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The Future of Work in the Automotive Sector in India

Harsh Bajpai, Ambika Tandon, and Amber Sinha — 2020-03-18T09:00:31Z

This report empirically studies the future of work in the automotive sector in India. The report has been authored by Harsh Bajpai, Ambika Tandon and Amber Sinha. Rakhi Sehgal and Aayush Rathi have edited the report.

Introduction

The adoption of information and communication based technology (ICTs) for industrial use is not a new phenomenon. However, the advent of Industry 4.0 hasbeen described as a paradigm shift in production, involving widespread automation and irreversible shifts in the structure of jobs. Industry 4.0 is widely understood as the technical integration of cyber-physical systems into production and logistics, and the use of Internet of Things (IoTs) in processes and systems. This may pose major challenges for industries, workers, and policymakers as they grapple with shifts in the structure of employment and content of jobs, bring about significant changes in business models, downstream services and the organisation of work.

The adoption of information and communication based technology (ICTs) for industrial use is not a new phenomenon. However, the advent of Industry 4.0 hasbeen described as a paradigm shift in production, involving widespread automation and irreversible shifts in the structure of jobs. Industry 4.0 is widelyunderstood as the technical integration of cyber-physical systems into production and logistics, and the use of Internet of Things (IoTs) in processes and systems.This may pose major challenges for industries, workers, and policymakers as they grapple with shifts in the structure of employment and content of jobs, bringabout significant changes in business models, downstream services and the organisation of work.

Industry 4.0 is characterised by four elements. First, the use of intelligent machines could have significant impact on production through the introduction of automated processes in ‘smart factories.’ Second, real-time production would begin optimising utilisation capacity, with shorter lead times and avoidance of standstills. Third, the self-organisation of machines can lead to decentralisation of production. Finally, Industry 4.0 is commonly characterised by the individualisation of production, responding to customer requests. The advancement of digital technology and consequent increase in automation has raised concerns about unemployment and changes in the structure of work. Globally, automation in manufacturing and services has been posited as replacing jobs with routine task content, while generating jobs with non-routine cognitive and manual tasks.

Some scholars have argued that unemployment will increase globally as technology eliminates tens of million of jobs in the manufacturing sector. It could then result in the lowering of wages and employment opportunities for low skilled workers, and increased investment in capital-intensive technologies for employer.

However, this theory of technologically driven job loss and increasing inequality has been contested on numerous occasions, with the assertion that technology will be an enabler, will change task content rather than displace workers, and will also create new jobs . It has further been argued that other factors such as increasing globalisation, weakening trade unions and platforms for collective bargaining, and disaggregation of the supply chain through outsourcing has led to declined wages, income inequality, inadequate health and safety conditions, and displacement of workers.

In India, there is little evidence of unemployment caused by adoption of technology due to Industry 4.0, but there is a strong consensus that technology affects labour by changing the job mix and skill demand. It should be noted that technological adoption under Industry 4.0 in advanced industrial economies has been driven by cost-benefit analysis due to accessible technology, and a highly skilled labour force. However, these key factors are serious impediments in the Indian context, which brings the large scale adoption of cyber-physical systems into question.

The diffusion of low cost manual labour across a large majority of roles in manufacturing raises concerns about the cost-benefit analysis of investing capital inexpensive automative technology, while also accounting for the resultant displacement of labour. Further, the skill gap across the labour force implies that the adoption of cyber-physical systems would require significant up-skilling or re-skilling to meet the potential shortage in highly skilled professionals.

This is an in-depth case study on the future of work in the automotive sector in India. We chose to focus on the future of work in the automotive sector in India for two reasons: first, the Indian automotive sector is one of largest contributors to the GDP at 7.2 percent, and second, it is one of the largest employment generators among non-agricultural industries. The first section details the structure of the automotive industry in India, including the range of stakeholders, and the national policy framework, through an analysis of academic literature, government reports, and legal documents.

The second section explores different aspects of the future of work in the automotive sector, through a combination of in-depth semi-structured interviews and enterprise-based surveys in the North Indian belt of Gurgaon-Manesar-Dharuhera-Bawal. Challenges posed by shifts in the industrial relations framework, with increasing casualization and emergence of a typical forms of work, will also be explored, with specific reference to crises in collective bargaining and social security. We will then move onto looking at the state of female participation in the workforce in the automotive industry. The report concludes with policy recommendations addressing some of the challenges outlined above.

Read the full report here.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/harsh-bajpai-ambika-tandon-and-amber-sinha-february-8-2019-the-future-of-work-in-automotive-sector-in-india

The Future of the Internet, Who Should Govern It and What is at Stake for You?

praskrishna — 2014-02-12T11:12:54Z

Internet and Mobile Association of India, Cellular Operators Association of India, Internet Democracy project, Media for Change, SFLC and the Centre for Internet Society is organizing a Multi-stakeholder Dialogue on the future of internet on January 29, 2014 at Multipurpose Hall, India International Center (IIC).

Snehashish Ghosh will participate in the event as a speaker.

Schedule

10.00 - 10.30: Registration
10.30 -13.30: Discussion and Open House
13.30: Lunch

The meeting seeks to address, among others, the following questions:

The issue of governing the internet through a multistakeholder mechanism (including government, business, civil society, academia and the technical community) versus a multilateral one (or an intergovernmental one, including only governments in a decision making role) is leading the global discourse.

What is multistakeholderism? How is it practiced? How is it different from multilateralism or intergovernmental decision making? Why has multistakeholderism assumed such an important role in internet governance?
Moderator – Subi Chutervedi

Several of the arguments are based in a framework document known as ‘Tunis Agenda 2005’.
What is the role of the Tunis Agenda in these debates? Since its formulation 9 years ago, is it still relevant? What does “stakeholders in their respective roles” mean in 2014 and beyond?
Moderator – Subi Chaturvedi

The positions taken by the Government of India at international fora are linked to its cyber security concerns.
Will India’s position of multilateral/intergovernmental governance of the Internet actually address these cyber security concerns?
Moderator – Anja Kovacs

Since the Snowden revelations, mass surveillance by governments has assumed center stage and is driving the recent discourse.
Will a multilateral/inter-governmental mechanism adequately address serious concerns of government surveillance and intrusion into the privacy of internet users and citizens?
Moderator – Anja Kovacs

Innovation, freedom of speech and expression and privacy rights are critical to a free and open internet. How are these impacted under a multistakeholder vis-à-vis a multilateral/inter-governmental mechanism?
Moderator- Chinmayi Arun

Internet governance has both a domestic and a global angle. In 2014, what should be the process of policy making involving stakeholders? Should there be consultation and what should be the process, quality and outcome of such consultation, especially as it relates to Internet Governance?

What process should the government adopt before taking a position internationally and while formulating domestic policy related to internet governance?
Moderator Chinmayi Arun

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/events/future-of-internet-january-29-2014

The Future of Privacy in the Age of Big Data

praskrishna — 2016-09-22T23:24:16Z

A study tour on privacy and big data was organised by Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom from September 3 to 10, 2016 in Berlin and Hamburg. Vanya Rakesh was one of the participants from South Asia who went for the tour.

List of Participants

Shahid Ahmad, Deputy Director, Digital Empowerment Foundation
Shahzad Ahmad, Country Director, Bytes for All
Shivam Satnani, Senior Analyst, Data Security Council of India
Vanya Rakesh, Senior Policy Officer, Centre for Internet & Society
Anja Kovacs, Director, Internet Democracy Project
Tshering Cigay Dorji, CEO, Thimphu Tech Park
Vrinda Bhandari, Lawyer and Journalist, Chambers of Trideep Pais (Anwaltskanzlei)
Tahsin Ifnoor Sayeed, Head of Business Intelligence, DNet

Click to see the Agenda

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/study-tour-on-future-of-privacy-in-age-of-big-data

The Future of Cyber Governance

praskrishna — 2014-05-27T10:05:43Z

Hague Institute for Global Justice in association with the Observer Research Foundation, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Netherlands, and the Netherlands Institute for International Relations - Clingendael organized a conference on the Future of Cyber Governance at the Hague from May 13 to 15, 2014. Sunil Abraham was a speaker at this event.

Global Governance Reform Initiative

The Global Governance Reform Initiative (GGRI) seeks to overcome the challenges of global governance in three important domains – cyberspace, oceans and migration – by improving the efficiency, effectiveness and legitimacy of collective actions undertaken by relevant stakeholders.

The current focus of the GGRI is the governance of cyberspace. How cyberspace is governed has significant implications for a range of critical issues, from national security to the protection of individuals’ rights and freedoms. Yet, the governance of cyberspace is highly contested. Tensions exist between those who favour private sector-led, decentralized forms of governance, and those who favour state-led, centralized forms of governance. There is, therefore, a pressing need for practicable policies which can help balance competing demands effectively.

The conference is a platform for 17 outstanding academics and professionals representing a range of countries and sectors to present papers addressing key issues related to the governance of cyberspace. The authors were selected through a competitive application process which sought to balance the candidates’ professional and geographic backgrounds in a manner that would maximize the quality and policy-relevance of the research.

During the conference, the participants will present their papers to a select group of seasoned experts on cyber governance. These experts will provide the participants with constructive feedback on their research findings and policy recommendations. The aim of the conference is to allow the participants to engage in a rigorous analysis of the selected governance challenges in order to craft practicable policy recommendations aimed at improving the governance of cyberspace. The authors of the best papers will be invited to present their work at the 2014 India Conference on Cyber Security and Cyber Governance, organized by the Observer Research Foundation, New Delhi.
The Hague Institute undertakes this project in collaboration with the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Observer Research Foundation (New Delhi), and the Netherlands Institute of International Relations – Clingendael.

See the full details of the programme here.

Video

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/news/future-of-cyber-governance

The Fundamental Right to Privacy: An Analysis

amber — 2017-10-04T11:19:46Z

Last month’s judgment by the nine judge referral bench was an emphatic endorsement of the the constitutional right to privacy. In the course of a 547 page judgment, the bench affirmed the fundamental nature of the right to privacy reading it into the values of dignity and liberty. In the course of a few short papers, we will dissect the various aspects of the right to privacy as put forth by the nine judge constitutional bench in the Puttaswamy matter. The papers will focus on the sources, structure, scope, breadth, and future of privacy. Here are the first three papers, authored by Amber Sinha and edited by Elonnai Hickok.

The Fundamental Right to Privacy - Part I: Sources

Much of the debate and discussion in the hearings before the constitutional bench was regarding where in the Constitution a right to privacy may be located. In this paper, we analyse the different provisions and tools of interpretations use by the bench to read a right to privacy in Part III of the Constitution.

Download: PDF

The Fundamental Right to Privacy - Part II: Structure

In the previous paper, we delved into the sources in the Constitution and the interpretive tools used to locate the right to privacy as a constitutional right. This paper follows it up with an analysis of the structure of the right to privacy as articulated by the bench. We will look at the various facets of privacy which form a part of the fundamental right, the basis for such dimensions and what their implications may be.

Download: PDF

The Fundamental Right to Privacy - Part III: Scope

While the previous papers dealt with the sources in the Constitution and the interpretive tools used by the bench to locate the right to privacy as a constitutional right, as well as the structure of the right with its various dimensions, this paper will look at the judgment for guidance on principles to determine what the scope of the right of privacy may be.

Download: PDF

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/the-fundamental-right-to-privacy-an-analysis

The Fundamental Right to Privacy - A Visual Guide

amber — 2018-02-16T05:31:37Z

Privacy is the ability of an individual or group to seclude themselves, or information about themselves, and thereby express themselves selectively. This visual guide to the story of privacy law in India and the recent judgement of the Puttaswamy v. Union of India case is developed by Amber Sinha (research and content) and Pooja Saxena (design and conceptualisation).

The Fundamental Right to Privacy - A Visual Guide: Download (PDF)

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/the-fundamental-right-to-privacy-a-visual-guide

The freedom of expression debate: The State must mend fences with The Web

praskrishna — 2013-01-07T10:30:21Z

A fortnight after her arrest, Renu Srinivasan spends her free time singing Ashley Tisdale's number Suddenly. The lyrics - Suddenly people know my name, suddenly, everything has changed - resonate with the story of her life ever since she 'liked' and 'shared' her friend, Shaheen Dhada's, 21, controversial post regarding Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray's funeral on Facebook on November 18 and got arrested for it.

The article by Rahul Jayaram was published in India Today on December 18, 2012. Pranesh Prakash is quoted.

She's now flooded with "hundreds" of messages on FB; some congratulatory, others abusive and gets at least a dozen friend requests on the social networking site. When Renu went to the doctor last week, two constables accompanied her.

"All of a sudden, there's too much attention on me," says the Botany graduate from Dandekar College and a budding singer who is making new friends in the virtual world. There's, however, a word from caution from her father P.A. Srinivasan: "Don't comment on controversial issues you don't understand."

Bloggers are careful. Krish Ashok, a well-known blogger is disappointed with the government's lack of engagement with India's surging online community. In a blog post in August 2010, he made fun of the Ramayana and the fact that women couldn't enter the Sabarimala temple in Kerala. A group called Hindu Janajagruti Samiti threatened to take him to court. Ashok spoke to his lawyer.

"I was amazed. She said no individual could take action against me. But a group or organisation could," he says. Since then, he has become more aware of his Internet rights.

Gursimran Khamba, who has over 30,000 followers on Twitter, kept his cool during Thackeray's death and funeral. When all the media went gaga over him, televising his family photo albums, Khamba, re-tweeted reports and accounts of the Shiv Sena's role during the Mumbai riots of 1992-93. "In my head, I am not courageous to say anything about it myself," he says. He didn't want to incite. He'd rather help his followers get a more nuanced picture of a venerated leader.

Palghar and after, has made Ashok think. "I would reduce the number of provocative posts I might make," he says. Khamba says he will stick to comedy and doesn't believe in offence for the sake of offending although "taking offence is our national sport."

It is a shame, for the Internet is growing in India like nobody's business. It's the medium of the age.

According to comScore, a company that measures Internet trends, India is the fastest growing online market in the last 12 months among BRIC nations. There were 44.5 million unique visitors in July 2011 and in July 2012 there were 62.6 million unique visitors. That is, a growth of 44 per cent in one year. The total Internet usage of 124.7 million users in July 2012, that is, a 41 per cent growth from last year (July 2011).

With 124 million users as of July 2012, India has an Internet penetration of 10 per cent. 75 per cent of India's online users are below the age of 35 making it one of the youngest Net-connected populations. 39.3 per cent of India's Internet population consists of females. It has the highest growth seen among 15 to 24 male and female segments. India has 56.2 million Facebook users and 4.1 million Twitter users. Facebook had 35.3 million users in July 2011 and it jumped to 52.1 million in July 2012. That's a growth of 47% in just one year!

Growth of the Internet is one thing. Freedom of the Internet is another. Freedom House, an American organisation that tracks political and civil liberties worldwide, is blunt in its assessment. India is third in terms of Internet penetration, after the United States and China. Before November 2008, government control over the Internet was limited. All that changed after the November 2008 Mumbai attacks.

Since then it says, "The need, desire, and ability of the Indian government to monitor, censor, and control the communication sector have grown. Given the range of security threats facing the country, many Indians feel that the government should be allowed to monitor personal communications such as telephone calls, email messages, and financial transactions. It is in this context that Parliament passed amendments to the Information Technology Act (ITA) in 2008, expanding censorship and monitoring capabilities. This trend continued in 2011 with the adoption of regulations increasing surveillance in cyber cafes. Meanwhile, the government and non-state actors have intensified pressure on intermediaries, including social media applications, to remove upon request a wide range of content vaguely defined as "offensive" and potentially pre-screen user-generated content. Despite new comprehensive data protection regulations adopted in 2011, the legal framework and oversight surrounding surveillance and interception remains weak, and several instances of abuse have emerged in recent years."

Over this year we have had the cases of cartoonist Aseem Trivedi being put in jail and later released in September. In April, Ambikesh Mahaptra of Jadavpur University in Kolkata was arrested for a cartoon poking fun at West Bengal chief minister Mamta Banerjee and Railway Minister Mukul Roy. In October, Ravi, owner of plastic packaging material factory was arrested and let off on bail for joking about Finance Minister P. Chidambaram's son, Karti. The list gets longer. The Web and the State are at loggerheads. Why?

Lawyers and bloggers haul up Internet laws. And for such a community, we have laws like Section 66 (A) of the Information Technology Act of 2000. The law states that "any person who sends by means of a computer resource or a communication device, any information that is grossly offensive or has menacing character," can be booked for online crime.

Legal experts think Section 66 (A) and the whole of the IT Act of 2000, needs revisiting. According to cyber lawyer Pavan Duggal, Section 66 (A) "is a vanilla provision that can be used for anything online."

Section 66(A) seeks to empower the police and the complainant. "The words 'grossly offensive' and 'menacing character' of Section 66 (A) have no definition given. Normal, legitimate bona fide conversation between boyfriend and girlfriend at noble times online is fine. Once relationship sours, and they are gone."

"It's not clear what the purpose of Section 66A is. It's like having a single provision covering murder, assault, intimidation, and nuisance, and prescribing the same penalty for all of them," says Pranesh Prakash of the Center for Internet and Society, Bangalore. Terminology and the law's purpose are massive concerns.

"The extent of the ambiguity of Section 66A is worrying. Laws need to be very clear about what they want to achieve. If it is murder, then it must say murder. If its attempted murder, it must be clear it is attempted murder. Section 66 A is trying to do too many things at the same time. Its canvas is too vast," says Rajeev Chandrasekar.

As a country, we look to imitate the West, and often copy it badly. Some wonder if we need to mime the West. Pranesh Prakash thinks the Indian Constitution is stronger on free speech grounds than the (unwritten) UK Constitution, and the judiciary has wide powers of judicial review of statutes (i.e., the ability of a court to strike down a law passed by Parliament as 'unconstitutional').

Judicial review of statutes does not exist in the UK (with review under its EU obligations being the exception) as they believe that Parliament is supreme, unlike India. Putting those two aspects together, a law that is valid in the UK might well be unconstitutional in India for failing to fall within the eight octagonal walls of the reasonable restrictions allowed under Article 19(2).

Rajeev Chandrasekar thinks the Brits got it right. During the London riots of June 2011, "the UK government kept a tab on social media networking sites so as to check incitement, he says. It was a good example of clear legislation and effective execution, in an extreme scenario." To defuse online paranoia he wants the government to have a multi-stakeholder arrangement in fixing IT laws. This must involve users, IT companies, cyber cafe owners and the government. The State must mend fences with the Web.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/news/india-today-rahul-jayaram-december-18-2012-the-freedom-of-expression-debate

The Four Parts of Privacy in India

bhairav — 2015-08-23T13:04:50Z

Privacy enjoys an abundance of meanings. It is claimed in diverse situations every day by everyone against other people, society and the state.

Traditionally traced to classical liberalism’s public/private divide, there are now several theoretical conceptions of privacy that collaborate and sometimes contend. Indian privacy law is evolving in response to four types of privacy claims: against the press, against state surveillance, for decisional autonomy, and in relation to personal information. The Indian Supreme Court has selectively borrowed competing foreign privacy norms, primarily American, to create an unconvincing pastiche of privacy law in India. These developments are undermined by a lack of theoretical clarity and the continuing tension between individual freedoms and communitarian values.

This was published in Economic & Political Weekly, 50(22), 30 May 2015. Download the full article here.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/economic-and-political-weekly-bhairav-acharya-may-30-2015-four-parts-of-privacy-in-india

The Forbes India 30 Under 30 List

praskrishna — 2014-02-21T07:59:41Z

Showcasing an enterprising new generation that dreams big and refuses to say die.

This article by Abhilasha Khaitan appeared in the Forbes India magazine of 21 February, 2014. Pranesh Prakash features in the list.

To borrow from Ayn Rand, ‘the question for this generation isn’t who is going to let them but who is going to stop them’. As a torchbearer of individualism, Rand would have approved of the first-ever Forbes India 30 Under 30 list. Sort of. The rider: This isn’t just a celebration of capitalism and profit; it is also in recognition of social value. Do-gooders, geeks, greens, musicians, sportspersons, creative-types and biz kids: The net was thrown wide to catch the best and the brightest.

As the names on the previous page will tell you, it was a worthwhile effort.

It was also an education. Generalisations, it appears, do not apply to the youth. Consider India’s reputation as nerd-land and a skew in favour of techpreneurs and IT geniuses would be expected. But while brilliant professionals dot the landscape, only a few seem to have translated an original thought into a viable, disruptive business proposition. Pallav Nadhani of FusionCharts, Rahul Yadav of Housing.com and Nischal Shetty of JustUnfollow , for instance, score high on both originality and utility.

If there is a slant, it is towards verticals that best suit the lone ranger: Sports, entertainment, the arts. Even there, though, we tried to separate the clichéd from the uncharted and zeroed in on Sushant Singh Rajput and Rajkummar Rao; and Suhail Yusuf Khan and Aathira Krishna; and Rahul Dravid’s purported successor Cheteshwar Pujara.

Plot this list on a heat map and the social entrepreneurship and policy dots would glow red too. Sectors with the potential for real change are drawing them in hordes. There is Rwitwika Bhattacharya who figured out the best way to get political leaders to perform is by helping them do it; Shashank Kumar who is committed to empowering farmers. Even those with different skill sets—design, in this case—are not oblivious: So a communication designer, Aditi Gupta, tries to create awareness about menstruation, a taboo subject.

Then some are in it for the happiness quotient: Pooja Dhingra for her macarons and Shivan and Narresh for their bikini sari.

This might be a good point to ask: Where is Virat Kohli? Deepika Padukone? Any sub-30 list should lead with those names. Here’s the thing: They don’t even make our consideration set. The reason is in the purpose behind this search: Forbes India was looking for a spark, for a story that is still waiting to be told and, for the most part, only starting to unfold.

To that end, individuals who are already forces in their fields—household names—will feature on another day, on another list.

As for those who are part of this list of possibility, it really is a question of who is going to stop them.

30 Under 30 list

Art & Culture
Suhail Yusuf Khan, 26
Sarangi Player / Vocalist

Aathira Krishna, 25
Carnatic Violinist

Design
Moneet Chitroda, 28
Sr Designer - Interiors, Renault Techno Centre

Aditi Gupta, 29
Co-Founder, Menstrupedia.com

Lokesh Karekar, 29
Visual Artist & Director, Locopopo

Alok Shetty, 27
Principal Architect & Founder, Bhumiputra Architecture

E-Commerce
Rahul Yadav, 24
Co-founder & CEO, Housing.com

Bhavish Aggarwal, 28
Co-Founder and CEO, Olacabs

Entertainment
Sushant Singh Rajput, 27
Actor

Rajkummar Rao, 29
Actor

Kishan SS, 18
Actor / Director

Fashion
Shivan Bhatiya & Narresh Kukreja, 29, 28
Swimwear Designers

Finance
Raghu Kumar, 28
Co-Founder, RKSV

Manju Bhatia, 27
Joint MD, Vasuli Recovery

Food & hospitality
Pooja Dhingra, 27
Founder-Chef, Le15 Patisserie

Greentech & sustainability
Abhishek Humbad, 27
Founder, NextGen PMS

Healthcare
Kabir Chadha, 27
Founder & CEO, Epoch Elder Care

Law, policy & Politics
Rwitwika Bhattacharya, 27
Founder, Swaniti Initiative

Pranesh Prakash, 28
Policy Director, Centre for Internet and Society

Apar Gupta, 29
Partner, Advani & Co.

NGOs & Social Entrepreneurship
Shashank Kumar, 28
Co-Founder, Farms n Farmers

Tarique Mohammad Quereshi, 29
Founder, Koshish

Anoj Viswanathan, 26
Co-Founder & President, Milaap

Kuldeep Dantewadia, 25
CEO & Co-Founder, Reap Benefit

Social Media / Mobile / Digital
Nischal Shetty, 28
Founder, JustUnfollow

Sports
Deepika Kumari, 19
Archer

Cheteshwar Pujara, 26
Cricketer

Gaganjeet Bhullar, 25
Golfer

Technology
Pallav Nadhani, 29
Co-Founder & CEO, FusionCharts

Paras Chopra, 26
Founder, Wingify

Methodology

Will we find 30 under-30s? That was the question that troubled when we started work on this project. The numbers are easy enough to add up but the list had to be representative, relevant and, well, not half-baked.

It was never going to be exhaustive. We knew that. The landscape was too vast, the information too sparse and spread out. But limited though it may be in geographical scope, the rigour in research—and the depth in young talent—has produced quality that satisfies the parameters we had set at the beginning. These are: Trigger: The extent of achievement and his/her impact in a short span of time and the level of disruption/innovation that has been shown; Scope: Scalability of his/her business or line of work; Sustainability: Signs of being a flash in the pan or is there enough indication of a long-run play?

The research took on two legs: One, interviews by Forbes India staffers with sources across relevant categories as well as through studies of databases and media coverage. Two, an online application on forbesindia.com inviting applications from entrepreneurs/professionals who felt they qualified. This helped us arrive at a long list which went up to over 300 names across the 14 categories. (Even this number went through an initial vetting.)

The next step was narrowing down to a ‘short long’ list—the names most likely to make it to the top 30. This pool of 75 names was decided in consultation with experts and observers—and this was the toughest leg. Consider that we had entered the ‘first among equals’ phase where separating the final 30 from the other contenders was, really, a judgment call.

But armed with expert views, the Forbes India editorial team debated, argued and vetoed for hours to finalise the 30 individuals you will read about here. There are those outside the list that couldn’t be left out. They find mention too.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/news/forbes-india-abhilasha-khaitan-feb-7-2014-india-under-30-list

The flaw in cyber law

praskrishna — 2012-11-30T09:06:25Z

Legal experts and netizens want the controversial clause in the IT Act to be scrapped after two Mumbai girls were arrested for a post on Facebook.

This article by S Ronendra Singh was published in the Hindu BusinessLine on November 29, 2012. Sunil Abraham and Snehashish Ghosh are quoted.

Shaheen Dhada, 21, and her friend Rini Srinivas would never have imagined that they could land in jail because of a Facebook post. The two girls were arrested in Palghar following a complaint from local Shiv Sena workers against Shaheen's post on Facebook, where she questioned the need for a 'bandh' being observed in Mumbai on the death of the Sena supremo Bal Thackery.

While the two girls’ experience was traumatic, the action by the police has given fodder to activists and cyber experts to raise the clamour for scrapping section 66A of the IT Act, which they term as being draconian.

The Palghar incident is not an isolated event. Recently, Ravi Srinivasan, a 45-year-old supplier of plastic parts to telecom companies and a volunteer with India Against Corruption got into trouble with police after he tweeted about alleged corruption charges against Karti Chidambram, son of Finance Minister P Chidambaram.

There was a common factor in all these cases - arbitrary use of the Section 66 (A) of the Information Technology Act, 2000. The only mistake that most of these so-called offenders had committed was publishing their views online.

So, should we consider the law draconian now?

Assess Ambiguity

According to Snehashish Ghosh, Policy Associate at Centre for Internet and Society (Bangalore-based organisation looking at multidisciplinary research and advocacy in the field of Internet and society), the main reason for such inconsistent application of the law can be found in the history of the provision.

He said the language used in Section 66A of the IT Act, 2000 has been borrowed from Section 127 of the UK Communication Act, 2003 and the Malicious Communications Act, 1988.

“These two particular provisions are applicable in cases where the communication is directed to a particular person. Section 1 of the Malicious Prosecution Act begins with the, “any person who sends to another person” and hence it is clear that the provision does not include any post or electronic communication which is broadcasted to the world and deals with only one-to-one communication,” said Ghosh.

Section 127 only deals with “improper use of public electronic communications network”. It was meant to prevent misuse of public communication services. Therefore, social media Web sites do not fall under its ambit. However, the Section 66(A) in its current form fails to define any specific category, which has led to inconsistent and arbitrary use of the provision, said Ghosh.

One of the principles of interpretation of statute is that of absurdity. It states that when there are two interpretation of the law - where one renders it absurd and arbitrary, while the other puts it within the constitutional limits - then the latter interpretation is adopted.

“In the case of 66(A), interpreting it to include any form of communication transmitted using computer resource or communication device renders it to be absurd and arbitrary. Therefore, it should be interpreted and made applicable only to communication between two parties,” he opined.

According to Pavan Duggal, cyber law expert and advocate at Supreme Court of India, primarily section 66(A) is for protecting reputation and preventing misuse of its own.

“It is so vast – what is annoyance and inconvenience – gives a tremendous handle in the hands of the complainant and the police to target anyone. Further, if you send any information through email or SMS, which aims to mislead the addressee about such mail or message is a crime. All this suddenly opens a Pandora box of offences,” he said.

“So, when you look at case of Mamta Banerjee or latest case of those two girls getting arrested in Mumbai, it shows that Section 66(A) becomes an effective tool in the hands of ingenious complainants to gag free speech. And, that is why there is so much noise,” Duggal said.

To Use, Not Abuse

Sighting the recent case of the two girls from Mumbai, he said the law was abused and all they need to do is just exploit – whether clicking a ‘Like’ button on Facebook could involve Section 66(A) – and this case is setting a precedence that ‘liking’ a comment can be an offensive of Section 66(A).

“When you click a ‘Like’ button, you do not send any information that is defined under Section 66(A). You only send information of ‘liking’ that information or message,” he said.

However, it has become a code of misuse in its own sense. Parameters given there in the Act are extremely wide and can be interpreted.

“It has only one good thing – it makes the offence bailable, which means bail as a matter of right. But, once you get stuck under Section 66(A), along with that invites a long period of mental agony and trauma because the trial will take five-six years and you will have to undergo the trial,” he added.

So does it mean the Government should scrap or completely abolish this Section from the IT Act, 2000 or should the people of India file a petition against this Section?

Sunil Abraham, Executive Director, Centre for Internet and Society says there are laws specifically dealing with cyber stalking and communications and therefore, there we do not need an additional law.

“Either scrap or retain narrow parameters, which could be made defamatory. Otherwise, more such cases would be seen in future under this section. It has not done anything significant and has an impact on basic free online speech to public,” says Duggal.

A better approach would be to strike down the provision and include separate well defined anti-stalking and anti-spamming provision, said Ghosh of Centre for Internet and Society.

However, Mahesh Uppal, Director, ComFirst India (consultancy firm on regulatory issues) said it would be premature, in these circumstances, for any litigation against this Section.

“The issue is serious. However, this is as much to do with policing in general as it is to do with Section 66(A) which needs an amendment and clarification to remove any scope for abuse,” he said.

But, is the Government ready for any change?

Minister of Communications and IT, Kapil Sibal recently said, “Just because some people do not follow it properly, we cannot entirely scrap the law. Can we do away with penal code? We cannot.”

So, does that mean we, as citizens, have to consult legal notes before posting a message online or sending an SMS? And, even if we do, are all laws, sections and under-sections comprehendible by the common man? If not, how big a risk are we, and the person who ‘Likes’ what we say is taking?

The answers to these questions determine the future of freedom of speech.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/news/the-hindu-businessline-november-29-2012-the-flaw-in-cyber-law

The Five Monkeys & Ice-cold Water

sunil — 2012-10-30T10:43:38Z

The Indian government provides leadership, both domestically and internationally, when it comes to access to knowledge.

This article by Sunil Abraham was published in Deccan Chronicle on September 16, 2012.

Our domestic patent policy ensures that generic medicines are available and largely affordable not only within India but also in Africa and elsewhere. It also allows Indians to consume a wide range of technological innovations without worrying about legal bans that are an otherwise common feature in the developed countries, thanks to phenomena such as the ongoing mobile phone patent wars.

Copyright policy, including the last amendment of the copyright act, has ensured that fair dealing and the rights of students, researchers, disabled, etc., are protected. Texts, audio and video for education and entertainment are relatively affordable, especially in comparison to other countries in the Asia-Pacific.

Even at the World Intellectual Property Organisation, other developing countries look to India for guidance. The interventions of the copyright registrar G.R. Raghavender and the Indian team won praise during the most recent round of negotiations for the Treaty for the Visually Impaired. An excellent example of India's soft power protecting public interest at home and abroad.

In diametrical contrast, India has a terrible track record when it comes to freedom of expression, especially expression mediated by networked technologies such as telecommunications and the Internet.

Our policy-makers seem determined to extinguish the privacy of communications and also anonymous/pseudonymous speech through such devices as Know Your Customer (KYC) and data retention requirements for accessing the Internet through cyber-cafes, mobile phones, dial-up or broadband, ban on open wi-fi networks, plans to tie together Aadhaar and NATGRID and Central Monitoring System (CMS) to track a citizen using his/her UID across devices, networks and intermediaries, and requiring real-time interception equipment to be installed at all network and data centres.

All these without any horizontal privacy law or a data protection law that is compliant with international best practices. Security hawks argue that this pervasive, multi-tiered surveillance regime helps thwart criminal and terrorist attacks, but its poor design extracts a terrible price in terms of freedom of expression.

Citizens who cannot express themselves anonymously and privately begin to censor themselves, seriously undermining our democracy, which is most importantly founded on an anonymous expression, the electoral ballot.

In addition, in April 2011, rules under the amended IT Act were notified for intermediaries that have a chilling effect on free speech via unclear and unconstitutional limits on freedom of expression, encouragement of private censorship without any notice to those impacted, missing procedure for redress, and lack of penalties for those who abuse the rules to target legitimate speech. This was followed by calls for proactive censorship of social media, which caused much outrage amongst the twitterati.

Even when the government had legitimate grounds (the recent exodus of North-East Indians) to censor free speech, it overreached and acted incompetently, cracking down on parody accounts on social media rather than carefully configuring the text message ban. As if that weren't enough, the government beats up a cartoonist and jails him for sedition.

There’s a plan behind such attacks on free speech. The powerful in India, with their fragile egos, can afford expensive lawyers who can ensure that for those who dare to speak their mind, “the process is the punishment”, as Lawrence Liang of the Alternative Law Forum put it. Needless to say, cartoonists and others that dare to speak their mind cannot usually afford the time and expense of courts.

An experiment featuring monkeys, bananas and ice-cold water, commonly attributed to the late American psychologist Harry Harlow, explains what’s being attempted by those who attack free speech. First, five monkeys are put in a cage with bananas hanging from the top that can be reached by climbing a ladder. Every time one of the monkeys try to climb the ladder, ice-cold water is thrown on all of them. Soon, the monkeys learn not to climb the ladder.

Then, one of them is replaced with a monkey that has never been drenched with ice-cold water. When the new monkey tries to climb the ladder, the other four monkeys attack it and prevent it from reaching the banana. This is continued till all the original monkeys are replaced with new ones.

When that’s done, although none of the monkeys left in the cage has ever been drenched with ice-cold water, they continue to enforce the regulation on themselves. This is what has happened in China. This is what is being attempted here – to social engineer the Indian netizen.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/www-deccan-chronicle-sep-16-2012-sunil-abraham-the-five-monkeys-and-ice-cold-water

The Fintech Disruption - Innovation, Regulation, and Transformation

praskrishna — 2017-03-29T02:10:49Z

Sumandro Chattapadhyay attended an event organized by Carnegie India on March 28, 2017. The aim of the initiative was that inclusive and sustainable regulations require constant interaction between policy makers and industry.

Select senior level policymakers, leaders from the banking industry and dynamic start-up founders and innovators gathered for the meet-up. The intention is to follow up on the discussions and debates from the round-table and come out with a detailed report on Fintech Regulations based on the research and conversations with start-ups and other valuable stakeholders.

See the conference agenda

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/the-fintech-disruption-innovation-regulation-and-transformation

The Evolving Cyber Threat and How to Address It

praskrishna — 2013-11-18T10:49:15Z

Larry Clinton, the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Internet Security Alliance will give a talk on cyber threat and how to address the same. The talk will be held at the office of the Centre for Internet and Society in Bangalore on November 22, 2.30 p.m. to 3.30 p.m.

The talk will broadly cover the following:

Using Public-Private Partnerships to Enhance Cyber Security
Ongoing Threat of Cyber-attacks Must be Fought on Both a Technical and Economic Basis
Targeted Education's Critical Role in Cyber security
Combating the Persistent Cyber Security Threat in the Manufacturing Industry / Cyber Security Threats to the Supply Chain
Economics of Cyber Security

Larry Clinton

Larry Clinton is the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Internet Security Alliance (ISA). ISA is a multi-sector trade association with membership from virtually every one of the designated critical industry sectors. The mission of the ISA is to combine advanced technology with economics and public policy to create a sustainable system of cyber security.

Mr. Clinton is regularly called upon to testify before both the U.S. House and Senate. In 2008, ISA published its Cyber Security “Social Contract,” which is both the first and last source cited in the Executive Summary of President Obama’s “Cyberspace Policy Review” (click here for report). This report also cited more than a dozen of ISA’s white papers – far more than any other source. Recently, these ISA documents were also the inspiration for many of the recommendations in the House Republican Cyber Security Task Force Report (click here for report).

Mr. Clinton is known for his ability to take the complicated issues in this space and explain them clearly to a wide range of audiences: professional, policy makers and the general public. He has been featured in mass media such as USA Today, the PBS News Hour, the Morning Show on CBS, Fox News, CNN’s Situation Room, C-SPAN, and CNBC. He has also authored numerous professional journal articles on cyber security. This year he has published articles in the Cutter IT Journal, the Journal of Strategic Security and the Journal of Software Technology (click here for a full list of articles and other ISA news appearances).

The ISA’s pro-market, incentives-based approach to cyber security, rather than regulation, is outlined in its numerous publications, including the ISA Cyber Security Social Contract and Financial Management of Cyber Security series, which were written by the ISA Board of Directors and edited by Mr. Clinton (click here for the full list of ISA Publications).

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/events/evolving-cyber-threat-and-how-to-address-it

The EU and Free Flows of Data - Data Protection, Trade and Law Enforcement

praskrishna — 2016-12-22T16:01:52Z

Amelia Andersdotter, Cofounder of Dataskydd.net, Distinguished Fellow, Centre for Internet and Society and former Member of the European Parliament gave a talk on December 14, 2016 at the Department of European Studies in Manipal.

Download the brochure

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/the-eu-and-free-flows-of-data-data-protection-trade-and-law-enforcement

The Embodiment of the Right to Privacy within Domestic Legislation

tanvi — 2014-09-08T02:37:39Z

The Right to Privacy is a pivotal construct, essential to the actualization of justice, fairness and equity within any democratic society. It is an instrument used to secure the boundaries of an individual’s personal space, in his interaction with not only the rest of society but also the State.

It is within this realm of the social transaction that there exists an unending conflict between the Right to Privacy of an individual and the overbearing hand of the State as a facilitator of public interest. This right thus acts as a safety valve providing individuals with a sacred space within which their interactions in their personal capacity have no bearing on their conduct in the public sphere. The preservation of this space is incredibly important in order to ensure a willingness of individuals to engage and cooperate with the State in its fulfillment of public welfare measures that would otherwise be deemed as intrusive. It is in this regard that the Right to Privacy, one of the last sustaining rights that an individual holds against a larger State interest, ought to be protected by the law.

There are numerous dimensions to the idea of the Right to Privacy. These include but are not limited to the privacy of person, privacy of communication, personal privacy, transactional privacy, privacy of information and the privacy of personal data.

The Supreme Court of India has come to the rescue of individuals, time and again by construing "Right to Privacy" as an extension of the Fundamental Right to “Protection of Life and Personal liberty” under Article 21 of the Constitution. This has been reflected in the adjudicatory jurisprudence of the Constitutional courts in the country. However, there exists no Constitutional remedy to redress the breach of privacy by a nongovernmental actor, except under tortuous liability. The power and authority of public and private institutions to use an individual’s personal data for larger interests of national security or effectuation of socio-economic policies is still under extensive scrutiny. It is in this regard that we have compiled a number of sectoral legislations, regulating domains ranging from Finance and Telecom to Healthcare, Freedom of Expression, Consumer rights and Procedural codes. The highlighted provisions under each Act pertain to the mechanisms embodied within the legislation for the regulation of privacy within their respective sectors. Through this we aim to determine the threshold for permissible collection of confidential data and regulatory surveillance, provided a sufficient need for the same has been established. The determination of such a threshold is imperative to formulating a consistent and effective regime of privacy protection in India.

Click to download the below resources:

Legislations
Master Circulars
Finance and Privacy
Code of Civil Procedure and Code of Criminal Procedure
Freedom of Expression
Identity and Privacy
National Security and Privacy
Consumer Protection
Transparency and Privacy
Healthcare
Telecom

Case Laws
Code of Civil Procedure and Code of Criminal Procedure
Freedom of Expression
Identity and Privacy
National Security and Privacy
Consumer Protection
Transparency and Privacy
Healthcare
Telecom

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/the-embodiment-of-right-to-privacy-within-domestic-legislation

We are anonymous, we are legion

The Future of Work in the Automotive Sector in India

Introduction

The Future of the Internet, Who Should Govern It and What is at Stake for You?

Schedule

The Future of Privacy in the Age of Big Data

List of Participants

The Future of Cyber Governance

Global Governance Reform Initiative

Video

The Fundamental Right to Privacy: An Analysis

The​ ​Fundamental​ ​Right​ ​to​ ​Privacy - Part​ ​I:​ ​Sources

Download: PDF

The​ ​Fundamental​ ​Right​ ​to​ ​Privacy - ​Part​ ​II:​ Structure

Download: PDF

The​ ​Fundamental​ ​Right​ ​to​ ​Privacy - Part​ ​III:​ Scope

Download: PDF

The Fundamental Right to Privacy - A Visual Guide

The Fundamental Right to Privacy - A Visual Guide: Download (PDF)

The freedom of expression debate: The State must mend fences with The Web

The Four Parts of Privacy in India

The Forbes India 30 Under 30 List

30 Under 30 list

Methodology

The flaw in cyber law

Assess Ambiguity

To Use, Not Abuse

The Five Monkeys & Ice-cold Water

The Fintech Disruption - Innovation, Regulation, and Transformation

The Evolving Cyber Threat and How to Address It

Larry Clinton

The EU and Free Flows of Data - Data Protection, Trade and Law Enforcement

The Embodiment of the Right to Privacy within Domestic Legislation

Click to download the below resources:

The Fundamental Right to Privacy - Part I: Sources

The Fundamental Right to Privacy - Part II: Structure

The Fundamental Right to Privacy - Part III: Scope