What is the Financial Resolution and Deposit Insurance Bill 2017

What is the Financial Resolution and Deposit Insurance Bill 2017
The FRDI Bill seeks to decrease the time and costs involved in resolving distressed financial entities

The Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has approved the Financial Resolution and Deposit Insurance (FRDI) Bill, 2017 to be introduced in the Parliament. This Bill is similar to the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016, which was enacted last year in May. Both of these are about issues that can arise when companies go bankrupt or insolvent, except that this Bill deals only with the companies that are in the financial sector. The insolvency code Act deals with companies in all other sectors. The FRDI will provide a comprehensive resolution framework to deal with bankruptcy situations in financial sector entities such as banks and insurance companies. Let’s read more about the Bill.

Background
In his 2016-17 budget speech, Union finance minister Arun Jaitley said, “A systemic vacuum exists with regard to bankruptcy situations in financial firms. A comprehensive Code on Resolution of Financial Firms will be introduced as a Bill in the Parliament during 2016-17.” Following the announcement, on 15 March 2016, a committee was set up under the chairmanship of Ajay Tyagi, additional secretary, Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance, to draft and submit the Bill. The committee also had representatives of the financial sector regulatory authorities and the Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation.

The committee submitted its report and based it the draft FRDI Bill was drawn up. The finance ministry sought comments on the Bill till 31 October 2016 and after consideration of the suggestions, the Union Cabinet approved it to introduce it in the Parliament.

What the Bill offers
According to the finance ministry, FRDI Bill, 2017 seeks to protect customers of financial service providers in times of financial distress.

It also aims to inculcate discipline among financial service providers in the event of financial crises, by limiting the use of public money to bail out distressed entities.

The Bill would help in maintaining financial stability in the economy by ensuring adequate preventive measures, while at the same time providing the necessary instruments for dealing with crisis events.

The Bill aims to strengthen and streamline the current framework of deposit insurance for the benefit of retail depositors.

Further, it seeks to decrease the time and costs involved in resolving distressed financial entities.

Once enacted, a resolution corporation will be setup to strengthen the stability and resilience of the entities in the financial sector.
What the Bill seeks to do

The FRDI Bill is part of a larger, more comprehensive approach by the Centre towards systematic resolution of all financial firms — banks, insurance companies and other financial intermediaries. The Bill comes together with the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code to spell out the procedure for the winding up or revival of an ailing company.

The need for a specific regulation rose following the 2008 financial crisis, which witnessed a large number of high-profile bankruptcies. With the Centre also actively encouraging people to engage more with the banking sector — both through schemes like Jan Dhan Yojana and moves like demonetisation — it becomes critical to protect savers and those joining the formal economy in case a bank or insurance firm starts failing.

The Bill’s main provisions

The Bill provides for the setting up of a Resolution Corporation — to replace the existing Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation — which will be tasked with monitoring financial firms, anticipating their risk of failure, taking corrective action and resolving them in case of failure. The corporation is also tasked with providing deposit insurance up to a certain limit yet to be specified, in the event of a bank failure.

The Corporation will also be tasked with classifying financial firms on their risk of failure — low, moderate, material, imminent, or critical. It will take over the management of a company once it is deemed critical.

Concerns abound

Among other tools, the FRDI Bill also empowers the Corporation to bail-in the company. While a bail-out is the use of public funds to inject capital into an ailing company, a bail-in involves the use of depositors’ funds to achieve those ends. This can be done either by cancelling the bank’s liabilities, or converting them into other forms, such as equity.

This has caused a lot of concern among depositors who are worried they may lose their hard-earned money deposited with banks. However, the fact is that the risk is no more or no less than it ever was. The Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation provides deposit insurance of up to ₹1 lakh. The rest is forfeited in the event of a bank failure. The FRDI Bill has not specified the insured amount yet, but it is unlikely to be lower than that amount, as the limit was set way back in 1993.

Much ado about ‘bail-in’ and FRDI Bill

Much ado about ‘bail-in’ and FRDI Bill
The strong voices against the FRDI Bill seem to be ill-informed, as protecting the interest of depositors has all along been the topmost priority of RBI
In the early 1990s when India’s banking law was amended to bring down the 100% government’s stake in its banks to 51%, there were all-round protests and the trade unions took to the streets. The so-called crony capitalism which spoils the quality of assets of government-owned banks, leading to periodic recapitalisation of such banks, also draws flak from different quarters. But none can match the mass hysteria that is being created by the Financial Resolution and Deposit Insurance Bill (FRDI), 2017.

While the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code deals with the corporations that have taken money from the banks but are unable to pay back, the FRDI Bill outlines how the insolvency of a financial intermediary—banks, non-banks and even insurance firms—can be tackled. The need for such a regulation stemmed from the 2008 global financial crisis which killed iconic US investment bank Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. and brought many large financial intermediaries to their knees, forcing large-scale bailouts by governments.

The bill envisages setting up of a resolution corporation which will replace the existing Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation or DICGC. Established in 1978, DICGC is a Reserve Bank of India (RBI) arm that offers an insurance cover of up to Rs1 lakh to the depositors. The proposed corporation will closely monitor financial companies, classify them in accordance with their risk profiles and step in to resolve in case of a failure (this could mean taking over a financial company).

Till here, the narrative flows quite smoothly. It takes a different turn when the bill empowers the corporation to “bail-in” a failing financial company. What’s that? A “bail-in” involves rescuing a financial institution on the brink of failure by making its creditors and depositors take a loss on their holdings. It is the opposite of a “bail-out”, which involves the rescue of a financial institution by external agencies, typically governments, using taxpayers’ money. In other words, instead of the government rescuing a failing bank or any other financial intermediary by infusing capital, depositors’ funds are being proposed to be used for this purpose. So, the depositors run the risk of losing their money or facing inordinate delays in realizing the money—and that too may not be the full amount as deposits may get converted into other financial instruments such as equity or a quasi-equity.

Will the existing deposit cover of Rs1 lakh be taken away? The answer is an emphatic no. All depositors will continue to enjoy that.

There has been a demand from certain quarters that the limit should be raised. Is there any justification in such a demand? Well, since this limit was fixed 24 years ago in 1993, and inflation has substantially eroded the value of money over this period, it can definitely be looked into.

In fact, during the financial crisis in 2008, the Indian government and RBI did have rounds of discussions on raising the limit but they refrained from doing so. It was felt that raising the limit would have made depositors suspicious about the vulnerability of Indian banks which were absolutely safe, with sovereign backing. Besides, the Rs1 lakh limit covers 93% of the depositors (in number) and 30% of the deposits (in value). In other words, the masses have been covered by this limit and the 7% who keep more than Rs1 lakh in bank deposits are presumably savvy on financial matters and well aware of the efficacy of other financial assets.

One pertinent point here: the Rs1 lakh limit is for depositors in a particular bank and not for their deposits. This means, if a depositor has a savings bank account, recurring deposit and a fixed deposit in a bank, and that bank fails, the individual is entitled to Rs1 lakh (and not Rs3 lakh even if there is more than Rs1 lakh in each of the accounts)—that too inclusive of interest.

The proposed regulation will retain the insurance cover. So, what’s the problem? The uncertainty is about the money kept in banks beyond Rs1 lakh. Now, in case a bank goes for liquidation, depositors are entitled to get only Rs1 lakh. Beyond this cover, they can get money, if any, only after the liquidation proceedings are complete and the bank’s secured creditors are taken care of. A depositor is an unsecured creditor.

Does the proposed regulation dilute the depositors’ rights to money beyond Rs1 lakh (or, any other amount in case the limit is raised) which doesn’t enjoy the insurance cover? I don’t think so. The regulation also proposes to ensure proper supervision of the lending activities of a financial intermediary, classification of them based on their risk profile (low, moderate, material, imminent and critical) alerting the depositors if a financial intermediary’s health is deteriorating and a time-bound resolution process. If we consider all these, the new architecture is any day superior to a mere DICGC cover.

Typically, when RBI senses a bank failing, it does not allow the bank to collect fresh deposits and the existing depositors are not allowed to withdraw their own money. The depositors of a dozen-odd cooperative banks, which have been in losses, have not been able to get their money back after years because their functions have been frozen but the licences are not cancelled. Once the new regulation is in place, the wait will be much shorter as there will be time-bound resolution. Besides, the insurance cover will be an absolute obligation of the proposed corporation and the money will be given before a case is resolved.

Most importantly, unlike many of the developed markets, India has not seen bank failures. Some of the cooperative banks which are often a political cesspool have failed, but RBI does not allow any scheduled commercial bank to fail. Protecting the interest of the depositors has all along been the topmost priority for India’s banking regulator. In rare cases of banks going belly-up, RBI plays the role of a match-maker and gets it merged with a stronger bank, deftly and without losing time.

The strong voices against the FRDI Bill seem to be ill-informed. The government-owned banks will continue to have the backing of the sovereign and the depositors don’t have much to worry over the safety of their money. The challenge before the government and the regulator is communicating this. If the canard against the bill continues, there could be a run on some of the weaker banks; also shadow banks may lure away money from the banking system.

Finally, an unsolicited piece of advice. A bank fails primarily because of wrong lending decisions; the depositors are never ever responsible for a bank failure. Even the cooperative banks have been playing an important role in collecting deposits and creating savings habits while their loan decisions often lead to their downfall. Keeping this in mind, the new law may consider giving a greater role to depositors’ representatives on bank boards. This could assuage the misplaced fears of many.

Tamal Bandyopadhyay, consulting editor at Mint, is adviser to Bandhan Bank. His latest book, From Lehman to Demonetization: A Decade of Disruptions, Reforms and Misadventures will be released in Bengaluru on 22nd December.

very good material about kida jadi collected from various sources

very good material about kida jadi collected from various sources.
पहाड़ों में कीड़ा जड़ी की तूफ़ानी माँग
हिमालय के ऊंचाई वाले इलाकों में एक नायाब जड़ी मिलती है ‘यारशागुंबा’ जिसका उपयोग भारत में तो नहीं होता लेकिन चीन में इसका इस्तेमाल प्राकृतिक स्टीरॉयड की तरह किया जाता है.
What is Keeda Jadi?
Himalaya is the place of medical plants which cannot be found anywhere else. Their rarity and remarkable healing power makes them expensive in the global market. One such rich biological resource is Cordyceps Sinensis which is locally known as Keeda Jadi. It can cure a variety of ailments from such as fatigue and cancer and to cure impotency. It is also known as Caterpillar fungus (English) and Yartsa Gungu (Tibetan).
Keeda Jadi is basically a fungus which grows as a parasite on the larvae of a particular kind of caterpillar. The fungus evolves in the living larva, which kills and mummifies the larva and then develops as a stalk-like fruiting figure. Caterpillars take 5 years to grow underground in Alpine grass and shrub lands before finally pupating (from larva) and are attacked by the fungus while feeding on roots. It finally takes the shape of 5-15 centimeter columnar mushroom out of the forehead of the caterpillar. It is mostly found in Darchula in Mahakali zone in the Nepal and India. As per Indian government rules, locals are allowed to gather Keeda Jadi, but not to trade it outside India.
यारसागंबू एक तरह का फफूंद है, जो सेक्स पावर बढ़ाने में इस्तेमाल किया जाता है। जंतु विज्ञानी इसे कारडिसेप्स साइनेंनसिक नाम से पुकारते हैं।
-तिब्बत में इसे जाड़े का कीड़ा भी कहा जाता है। फेफड़े की कार्य प्रणाली बेहतर करने के साथ ही शुक्राणु जनित रोगों के लिए भी यह फायदेमंद है।
-यह जड़ी 3200 से लेकर 4000 मीटर की ऊंचाई पर पाई जाती है। यह फंगस लारवा पर परजीवी के रूप में संक्त्रस्मण करता है। इसकी लंबाई सात से 10 सेंटीमीटर तक होती है।
-कीड़ा जड़ी में बिटामिन बी-12, मेनोटाल, कार्डिसेपिक अम्ल, इर्गोस्टाल के साथ-साथ 25 से 32 प्रतिशत तक कार्डोसेपिन, डीपाक्सीनोपिन भी होता है।
-यौन दुर्बलता दूर करने के साथ ही गठिया और वात रोग में भी यह कारगर है।
Market Value of Keeda Jadi:
In the global market, Keeda Jadi is worth Rs 18 lakh for a kilogram which is around 3500 and 4500 pieces of fungus. But in reality, the locals get only Rs 1 or 2 lakh for collecting and selling them. In India, every year families in some regions of rural Kumaon along with their children plod up in hills of Himalayas at the altitude of 3500 to 5000 meters to collect the Keeda Jadi. In India, it is found in Chamoli, Uttarakhand and hilly areas of Himachal Pradesh.
Their high value also leads to the conflict among villages and illegal trade as in India it is not legalized. This rare fungus is only found when summer sets in and snow (glacier) melts at higher altitudes of Kumaon region and exposes mummified caterpillars. People have started using uneven means to collect Keeda Jadi. Sometimes, forests are put on fire to melt the snow. Such unnatural practices are causing damage to the environment and precious species also. The government should take necessary steps to preserve these endangered caterpillar fungi. There are some incidents where police of Uttarakhand arrested the people carrying Herbal Viagra for trade purposes.
It has great demand in China where it is used for medical purposes since the 14th century. It is only found in the Himalayas and the areas of Tibetan Plateau. Bhutan government legalized its sale in 2001 and collects its revenue share from it. Because of overharvesting and over exploitation, it is one of the endangered species in China. It is in demand for its energy booster and aphrodisiac qualities. In the 1990s, some Chinese athletes gave credit of their success to Keeda Jadi which increased its demand in the Chinese market.

We all agree that we share the treasure nature has given us for medical purposes, but that does not justify the use of uneven means for any selfish motives. Situations like this also highlight the rural life of people of Uttarakhand who take up uneven means for their sustenance.

शक्ति बढ़ाने में इसकी करामाती क्षमता के कारण चीन में ये जड़ी खिलाड़ियों ख़ासकर एथलीटों को दी जाती है.

इस जड़ी की यह उपयोगिता देखकर पिथौरागढ़ और धारचूला के इलाक़ों में बड़े पैमाने पर स्थानीय लोग इसका दोहन और तस्करी कर रहे हैं क्योंकि चीन में इसकी मुँहमाँगी क़ीमत मिलती है.

यहाँ तक कि इसके संग्रह और व्यापार में शामिल लोगों में इसके लिए ख़ूनी संघर्ष होने की घटनाएं देखने में आई हैं और कुमाऊँ में हत्या के दो मामले भी दर्ज हो चुके हैं.

जब इसके अवैध कारोबार की ख़बर सरकार और वैज्ञानिकों के कानों में पड़ी तो सब जागे और इसकी खोज में निकल पड़े बर्फ से लदी चोटियों की तरफ.

कीड़ा-जड़ी

सामान्य तौर पर समझें तो ये एक तरह का जंगली मशरूम है जो एक ख़ास कीड़े की इल्लियों यानी कैटरपिलर्स को मारकर उसपर पनपता है.

इस जड़ी का वैज्ञानिक नाम है कॉर्डिसेप्स साइनेसिस और जिस कीड़े के कैटरपिलर्स पर ये उगता है उसका नाम है हैपिलस फैब्रिकस.

स्थानीय लोग इसे कीड़ा-जड़ी कहते हैं क्योंकि ये आधा कीड़ा है और आधा जड़ी है और चीन-तिब्बत में इसे यारशागुंबा कहा जाता है.

ये जड़ी 3500 मीटर की ऊंचाई वाले इलाकों में पाई जाती है जहां ट्रीलाइन ख़त्म हो जाती है यानी जहां के बाद पेड़ उगने बंद हो जाते हैं. मई से जुलाई में जब बर्फ पिघलती है तो इसके पनपने का चक्र शुरू जाता है.

देहरादून स्थित भारतीय वन अनुसंधान संस्थान, एफआरआई का एक दल हाल ही में इसका अध्ययन करके लौटा है. एफआरआई में फॉरेस्ट पैथोलजी विभाग के प्रमुख डॉ निर्मल सुधीर हर्ष बताते हैं, "ये जड़ी 3500 मीटर की ऊंचाई वाले इलाकों में पाई जाती है जहां ट्रीलाइन ख़त्म हो जाती है यानी जहां के बाद पेड़ उगने बंद हो जाते हैं. मई से जुलाई में जब बर्फ पिघलती है तो इसके पनपने का चक्र शुरू जाता है.”

इसकी तलाश करना आसान नहीं. एफआरआई की जिस टीम ने इसके लिए इन दुर्गम इलाक़ों की ख़ाक छानी उसके सदस्य रिसर्च एसोसिएट कुमार खनेजा ने अपना अनुभव बताया, “धारचूला से क़रीब 10 दिन की पैदल ट्रैकिंग करने के बाद बड़ी मुश्किल से हम वहाँ पहुँचे लेकिन स्थानीय लोगों ने वहाँ पहले से ही डेरा डाल रखा था.”

“इसे लाने के लिए उसे ही भेजा जाता है जिसकी निगाहें तेज़ हो क्योंकि ये नरम घास के बिल्कुल अंदर छुपा होता है और बड़ी कठिनाई से ही पहचाना जा सकता है.”

करामाती बूटी

ये करामाती जड़ी सुर्खियों में न आती, अगर इसकी तलाश को लेकर हाल के समय में मारामारी न मचती और ये सबसे पहले हुआ स्टुअटगार्ड विश्व चैंपियनशिप में 1500 मीटर, तीन हज़ार मीटर और दस हज़ार मीटर वर्ग में चीन की महिला एथलीटों के रिकॉर्ड तोड़ प्रदर्शन के बाद.

उत्तराखंड की पहाड़िया
Image caption
करामाती बूटी उत्तराखंड के ऐसे ऊँचे इलाक़ों में ज़्यादा पाई जाती है
उनकी ट्रेनर मा जुनरेन ने पत्रकारों को बयान दिया कि उन्हें यारशागुंबा का नियमित रूप से सेवन कराया गया है.

बताया जाता है कि 3-4 साल पहले जहाँ ये फंगस चार लाख रुपए प्रति किलोग्राम के हिसाब से बिकता था वहीं अब इसकी क़ीमत आठ से 10 लाख प्रति किलोग्राम हो गई है.

वनस्पतिशास्त्री डॉक्टर एएन शुक्ला कहते हैं, “इस फंगस में प्रोटीन, पेपटाइड्स, अमीनो एसिड, विटामिन बी-1, बी-2 और बी-12 जैसे पोषक तत्व बहुतायत में पाए जाते हैं. ये तत्काल रूप में ताक़त देते हैं और खिलाड़ियों का जो डोपिंग टेस्ट किया जाता है उसमें ये पकड़ा नहीं जाता.”

चीनी –तिब्बती परंपरागत चिकित्सा पद्धति में इसके और भी उपयोग हैं. देहरादून के एक बौद्ध मठ के पुजारी प्रेमा लामा कहते हैं, “फेफड़ों और किडनी के इलाज में इसे जीवन रक्षक दवा माना गया है.”

सूत्रों के अनुसार कीड़ा-जड़ी से अब यौन उत्तेजना बढ़ाने वाले टॉनिक भी तैयार किए जा रहे हैं जिनकी भारी मांग है.”

इन सब कारणों से इसकी अहमियत इतनी ज़्यादा है और गुपचुप कारोबार जारी है. उत्तराखंड के मुख्य वन संरक्षक एसएस रावत कहते हैं कि, “इसके कारोबार को वैध करने का प्रयास किया जा रहा है और वन विभाग ख़ुद इसका संग्रह करवाएगा लेकिन इसमें इतना पैसा शामिल है कि अवैध संग्रहण और तस्करी जारी है.”

दूसरी ओर वैज्ञानिकों और पर्यावरणविदों की चिंता ये है कि चाहे अवैध हो या वैध इसके अंधाधुंध दोहन से हिमालय की नाज़ुक जैव विविधता और पारिस्थितिकी का नुक़सान हो रहा है.

India’s jobless growth is a myth

good analysis whether jobless or not growth in india

India’s jobless growth is a myth

Between 2009-10 and 2015-16, incremental jobs created exceeded the number of persons who entered the labour force by a wide margin
We see two major concerns on employment generation in India. The first relates to regular availability of information on employment generation and the second, to its quality, particularly its ability to capture fully the data on employment generation from the new initiatives taken by the government.

Prajakta Patil/Mint
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In India, the overall employment situation is assessed on the basis of periodic comprehensive surveys undertaken by the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO), usually after every five years. The NSSO surveys reveal that overall employment growth from 1993-94 to 2011-12 (the latest year for which the data is available) averaged 1.1% per annum, perceived to be lower than the growth in the number of people who might have been entering the labour force and what one would expect from accelerating output growth. The employment elasticity during this period was only 0.18. A secular decline in the labour force participation rate (LFPR), which reflects willingness to work, from 430 per 1,000 people in 2004-05 to 395 per 1,000 in 2011-12, kept the unemployment rate at low levels.

Since NSSO surveys have been infrequent, the director general of the Labour Bureau has started providing more frequent information on labour markets since 2009-10. It has released five survey reports during this period, the latest being for 2015-16. The methodology is almost similar, but results are based on large surveys. These could be considered a reasonable proxy for assessing the labour market situation, more so in the intervening periods between the publication of NSSO surveys.

We look at the information from these two surveys—NSSO and Labour Bureau—to seek answers to these three questions:

First, whether this period was one of jobless growth? Second, assuming that each state followed a different development strategy, how different was their relative record in providing employment to job seekers? Third, what is the status when it comes to providing regular, productive and well-paid jobs?

Labour Bureau data indicates that between 2009-10 and 2015-16, incremental jobs created exceeded the number of people who entered the labour force by a wide margin. At an aggregate level, 75 million jobs were created, against 61 million who were added to the list of job seekers. During this period, the overall percentage of people in the age group of 15 and above who were willing to work, both male and female, increased marginally. With employment opportunities outnumbering job seekers by 23%, the rate of unemployment also declined. Contrary to general perception, the period 2009-10 to 2015-16 does not seem to be a period of jobless growth.

Notwithstanding interstate differences, the average annual rate of growth of job creation at the all-India level, at 3.2% in 2009-2016, exceeded the rate of growth of job seekers, which averaged 2.4% (Table 1). Six states—Assam, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Kerala, Sikkim and Uttarakhand—had lower job creation growth relative to the growth of job seekers. A significantly high growth of incremental job creation in Bihar, Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh needs to be further analysed to ascertain the contributing factors.

A state-wide analysis suggests that in Gujarat, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, there was a sharp decline in female job seekers—and this might have helped match job opportunities to job seekers. On the other hand, in Sikkim, there were fewer job opportunities for both males and females. Despite adequate availability of job opportunities at the all-India level, state-wide differences remained significant, and, in some cases, surplus jobs arose only because of a decline in the labour and workforce participation rate for females.

The third question relates to how well paid these jobs were. The Labour Bureau survey (2015-16) has categorized workers according to their monthly income levels. Most of the workers, 84% of all, whether self-employed, regular wage earners, contract workers or casual workers, were getting an income of less than Rs10,000 per month (Figure 1). Regular wage earners or salaried-class workers were better off, with 57% having a monthly income of Rs10,000 or less. Finally, 96.3% of casual workers, including those who were employed for public works, and 85% of self-employed persons had a monthly income of Rs10,000 or less. Enough work was also not available for nearly 40% of the workers; they were being employed for only a part of the year. In terms of decent, productive and well-paid jobs, considerable gaps continued to persist.

It is necessary, then, to evolve strategies to create supplementary opportunities for the self-employed, improve the female labour force participation rate, increase the ratio of female to male job seekers, and reduce interstate differences.

About ATI nainital

About ATI nainital

Avanendra Singh Nayal: Director

This institute, Dr. Raghunandan Singh Tolia Uttarakhand Academy of Administration UAoA (Uttarakhand Academy of Administration) originally established as Officers' Training School (O.T.S.) at Allahabad in 1951, was shifted to Nainital in 1971. In 1974 the institution was renamed as Administrative Training Institute (A.T.I.) and in 1988 it was raised to the status of Uttar Pradesh Academy of Administration (UPAA). In the year1999, after creation of Uttarakhand as a separate state, the academy was named as Uttarakhand Academy of Administration (UAoA).

It is the Apex training institute of the State of Uttarakhand. The Academy is recognized nationally and internationally in the areas of HRD, Trainers' Training, Development Administration, Gender Issues, Urban Development & Management, Water Supply & Sanitation (WATSAN), Forestry & Environment, Health & Family Welfare, Community Mobilization and NGO Capacity Building.

For a safe cyberspace

For a safe cyberspace
Cybersecurity needs to be integrated in every aspect of policy and planning
India is one of the key players in the digital and knowledge-based economy, holding more than a 50% share of the world’s outsourcing market. Pioneering and technology-inspired programmes such as Aadhaar, MyGov, Government e-Market, DigiLocker, Bharat Net, Startup India, Skill India and Smart Cities are propelling India towards technological competence and transformation. India is already the third largest hub for technology-driven startups in the world and its Information and Communications Technology sector is estimated to reach the $225 billion landmark by 2020.

However, these achievements come with a problem: innovation in technology, enhanced connectivity, and increasing integration in commerce and governance also make India the fifth most vulnerable country in the world in terms of cybersecurity breaches, according to the Internal Security Threat Report of 2017 by Symantec. Till June 2017, 27,482 cybersecurity threats had been reported in the country, according to the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team’s report. As this is a 23% increase from 2014 figures, it coincides with rapid growth and innovation in the ICT sector.

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The cyberthreat is very real

The good news, though, is that India recognises this. The second Global Cybersecurity Index, released by the International Telecommunication Union in July, which measured the commitment of nations to cybersecurity, found that India ranked 23 out of 165 nations.

Types of attacks
Of the cybersecurity attacks, Ransomware attacks have been the most common in the last few years (Ransomware is a type of software that threatens to publish a person’s data or block it unless a ransom is paid). Apart from WannaCry and Petya, other Ransomware attacks that made news globally were Locky, Cerber, Bucbi, SharkRaaS, CryptXXX and SamSam. The success of each of these inspired new attacks. The ransom demands also increased — the average mean ransom demand rose from $294 in 2015 to $1077 in 2016, according to Symantec.

In India, in May 2017, a data breach at the food delivery App, Zomato, led to personal information of about 17 million users being stolen and put for sale on the Darknet. The company had to negotiate with the hacker in order to get it taken down. Similarly, hackers stole data from 57 million Uber riders and drivers. Uber paid the hackers $100,000 to keep the data breach a secret.

While Windows operating systems were the most vulnerable to cyberattacks, a number of Android threats have been reported in the last couple of years, including potent crypto-ransomware attacks on Android devices. The attacks aren’t limited to mobile phones and e-Pads. All devices, including televisions that use Android, are also potentially vulnerable. In 2016, the first known Ransomware, named KeRanger, targeting Mac users was also reported. The Mirai botnet malware affected 2.5 million home router users and other Internet of Things devices. A number of viruses, malware and cryptoworms are also being developed in the JavaScript, which gives the attackers cross-platform options.

Taking action
Given the huge number of online users and continued efforts on affordable access, cybersecurity needs to be integrated in every aspect of policy and planning. At the 15th Asia Pacific Computer Emergency Response Team conference in Delhi, Minister for Electronics and Information Technology Ravi Shankar Prasad highlighted the need for robust cybersecurity policies and frameworks. The government is keen to fund cybersecurity research. It announced that it will award a grant worth ₹5 crore to startups working on innovations in the field of cybersecurity.

India needs to quickly frame an appropriate and updated cybersecurity policy, create adequate infrastructure, and foster closer collaboration between all those involved to ensure a safe cyberspace. Minister of Communications Manoj Sinha said at the Global Conference on Cyberspace 2017 that there must be enhanced cooperation among nations and reaffirmed a global call to action for all United Nations member nations to not attack the core of the Internet even when in a state of war. This also clearly emphasises the fact that more than ever before, there is a need for a Geneva-like Convention to agree on some high-level recommendations among nations to keep the Internet safe, open, universal and interoperable.

What ails higher education in India?

What ails higher education in India?
While the desired levels of research and internationalization of Indian campuses remain weak points, Indian higher education also suffers from a lack of funds, and its largely linear model with very little focus on specialization
In October, Prime Minister Narendra Modi rued the state of higher education in India, especially its poor performance in international rankings.

Three days after he made an appeal to “erase this slur”, the Asia University Rankings by British agency Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) showed the Prime Minister’s concerns were not misplaced.

Most top Indian schools slipped in their rankings in Asia, with the exception of Indian Institute of Technology-Bombay, which ranked 34th in the continent.

While Indian Institute of Science (IISc) Bangalore dropped 18 ranks to 51st, Calcutta University dropped 17 places to 125th in Asia. IIT Roorkee slipped 15 places to be ranked at the 93rd position. Top IITs, including Delhi, Madras and Kanpur, slipped between 5 and 11 ranks in the 2018 rankings as against their performance in the previous year.

What then ails Indian higher education?

The answer is almost everything—from quality to accountability, from lack of widespread innovation to marketing quality of Indian schools globally, according to experts and academics.

“Now the shift must happen from a linear model of education, with less focus on innovation, to specialized education that will propel research and tangible output,” said S.S. Mantha, a former chairman of the All India Council of Technical Education (AICTE).

With 822 universities and over 51,000 colleges, Indian higher education suffers from a dual problem—quality and quantity.

Unlike the school sector, where access is almost universal, the gross enrolment ratio (GER) in higher education is 24.5—meaning out of every 100 youths eligible for higher education, less than 25 are pursuing tertiary education.

While the desired levels of research and internationalization of Indian campuses remain weak points, Indian higher education also suffers from a lack of funds, and its largely linear model with very little focus on specialization. Both experts and academics feel Indian higher education is tilted towards social sciences.

Only 1.7% colleges run Ph.D programmes and a mere 33% colleges run postgraduate-level programmes. At the undergraduate level, the highest number (40%) of students are enrolled in arts/humanities/social sciences, followed by science (16%), engineering and technology (15.6%) and commerce (14.1%), according to human resource development (HRD) ministry data.

“Indian higher education needs handholding—both to improve its quality, and branding of good schools such as IITs and IIMs (Indian Institutes of Management) globally to attract foreign students. The world-class university plan and the grant of autonomy to IIMs are steps in that direction,” said a HRD ministry official, requesting anonymity.

China, for instance, has been funding nine of its top universities (called C9) to make them climb the global league table, and it has been quite successful. Tsinghua University, part of the C9, has a global rank of 25 and is placed sixth in Asia. In contrast, IIT-Delhi, placed at 172, is the best Indian institution in the QS world rankings 2018. In Asia, it is placed at 41st rank.

And, if you take out IITs and IISc, Indian universities’ performance is nothing to speak about. Besides, there are hardly any liberal arts universities that are sought after abroad.

On the funding front, there has been a demand to take spending on education to 6% of gross domestic product for decades. Right now, it is a little over 4%. “We believe the private sector can play a bigger role here. Besides, the upcoming higher education funding agency will support the fund requirements to some extent,” the HRD official added.

On branding, the official said IITs and IIMs are looking beyond India. Sangeet Chowfla, president and chief executive of the Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC), the global body that conducts GMAT exam, told Mint recently that it has agreed to make management education in India an attractive destination for international students.

Initially, students from 27 countries in Asia, Africa and Europe are on the radar, Mint had reported on 8 September.

On the regulatory front too, the country has a poor record with both the University Grants Commission (UGC) and All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) being seen more as controllers of education than facilitators. Even now, the apex higher education regulator is headless, highlighting the state of education regulation in India.

“UGC and AICTE should be enablers of education than blocking reform at an institutional level. These regulators need to be reformed first for educational reform to accelerate in India,” said Harivansh Chaturvedi, director of Birla Institute of Management and Technology, or BIMTECH, in Greater Noida.