Security Breach

Last year, Saudi Aramco, which buys naphtha from ONGC, received an e-mail asking it to deposit Rs 100 crore for its latest purchase in a new bank account with Bangkok Bank Public Company Ltd instead of the usual State Bank of India account. The Saudi Arabia-based company did so in September. Same month, it deposited…

Three nationalisms

“Jab lal lal laharayega, tab hosh thikane ayega.” “Bhagwa jab laharayega, tab hosh thikane ayega.” “Tiranga jab laharayega, tab hosh thikane ayega.” These three slogans are largely symbolic of the three kinds of nationalism seen on campus — left, right and Nehruvian. The first two are extremist, exclusionist, and imported. They selectively adhere to the…

Trends 2016: Digitization, a top priority

The robust growth of India’s information technology industry is attributed to a multitude of factors including growing middle class, rising disposable income and various government initiatives such as broadband connectivity to villages, rural electrification and e-governance programs. The government’s “Digital India” program aims to reach every citizen’s home and office. To increase technology penetration across…

5 yrs after RTE, schools lack amenities

Pune: Lack of playgrounds and electricity connections, inadequate teachers, no compound are some of the shortcomings found by NGO ‘Samarthan’ in the 97,000 primary schools in the state.A report of the facilities absent in state schools after five years of implementation of the Right to Education (RTE) Act has been submitted to the state government.…

Shyam Ponappa: Breakthroughs needed for Digital India

It helps to remind oneself of the scale of Digital India, its magnitude and sweep: to provide e-governance and other e-services everywhere, including 250,000 gram panchayats serving another 400,000 villages. That includes all the backbone and aggregation networks, and institutional processes to get there. The links indigitalindia.gov.in, such as https://www.bbnl.nic.in/, illustrate what’s involved – and…