Off on Morpho successfully issuance of India’s first UIDAI number
Morpho successfully issuance of India’s first UIDAI number |
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