Latest news with #Subrahmanyam
The Hindu
5 days ago
- Business
- The Hindu
Andhra Pradesh poised to emerge as a model for other States in agrivoltaics, says NSEF CEO
National Solar Energy Federation of India (NSEFI) CEO Subrahmanyam Pulipaka has stated that Andhra Pradesh's commitment to Renewable Energy (RE) and sustainable agricultural practices provided a unique opportunity to integrate 'agrivoltaics' in a manner that benefits both agriculture and energy sectors. Addressing the A.P. State Consultation Workshop on 'Agrivoltaics', organised by the NSEFI, New & Renewable Energy Development Corporation of Andhra Pradesh (NREDCAP) and Shakti Sustainable Energy Foundation, here on Wednesday, Mr. Subrahmanyam said that with its vast agricultural landscape, abundant solar resources, and a progressive policy framework, A.P. was poised to become the model for other States for agrivoltaics in India. He asserted that A.P.'s approach to agrivoltaics (using land for both agriculture and solar power generation) would not only accelerate its energy transition but also provide a replicable model for other States. The NSEFI was working closely with agricultural universities for aligning agrivoltaics with the specific needs of the State's diverse agro-climatic zones. 'It is crucial to integrate climate-resilient agricultural practices with agrivoltaic systems. Combining solar energy with farming can not only provide farmers with an additional source of income but also help them in adapting to changing climate conditions, thereby ensuring sustainable growth in the two sectors,' Mr. Subrahmanyam added. NREDCAP Vice-Chairman & Managing Director M. Kamalakar Babu said A.P. had been a front-runner in the adoption of solar energy, and agrivoltaics could further strengthen the rural economy and energy resilience. A.P. was making rapid progress in RE, particularly on the solar power front, which was essential for the State's sustainable growth. The integration of solar panels with agriculture would facilitate the generation of additional revenue for farmers while ensuring sustainable power generation for the State. In areas like Rayalaseema, where small crops like pulses and millets were primarily cultivated, agrivoltaics offer an opportunity to diversify farmers' income streams, Mr. Babu added.
India Today
6 days ago
- Politics
- India Today
Andhra court allows fresh probe in Dalit man's murder by Jagan Reddy's party MLC
Andhra Pradesh Special Court for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes cases in Rajahmundry has permitted further investigation into the 2022 murder of a Dalit youth allegedly committed by YSRCP MLC Ananta Uday court directed that a supplementary charge sheet must be filed within 90 days. The order has cleared the path for the re-investigation announced earlier by the Telugu Desam Party (TDP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government in the Uday Bhaskar, also known as Ananta Babu, represents Kakinada in the Legislative Council and is a prominent YSRCP leader. He had allegedly murdered his former driver, Veedhi Subrahmanyam, a Dalit, during an altercation in May 2022 and attempted to stage the death as a road accident. According to police records, on the night of May 19, 2022, Ananta Babu and Subrahmanyam got into an argument, during which the legislator allegedly pushed him. The initial push caused Subrahmanyam to fall and sustain a head injury. When the driver attempted to retaliate, he was allegedly pushed again, this time receiving a grievous head injury that proved fatal. Ananta Babu told police he had offered water to the injured man, but Subrahmanyam became unresponsive shortly an effort to disguise the circumstances of the death, Ananta Babu allegedly carried the body to a dumping yard and inflicted injuries using sticks to make it appear as though Subrahmanyam had died in a road accident. The legislator then transported the body to Subrahmanyam's house and told the family he had died in a vehicular mishap. The family, however, noticed the suspicious injuries and refused to accept the explanation. A confrontation ensued, following which Ananta Babu left, abandoning the body in his a complaint from the family, Ananta Babu was arrested, and the YSRCP suspended him from the party. However, as the investigation officer failed to submit a charge sheet within 90 days, he was released on default bail in December coming to power last year, the TDP-led coalition government ordered a fresh investigation into the case in April. IPS officer and Deputy Superintendent of Police of Kakinada, Manish Devraj Patil, was appointed as the new investigation officer. He sought permission from the court to resume the probe.- Ends IN THIS STORY#Andhra Pradesh
Hans India
10-07-2025
- Business
- Hans India
Centre-State coordination to make India a global investment destination: NITI Aayog CEO
New Delhi: BVR Subrahmanyam, CEO of NITI Aayog, on Thursday underscored the critical role of state-level execution in shaping India's overall investment climate. During a high-level workshop on ease of doing business and investment promotion in New Delhi, he emphasised that there is much to learn from within the country itself, citing the diversity of successful models across states. Subrahmanyam called for streamlined systems, enhanced accountability, and coordinated efforts between the Centre and states to make India the most attractive and dependable destination for global capital. The workshop brought together senior policymakers to accelerate business reforms across India. Deliberations were held across seven core reform areas vital to investment facilitation and improving the ease of doing business at the sub-national level. These included Decriminalisation of Laws; Deregulation and Compliance Burden Reduction; Business Reform Action Plan (BRAP) Implementation; Development of Industrial Infrastructure; Single Window Clearance Systems; Financial and Taxation Reforms; Investment Promotion Strategies. During the session on decriminalization and compliance reform, several states presented their ongoing initiatives stemming from the Jan Vishwas Act 1.0, highlighting efforts to decriminalize minor business-related offences at the State level. States also emphasised a shift toward enhancing the "Speed of Doing Business", with a focus on reducing the number of stages in the business lifecycle to enable faster, more seamless operations for enterprises. The discussion underscored the need to convert minor business offences into civil penalties, while also streamlining compliance mechanisms to reduce the burden on entrepreneurs. States shared examples of removing imprisonment clauses, adopting self-certification regimes, removal of licence renewal and simplifying regulatory touchpoints to encourage ease of compliance and build trust with businesses. There was also a strong emphasis on aligning state-level actions with the national Business Reform Action Plan (BRAP) framework, ensuring that reforms lead to measurable and comparable improvements. Industry representatives advocated for the enactment of a national-level legislation to harmonise decriminalization and compounding provisions, across States. They also suggested the introduction of a Trusted Taxpayers Programme for both direct and indirect taxes, to incentivize compliance and promote a more facilitative regulatory environment. The session on Investment Promotion Strategies stressed the need to institutionalise investment promotion as a continuous, core State function rather than an event-based activity. States presented innovative, sector-specific strategies grounded in local strengths and global demand trends. Rajiv Gauba, Member, NITI Aayog, noted that ease of doing business is a work in progress and stressed the importance of reforms at the municipal level within states. He highlighted the potential for collaboration between NITI Aayog and DPIIT to support states in adopting a principle-based approach to decriminalisation. SCL Das, Secretary, Ministry of MSME, highlighted the need to strengthen the institutional interface of MSMEs with CBIC and State/UT governments.
Indian Express
07-07-2025
- Politics
- Indian Express
Sanjaya Baru writes: After Op Sindoor, lessons from Manmohan and Vajpayee governments on communication
Several experts and analysts have commented on poor, even faulty, messaging in the conduct of Operation Sindoor — before, during and after the operation. What were the faults? Before the operation began, it was not made clear that India would only target terrorist camps across the border and the Line of Control (LoC). While this was the stated objective of the government, there was no such clarity in the media on the nature of the Indian response to the Pahalgam attack. This raised expectations within India on what the Indian Armed Forces would do and subsequently contributed to disappointment at home. Bombastic claims by senior ruling party leaders about occupying Pakistan-occupied Kashmir did not help. Second, during the conflict, there was no communication within India and to the international community as to what was actually happening and what India's objectives were. Third, after the conflict ended, there was confusion on (a) the reasons for the ceasefire; (b) terms of the ceasefire and; (c) the nature of future red lines. Prime Minister Narendra Modi's statement that Operation Sindoor has not ended and is merely on hold has raised more questions than provide answers. Statements made overseas by the Chief of Defence Staff and by an Indian defence attache on the political guidelines within which the armed forces operated have added to this problem of mixed messaging. All this gives the impression that the military and civil leadership are not on the same page in their messaging on Operation Sindoor. Against this background, several analysts have drawn attention to the need for better 'strategic communication'. The funny thing is that the subject of 'strategic communication' has been discussed time and again within and outside the government and certainly within the national security establishment. Yet, it seems few lessons have been learnt from past experience. I have myself lectured on this subject, based on the experience during the Kargil War, more than once at the National Defence College. It is instructive to recall what had happened at that time. After hostilities began in the Kargil region, an army spokesperson was providing regular briefings to the media. The Kargil War was the first conflict in South Asia during which private Indian television wished to travel to the battle zones and cover events live. They were inspired by the example set by CNN during the first Gulf War in 1990. The then convenor of the National Security Advisory Board (NSAB), the late K Subrahmanyam, felt that better and more professional media management was needed. It may be recalled that Subrahmanyam, the guru of strategic policy analysts, had spent the 1990s in newspaper offices, first at the Business and Political Observer and later at The Times of India, and had a good grasp of how the media thinks and acts. At his instance, the NSAB constituted a media advisory sub-committee chaired by Subrahmanyam and including N N Vohra (a former defence secretary), J N Dixit (a former foreign secretary and later the National Security Advisor), Major General Afsar Karim and myself (I was then Editor, The Financial Express). Our first recommendation to the then National Security Advisor Brajesh Mishra was that rather than an army officer, a diplomat adept at such communication should do media briefings on a daily basis. The then joint secretary in the Ministry of External Affairs in-charge of external publicity, the late Raminder Singh Jassal, was tasked to conduct the daily briefings. Raminder was a talented and skilled diplomat, with good media handling skills and a sound understanding of India's strategic aims and objectives. The NSAB media sub-committee would meet every day at 11 am in the room of the then-deputy NSA Satish Chandra. The minutes of our meeting would be communicated to the NSA who would then brief Jassal. The daily media briefings played an important role in shaping both domestic understanding and expectations from the conflict and global appreciation of India's strategy and tactics. Global opinion turned decisively in India's favour with the United States supporting the Indian view on Kashmir for the very first time. President Bill Clinton endorsed the idea implicit to the Simla Agreement that the LoC would be the de facto boundary between India and Pakistan. It was on the basis of the conduct and outcome of the Kargil War that its main architect, General Pervez Musharraf, began to engage India. Regrettably, though, the Musharraf visit to India and his meeting with Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee at Agra in July 2001 proved a failure and the progress expected did not materialise. It was then left to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to take the baton forward. In September 2004, when Prime Minister Singh decided to engage President Musharraf, he was advised by most of his senior officials not to undertake such a risky exercise so early in his term in office. He not only began a conversation but invited President Musharraf to Delhi in April 2005. Once again, the national security and diplomatic establishment was concerned about the political fallout of the meeting. In Agra, the Indian media was seen as being better briefed by the Pakistan delegation than by the Indian side. It was felt Musharraf had been let off too easily with senior editors being charmed by the general. Prime Minister Singh tasked me to develop a media strategy for the Musharraf visit. With the support of senior officials in the Prime Minister's Office, I conducted several closed-door media briefings to different groups of journalists and analysts. This helped shape expectations of the visit and the visit went off without any embarrassment for the country or the PM. There would be other such past episodes that others involved in media management would know. There are some very competent officers in the Indian Information Service as well as in the defence establishment. If media messaging is handled professionally, the country would be better served. It is the over-the-top, highly dramatised, purely ideological and sensational reporting by several media establishments during Operation Sindoor that has damaged Indian reputation and credibility. As many around the world have commented, pro-Modi media outfits have done more harm than good for India's image and case vis-a-vis Operation Sindoor. Responsible and professional coverage, including putting out authentic information in time would have served the national interest better. What has further weakened the Indian case is the fact that the media that did the greatest damage to the country's reputation is viewed as being pro-government. Credible strategic communication requires a credible medium. The writer was member, National Security Advisory Board of India, 1999-2001 and media advisor to the Prime Minister of India, 2004-08
Indian Express
24-06-2025
- Business
- Indian Express
In era of AI, ‘chalta hai' attitude towards data quality won't work: Niti Aayog CEO
Calling for greater focus on ensuring high-quality data, Niti Aayog Chief Executive Officer BVR Subrahmanyam on Tuesday said a 'chalta hai' attitude will not work especially in the era of artificial intelligence (AI) where data is used as an input. 'India is heavy as far as digitalisation is concerned. We have got the JAM (Jan Dhan Yojna, Aadhar, mobile) trinity, UPI, the account aggregator framework, ONDC. India is one of the leaders in the world in applying digital technologies in day-to-day life… If UPI had been invented 40 years ago, three big companies wouldn't have existed: Visa, Mastercard, and American Express.' 'So, India has a fantastic foundation to take a futuristic leap. But the problem is that this 'chalta hai' attitude, where we are OK with things which are 80 per cent OK, a first division, or a distinction… The problem with data is that it has to be 100 per cent (correct),' Subrahmanyam said at the release of a Niti Aayog report titled India's Data Imperative: The Pivot Towards Quality. Citing his past work as a joint secretary in the Prime Minister's Office on the disbursal of LPG subsidies under the PAHAL scheme, Subrahmanyam said even if 95 per cent of transfers were successful, 5 per cent bouncing back would mean lakhs of people would not get the subsidy. 'In India, we can't go by percentages; we will have to go to the Japanese quality level of 0.0001 per cent. That is the level you need… That's where data quality becomes important.' 'We are now entering the era of AI. We are mining data to get intelligent inputs. But if our data is bad — anyway a lot of these things hallucinate — then they will hallucinate on bad data, which is even worse. So, data quality is extremely important. We need to move from good enough to high confidence. We need to be very confident about the quality of data that is there,' he added. In its report, the Niti Aayog highlighted the problems caused by even small errors, such as pensions getting blocked due to a single wrong digit during Aadhaar enrolment. Subrahmanyam cited his own name as an example, which did not conform to the first name-second name format, and said he was a 'victim of data'. 'No two things which I have, have the same name; somewhere it is BVR Subrahmanyam, somewhere it is Bhamidipati. So my demat account is currently locked. Half my bank accounts are locked because I can't do KYC. My Aadhaar does not match my government ID, my government ID does not match my pensioner card. Believe it or not, as many IDs I have, I have as many bank accounts,' the Niti CEO said. 'It is digital death if you have one item wrongly fit. In the modern world, you are dead because everything is transacted online.' The report said incorrect entries had to be stopped through automated checks and standard pick-lists, with every high-value dataset requiring a specific 'steward' with the authority to correct and improve records on a constant basis. Further, to ensure the seamless movement of data across agencies, a common framework for people, places, and programmes needs to be adopted. 'Together, these three practices turn today's fragmented information into a reliable asset that analytics, AI, and service delivery can use without sacrificing trust,' the report said, adding that 'good' data should be accurate, complete, consistent, timely, valid, and unique. Speaking at the launch of the Niti report, Saurabh Garg, Secretary in the Ministry of the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI), said the ministry had last week met 30 other ministries on the issue of data quality. 'We are focusing a lot more on what has been traditionally called administrative data… That data can really help if we are able to ensure that it is interoperable, that it is harmonised in the sense that it follows certain basic structures so that citizens' delivery of services improves,' Garg said. Siddharth Upasani is a Deputy Associate Editor with The Indian Express. He reports primarily on data and the economy, looking for trends and changes in the former which paint a picture of the latter. Before The Indian Express, he worked at Moneycontrol and financial newswire Informist (previously called Cogencis). Outside of work, sports, fantasy football, and graphic novels keep him busy. ... Read More
