Swiss Network in India Partners with HCLSoftware to Pioneer Advanced GovTech Solutions
The MoU aims to address key public sector challenges by promoting citizen-centric digital transformation across domains of GovTeh such as, e-governance, sovereign collaboration, healthcare, edtech, and agritech. Drawing on HCLSoftware's experience in enterprise technologies and building platforms such as HCL Total Experience, HCL Universal Orchestrator, HCL AppScan, and HCL BigFix, the partnership will explore new models of collaboration that respond to real-world governance needs. By engaging stakeholders from government, academia, startups, and industry, the MoU fosters a cross-border GovTech innovation corridor, opening up opportunities for knowledge exchange and long-term co-innovation between Switzerland and India.
'This MoU represents our commitment to building international partnerships that drive meaningful innovation in the public sector,' said Mrs. Maya Tissafi, Ambassador of Switzerland to India. 'By combining our countries' strengths in technology and governance, we can create solutions that benefit citizens while setting new standards for international cooperation in digital transformation.'
Jonas Brunschwig, CEO and Consul General of Swissnex in India, added, 'HCLSoftware joining the Indo-Swiss Innovation Platform in a strategic partnership can accelerate GovTech innovation. This partnership will create tangible opportunities for startups, researchers, and technology companies in both countries to collaborate on solutions that address real-world governance challenges and enhance digital infrastructure.'
As part of this partnership, HCLSoftware brings its Experience, Data, and Operations (XDO) Blueprint — a strategic framework developed to support public sector modernization. This expertise will contribute to identifying scalable approaches to
enhance user experience, streamline service delivery, and enable data-informed decision- making across governance domains.
'This partnership represents a meaningful step toward advancing GovTech through international collaboration,' said Kalyan Kumar, Chief Product Officer at HCLSoftware.
'By contributing our experience and frameworks like the XDO Blueprint, we aim to support joint efforts exploring innovative, citizen-centric digital transformation approaches. We look forward to working with partners across Switzerland and India to co-create scalable solutions that can enhance transparency, improve service accessibility, and strengthen public institutions for the future.'
As both nations continue their digital transformation journey, the partnership will catalyze developing next-generation public sector technologies and set a new benchmark in e- governance.
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NDTV
4 hours ago
- NDTV
NISAR Satellite: Earth's Watchtower Jointly Built By India, US
Pasadena, California: India and the US' $1.3 billion satellite to decode Earth's secrets is ready for its lift-off from India's space port on the coast of the Bay of Bengal. Made in California's Pasadena and Bengaluru, the NISAR satellite is set to save lives across the world. The NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR) satellite, also referred to as the 'Nisarga satellite', is the world's single most expensive civilian Earth imaging satellite. It is being readied to fly aboard India's Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV Mark 2) rocket from Sriharikota on Wednesday. This is the first big Indo-US collaborative satellite mission. The very unique Earth imaging satellite jointly made by India and the US is a technological marvel and would be game game-changer in saving lives from impending natural disasters. That the world's oldest democracy, the US, and the world's largest democracy, India, are working together on this most expensive satellite is a testament to the growing Indo-US bonhomie and strategic ties. In an exclusive conversation with NDTV, Dr. Paul Rosen, a NASA Project Scientist for NISAR at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California, shared the mission's scientific ambition and its life-saving potential. "This is a science mission and applications mission. We're studying the cryosphere, ecosystems, and solid earth hazards like earthquakes and landslides. It's very much a climate mission," Dr Rosen said. The satellite's dual-band radar - L-band from NASA and S-band from ISRO - will allow scientists to monitor Earth's surface with unprecedented millimetre precision. This includes tectonic shifts, glacial movements, biomass changes, and even precursors to landslides and glacial lake outbursts. "We can make 3D movies of the motions of the Earth, all the land and ice. Nothing in conventional remote sensing can do that," Dr Rosen explained. The use of synthetic aperture radar (SAR) in two bands is a deliberate choice to extend the dynamic range of measurements. The L-band penetrates deeper and captures larger structures, while the S-band is sensitive to finer details. "Two wavelengths give us a much more dynamic measurement than just one," he said. The satellite has been in development for over a decade. On the choice of launch vehicle, Dr Rosen addressed concerns about using the GSLV Mark 2, once nicknamed ISRO's "naughty boy". "Any launch is risky. But the last GSLV Mark 2 launch was 100% successful in the same configuration we plan to use. I don't have major concerns," he said. Switching to the newer Launch Vehicle Mark-3 (LVM-30) was considered but ruled out due to cost and time constraints. "Changing midstream incurs costs and delays. It's best programmatically and practically to move forward with GSLV Mark 2," Dr Rosen added. The NISAR mission was born from NASA's long-standing desire to launch a radar-based Earth observation system. After failed attempts to secure funding, NASA sought international partners. In 2011, Dr Rosen visited India and found enthusiastic support from ISRO. "I gave a talk about our concept, and it was instantly embraced by ISRO. In 2014, NASA and ISRO signed the agreement. The rest is history," he recalled. The satellite will provide global coverage every 12 days, enabling continuous monitoring of seismic zones like the Himalayas. "We can measure ground motion to millimetre precision. That helps us understand the earthquake cycle - before, during, and after seismic events," Dr Rosen said. He also emphasised the satellite's role in tracking landslides and glacial lake outburst floods (GLOFs), which have become increasingly common in the Himalayas. "We can see precursory motion before landslides. And we will monitor glacier dynamics to assess GLOF risks," he noted. On climate change, NISAR will help quantify carbon exchange between forests and the atmosphere, improving climate models. "We'll reduce errors in climate modelling by an order of magnitude. That's huge," Dr Rosen said. Additionally, all data from NISAR will be publicly available. "The data will be placed in the public archive almost instantly after processing. NASA and ISRO have agreed - this is a science mission, and all radar data will be open," he said. The collaboration has been technically and culturally enriching. Despite different development styles, both agencies have worked in parallel, integrating components across continents. "ISRO's technology is quite advanced. We built part of the structure, shipped it to India, they added electronics, shipped it back, and it all worked. It's been a great partnership," Dr Rosen said. On cost disparities, he acknowledged the complexity but emphasised value. "It's a complex system. But if you divide the cost by the square kilometres of data, it's just 2 US Cents per square kilometer. That's incredibly cheap," he said. The satellite features a 12-meter unfurlable gold mesh antenna, the largest of its kind in low-Earth orbit. Its boom structure, made of composite fibres, was a new engineering challenge. "It was a challenge to build, but we're confident it will work. We had an extremely complete testing program," Dr Rosen said. Reflecting on the collaboration, he praised ISRO's engineers and scientists. "I've been to India over 30 times. The scientists are welcoming, and the engineers are capable. The result is a beautiful satellite that's performing well in tests," he said. As the launch nears, Dr Rosen is filled with anticipation. "I've been waiting for this mission for 30 years, working on it for 14. I cannot wait for the data," he said. And yes, he may be celebrating the launch with peanuts, a JPL tradition, alongside ISRO's temple visits. "Absolutely. I'll celebrate with peanuts and whatever ISRO's tradition is," he laughed. From Pasadena to Sriharikota, NISAR is more than a satellite - it's a symbol of scientific unity, technological excellence, and a shared commitment to saving lives and understanding our planet.
Indian Express
2 days ago
- Indian Express
India, China marking a beginning, sense of caution would have to be built in: FM Nirmala Sitharaman
India and China are beginning to move towards more access and interactions that might help the economy, even as a sense of caution would have to be built in, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Saturday. She also underlined that maintaining growth is India's top priority along with the need to be a dynamic player in global institutions and redefining its role in the global South, and having a friendly and attractive FDI policy to be able to get more and more investments. When asked about the thaw in Indo-China relations at the launch of the book A World in Flux: India's Economic Priorities with the recent relaxation of visa norms, Sitharaman said not just India but China has also shown interest in these interactions and one will have to 'wait and see' how far it will go. Citing the restrictions earlier enlisted in Press Note 3 that had put curbs on investments from China, which also affected some of the projects including those in the renewable energy sector, Sitharaman said there was lull during the tariff war between the US and China. But, now it has been felt by both India and China for the 'need to have more access and a lot more interactions that could possibly open some windows'. 'And that's not just from our side, even the Chinese have been approaching through the MEA. So, you had External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar go. There is something, some kind of a beginning, as to how much it will take us far; how far it will go is something we will have to wait and see. But it might help the economy; however much, a sense of caution would have to be built in,' she said. Last week, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar travelled to China where he had underlined that 'differences should not become disputes' nor should 'competition ever become conflict' and that while India and China have made good progress in the past nine months towards the normalisation of bilateral relations, they should work to address de-escalation on the border. India had earlier put restrictions on investments from China through Press Note 3 in April 2020 to curb potential opportunistic takeovers of Indian companies during the Covid-19 pandemic by making a government approval mandatory for all investments from countries sharing a land border with India, including China. It continued to be in force in the wake of national security concerns due to border tensions after the Galwan clash. Enlisting India's priorities, Sitharaman said growth is the topmost priority. 'Growth is the topmost priority, and therefore, it will have an overlap with: do you create jobs, do you have that value addition,' she said. The Indian economy grew by 6.5 per cent in FY25, the slowest in four years as against 9.2 per cent growth in FY24. For the current financial year 2025-26, the Economic Survey has projected GDP growth at 6.3-6.8 per cent, while the RBI has lowered its growth forecast to 6.5 per cent from an earlier level of 6.7 per cent for FY26. The second objective for India would be to be relevant on the global stage, she said. 'Not just to be there in the leadership position but to be able to define how this move is going to take India forward along with the rest of the countries. We need to define the global institutions which are going to govern us for the next hundred years,' she said. Within India, Sitharaman said the government will have to focus on whether it is giving the economy the necessary support and attending to every aspiring section's aspirations, not just by giving money but by giving an overall ecosystem through which they can aspire to grow. Finding resources for meeting domestic economic aspirations within fiscal constraints is another priority for the government, she said. Another priority would be to make sure that the FDI policy is friendly and attractive to be able to get more and more investments happening in India. On the issue of trade pacts, Sitharaman said agreements are taking priority over multilateral trade even though she can't comment if it's good or bad as of now. 'On the bilateral trade front, we are moving forward and we have seen bilateral agreements being signed in the last four to five years with Australia, UAE, EFTA and the UK. Negotiations are progressing well with the United States as well as the European Union,' she said.
NDTV
2 days ago
- NDTV
Earth Imaging Satellite NISAR Exposes NASA's Weaknesses, ISRO's Strengths
The upcoming rocket launch from Sriharikota can be aptly summed as 'NASA's envy, India's pride!' The rocket the Americans tried to kill will now launch a billion-dollar bird. The very unique Earth imaging satellite jointly made by India and US named the 'NASA ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar' (NISAR) satellite, is a technological marvel and would be a game-changer in saving lives from impending natural disasters. That the world's oldest democracy, US, and the world's largest democracy, India, are working together on this most expensive satellite that has cost upwards of $1.3 billion. It is a testament to the growing Indo-US bonhomie and strategic ties. But this mission also exposes the double standards the US exercised on India in yesteryears and is also ironical that America's most expensive civilian Earth imaging satellite ever made will be launched using an Indian launcher - the same rocket Americans wanted to desperately scuttle and kill its development in the early nineties. ISRO persevered relentlessly for nearly two decades and succeeded so much so that now top officials from NASA will actually be present at India's space port to witness the historic liftoff on July 30. According to ISRO, the NISAR satellite weighs 2,392 kg, and it will scan the entire globe and provide all-weather, day-and-night data at a 12-day interval and enable a wide range of applications. NISAR can detect changes in the Earth's surface, such as ground deformation, ice sheet movement, and vegetation dynamics. It will be launched using the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mark 2 (GSLV Mark 2), which will be powered by an indigenously developed cryogenic engine - the same technology that the US administration, especially its Bureau of Export Control, wanted to deny to India by working overtime with the then USSR. It was the 1990s and India was steadily developing its rockets and wanted to acquire the sophisticated cryogenic engine technology from the then USSR. It was under American pressure that Russia did not do technology transfer to India, but instead gave about half a dozen ready-made cryogenic engines to India. Subsequently, India struggled for nearly twenty years before mastering the complexities of cryogenic engine technology. The Americans used all the power of technology denials, sanctions at their disposal to try and make sure India did not acquire this technology. But then these tech-denials turned a blessing in disguise, and the scientists at ISRO toiled hard, and today it is the home-made cryogenic engine which will launch the NISAR satellite. Some would say this is an irony of ironies, and some would say it is egg on the face of US. Dr V Narayanan, chairman of ISRO, had helped India master the cryogenic engine, which makes it a proud moment for him to see the NISAR sticker on the payload fairing of the rocket that houses the cryogenic engine inside. At the end of the day, the US scientists have swallowed their pride and are sheepishly going to watch the launch of a satellite where they have invested nearly $ 1.15 billion. It is this exorbitant cost by NASA that should also be a reason for Americans to squirm and be uncomfortable. Wendy Edelstein, NISAR's Deputy Project Manager at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), asserted, "NISAR is a 50-50 partnership between NASA and ISRO. It represents the largest collaboration in space between the United States and India." Interestingly, India has spent about Rs 800 crores on the NISAR project, which works out a little less than $100 million. NASA confirmed that it included 'ISRO investment for development, launch operations, and mission operations'. NASA has contributed the L-band radar, which penetrates vegetation and soil to reveal subsurface changes, while ISRO has provided the S-band radar, optimised for detecting surface-level features like foliage and terrain. These radars are mounted on a 12-meter mesh reflector antenna, roughly the size of a school bus, allowing the satellite to scan nearly all of Earth's land and ice surfaces twice every 12 days. India has not only contributed the equivalent S-band radar, but is also providing the rocket and the launch port and launch services, so why NASA's cost is $1.1589 billion and ISRO's cost is just $100 million? Here lies the heartwarming tale of Indian frugal engineering and cost optimization: It shows the profligate approach to engineering adopted by NASA. When quizzed by the US media on the issue of costs, Nikki Fox, Associate Administrator for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, said at a briefing, "I will defer to them [ISRO] on their final costs". There are many reasons behind the huge cost incurred by NASA, one of them being that most of the development of the instruments and payloads they fly are made by huge multi-national corporations and they not only need huge profits but also need to share dividends with their share-holders. ISRO, on the other hand, being a national entity does these things in-house and has no reason to pad up the cost to share profits with share-holders. Additonally, an ISRO official said that when their scientists travel to the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena in California, they would stay in shared $100 a day room while the NASA scientists when they travel to the UR Rao Satellite Center in Bengaluru would stay in an over $500 a day room. This automatically inflates the costs. Also, India usually makes only one instrument the one that will fly into space, while NASA makes an engineering model and flight model, which leads to doubling the cost. The way human power is distributed is also very different between NASA and ISRO at the Indian space agency. In the case of NISAR, which has taken over 11 years to build, the teams at ISRO working on multiple satellites and the salaries in India also turn out to be much lower when converted into dollar terms. The top manager at ISRO also pointed out that ISRO engineers are willing to put in long hours and work over weekends, while the US contract engineers are reluctant to put in long hours. The premium for insurance also adds to the costs at ISRO since the government takes the full liability and no insurance is taken, In other countries, insurance premiums can be a huge cost. Incidentally, when India launched its communication satellite using the SpaceX Falcon-9 rocket, India also took insurance. This huge difference in NASA's and ISRO's costs remains a huge enigma for the making of the NISAR satellite, which was made with an understanding of equal partnership. Not just NISAR, there are still many bitter-sweet oddities in the Indo-US space relationship. India's first rocket launched from Thumba on November 21, 1963. It was an American Nike Apache rocket and the world got its first direct-to-home television broadcast - thanks to the Satellite Instruction Television Experiment (SITE) in 1975 pioneered in rural India. Then came the era of sanctions, which ended only when the Indo-US Civilian Nuclear Deal was inked in 2008. Despite the sanctions, ISRO opened its heart out and flew two American instruments to the moon on Chandrayaan-1 in 2008 free of cost. This is contrast with the 2025 Astronaut mission of Shubhanshu Shukla to the International Space Station using the Axiom-4 flight where India shelled out hard cash of about $70 million for this single seat to the Americans. Interestingly, when the two democracies have worked together, they have had fruitful outcomes. It was Chandrayaan-1 which discovered the presence of water on the lunar surface, opening up flood gates for the colonisation of the moon. And now, on the NISAR mission, when NASA had all but given up the making of this costly satellite as its other foreign partners had backed out, it was ISRO that stepped in in 2014 and said ,'let us forge this partnership to make the world's single most expensive civilian Earth imaging satellite'. Hence, today the $1.3 billion NISAR satellite, which is sometimes also referred to as the NISARGA satellite, has been conceived in the true spirit of 'Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam' or the 'world is one family,' concept, and sits atop the rocket ready for lift off from Sriharikota in the true spirit of 'vishwa bandhu'. The contrast in cost structures, the cultural differences in engineering ethos, and the historical ironies are a compelling story of resilience, frugality, and strategic partnership. Life, in a way, is coming full circle for US and India, as the friendship grows to explore the unknown frontiers of space. India's frugal technology development, when clubbed with the US high technology can lead to a huge cosmic leap.
