Rajasthan Brings Out eGovernance and IT/ITeS Policy 2015

The Chief Minister and Government of Rajasthan have released the Rajasthan eGovernance and IT/ITeS Policy 2015 on November 5, 2015. The previous IT and ITeS Policy was released in the year 2007, which aimed at leveraging Information Technology for implementing eGovernance initiatives benefitting the residents. Since then, multiple highly successful eGovernance initiatives have been implemented.

The advancements and reshaping of technological domain with changes in economic and regulatory frameworks necessitate a revision in the prevalent IT policy. Understanding the same, and to ensure maximum development and benefits till the last mile, the Chief Minister announced release of new eGovernance and IT/ITeS Policy 2015 with strong emphasis on development of public, government departments and promotion of IT/ITeS/ESDM/Robotics sector.

The eGovernance and IT/ITeS Policy 2015 prepared by Department of Information Technology n Communication in compliance of the Budget Announcement was released on05 November 2015.

The policy has 4 main objectives:

1.  Information Technology for Good Governance

2.  IT/ITeS/ESDM related Human Capital Development

3. Promotion of Economic Development of State by enhanced investment in IT/ITeS/ESDM/Robotics Sector

4.  Establishing Secure and Green IT Environment in Rajasthan

For the first time, ESDM, Manufacturing and Robotics sector have been added to the policy. In addition, for the first time, the state has taken a step to provide complete exemption from Zoning Regulations and Land Conversion to the IT/ITeS Sector.

The policy aims at promoting hassle free access for common man, to the government, service delivery till the last mile, establishing IT Infrastructure till the village level establishing access to everyone and establishing Rajasthan as the frontrunner in promotion of the IT Sector. 

The State Government obtained public opinion and expert support from technical experts, academician, institutions and industry for developing the policy. The details have been finalized after detailed discussion and deliberation with residents, subject matter experts, IT industry, Government Departments and media representatives.

ICL Brasil Use Honeywell’s Experion Orion Console for Faster Effective Response and Less Fatigue

Honeywell Process Solutions (HPS) has announced that a large chemical facility in Brazil will be the first in the world to use Honeywell’s state-of-the-art Experion Orion Console, which is designed with plant operating personnel in mind by providing a single visual workplace that allows for more effective responses and less operator fatigue.

ICL Brasil will use the Experion Orion Console as well as Honeywell’s Universal I/O technology to modernize its production facility in Cajati, near Sao Paulo. The upgrades are meant to increase production, improve efficiency and improve the effectiveness of the plant operators.

“This project reflects ICL Brasil’s bold and pioneering vision for its business by better helping its operators perform their jobs, reducing costs and saving time on the overall project,” said Francisco Casulli, HPS business leader for Brazil. “Experion Orion truly changes the concept of ‘plant operations’ by transforming the process operators into profit operators. These operators not only understand how the plant works, but how to make it run more efficiently and profitably.”

Experion Orion Console – built on Honeywell’s flagship Experion Process Knowledge System (PKS) control platform – features an improved ergonomic design, better displays, and stronger capabilities to meet the needs of increasingly mobile plant operators. “The Cajati plant has been an important part of our company’s success for almost 30 years,” said Arnaldo Dias Jr., industrial manager of ICL Brasil. “For this upgrade, we needed technology that would help us boost our competitiveness and improve our leading position as the premier manufacturer of phosphoric acid. Honeywell’s technology will enable us to do that.”

While ICL Brasil is the first major facility to install the Experion Orion Console, HPS has similar projects ongoing at chemical plants, refineries, mines and other production sites around the world in countries such as Chile, Mexico, the United States, Korea, Australia, Russia, Saudi Arabia and Oman.

The console features a large, ultra-high definition display with clear status readings of operations in a single glance for faster and more-informed management. Operators can customize displays to prioritize data that is needed for a given process or operation. The display also can be set to show operating limits and targets. Touchscreen displays help operators quickly and accurately respond to changing conditions. Additionally, the console features adjustable sitting and standing operating positions to reduce fatigue. The console was developed using the Honeywell User Experience, a new approach to the design and development of new products focused on making them easier to use, more intuitive, more efficient, and more productive.

Use of Honeywell’s Universal I/O (input/output) technology will speed project schedules, reduce production downtime, and help plant personnel more efficiently manage operations by reducing the stock of spare parts.

In parallel, the Universal I/O modules play a critical role in helping start operations on time by allowing operators to quickly and remotely configure channels as digital or analog. This allows the system to become operational as soon as the points are set, and eliminates the need to re-open panels to replace cards or adjust wiring even if there are changes later in the project. Finally, using Universal I/O modules allows plants to reduce the number of spares that are needed, which is important for large projects such as the ICL Brasil upgrade, which can have more than 10,000 I/O points. This translates to significant savings on inventory and storage costs.

ICL Brasil is a global manufacturer of products based on special minerals that meet the essential needs of humanity.

Indian Data Center Infrastructure Market to Reach $2 Billion in 2016

The Indian data center infrastructure market will total $2 billion in 2016, a 5.2 percent increase from 2015, according to Gartner, Inc. Analysts are providing the latest trends shaping the future of the data center market, and the impact of emerging technologies on organizations’ mission critical priorities, at Gartner Symposium/ITxpo, taking place here through November 5. 

“Within the Indian IT infrastructure market, server revenue is forecast to reach $698 million in 2016, an increase of 5.3 percent over 2015. Enterprise networking will continue to be the biggest segment with revenue expected to touch $963 million in 2016,“ said Aman Munglani, research director at Gartner. “This segment will also be the fastest growing market, as spending is forecast to increase 5.9 percent in 2016. With increased focus on mobility and big data activities in India, software defined networking has the highest adoption rate amongst Indian enterprises.”

The storage market is projected to reach $307 million in 2016, a 3 percent increase from 2015. Storage modernization and consolidation, backup and recovery, and disaster recovery are some of the key drivers to this market, and they are likely to remain relevant drivers over the forecast period through 2019.

The strong push towards cloud based infrastructure as a service (IaaS) from within the SMB segment will negate the increase in storage spend within the enterprise space. While it is the early days, Gartner also expects the emerging hyper converged integrated systems and storage technologies based on software-defined storage to encroach on the traditional ECB storage market.

State PSU Canara Bank Q2, 2015-16 Net Down 16 Percent

State-run Canara Bank has posted Rs.529 crore net profit for the second quarter (July-September) of this fiscal (2015-16), registering a 16 percent decline from Rs.629 crore in the like period a year ago.

In a regulatory filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), the city-based bank said, sequentially, however, net profit increased 10 percent from Rs.479 crore in the first quarter (April-June) of this fiscal.

Net interest income, the difference between interest earned and expended, grew 11.7 per cent to ₹2,646 crore (₹2,367 crore in the year-ago quarter). Operating profit rose 19 per cent to ₹1,944.10 crore (₹1,625.54 crore).

The bank made a 49 per cent increase in provisioning at ₹1,212.31 crore (₹813.70 crore). Gross net performing assets (NPAs) for the quarter rose 54 per cent to ₹14,021.34 crore (₹9,164.26 crore). Net NPAs were up 31 per cent at ₹9,382.53 crore (₹7,170.30 crore). Gross NPAs as percentage of advances stood at 4.27 per cent, while net NPAs were higher at 2.90 per cent.

Fresh slippages stood at around ₹2,000 crore during the quarter. “We have been able to control fresh slippages and have strengthened the provision coverage ratio (PCR) to 59.8 per cent,” said Rakesh Sharma, MD and CEO, Canara Bank. The bank has strengthened the recovery process and aims to bring down the GNPAs to less than 4 per cent by March 2016, Sharma adds. 

Ravisankaran, Manoj Kumar take Charge as New GMs at BEL Ltd

Two new General Managers (GMs) have assumed charge at Navratna Defence PSU Bharat Electronics Ltd (BEL). They are A Ravisankaran, GM (Central DnE)/BEL-Bengaluru, and Manoj Kumar, GM (BEL-Kotdwara).

A Ravi Sankaran, GM Central (DnE)/BEL-Bengaluru, completed his BE degree in Electronics and Communication Engineering from Regional Engineering College, Tiruchirapalli, in 1981. He joined BEL’s Bengaluru Complex after completing post graduation (M.Tech) from IIT-Kanpur in 1983.

Ravi Sankaran has worked extensively in Radar development projects including RAWS-03 and Flycatcher Upgrade, for which he received the BEL R&D Award. As Head of the Development & Engineering Department at the Military Radar SBU of BEL-Bengaluru, he was engaged in the joint development of Air Defence Fire Control Radar with LRDE for the Army, till his elevation as GM.

Manoj Kumar, the new GM of BEL’s Kotdwara Unit, graduated in Electronics & Communication Engineering (BE) from Karnataka Regional Engineering College, Surathkal (now NITK), and joined BEL’s Ghaziabad Unit in February 1985 as Probationary Engineer.

He started his career in the Sales Communication Department of BEL-Ghaziabad and was involved in the trials and introduction of Digital Mobile Troposcatter equipment into the Services. He moved into Quality Assurance and served in the Inward Goods Inspection and Test Equipment Support departments. He later worked in the Marketing (Radar) Division, where he was involved in the induction of INDRA Mk II and Reporter Radars.

In the year 2002, Manoj Kumar was transferred to Systems Department, where he played a pivotal role in the implementation of POLNET and Mobile Cellular Communication System projects. He then moved to the National Marketing Division at BEL’s Delhi Regional Office to take care of BEL’s Naval business. He was Additional General Manager (Navy/National Marketing)/BEL Regional Office-Delhi, before his elevation as GM. 

JDA & Tata Consultancy Partner for Fast, Reliable and Cost Effective Manufacturing Planning 9.0

JDA Software Group, Inc. has announced it has partnered with Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) to launch an offering to help facilitate solution upgrades to the latest release of JDA Manufacturing Planning, version 9.0.  Together, JDA and TCS will provide customers with a pre-packaged upgrade program for customers so they can leverage the new capabilities in JDA Manufacturing Planning 9.0. JDA Manufacturing Planning enables companies to create a seamless, highly adaptive supply chain that spans upstream suppliers and downstream distributors, enabling an agile and profitable response as demand and supply conditions change.

“TCS’ global presence and its large JDA consulting practice will help offer JDA customers an opportunity to upgrade in a timely manner, reliably and cost-effectively,” said David Johnston,  senior vice president of supply chain, JDA. “JDA’s long-standing alliance with TCS, combined with their extensive experience with JDA supply chain solutions, makes them the ideal partner as we migrate our customers to the JDA Manufacturing 9.0, helping our customers create a more agile, risk-aware supply chain.”

With the release of JDA Manufacturing Planning 9.0, JDA customers can now take their supply chain solution to the next level of business performance, enabling seamless and profitable supply chains. Customers can derive significant business value, leveraging the very best of supply chain in-memory technology, faster speed, next generation forecasting algorithms, rapid what-if simulations with guided resolution levers, and a dramatically improved user experience. JDA customers with up-to-date maintenance and support agreements can access the latest version of their solution components from JDA without any additional charge.

“This joint offering embodies TCS’ deep commitment to client centricity and co-innovation in solutions through proactive investments in technology said Krishnan Ramanujam, vice president and global head, Consulting & Enterprise Solutions of TCS. “JDA’s technology product range is a key enabler of TCS’ service and solution offerings and we look forward to providing our customers with best-in-class services.”

TCS is speaking at JDA FocusConnect 2015 this week, on Thursday, November 4 at 2 p.m. with JDA in the session entitled “JDA Manufacturing Planning Upgrades: JDA Supply Chain Planner to JDA Enterprise Supply Planning in 90 days!” JDA FocusConnect is being held at the Hotel Arts Barcelona in Barcelona, Spain, and brings together more than 500 retail and supply chain professionals to share best practices in supply chain, manufacturing and retail planning, store operations and category management. 

Indian IT Spending to Rise 7.2% to $72.3 billion in 2016: Gartner

India is poised to become the fastest growing information technology market for the second straight year, and the country's spending on IT is expected to rise 7.2% to $72.3 billion in 2016, according to research firm Gartner. IT budgets too are growing the fastest in India at 11.7%, compared with the world average of 1%, it said.

"India will continue to be the fastest growing IT market for the second year in succession and will continue growing to total $87.67 billion by the end of 2019," said Aman Munglani, research director at Gartner.

Devices including mobile phones and PCs and tablets will account for almost 33% of the overall IT spend in India, while the devices business will grow 9.4% in 2016. Mobile phones will continue to be the single largest technology sub segment in India and the third fastest-growing through 2019, Gartner said. 

Digital business is driving "significant growth in new and established organisations across the world", it said.

Digital is also a key part of how Indian firms are looking to expand business.

In February, the Tata Group appointed former Citigroup executive Deep Thomas as head of its consumer analytics division, and is now looking to put in place chief digital officers at its consumer facing businesses, ET has previously reported.

Similarly, Mahindra Group has appointed Jaspreet Bindra to helm digital innovation and ecommerce, while Larsen & Toubro has hired consultancy McKinsey to chart a digital strategy. IDFC, which was recently awarded a banking licence, had appointed former Airtel executive Sriraman Jagannathan as its chief digital and data officer last year.

In IT budget, the retail sector is expected to see the highest growth of 11.3% in 2015, followed by banking and securities at 10.6%, insurance at 10.4%, healthcare providers at 10.3%, utilities at 10.2% and education and transportation at 10.1%.

Communications services, the largest segment, is also expected to be the slowest growing with 10% growth during the period, said Gartner. The research firm said bimodal IT and bimodal business running in two modes simultaneously is essential to take advantage of digital business, and the approach is resonating with companies.

"We run a bi-modal IT model; where one team works on run-the-business and the other on a more transform the business. There is a lot of focus on evaluating newer technologies for their use in the business," said Kalpana Maniar, president and chief information officer at financial services firm Edelweiss. IT spending is also moving beyond the chief information officer's control, which necessitates the need to look at new leadership approaches, said Gartner.