Tag: Modi government

India’s use of facial recognition technology during protests causes stir

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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When artist Rachita Taneja heads out to protest in New Delhi, she covers her face with a pollution mask, a hoodie or a scarf to reduce the risk of being identified by police facial recognition software.

Police in the Indian capital and the northern state of Uttar Pradesh – both hotbeds of dissent – have used the technology during protests that have raged since mid-December against a new citizenship law that critics say marginalises Muslims.

Activists are worried about insufficient regulation around the new technology, amid what they say is a crackdown on dissent under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, whose Hindu nationalist agenda has gathered pace since his re-election in May.

“I do not know what they are going to do with my data,” said Taneja, 28, who created a popular online cartoon about cheap ways for protesters to hide their faces. “We need to protect ourselves, given how this government cracks down.”

Critics also accuse authorities of secrecy – highlighting, for instance, that the software’s use during Delhi protests was first revealed by the Indian Express newspaper.

India’s home ministry did not immediately respond to requests for comment on facial recognition technology.

Modi’s government has rejected accusations of abuse during demonstrations, and accused some protesters of stoking violence.

A spokesman for his ruling Bharatiya Janata Party had no immediate comment on concerns over the use of the technology and referred questions to the government.

But police said worries about facial recognition were unwarranted.

“I’m only catching targeted people,” said Rajan Bhagat, a deputy commissioner of police at Delhi’s Crime Records Office. “We don’t have any protesters’ data, nor do we plan to store it.”

He declined to give details of potential arrests, however.

When it comes to surveillance, India trails far behind neighbouring China. New Delhi, for example, has about 0.9 CCTV cameras for every 100 people, versus about 11.3 per 100 in China’s commercial hub of Shanghai, a 2019 report by PreciseSecurity.com showed.

The Delhi police use Indian startup Innefu Labs’ facial recognition software AI Vision, which also includes gait and body analysis.

“If somebody is throwing stones at a police officer, doesn’t he have a right to take a video and identify him?” said Innefu co-founder Tarun Wig, 36.

Police in about 10 Indian states use Innefu products, Wig said.

Financial fraud analytics are among the services provided by Innefu, which published a social media analysis in January that concluded much criticism of the new citizenship law came from archenemy Pakistan to “destabilize the harmony” of India.

The company is representative of homegrown artificial intelligence startups tapping into booming demand for facial biometrics in India, in part thanks to their testing on Indian faces and more affordable prices.

A few established foreign firms, such as Japanese telecommunications and IT giant NEC Corp, also operate in India, where the market is expected to grow from about $700 million in 2018 to more than $4 billion by 2024, TechSci Research said in a report.

UTTAR PRADESH ARRESTS

Facial recognition helped police in Uttar Pradesh, home to 220 million people, detain a “handful” of the more than 1,100 people arrested for alleged links to violence during protests, said O P Singh, its police chief who retired last month.

Singh gave no details but said the technology helped cut the numbers of wrongful arrests and highlighted the state’s extensive database of more than 550,000 “criminals”.

Rights groups have decried what they call excessive force in Uttar Pradesh, which has the largest number of representatives in parliament and is governed by hardline Hindu priest and Modi ally Yogi Adityanath.

The state says tough policies have restored order.

Startup Staqu is supplying its product, the Police Artificial Intelligence System, to police in eight states, including Uttar Pradesh, says the firm’s co-founder, Atul Rai.

Fears of mass surveillance in India were exaggerated, said Rai, 30, citing difficulties in collecting information because of India’s large population of 1.3 billion. But there was a need for regulation to avoid potential problems, he added.

Police should have clear rules on use of facial recognition technology and there should be disclosure of the software’s audits and algorithms, the non-profit Internet Freedom Foundation says.

“What India is seeing is a kind of personal data Wild West,” said its executive director Apar Gupta.

PAN-INDIA FACIAL RECOGNITION

Law enforcement across India could soon be using facial recognition technology.

Modi’s government is seeking bids to create a nationwide database, the National Automated Facial Recognition System, to help match images captured from CCTV cameras with existing databases, including those of passport and police authorities.

A foreign firm is expected to win the contract, since the bid terms require firms’ algorithms to be evaluated by the United States’ National Institute of Standards and Technology. Both Innefu and Staqu said they were not bidding.

Japanese firm NEC’s India subsidiary helped develop the Aadhaar biometrics identity system and supplies facial recognition technology to law enforcement in the diamond industry hub of Surat in western Gujarat state.

The software has not been used during protests, however, the city’s police commissioner, R B Brahmbhatt, told Reuters.

NEC spokesman Shinya Hashizume declined to comment on whether the company was bidding to build the nationwide database.

The system will boost police efficiency, says the National Crime Records Bureau, which launched the tender that closes at the end of March.

But critics say it puts India on the path to China-style mass surveillance.

Worried about being identified, a 21-year-old Muslim protester in New Delhi has adopted the pseudonym Moosa Ali and sometimes covers his face with handkerchiefs.

“We don’t know enough about these things, but we are trying to take some precautions,” he said.

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KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Budget 2020: Corporate bond limit being hiked from 9% to 15% is a significant step, says former finance secy

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Decoding the fineprint of the Union Budget 2020 that was presented by the finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Subhash Chandra Garg Former Finance Secretary said the tax assumptions made were of about Rs 1.45 lakh crore less than the BE numbers but believe they are a little on the higher side.

“My estimates suggest that there would be a shortfall of about Rs 2.5 lakh crore. But I hope with better compliance or not allowing input credit or something else, if they can get to that number of Rs 1.45 lakh crore, it would be better,” he said, adding that next year’s growth rate seems to be very reasonable.

When asked about the divestment number, he said, “Disinvestment receipts apparently look very high. The numbers suggests that Rs 1.20 lakh crore is estimated to come from the non-financial entities. Additionally, Rs 90,000 crore has been taken as credit from the financial entities but we have not done much of the disinvestment on the financial side – the only two candidates are LIC and IDBI Bank, he said in an interview with CNBC-TV18.

According to him, LIC IPO would require a lot of effort but most of the Rs 90,000 crore would likely come from the IPO than IDBI stake sale.

When asked about measures announced with regards to bond markets, he said, one good measure was corporate bond limit is being raised from 9 percent to 15 percent, which is a substantial  move up but there was no announcement on government bond limit being raised and if they are not raised then inclusion in indices will not materialise. So, I am not very  optimistic about being in global bond indices next year but move on corporate bond is good, he added.

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KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Budget 2020: Startups will be focus area for the govt, says Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Discussing some aspects of the Union Budget 2020, Piyush Goyal, Minister of Commerce and Minister of Railways said, “The important thing is that the startup world has been recognized as an important pillar. Not only have the ESOPs been given to time but also turnover clause limit for startups has been increased from Rs 25 crore to Rs 100 crore. The period of eligibility for claiming their income tax benefits has been increased from 7 years to 10 years. They can get the income tax benefit once they have come into track, once they have improved their operations.”

“The bigger message that the honorable finance minister has given is that we recognize that in the emerging new age world where technology plays an important role, innovation plays an important role, startups will also be a focus area of the government of India,” he added.

Furthermore he said, “Startup ESOPs will be charged at the point of sale or at the end of five-year whichever is earlier.”

On customs duty hike, Goyal said, “The honorable finance minister assessed all those items which we had said are being imported very often through indirect subsidies in foreign countries, which we are not able to countervail in India. Very often because of certain flexibilities in the FTAs which were decided 10 years ago, we have goods which are coming into the country. So the honorable finance minister has done a plethora of steps for those which come in through the FTA route, but circumvent country of origin rules or do not necessarily have equivalence with Indian taxes, she has confirmed that she will be taking action on those goods separately.”

“She has in a way addressed the concerns of domestic industry through several steps in different directions,” he said, adding that going forward they would keep assessing the import basket, whether any of the products are unfairly imported into the country.

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Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

India Budget 2020: Govt proposes health cess on import of medical equipment

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday proposed to impose a nominal health cess on import of medical equipment to boost the domestic medical devices sector and generate resources for health services.

In her second Budget speech, Sitharaman said till a few years back India was dependent on imports for medical equipment. Now, not only is the country manufacturing medical equipment but also exporting them in large quantities.

Stating that this sector deserves further fillip, she said the government is committed to provide health services to all and Ayushman Bharat has made it possible.

“To achieve the twin objectives of giving impetus to the domestic industry and also to generate resource for health services, I propose to impose a nominal health cess, by way of a duty of customs, on the imports of medical equipment keeping in view that these goods are now being made significantly in India,” Sitharaman said.

The proceeds from this cess shall be used for creating infrastructure for health services in the aspirational districts, she added.

“Our policy of Make in India has started giving dividends. India is now making world class goods and exporting such products,” Sitharaman said.

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Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Budget 2020: Highways development to be accelerated including 9k km eco corridor;Del-Mum expressway in 3-years

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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To augment infrastructure, an accelerated highways development programme will be taken up that includes 9,000 kms of economic corridor and 2,500 kms of access-controlled highways, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Saturday.

Besides, 2,000 kms each of coastal roads and strategic highways will be constructed, the finance minister said while presenting the Union Budget 2020-21 in Parliament.

“Accelerated development of highways to be undertaken. This will involve construction of 2,500 kms of access-controlled highways, 9,000 kms of economic corridors, 2,000 kms of coastal roads, and 2,000 kms of strategic highways,” she said.

Sitharaman said the Delhi-Mumbai expressway will be completed in three years, in addition to two more express highway projects.

Work will also start on the Chennai project, she said.

Terming a sound highways network essential to propel the economy, the Economic Survey on Friday had said the highways sector needs Rs 19.63 lakh crore investment by 2024-25.

Total investment in the roads and highway sector has gone up more than three times in the five-year period of 2014-15 to 2018-19, the Survey had said.

Of about 59.64 lakh kms of roads in India, total length of National Highways was 1.32 lakh kms as on March 1, 2019.

“The pace at which roads have been constructed has grown significantly from 17 km per day in 2015-16 to 29.7 km per day in 2018-19,” it said.

Road transport is the dominant mode of transportation in terms of its contribution to Gross Value Added (GVA) and traffic share.

The share of transport sector in the GVA for 2017-18 was about 4.77 per cent, of which the share of road transport is the largest at 3.06 per cent, followed by railways (0.75 per cent), air transport (0.15 per cent) and water transport (0.06 per cent).

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Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Union Budget 2020: FM Sitharaman says at least one major port to be corporatised, listed

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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To improve the efficiency of ports in the country, the government will set up a framework and look at corporatisation of at least one major port followed by subsequent listing on stock exchanges, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Saturday.

Presenting the Union Budget for 2020-21, Sitharaman said the ports performance have improved and government is taking steps to further enhance their efficiency.

“Sea ports have improved… Government will come out with a framework for ports and will look into corporatising at least one major port and subsequently its listing on stock exchanges,” Sitharaman said.

The government has been striving to improve the operational efficiencies of ports through mechanisation, digitisation and process simplification.

Major ports in the country have an installed capacity of 1,514.09 million tonne per annum as in March, 2019 and handled traffic of 699.09 MT during 2018-19.

As per the Economic Survey, “the average turnaround time in 2018-19 improved to 59.51 hrs as against 64.43 hrs in 2017-18. The average output per ship berth day has increased from 15,333 tonnes in 2017-18 to 16,541 tonnes in 2018-19.”

India has 12 major ports — Deendayal (erstwhile Kandla), Mumbai, JNPT, Mormugao, New Mangalore, Cochin, Chennai, Kamarajar (earlier Ennore), V O Chidambaranar, Visakhapatnam, Paradip and Kolkata (including Haldia).

These ports had recorded a marginal 0.98 per cent growth in cargo volumes at 524.02 million tonnes (MT) during the April-December 2019 period.

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Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Budget 2020: Govt says scheme to provide subordinate debt to MSME entrepreneurs to be introduced

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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The government on Saturday said a scheme will be introduced to provide subordinate debt to MSME entrepreneurs.

The government has also asked the Reserve Bank to extend the Debt Restructuring window for micro, small and medium enterprises by a year to March 31, 2021, in measures aimed at imparting a thrust to the MSME sector, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said while presenting the Budget for 2020-21.

“An app-based invoice financing loans product will be launched. This will obviate the problem of delayed payments and consequential cash flow mismatches for the MSMEs”.

She said necessary amendments will be made to the Factor Regulation Act 2011 to enable non banking financial companies (NBFCs) to extend invoice financing to the MSMEs through TReDS thereby enhancing the economic and financial sustainability.

“Working capital credit remains a major issue for MSMEs. It is proposed to introduce a scheme to provide subordinate debt for entrepreneurs of MSMEs. This subordinate debt to be provided by banks would count as quasi equity and would be fully guaranteed through the Credit Guarantee Trust for the Medium and Small Entrepreneurs,” Sitharaman observed.

TReDS is an institutional mechanism to facilitate the trade receivable financing of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) from corporate buyers through multiple financiers.

Highlighting that more than five lakh MSMEs have permitted from restructuring of debt permitted by RBI in the last year, she said the restructuring window was to end on March 31, 2020 but the government has asked RBI to consider extending this window till March 31, 2021.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Budget 2020: Clean, reliable, robust financial sector key to achieve $5 trillion economy, says FM

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday said a clean, reliable and robust financial sector is required for achieving the ambitious target of USD 5 trillion economy.

Presenting the Budget for 2020-21, Sitharaman said robust mechanism is in place to monitor health of all commercial banks and asserted that depositors’ money is absolutely safe.

She noted that Rs 3.50 lakh crore capital has been infused in public sector banks in past years, while acknowledging that there is a need for greater private capital in banks.

Sitharaman further said the government plans amendment to facilitate separation of government pension trust from Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA).

She also said the government’s balance holding in IDBI bank will be sold to private retail investors.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Union Budget 2020: Here are the fund allocations announced by FM Sitharaman

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented the Union Budget 2020 in the Parliament on Saturday with the key announcements being the new tax slabs, proposal to raise banks’ deposit insurance, LIC IPO launch, among others.

The government vowed to boost the income of Indians and their purchasing power, in a bid to revive domestic economic growth that has slumped. Sitharaman has said that the government is committed to doubling farmers’ income by 2022 and allocated Rs 2.83 lakh crore for agriculture and rural development.

Here are the fund allocations announced for FY21: 

Rs 2.83 lakh crore for agri and rural development, down 10 percent vs last year

Rs 1.7 lakh crore for transportation, 8 percent increase vs last year

Rs 69,000 crore for healthcare, 7 percent increase vs last year

Rs 99,300 crore for education, 4.7 percent increase vs last year

Agri credit target at Rs 15 lakh crore, 15 percent increase vs last year

Rs 1.23 lakh crore for rural development, Panchayati Raj, down 18 percent vs last year

Rs 1,480 crore for textile mission

Rs 27,300 crore for development of Industry & Commerce

Rs 22,000 crore to Power & Renewable sector

Rs 6,000 crore for BharatNet program

Rs 8,000 crore over 5 years for National Mission on Quantum Technology

Proposed Rs 35,600 crore for nutrition-related plans

Rs 12,300 crore for Swachh Bharat Mission

Rs 3.6 lakh crore for Jal Jivan Mission

Rs 28,600 crore for women-centric programmes.

Rs 85,000 crore for Scheduled Castes and OBCs.

Rs 53,700 crore for Scheduled Tribes

Rs 9,500 crore for senior citizens and handicapped

Rs 3,100 crore for Ministry of Culture

Rs 2,500 crore for tourism promotion

Proposed Rs 4,400 crore for clean air

Follow our live blog here for all the latest updates on the Union Budget 2020

Get the full coverage of the Union Budget 2020 here

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Union Budget 2020: FM proposes to increase turnover of GeM platform to Rs 3 lakh cr

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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In her budget speech, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday said the government looks to increase the turnover of the commerce ministry’s public procurement portal GeM to Rs 3 lakh crore.

The ministry launched Government e-Marketplace (GeM), an online platform for public procurement, in August 2016 with the objective of creating an open and transparent procurement platform for government departments.

“GeM is moving ahead for creating a unified procurement system in the country for providing a single platform for procurement of goods, services and works. It also has a great opportunity for MSMEs. It is proposed to take its turnover to Rs three lakh crores,” she said while presenting the Budget for 2020-21.

She said that currently 3.24 lakh vendors are registered on this platform.

Public procurement worth Rs 50,000 crore is expected to take place through GeM during 2019-20, up from Rs 33,366 crore in the previous year.

The minister also proposed to provide about Rs 27,300 crore for development and promotion of industry and commerce for 2020-21.

At present, government departments, ministries, public sector units, state governments, and Central Armed Police Forces are allowed to carry out transactions through this portal.

According to GeM, 3,24,225 sellers and service providers have registered with the portal so far to sell 18,50,045 products and 20,470 services.

The government has made it mandatory for all the departments and ministries to source goods and services from its e-marketplace.

The portal provides a wide range of products from office stationery to vehicles. Automobiles, computers and office furniture are currently the top product categories.

Services, including transportation, logistics, waste management, web casting and analytical, among others, are listed on the portal.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow