Humanity’s fascination with the Moon has spanned centuries, from ancient myths to the modern era of space exploration. In this exciting journey, India has emerged as a prominent player with its Chandrayaan series of missions. Among these, Chandrayaan-3 shines as a beacon of scientific and technological advancement, promising to extend our understanding of the Moon and beyond.
In the realm of space exploration, India continues to make remarkable strides with its ambitious space missions. Among these endeavors, the Chandrayaan series stands out as a testament to India’s scientific prowess and its dedication to unraveling the mysteries of the cosmos. The Chandrayaan-3 is the country’s ongoing lunar mission that promises to further expand our understanding of the Moon and space exploration as a whole.
Unveiling the Chandrayaan Saga
The Chandrayaan series is a testament to India’s space agency, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), and its dedication to unraveling the mysteries of the cosmos. Beginning with Chandrayaan-1 in 2008, the series marked a significant milestone for India, as it discovered evidence of water molecules on the lunar surface. This groundbreaking revelation challenged existing theories about the Moon’s history and potential as a stepping stone for future space exploration.
Credit: ISRO
On October 22, 2008, India’s inaugural lunar mission, Chandrayaan-1, achieved a successful launch from SDSC SHAR, Sriharikota. The spacecraft effectively maintained an orbit around the Moon, maintaining a distance of 100 km above the lunar surface. Its primary mission involved conducting chemical, mineralogical, and photo-geologic mapping of the Moon. To achieve this, the spacecraft was equipped with a total of 11 scientific instruments, developed collaboratively by experts from India, the USA, UK, Germany, Sweden, and Bulgaria.
Building on the success of Chandrayaan-1, ISRO launched Chandrayaan-2 in 2019. The Chandrayaan-2 mission stands as a notably intricate endeavor, signifying a substantial technological advancement in comparison to previous ISRO missions. It encompassed three integral components: an Orbiter, a Lander, and a Rover, all aimed at investigating the uncharted South Pole of the Moon. This mission’s core objective involves enriching lunar scientific understanding by conducting comprehensive examinations of various aspects, including topography, seismography, mineral distribution and identification, surface chemical composition, thermal characteristics of the uppermost soil layer, and the composition of the delicate lunar atmosphere. What sets this mission apart is its comprehensive scope, aiming to study not only specific lunar regions but also encompassing the exosphere, surface, and sub-surface areas in a unified mission.
Currently, ISRO has launched Chandrayaan-3 on July 14, 2023, at 14:35 Hrs. IST from the Second Launch Pad, SDSC-SHAR, Sriharikota. As on August 20th 2023, the Lander Module is currently positioned in a orbit of 25 km x 134 km. The anticipated commencement of the powered descent is scheduled for August 23, 2023, at approximately 1745 Hrs. IST.
Credit: ISRO
Detailed Overview of Chandrayaan-3
Chandrayaan-3 serves as a subsequent mission to Chandrayaan-2, aiming to showcase a comprehensive capacity for secure lunar surface landing and subsequent rover movement. This mission comprises both Lander and Rover components and launched using LVM3 from SDSC SHAR, Sriharikota. The propulsion module’s role encompasses transporting the Lander and Rover configuration until they reach a lunar orbit of 100 km. Notably, the propulsion module is equipped with the Spectro-polarimetry of Habitable Planet Earth (SHAPE) payload, designed to conduct spectral and polarimetric measurements of Earth while situated in lunar orbit.
Credit: ISRO
Lander Payloads: The Lander is equipped with various scientific instruments, including Chandra’s Surface Thermophysical Experiment (ChaSTE), which serves to measure both the thermal conductivity and temperature. Another important addition is the Instrument for Lunar Seismic Activity (ILSA), responsible for assessing seismic activity in the vicinity of the landing site. Additionally, the Langmuir Probe (LP) is integrated into the Lander’s payload suite to effectively estimate plasma density and its fluctuations. An interesting inclusion is the passive Laser Retroreflector Array provided by NASA, strategically incorporated to facilitate lunar laser ranging studies.
Rover Payloads: The Rover, on the other hand, carries distinctive scientific tools, such as the Alpha Particle X-ray Spectrometer (APXS) and the Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscope (LIBS). These instruments play a crucial role in analyzing the elemental composition of the terrain surrounding the landing site.
Comprising an indigenous Lander module (LM), Propulsion module (PM), and a Rover, Chandrayaan-3 is driven by the objective of developing and showcasing novel technologies essential for interplanetary missions. A pivotal capability of the Lander is its aptitude for executing a gentle landing at a designated lunar location. Subsequently, the Rover will be deployed to conduct on-site chemical analyses of the lunar surface as it navigates its path.
Both the Lander and the Rover house scientific payloads tailored for conducting experiments on the lunar terrain. Operating from the launch vehicle injection to the final lunar orbit at a 100 km circular polar distance, the Propulsion Module (PM) plays a vital role in transporting the Lander (LM) and then detaching it upon arrival. Adding to its significance, the Propulsion Module features an additional scientific payload, enhancing its value by facilitating experiments post-separation of the Lander Module.
The GSLV-Mk3 has been selected as the designated launcher for Chandrayaan-3. This launch vehicle will position the integrated module into an Elliptic Parking Orbit (EPO), characterized by dimensions approximately 170 km x 36,500 km.
Chandrayaan-3’s mission encompasses the following key objectives:
Demonstration of Safe and Soft Lunar Landing: This involves showcasing the ability to safely land on the lunar surface with precision.
Rover Mobility on the Moon: Chandrayaan-3 aims to demonstrate the maneuvering capabilities of a rover on the lunar terrain.
In-Situ Scientific Experiments: The mission seeks to conduct scientific analyses directly on the lunar surface.
To fulfill these objectives, Chandrayaan-3 incorporates a range of advanced technologies within its Lander module:
Altimeters: Cutting-edge altimeter systems, including Laser and RF-based technologies, are employed for precise altitude measurements.
Velocimeters: The mission utilizes Laser Doppler Velocimeter and Lander Horizontal Velocity Camera systems to measure and analyze velocities.
Inertial Measurement: Laser Gyro-based Inertial referencing and Accelerometer packages contribute to accurate measurements and references.
Propulsion System: An advanced propulsion setup consists of 800N Throttleable Liquid Engines, 58N attitude thrusters, and Throttleable Engine Control Electronics.
Navigation, Guidance & Control (NGC): The mission employs intricate software elements for designing the powered descent trajectory and ensuring optimal navigation, guidance, and control.
Hazard Detection and Avoidance: A specialized Lander Hazard Detection & Avoidance Camera, accompanied by Processing Algorithms, enhances safety measures during landing.
Landing Leg Mechanism: An innovative landing leg mechanism is incorporated to facilitate safe touchdown.
To validate these advanced technologies in terrestrial conditions, several crucial Lander tests have been planned and successfully executed:
Integrated Cold Test: Demonstrates integrated sensors and navigation performance via helicopter-based test platforms.
Integrated Hot Test: A closed-loop performance test is carried out involving sensors, actuators, and NGC systems using a tower crane as the test platform.
Lander Leg Mechanism Test: Performance testing of the landing leg mechanism is conducted on a lunar simulant test bed, simulating various touch-down conditions.
These meticulous tests and technologies collectively contribute to Chandrayaan-3’s ability to achieve its mission objectives while ensuring the safety and success of this advanced lunar exploration endeavor.
Impact Beyond the Stars: ISRO’s Achievements Fuel India’s GDP, Employment, and Economic Growth
The global spotlight is now illuminated on the remarkable strides made by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), and its influence transcends the cosmos. ISRO’s monumental achievements are not only rewriting the history of space exploration but are intricately woven into the tapestry of India’s economic advancement, employment surge, and overall growth trajectory.
Amidst the awe-inspiring feats of launching satellites and missions to celestial bodies, ISRO’s contributions extend their reach to significantly bolstering India’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP). By prioritizing indigenous development of space technology, ISRO has nurtured an ecosystem that propels economic growth while reducing reliance on costly imports.
The diverse spectrum of roles required for space technology development – encompassing engineers, scientists, technicians, and support personnel – has prompted the creation of specialized education and training programs. This not only enriches the workforce but empowers individuals with skills that are transferable to various industries, magnifying the impact on employment opportunities.
Beyond Earth’s bounds, ISRO’s strategic collaborations with international agencies and commercial partners unlock avenues for economic expansion. Technology transfers, joint ventures, and satellite launches forged through these partnerships not only elevate India’s technological standing but also draw investments that catalyze economic growth.
In essence, ISRO’s celestial triumphs are sowing seeds of progress that transcend space. They resonate across India’s economic landscape, underpinning GDP growth, amplifying employment prospects, and nurturing an atmosphere of innovation that positions India at the forefront of global technological evolution.
ISRO, the Indian Space Research Organisation, plays a pivotal role in fostering economic development and employment in India:
Economic Growth: ISRO’s focus on indigenous space technology development has reduced dependency on expensive imports, positively impacting the country’s balance of payments. The organization’s satellite launches, remote sensing capabilities, and satellite-based services contribute significantly to various sectors of the economy, including agriculture, telecommunications, disaster management, and urban planning. These applications enhance productivity and economic output. India has now standing as one of the important exporters to the world.
Employment Generation: The multifaceted nature of ISRO’s work necessitates a highly skilled workforce. ISRO employs a wide range of professionals, including scientists, engineers, technicians, and support staff. Additionally, the organization’s endeavors stimulate job creation indirectly by fostering research, development, and manufacturing in the private sector and academia. Education and training programs related to space technology further enhance employability.
International Collaborations: ISRO’s collaborations with international space agencies and commercial partners facilitate technology transfer, joint ventures, and satellite launches. These partnerships attract foreign investments and promote the growth of the space industry in India, thereby creating more job opportunities and contributing to economic development.
Conclusion
As the countdown to Chandrayaan-3’s launch approaches, the excitement among scientists, space enthusiasts, and the general public is palpable. This mission is more than the sum of its parts; it represents a leap towards greater understanding, a stride towards technological excellence, and a testament to human curiosity and ingenuity.
Chandrayaan-3 stands on the cusp of history, waiting to leave its mark on the annals of space exploration. India’s journey to the Moon continues to inspire awe, fuel dreams, and ignite the spark of discovery. As the nation prepares to achieve another lunar milestone, it carries with it the hopes and aspirations of a nation poised to explore new frontiers and venture into the cosmos like never before.
On April 15th, 2023 an insightful session has been hosted by the Rt Hon’ble Bareness Verma at Lalit Hotel, which has also been live streamed on zoom. The event is a trilogy under “The Global Influence Club” which benefits women entrepreneurs by providing them with an opportunity to commence business.
The Rt. Hon’ble Baroness Verma welcomes the prestigious panellists followed by the informative and professionally led discussions revolves around trade barriers and women entrepreneurs. Besides the emphasize of the event, the most attractive aspect of event was our “National Anthem” which shows that the roots of Indian culture are being well respected, not just by Indians but as well as entire world
The event included 2 plenary discussions, the first highlighted the “What are the barriers to entrepreneurship, how can we overcome these, and what are the solutions?” and “Role of leadership, collaboration and knowledge sharing” which was moderated by Yashodhara Dasgupta, Director, UK INDIA Business Council and the panellists were –
Dr. Nataliey Bitature- Chief of Staff- Simba Group, Uganda
Smt. Smriti Irani, Hon’ble Cabinet Minister and Member of Lok Sabha delivered her message for the event through a video in order to contribute to the greater cause of the society, especially to show her support to the women entrepreneurs, Smt. Smriti Irani sent us an insightful message.
The second plenary discussion was moderated by me, Sunil Kumar Gupta on “Role of Government and barriers to finance for women entrepreneurs” pertaining mentioned panellists –
Sujeet Kumar, Chairman of the Committee on Petitions of Rajya Sabha.
HE Joyce Kakuramatsi Kikafunda, The High Commissioner of the Republic of Uganda,
Sangeeta Khorana, PhD, MILE, SHFEA, MIEX,Professor of Economics, Director, Centre for Trade, Development and Transition Economics
Priyanka Bhide, Director, Kubernein Initiative
Rajendra Bagade, Senior Partner, SARC Associates
The panel 2 discussion was commenced with introduction of panellists, followed by in-depth discussion on initiatives commenced by India, Uganda, and United Kingdom, highlighting the policies/ initiatives started by each government respectively. The highlighted schemes of India, UK and Uganda in the first 3 questions were on the following topics-
i) Women Entrepreneurship Platform (WEP) launched by NITI Ayog, Government of India in 2017, its website is wep.gov.in which acts as an aggregate connect for funding, incubation, market linkages, business development services, and Innovations.
ii) Uganda Women Entrepreneurship Programme which initiated by Government of Uganda which aimed at improving access to financial service to women and equipping them to skill for enterprise growth, value addition and marketing and according to you, what are other important measures Uganda government can take.
iii) Women’s Business Council relaunched in 2019 to focus on the sectors that have the most significant gender pay gaps and to drive forward progress to improve women’s representation within the workplace, respectively.
The Sh. Sujeet Kumar, Her Excellency of Uganda Joyce and Ms. Sangeeta Khorana has commendably answered the questions, emphasizing on the actual facts and figures. One common thing which was noticed in the answers of all the mentioned panellists was the spirit to create a business – friendly environment, which would allow women to give a kickstart to their career in respective fields.
MP Sh. Sujeet Kumar is serving the nation, and his state of Odisha. He is also an Engineer turned Lawyer, and is currently practising law at the Odisha High Court & Supreme Court of India and has founded LexMantra LLP (www.lexmantra.net), a boutique law firm. Previously, he worked at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Geneva, Switzerland, and for United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and for Infosys Technologies Ltd. in India. He was an Asia Pacific Leadership Fellow (APLP) at the East West Centre, Hawaii (2009).
The ideas and visions of Sh. Sujeet Kumar is a proof of his expertise. He has pointed out the need of introducing documentation and government websites in native language of states, such as to open bank. He insisted that only presence of a scheme or policy is not enough without a passageway for it to be benefitting the relevant targets.
Besides this, he has also talked about, PM Awas Yojana and how it has sanctioned over 122.69 lakh houses and have released Central assistance of Rs 73.13 lakhs till date, among other topics.
Moreover, the High Commissioner of the Republic of Uganda, HE Joyce and Ms Sangeeta Khorana have ensured that Government of Uganda and United Kingdom, respectively has actively been supporting women entrepreneurs worldwide.
Further, the last question was based on “financial support to women entrepreneurs in India” highlighting the financial initiatives taken by Government of India such as MUDRA Yojana, provides loans upto 10 lakhs, Stand Up India scheme providing bank loans between 10 lakhs to 1 crore, Startup India providing seed money of 30 lakh, and Credit Guarantee Scheme for MSMEs providing loans upto 5 lakhs and 2 crores to women.
Thereafter there were insightful answers by Sh. Rajendra Bagade, Senior Partner of SARC on the Access to Finance and Taxation benefits. He has talked about how certain tax incentives can be availed to women entrepreneurs in order to allow them to attain maximum benefits.
Undoubtedly, tax is one of the significant fields, which influence the business and exemption to women entrepreneurs who can directly or indirectly reduce the financial burden. This will also allow women entrepreneurs to generate more revenue. He also suggested that government must introduce certain more tax benefits for women entrepreneurs which seems in need of the present time.
The answers by all the panellists driven from real life experience and challenges they have faced in certainly made the discussion more insightful and perceptive.
In my opinion, this has correctly pointed out the issue, since, women in India, especially in backward are not literate enough to understand English and in some areas even Hindi. The introduction of documentation and government websites in native language of State or UT will allow women to obtain a better understanding, hence, more chances of women being able to avail benefits of the schemes.
In a long run, this could also allow women to commence small scale business or commence savings, etc.
After the penal discussion, presentation and workshops were conducted by the Rt. Hon’ble Baroness Verma herself, highlighting some of the real-life experiences, which has helped her shape the future of thousands and hundreds of women globally. Moreover, the event also enabled insightful discussions on soft and hard skills, women’s fears, how to boosts confidence, leaderships, among others.
The event like these does not only brings like-minded people together, but it also brings women forward to speak about the challenges they face in this world, which is getting more advanced with time.
Besides this, the panellists like Ms. Mahak Garg, Ms. Priyanka Bhide, talked about importance of education for women, challenges women face in raising finance to start business, among other insightful topics.
Maybe someday, the homemakers or housewives will become the part of these events, only to reflects how they have been shaping the future of global economy by only supporting their husbands, brothers, fathers, mothers, and sisters.
In my opinion, “The women are a nurture by its nature and their contribution in society is much more than it seems. A woman is not only learning how to be herself in the world, but she is acting as a teacher for everyone around us, creating history in distinct fields, supporting their family in whatever way she can.”
I myself, provides complete support to women entrepreneurs of the entire world in order to contribute to achieving equality and equity. Feel free to contact me on my website – https://www.sunilkumargupta.com/
On April 15th, 2023 an insightful session has been hosted by the Rt Hon’ble Bareness Verma at Lalit Hotel, which has also been live streamed on zoom. The event is a trilogy under “The Global Influence Club” which benefits women entrepreneurs by providing them with an opportunity to commence business.
The Rt. Hon’ble Baroness Verma welcomes the prestigious panellists followed by the informative and professionally led discussions revolves around trade barriers and women entrepreneurs. Besides the emphasize of the event, the most attractive aspect of event was our “National Anthem” which shows that the roots of Indian culture are being well respected, not just by Indians but as well as entire world
The event included 2 plenary discussions, the first highlighted the “What are the barriers to entrepreneurship, how can we overcome these, and what are the solutions?” and “Role of leadership, collaboration and knowledge sharing” which was moderated by Yashodhara Dasgupta, Director, UK INDIA Business Council and the panellists were –
Dr. Nataliey Bitature- Chief of Staff- Simba Group, Uganda
Smt. Smriti Irani, Hon’ble Cabinet Minister and Member of Lok Sabha delivered her message for the event through a video in order to contribute to the greater cause of the society, especially to show her support to the women entrepreneurs, Smt. Smriti Irani sent us an insightful message.
The second plenary discussion was moderated by me, Sunil Kumar Gupta on “Role of Government and barriers to finance for women entrepreneurs” pertaining mentioned panellists –
Sujeet Kumar, Chairman of the Committee on Petitions of Rajya Sabha.
HE Joyce Kakuramatsi Kikafunda, The High Commissioner of the Republic of Uganda,
Sangeeta Khorana, PhD, MILE, SHFEA, MIEX,Professor of Economics, Director, Centre for Trade, Development and Transition Economics
Priyanka Bhide, Director, Kubernein Initiative
Rajendra Bagade, Senior Partner, SARC Associates
The panel 2 discussion was commenced with introduction of panellists, followed by in-depth discussion on initiatives commenced by India, Uganda, and United Kingdom, highlighting the policies/ initiatives started by each government respectively. The highlighted schemes of India, UK and Uganda in the first 3 questions were on the following topics-
i) Women Entrepreneurship Platform (WEP) launched by NITI Ayog, Government of India in 2017, its website is wep.gov.in which acts as an aggregate connect for funding, incubation, market linkages, business development services, and Innovations.
ii) Uganda Women Entrepreneurship Programme which initiated by Government of Uganda which aimed at improving access to financial service to women and equipping them to skill for enterprise growth, value addition and marketing and according to you, what are other important measures Uganda government can take.
iii) Women’s Business Council relaunched in 2019 to focus on the sectors that have the most significant gender pay gaps and to drive forward progress to improve women’s representation within the workplace, respectively.
The Sh. Sujeet Kumar, Her Excellency of Uganda Joyce and Ms. Sangeeta Khorana has commendably answered the questions, emphasizing on the actual facts and figures. One common thing which was noticed in the answers of all the mentioned panellists was the spirit to create a business – friendly environment, which would allow women to give a kickstart to their career in respective fields.
MP Sh. Sujeet Kumar is serving the nation, and his state of Odisha. He is also an Engineer turned Lawyer, and is currently practising law at the Odisha High Court & Supreme Court of India and has founded LexMantra LLP (www.lexmantra.net), a boutique law firm. Previously, he worked at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Geneva, Switzerland, and for United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and for Infosys Technologies Ltd. in India. He was an Asia Pacific Leadership Fellow (APLP) at the East West Centre, Hawaii (2009).
The ideas and visions of Sh. Sujeet Kumar is a proof of his expertise. He has pointed out the need of introducing documentation and government websites in native language of states, such as to open bank. He insisted that only presence of a scheme or policy is not enough without a passageway for it to be benefitting the relevant targets.
Besides this, he has also talked about, PM Awas Yojana and how it has sanctioned over 122.69 lakh houses and have released Central assistance of Rs 73.13 lakhs till date, among other topics.
Moreover, the High Commissioner of the Republic of Uganda, HE Joyce and Ms Sangeeta Khorana have ensured that Government of Uganda and United Kingdom, respectively has actively been supporting women entrepreneurs worldwide.
Further, the last question was based on “financial support to women entrepreneurs in India” highlighting the financial initiatives taken by Government of India such as MUDRA Yojana, provides loans upto 10 lakhs, Stand Up India scheme providing bank loans between 10 lakhs to 1 crore, Startup India providing seed money of 30 lakh, and Credit Guarantee Scheme for MSMEs providing loans upto 5 lakhs and 2 crores to women.
Thereafter there were insightful answers by Sh. Rajendra Bagade, Senior Partner of SARC on the Access to Finance and Taxation benefits. He has talked about how certain tax incentives can be availed to women entrepreneurs in order to allow them to attain maximum benefits.
Undoubtedly, tax is one of the significant fields, which influence the business and exemption to women entrepreneurs who can directly or indirectly reduce the financial burden. This will also allow women entrepreneurs to generate more revenue. He also suggested that government must introduce certain more tax benefits for women entrepreneurs which seems in need of the present time.
The answers by all the panellists driven from real life experience and challenges they have faced in certainly made the discussion more insightful and perceptive.
In my opinion, this has correctly pointed out the issue, since, women in India, especially in backward are not literate enough to understand English and in some areas even Hindi. The introduction of documentation and government websites in native language of State or UT will allow women to obtain a better understanding, hence, more chances of women being able to avail benefits of the schemes.
In a long run, this could also allow women to commence small scale business or commence savings, etc.
After the penal discussion, presentation and workshops were conducted by the Rt. Hon’ble Baroness Verma herself, highlighting some of the real-life experiences, which has helped her shape the future of thousands and hundreds of women globally. Moreover, the event also enabled insightful discussions on soft and hard skills, women’s fears, how to boosts confidence, leaderships, among others.
The event like these does not only brings like-minded people together, but it also brings women forward to speak about the challenges they face in this world, which is getting more advanced with time.
Besides this, the panellists like Ms. Mahak Garg, Ms. Priyanka Bhide, talked about importance of education for women, challenges women face in raising finance to start business, among other insightful topics.
Maybe someday, the homemakers or housewives will become the part of these events, only to reflects how they have been shaping the future of global economy by only supporting their husbands, brothers, fathers, mothers, and sisters.
In my opinion, “The women are a nurture by its nature and their contribution in society is much more than it seems. A woman is not only learning how to be herself in the world, but she is acting as a teacher for everyone around us, creating history in distinct fields, supporting their family in whatever way she can.”
I myself, provides complete support to women entrepreneurs of entire world in order to contribute to achieving equality and equity.
On April 15th, 2023 an insightful session has been hosted by the Rt Hon’ble Bareness Verma at Lalit Hotel, which has also been live streamed on zoom. The event is a trilogy under “The Global Influence Club” which benefits women entrepreneurs by providing them with an opportunity to commence business.
The Rt. Hon’ble Baroness Verma welcomes the prestigious panellists followed by the informative and professionally led discussions revolves around trade barriers and women entrepreneurs. Besides the emphasize of the event, the most attractive aspect of event was our “National Anthem” which shows that the roots of Indian culture are being well respected, not just by Indians but as well as entire world.
The event included 2 plenary discussions, the first highlighted the “What are the barriers to entrepreneurship, how can we overcome these, and what are the solutions?” and “Role of leadership, collaboration and knowledge sharing” which was moderated by Yashodhara Dasgupta, Director, UK INDIA Business Council and the panellists were –
Dr. Nataliey Bitature- Chief of Staff- Simba Group, Uganda
Smt. Smriti Irani, Hon’ble Cabinet Minister and Member of Lok Sabha delivered her message for the event through a video in order to contribute to the greater cause of the society, especially to show her support to the women entrepreneurs, Smt. Smriti Irani sent us an insightful message.
The second plenary discussion was moderated by me, Sunil Kumar Gupta on “Role of Government and barriers to finance for women entrepreneurs” pertaining mentioned panellists –
Sujeet Kumar, Chairman of the Committee on Petitions of Rajya Sabha.
HE Joyce Kakuramatsi Kikafunda, The High Commissioner of the Republic of Uganda,
Sangeeta Khorana, PhD, MILE, SHFEA, MIEX,Professor of Economics, Director, Centre for Trade, Development and Transition Economics
Priyanka Bhide, Director, Kubernein Initiative
Rajendra Bagade, Senior Partner, SARC Associates
The panel 2 discussion was commenced with introduction of panellists, followed by in-depth discussion on initiatives commenced by India, Uganda, and United Kingdom, highlighting the policies/ initiatives started by each government respectively. The highlighted schemes of India, UK and Uganda in the first 3 questions were on the following topics-
i) Women Entrepreneurship Platform (WEP) launched by NITI Ayog, Government of India in 2017, its website is wep.gov.in which acts as an aggregate connect for funding, incubation, market linkages, business development services, and Innovations.
ii) Uganda Women Entrepreneurship Programme which initiated by Government of Uganda which aimed at improving access to financial service to women and equipping them to skill for enterprise growth, value addition and marketing and according to you, what are other important measures Uganda government can take.
iii) Women’s Business Council relaunched in 2019 to focus on the sectors that have the most significant gender pay gaps and to drive forward progress to improve women’s representation within the workplace, respectively.
The Sh. Sujeet Kumar, Her Excellency of Uganda Joyce and Ms. Sangeeta Khorana has commendably answered the questions, emphasizing on the actual facts and figures. One common thing which was noticed in the answers of all the mentioned panellists was the spirit to create a business – friendly environment, which would allow women to give a kickstart to their career in respective fields.
MP Sh. Sujeet Kumar is serving the nation, and his state of Odisha. He is also an Engineer turned Lawyer, and is currently practising law at the Odisha High Court & Supreme Court of India and has founded LexMantra LLP (www.lexmantra.net), a boutique law firm. Previously, he worked at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Geneva, Switzerland, and for United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and for Infosys Technologies Ltd. in India. He was an Asia Pacific Leadership Fellow (APLP) at the East West Centre, Hawaii (2009).
The ideas and visions of Sh. Sujeet Kumar is a proof of his expertise. He has pointed out the need of introducing documentation and government websites in native language of states, such as to open bank. He insisted that only presence of a scheme or policy is not enough without a passageway for it to be benefitting the relevant targets.
Besides this, he has also talked about, PM Awas Yojana and how it has sanctioned over 122.69 lakh houses and have released Central assistance of Rs 73.13 lakhs till date, among other topics.
Moreover, the High Commissioner of the Republic of Uganda, HE Joyce and Ms Sangeeta Khorana have ensured that Government of Uganda and United Kingdom, respectively has actively been supporting women entrepreneurs worldwide.
Further, the last question was based on “financial support to women entrepreneurs in India” highlighting the financial initiatives taken by Government of India such as MUDRA Yojana, provides loans upto 10 lakhs, Stand Up India scheme providing bank loans between 10 lakhs to 1 crore, Startup India providing seed money of 30 lakh, and Credit Guarantee Scheme for MSMEs providing loans upto 5 lakhs and 2 crores to women.
Thereafter there were insightful answers by Sh. Rajendra Bagade, Senior Partner of SARC on the Access to Finance and Taxation benefits. He has talked about how certain tax incentives can be availed to women entrepreneurs in order to allow them to attain maximum benefits.
Undoubtedly, tax is one of the significant fields, which influence the business and exemption to women entrepreneurs who can directly or indirectly reduce the financial burden. This will also allow women entrepreneurs to generate more revenue. He also suggested that government must introduce certain more tax benefits for women entrepreneurs which seems in need of the present time.
The answers by all the panellists driven from real life experience and challenges they have faced in certainly made the discussion more insightful and perceptive.
In my opinion, this has correctly pointed out the issue, since, women in India, especially in backward are not literate enough to understand English and in some areas even Hindi. The introduction of documentation and government websites in native language of State or UT will allow women to obtain a better understanding, hence, more chances of women being able to avail benefits of the schemes.
In a long run, this could also allow women to commence small scale business or commence savings, etc.
After the penal discussion, presentation and workshops were conducted by the Rt. Hon’ble Baroness Verma herself, highlighting some of the real-life experiences, which has helped her shape the future of thousands and hundreds of women globally. Moreover, the event also enabled insightful discussions on soft and hard skills, women’s fears, how to boosts confidence, leaderships, among others.
The event like these does not only brings like-minded people together, but it also brings women forward to speak about the challenges they face in this world, which is getting more advanced with time.
Besides this, the panellists like Ms. Mahak Garg, Ms. Priyanka Bhide, talked about importance of education for women, challenges women face in raising finance to start business, among other insightful topics.
Maybe someday, the homemakers or housewives will become the part of these events, only to reflects how they have been shaping the future of global economy by only supporting their husbands, brothers, fathers, mothers, and sisters.
In my opinion, “The women are a nurture by its nature and their contribution in society is much more than it seems. A woman is not only learning how to be herself in the world, but she is acting as a teacher for everyone around us, creating history in distinct fields, supporting their family in whatever way she can.”
I myself, provides complete support to women entrepreneurs of entire world in order to contribute to achieving equality and equity.
On April 15th, 2023 an insightful session has been hosted by the Rt Hon’ble Bareness Verma at Lalit Hotel, which has also been live streamed on zoom. The event is a trilogy under “The Global Influence Club” which benefits women entrepreneurs by providing them with an opportunity to commence business.
The Rt. Hon’ble Baroness Verma welcomes the prestigious panellists followed by the informative and professionally led discussions revolves around trade barriers and women entrepreneurs. Besides the emphasize of the event, the most attractive aspect of event was our “National Anthem” which shows that the roots of Indian culture are being well respected, not just by Indians but as well as entire world.
The event included 2 plenary discussions, the first highlighted the “What are the barriers to entrepreneurship, how can we overcome these, and what are the solutions?” and “Role of leadership, collaboration and knowledge sharing” which was moderated by Yashodhara Dasgupta, Director, UK INDIA Business Council and the panellists were –
Dr. Nataliey Bitature- Chief of Staff- Simba Group, Uganda
Smt. Smriti Irani, Hon’ble Cabinet Minister and Member of Lok Sabha delivered her message for the event through a video in order to contribute to the greater cause of the society, especially to show her support to the women entrepreneurs, Smt. Smriti Irani sent us an insightful message.
The second plenary discussion was moderated by me, Sunil Kumar Gupta on “Role of Government and barriers to finance for women entrepreneurs” pertaining mentioned panellists –
Sujeet Kumar, Chairman of the Committee on Petitions of Rajya Sabha.
HE Joyce Kakuramatsi Kikafunda, The High Commissioner of the Republic of Uganda,
Sangeeta Khorana, PhD, MILE, SHFEA, MIEX,Professor of Economics, Director, Centre for Trade, Development and Transition Economics
Priyanka Bhide, Director, Kubernein Initiative
Rajendra Bagade, Senior Partner, SARC Associates
The panel 2 discussion was commenced with introduction of panellists, followed by in-depth discussion on initiatives commenced by India, Uganda, and United Kingdom, highlighting the policies/ initiatives started by each government respectively. The highlighted schemes of India, UK and Uganda in the first 3 questions were on the following topics-
i) Women Entrepreneurship Platform (WEP) launched by NITI Ayog, Government of India in 2017, its website is wep.gov.in which acts as an aggregate connect for funding, incubation, market linkages, business development services, and Innovations.
ii) Uganda Women Entrepreneurship Programme which initiated by Government of Uganda which aimed at improving access to financial service to women and equipping them to skill for enterprise growth, value addition and marketing and according to you, what are other important measures Uganda government can take.
iii) Women’s Business Council relaunched in 2019 to focus on the sectors that have the most significant gender pay gaps and to drive forward progress to improve women’s representation within the workplace, respectively.
The Sh. Sujeet Kumar, Her Excellency of Uganda Joyce and Ms. Sangeeta Khorana has commendably answered the questions, emphasizing on the actual facts and figures. One common thing which was noticed in the answers of all the mentioned panellists was the spirit to create a business – friendly environment, which would allow women to give a kickstart to their career in respective fields.
MP Sh. Sujeet Kumar is serving the nation, and his state of Odisha. He is also an Engineer turned Lawyer, and is currently practising law at the Odisha High Court & Supreme Court of India and has founded LexMantra LLP (www.lexmantra.net), a boutique law firm. Previously, he worked at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Geneva, Switzerland, and for United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and for Infosys Technologies Ltd. in India. He was an Asia Pacific Leadership Fellow (APLP) at the East West Centre, Hawaii (2009).
The ideas and visions of Sh. Sujeet Kumar is a proof of his expertise. He has pointed out the need of introducing documentation and government websites in native language of states, such as to open bank. He insisted that only presence of a scheme or policy is not enough without a passageway for it to be benefitting the relevant targets.
Besides this, he has also talked about, PM Awas Yojana and how it has sanctioned over 122.69 lakh houses and have released Central assistance of Rs 73.13 lakhs till date, among other topics.
Moreover, the High Commissioner of the Republic of Uganda, HE Joyce and Ms Sangeeta Khorana have ensured that Government of Uganda and United Kingdom, respectively has actively been supporting women entrepreneurs worldwide.
Further, the last question was based on “financial support to women entrepreneurs in India” highlighting the financial initiatives taken by Government of India such as MUDRA Yojana, provides loans upto 10 lakhs, Stand Up India scheme providing bank loans between 10 lakhs to 1 crore, Startup India providing seed money of 30 lakh, and Credit Guarantee Scheme for MSMEs providing loans upto 5 lakhs and 2 crores to women.
Thereafter there were insightful answers by Sh. Rajendra Bagade, Senior Partner of SARC on the Access to Finance and Taxation benefits. He has talked about how certain tax incentives can be availed to women entrepreneurs in order to allow them to attain maximum benefits.
Undoubtedly, tax is one of the significant fields, which influence the business and exemption to women entrepreneurs who can directly or indirectly reduce the financial burden. This will also allow women entrepreneurs to generate more revenue. He also suggested that government must introduce certain more tax benefits for women entrepreneurs which seems in need of the present time.
The answers by all the panellists driven from real life experience and challenges they have faced in certainly made the discussion more insightful and perceptive.
In my opinion, this has correctly pointed out the issue, since, women in India, especially in backward are not literate enough to understand English and in some areas even Hindi. The introduction of documentation and government websites in native language of State or UT will allow women to obtain a better understanding, hence, more chances of women being able to avail benefits of the schemes.
In a long run, this could also allow women to commence small scale business or commence savings, etc.
After the penal discussion, presentation and workshops were conducted by the Rt. Hon’ble Baroness Verma herself, highlighting some of the real-life experiences, which has helped her shape the future of thousands and hundreds of women globally. Moreover, the event also enabled insightful discussions on soft and hard skills, women’s fears, how to boosts confidence, leaderships, among others.
The event like these does not only brings like-minded people together, but it also brings women forward to speak about the challenges they face in this world, which is getting more advanced with time.
Besides this, the panellists like Ms. Mahak Garg, Ms. Priyanka Bhide, talked about importance of education for women, challenges women face in raising finance to start business, among other insightful topics.
Maybe someday, the homemakers or housewives will become the part of these events, only to reflects how they have been shaping the future of global economy by only supporting their husbands, brothers, fathers, mothers, and sisters.
In my opinion, “The women are a nurture by its nature and their contribution in society is much more than it seems. A woman is not only learning how to be herself in the world, but she is acting as a teacher for everyone around us, creating history in distinct fields, supporting their family in whatever way she can.”
I myself, provides complete support to women entrepreneurs of entire world in order to contribute to achieving equality and equity.
On April 15th, 2023 an insightful session has been hosted by the Rt Hon’ble Bareness Verma at Lalit Hotel, which has also been live streamed on zoom. The event is a trilogy under “The Global Influence Club” which benefits women entrepreneurs by providing them with an opportunity to commence business.
The Rt. Hon’ble Baroness Verma welcomes the prestigious panellists followed by the informative and professionally led discussions revolves around trade barriers and women entrepreneurs. Besides the emphasize of the event, the most attractive aspect of event was our “National Anthem” which shows that the roots of Indian culture are being well respected, not just by Indians but as well as entire world.
The event included 2 plenary discussions, the first highlighted the “What are the barriers to entrepreneurship, how can we overcome these, and what are the solutions?” and “Role of leadership, collaboration and knowledge sharing” which was moderated by Yashodhara Dasgupta, Director, UK INDIA Business Council and the panellists were –
Dr. Nataliey Bitature- Chief of Staff- Simba Group, Uganda
Smt. Smriti Irani, Hon’ble Cabinet Minister and Member of Lok Sabha delivered her message for the event through a video in order to contribute to the greater cause of the society, especially to show her support to the women entrepreneurs, Smt. Smriti Irani sent us an insightful message.
The second plenary discussion was moderated by me, Sunil Kumar Gupta on “Role of Government and barriers to finance for women entrepreneurs” pertaining mentioned panellists –
Sujeet Kumar, Chairman of the Committee on Petitions of Rajya Sabha.
HE Joyce Kakuramatsi Kikafunda, The High Commissioner of the Republic of Uganda,
Sangeeta Khorana, PhD, MILE, SHFEA, MIEX,Professor of Economics, Director, Centre for Trade, Development and Transition Economics
Priyanka Bhide, Director, Kubernein Initiative
Rajendra Bagade, Senior Partner, SARC Associates
The panel 2 discussion was commenced with introduction of panellists, followed by in-depth discussion on initiatives commenced by India, Uganda, and United Kingdom, highlighting the policies/ initiatives started by each government respectively. The highlighted schemes of India, UK and Uganda in the first 3 questions were on the following topics-
i) Women Entrepreneurship Platform (WEP) launched by NITI Ayog, Government of India in 2017, its website is wep.gov.in which acts as an aggregate connect for funding, incubation, market linkages, business development services, and Innovations.
ii) Uganda Women Entrepreneurship Programme which initiated by Government of Uganda which aimed at improving access to financial service to women and equipping them to skill for enterprise growth, value addition and marketing and according to you, what are other important measures Uganda government can take.
iii) Women’s Business Council relaunched in 2019 to focus on the sectors that have the most significant gender pay gaps and to drive forward progress to improve women’s representation within the workplace, respectively.
The Sh. Sujeet Kumar, Her Excellency of Uganda Joyce and Ms. Sangeeta Khorana has commendably answered the questions, emphasizing on the actual facts and figures. One common thing which was noticed in the answers of all the mentioned panellists was the spirit to create a business – friendly environment, which would allow women to give a kickstart to their career in respective fields.
MP Sh. Sujeet Kumar is serving the nation, and his state of Odisha. He is also an Engineer turned Lawyer, and is currently practising law at the Odisha High Court & Supreme Court of India and has founded LexMantra LLP (www.lexmantra.net), a boutique law firm. Previously, he worked at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Geneva, Switzerland, and for United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and for Infosys Technologies Ltd. in India. He was an Asia Pacific Leadership Fellow (APLP) at the East West Centre, Hawaii (2009).
The ideas and visions of Sh. Sujeet Kumar is a proof of his expertise. He has pointed out the need of introducing documentation and government websites in native language of states, such as to open bank. He insisted that only presence of a scheme or policy is not enough without a passageway for it to be benefitting the relevant targets.
Besides this, he has also talked about, PM Awas Yojana and how it has sanctioned over 122.69 lakh houses and have released Central assistance of Rs 73.13 lakhs till date, among other topics.
Moreover, the High Commissioner of the Republic of Uganda, HE Joyce and Ms Sangeeta Khorana have ensured that Government of Uganda and United Kingdom, respectively has actively been supporting women entrepreneurs worldwide.
Further, the last question was based on “financial support to women entrepreneurs in India” highlighting the financial initiatives taken by Government of India such as MUDRA Yojana, provides loans upto 10 lakhs, Stand Up India scheme providing bank loans between 10 lakhs to 1 crore, Startup India providing seed money of 30 lakh, and Credit Guarantee Scheme for MSMEs providing loans upto 5 lakhs and 2 crores to women.
Thereafter there were insightful answers by Sh. Rajendra Bagade, Senior Partner of SARC on the Access to Finance and Taxation benefits. He has talked about how certain tax incentives can be availed to women entrepreneurs in order to allow them to attain maximum benefits.
Undoubtedly, tax is one of the significant fields, which influence the business and exemption to women entrepreneurs who can directly or indirectly reduce the financial burden. This will also allow women entrepreneurs to generate more revenue. He also suggested that government must introduce certain more tax benefits for women entrepreneurs which seems in need of the present time.
The answers by all the panellists driven from real life experience and challenges they have faced in certainly made the discussion more insightful and perceptive.
In my opinion, this has correctly pointed out the issue, since, women in India, especially in backward are not literate enough to understand English and in some areas even Hindi. The introduction of documentation and government websites in native language of State or UT will allow women to obtain a better understanding, hence, more chances of women being able to avail benefits of the schemes.
In a long run, this could also allow women to commence small scale business or commence savings, etc.
After the penal discussion, presentation and workshops were conducted by the Rt. Hon’ble Baroness Verma herself, highlighting some of the real-life experiences, which has helped her shape the future of thousands and hundreds of women globally. Moreover, the event also enabled insightful discussions on soft and hard skills, women’s fears, how to boosts confidence, leaderships, among others.
The event like these does not only brings like-minded people together, but it also brings women forward to speak about the challenges they face in this world, which is getting more advanced with time.
Besides this, the panellists like Ms. Mahak Garg, Ms. Priyanka Bhide, talked about importance of education for women, challenges women face in raising finance to start business, among other insightful topics.
Maybe someday, the homemakers or housewives will become the part of these events, only to reflects how they have been shaping the future of global economy by only supporting their husbands, brothers, fathers, mothers, and sisters.
In my opinion, “The women are a nurture by its nature and their contribution in society is much more than it seems. A woman is not only learning how to be herself in the world, but she is acting as a teacher for everyone around us, creating history in distinct fields, supporting their family in whatever way she can.”
I myself, provides complete support to women entrepreneurs of entire world in order to contribute to achieving equality and equity.
On April 15th, 2023 an insightful session has been hosted by the Rt Hon’ble Bareness Verma at Lalit Hotel, which has also been live streamed on zoom. The event is a trilogy under “The Global Influence Club” which benefits women entrepreneurs by providing them with an opportunity to commence business.
The Rt. Hon’ble Baroness Verma welcomes the prestigious panellists followed by the informative and professionally led discussions revolves around trade barriers and women entrepreneurs. Besides the emphasize of the event, the most attractive aspect of event was our “National Anthem” which shows that the roots of Indian culture are being well respected, not just by Indians but as well as entire world.
The event included 2 plenary discussions, the first highlighted the “What are the barriers to entrepreneurship, how can we overcome these, and what are the solutions?” and “Role of leadership, collaboration and knowledge sharing” which was moderated by Yashodhara Dasgupta, Director, UK INDIA Business Council and the panellists were –
Dr. Nataliey Bitature- Chief of Staff- Simba Group, Uganda
Smt. Smriti Irani, Hon’ble Cabinet Minister and Member of Lok Sabha delivered her message for the event through a video in order to contribute to the greater cause of the society, especially to show her support to the women entrepreneurs, Smt. Smriti Irani sent us an insightful message.
The second plenary discussion was moderated by me, Sunil Kumar Gupta on “Role of Government and barriers to finance for women entrepreneurs” pertaining mentioned panellists –
Sujeet Kumar, Chairman of the Committee on Petitions of Rajya Sabha.
HE Joyce Kakuramatsi Kikafunda, The High Commissioner of the Republic of Uganda,
Sangeeta Khorana, PhD, MILE, SHFEA, MIEX,Professor of Economics, Director, Centre for Trade, Development and Transition Economics
Priyanka Bhide, Director, Kubernein Initiative
Rajendra Bagade, Senior Partner, SARC Associates
The panel 2 discussion was commenced with introduction of panellists, followed by in-depth discussion on initiatives commenced by India, Uganda, and United Kingdom, highlighting the policies/ initiatives started by each government respectively. The highlighted schemes of India, UK and Uganda in the first 3 questions were on the following topics-
i) Women Entrepreneurship Platform (WEP) launched by NITI Ayog, Government of India in 2017, its website is wep.gov.in which acts as an aggregate connect for funding, incubation, market linkages, business development services, and Innovations.
ii) Uganda Women Entrepreneurship Programme which initiated by Government of Uganda which aimed at improving access to financial service to women and equipping them to skill for enterprise growth, value addition and marketing and according to you, what are other important measures Uganda government can take.
iii) Women’s Business Council relaunched in 2019 to focus on the sectors that have the most significant gender pay gaps and to drive forward progress to improve women’s representation within the workplace, respectively.
The Sh. Sujeet Kumar, Her Excellency of Uganda Joyce and Ms. Sangeeta Khorana has commendably answered the questions, emphasizing on the actual facts and figures. One common thing which was noticed in the answers of all the mentioned panellists was the spirit to create a business – friendly environment, which would allow women to give a kickstart to their career in respective fields.
MP Sh. Sujeet Kumar is serving the nation, and his state of Odisha. He is also an Engineer turned Lawyer, and is currently practising law at the Odisha High Court & Supreme Court of India and has founded LexMantra LLP (www.lexmantra.net), a boutique law firm. Previously, he worked at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Geneva, Switzerland, and for United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and for Infosys Technologies Ltd. in India. He was an Asia Pacific Leadership Fellow (APLP) at the East West Centre, Hawaii (2009).
The ideas and visions of Sh. Sujeet Kumar is a proof of his expertise. He has pointed out the need of introducing documentation and government websites in native language of states, such as to open bank. He insisted that only presence of a scheme or policy is not enough without a passageway for it to be benefitting the relevant targets.
Besides this, he has also talked about, PM Awas Yojana and how it has sanctioned over 122.69 lakh houses and have released Central assistance of Rs 73.13 lakhs till date, among other topics.
Moreover, the High Commissioner of the Republic of Uganda, HE Joyce and Ms Sangeeta Khorana have ensured that Government of Uganda and United Kingdom, respectively has actively been supporting women entrepreneurs worldwide.
Further, the last question was based on “financial support to women entrepreneurs in India” highlighting the financial initiatives taken by Government of India such as MUDRA Yojana, provides loans upto 10 lakhs, Stand Up India scheme providing bank loans between 10 lakhs to 1 crore, Startup India providing seed money of 30 lakh, and Credit Guarantee Scheme for MSMEs providing loans upto 5 lakhs and 2 crores to women.
Thereafter there were insightful answers by Sh. Rajendra Bagade, Senior Partner of SARC on the Access to Finance and Taxation benefits. He has talked about how certain tax incentives can be availed to women entrepreneurs in order to allow them to attain maximum benefits.
Undoubtedly, tax is one of the significant fields, which influence the business and exemption to women entrepreneurs who can directly or indirectly reduce the financial burden. This will also allow women entrepreneurs to generate more revenue. He also suggested that government must introduce certain more tax benefits for women entrepreneurs which seems in need of the present time.
The answers by all the panellists driven from real life experience and challenges they have faced in certainly made the discussion more insightful and perceptive.
In my opinion, this has correctly pointed out the issue, since, women in India, especially in backward are not literate enough to understand English and in some areas even Hindi. The introduction of documentation and government websites in native language of State or UT will allow women to obtain a better understanding, hence, more chances of women being able to avail benefits of the schemes.
In a long run, this could also allow women to commence small scale business or commence savings, etc.
After the penal discussion, presentation and workshops were conducted by the Rt. Hon’ble Baroness Verma herself, highlighting some of the real-life experiences, which has helped her shape the future of thousands and hundreds of women globally. Moreover, the event also enabled insightful discussions on soft and hard skills, women’s fears, how to boosts confidence, leaderships, among others.
The event like these does not only brings like-minded people together, but it also brings women forward to speak about the challenges they face in this world, which is getting more advanced with time.
Besides this, the panellists like Ms. Mahak Garg, Ms. Priyanka Bhide, talked about importance of education for women, challenges women face in raising finance to start business, among other insightful topics.
Maybe someday, the homemakers or housewives will become the part of these events, only to reflects how they have been shaping the future of global economy by only supporting their husbands, brothers, fathers, mothers, and sisters.
In my opinion, “The women are a nurture by its nature and their contribution in society is much more than it seems. A woman is not only learning how to be herself in the world, but she is acting as a teacher for everyone around us, creating history in distinct fields, supporting their family in whatever way she can.”
I myself, provides complete support to women entrepreneurs of entire world in order to contribute to achieving equality and equity.
On April 15th, 2023 an insightful session has been hosted by the Rt Hon’ble Bareness Verma at Lalit Hotel, which has also been live streamed on zoom. The event is a trilogy under “The Global Influence Club” which benefits women entrepreneurs by providing them with an opportunity to commence business.
The Rt. Hon’ble Baroness Verma welcomes the prestigious panellists followed by the informative and professionally led discussions revolves around trade barriers and women entrepreneurs. Besides the emphasize of the event, the most attractive aspect of event was our “National Anthem” which shows that the roots of Indian culture are being well respected, not just by Indians but as well as entire world.
The event included 2 plenary discussions, the first highlighted the “What are the barriers to entrepreneurship, how can we overcome these, and what are the solutions?” and “Role of leadership, collaboration and knowledge sharing” which was moderated by Yashodhara Dasgupta, Director, UK INDIA Business Council and the panellists were –
Dr. Nataliey Bitature- Chief of Staff- Simba Group, Uganda
Smt. Smriti Irani, Hon’ble Cabinet Minister and Member of Lok Sabha delivered her message for the event through a video in order to contribute to the greater cause of the society, especially to show her support to the women entrepreneurs, Smt. Smriti Irani sent us an insightful message.
The second plenary discussion was moderated by me, Sunil Kumar Gupta on “Role of Government and barriers to finance for women entrepreneurs” pertaining mentioned panellists –
Sujeet Kumar, Chairman of the Committee on Petitions of Rajya Sabha.
HE Joyce Kakuramatsi Kikafunda, The High Commissioner of the Republic of Uganda,
Sangeeta Khorana, PhD, MILE, SHFEA, MIEX,Professor of Economics, Director, Centre for Trade, Development and Transition Economics
Priyanka Bhide, Director, Kubernein Initiative
Rajendra Bagade, Senior Partner, SARC Associates
The panel 2 discussion was commenced with introduction of panellists, followed by in-depth discussion on initiatives commenced by India, Uganda, and United Kingdom, highlighting the policies/ initiatives started by each government respectively. The highlighted schemes of India, UK and Uganda in the first 3 questions were on the following topics-
i) Women Entrepreneurship Platform (WEP) launched by NITI Ayog, Government of India in 2017, its website is wep.gov.in which acts as an aggregate connect for funding, incubation, market linkages, business development services, and Innovations.
ii) Uganda Women Entrepreneurship Programme which initiated by Government of Uganda which aimed at improving access to financial service to women and equipping them to skill for enterprise growth, value addition and marketing and according to you, what are other important measures Uganda government can take.
iii) Women’s Business Council relaunched in 2019 to focus on the sectors that have the most significant gender pay gaps and to drive forward progress to improve women’s representation within the workplace, respectively.
The Sh. Sujeet Kumar, Her Excellency of Uganda Joyce and Ms. Sangeeta Khorana has commendably answered the questions, emphasizing on the actual facts and figures. One common thing which was noticed in the answers of all the mentioned panellists was the spirit to create a business – friendly environment, which would allow women to give a kickstart to their career in respective fields.
MP Sh. Sujeet Kumar is serving the nation, and his state of Odisha. He is also an Engineer turned Lawyer, and is currently practising law at the Odisha High Court & Supreme Court of India and has founded LexMantra LLP (www.lexmantra.net), a boutique law firm. Previously, he worked at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Geneva, Switzerland, and for United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and for Infosys Technologies Ltd. in India. He was an Asia Pacific Leadership Fellow (APLP) at the East West Centre, Hawaii (2009).
The ideas and visions of Sh. Sujeet Kumar is a proof of his expertise. He has pointed out the need of introducing documentation and government websites in native language of states, such as to open bank. He insisted that only presence of a scheme or policy is not enough without a passageway for it to be benefitting the relevant targets.
Besides this, he has also talked about, PM Awas Yojana and how it has sanctioned over 122.69 lakh houses and have released Central assistance of Rs 73.13 lakhs till date, among other topics.
Moreover, the High Commissioner of the Republic of Uganda, HE Joyce and Ms Sangeeta Khorana have ensured that Government of Uganda and United Kingdom, respectively has actively been supporting women entrepreneurs worldwide.
Further, the last question was based on “financial support to women entrepreneurs in India” highlighting the financial initiatives taken by Government of India such as MUDRA Yojana, provides loans upto 10 lakhs, Stand Up India scheme providing bank loans between 10 lakhs to 1 crore, Startup India providing seed money of 30 lakh, and Credit Guarantee Scheme for MSMEs providing loans upto 5 lakhs and 2 crores to women.
Thereafter there were insightful answers by Sh. Rajendra Bagade, Senior Partner of SARC on the Access to Finance and Taxation benefits. He has talked about how certain tax incentives can be availed to women entrepreneurs in order to allow them to attain maximum benefits.
Undoubtedly, tax is one of the significant fields, which influence the business and exemption to women entrepreneurs who can directly or indirectly reduce the financial burden. This will also allow women entrepreneurs to generate more revenue. He also suggested that government must introduce certain more tax benefits for women entrepreneurs which seems in need of the present time.
The answers by all the panellists driven from real life experience and challenges they have faced in certainly made the discussion more insightful and perceptive.
In my opinion, this has correctly pointed out the issue, since, women in India, especially in backward are not literate enough to understand English and in some areas even Hindi. The introduction of documentation and government websites in native language of State or UT will allow women to obtain a better understanding, hence, more chances of women being able to avail benefits of the schemes.
In a long run, this could also allow women to commence small scale business or commence savings, etc.
After the penal discussion, presentation and workshops were conducted by the Rt. Hon’ble Baroness Verma herself, highlighting some of the real-life experiences, which has helped her shape the future of thousands and hundreds of women globally. Moreover, the event also enabled insightful discussions on soft and hard skills, women’s fears, how to boosts confidence, leaderships, among others.
The event like these does not only brings like-minded people together, but it also brings women forward to speak about the challenges they face in this world, which is getting more advanced with time.
Besides this, the panellists like Ms. Mahak Garg, Ms. Priyanka Bhide, talked about importance of education for women, challenges women face in raising finance to start business, among other insightful topics.
Maybe someday, the homemakers or housewives will become the part of these events, only to reflects how they have been shaping the future of global economy by only supporting their husbands, brothers, fathers, mothers, and sisters.
In my opinion, “The women are a nurture by its nature and their contribution in society is much more than it seems. A woman is not only learning how to be herself in the world, but she is acting as a teacher for everyone around us, creating history in distinct fields, supporting their family in whatever way she can.”
I myself, provides complete support to women entrepreneurs of entire world in order to contribute to achieving equality and equity.
On April 15th, 2023 an insightful session has been hosted by the Rt Hon’ble Bareness Verma at Lalit Hotel, which has also been live streamed on zoom. The event is a trilogy under “The Global Influence Club” which benefits women entrepreneurs by providing them with an opportunity to commence business.
The Rt. Hon’ble Baroness Verma welcomes the prestigious panellists followed by the informative and professionally led discussions revolves around trade barriers and women entrepreneurs. Besides the emphasize of the event, the most attractive aspect of event was our “National Anthem” which shows that the roots of Indian culture are being well respected, not just by Indians but as well as entire world.
Add video – national anthem
The event included 2 plenary discussions, the first highlighted the “What are the barriers to entrepreneurship, how can we overcome these, and what are the solutions?” and “Role of leadership, collaboration and knowledge sharing” which was moderated by Yashodhara Dasgupta, Director, UK INDIA Business Council and the panellists were –
Dr. Nataliey Bitature- Chief of Staff- Simba Group, Uganda
Smt. Smriti Irani, Hon’ble Cabinet Minister and Member of Lok Sabha delivered her message for the event through a video in order to contribute to the greater cause of the society, especially to show her support to the women entrepreneurs, Smt. Smriti Irani sent us an insightful message.
The second plenary discussion was moderated by me, Sunil Kumar Gupta on “Role of Government and barriers to finance for women entrepreneurs” pertaining mentioned panellists –
Sujeet Kumar, Chairman of the Committee on Petitions of Rajya Sabha.
HE Joyce Kakuramatsi Kikafunda, The High Commissioner of the Republic of Uganda,
Sangeeta Khorana, PhD, MILE, SHFEA, MIEX,Professor of Economics, Director, Centre for Trade, Development and Transition Economics
Priyanka Bhide, Director, Kubernein Initiative
Rajendra Bagade, Senior Partner, SARC Associates
The panel 2 discussion was commenced with introduction of panellists, followed by in-depth discussion on initiatives commenced by India, Uganda, and United Kingdom, highlighting the policies/ initiatives started by each government respectively. The highlighted schemes of India, UK and Uganda in the first 3 questions were on the following topics-
i) Women Entrepreneurship Platform (WEP) launched by NITI Ayog, Government of India in 2017, its website is wep.gov.in which acts as an aggregate connect for funding, incubation, market linkages, business development services, and Innovations.
ii) Uganda Women Entrepreneurship Programme which initiated by Government of Uganda which aimed at improving access to financial service to women and equipping them to skill for enterprise growth, value addition and marketing and according to you, what are other important measures Uganda government can take.
iii) Women’s Business Council relaunched in 2019 to focus on the sectors that have the most significant gender pay gaps and to drive forward progress to improve women’s representation within the workplace, respectively.
The Sh. Sujeet Kumar, Her Excellency of Uganda Joyce and Ms. Sangeeta Khorana has commendably answered the questions, emphasizing on the actual facts and figures. One common thing which was noticed in the answers of all the mentioned panellists was the spirit to create a business – friendly environment, which would allow women to give a kickstart to their career in respective fields.
MP Sh. Sujeet Kumar is serving the nation, and his state of Odisha. He is also an Engineer turned Lawyer, and is currently practising law at the Odisha High Court & Supreme Court of India and has founded LexMantra LLP (www.lexmantra.net), a boutique law firm. Previously, he worked at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Geneva, Switzerland, and for United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and for Infosys Technologies Ltd. in India. He was an Asia Pacific Leadership Fellow (APLP) at the East West Centre, Hawaii (2009).
The ideas and visions of Sh. Sujeet Kumar is a proof of his expertise. He has pointed out the need of introducing documentation and government websites in native language of states, such as to open bank. He insisted that only presence of a scheme or policy is not enough without a passageway for it to be benefitting the relevant targets.
Besides this, he has also talked about, PM Awas Yojana and how it has sanctioned over 122.69 lakh houses and have released Central assistance of Rs 73.13 lakhs till date, among other topics.
Moreover, the High Commissioner of the Republic of Uganda, HE Joyce and Ms Sangeeta Khorana have ensured that Government of Uganda and United Kingdom, respectively has actively been supporting women entrepreneurs worldwide.
Further, the last question was based on “financial support to women entrepreneurs in India” highlighting the financial initiatives taken by Government of India such as MUDRA Yojana, provides loans upto 10 lakhs, Stand Up India scheme providing bank loans between 10 lakhs to 1 crore, Startup India providing seed money of 30 lakh, and Credit Guarantee Scheme for MSMEs providing loans upto 5 lakhs and 2 crores to women.
Thereafter there were insightful answers by Sh. Rajendra Bagade, Senior Partner of SARC on the Access to Finance and Taxation benefits. He has talked about how certain tax incentives can be availed to women entrepreneurs in order to allow them to attain maximum benefits.
Undoubtedly, tax is one of the significant fields, which influence the business and exemption to women entrepreneurs who can directly or indirectly reduce the financial burden. This will also allow women entrepreneurs to generate more revenue. He also suggested that government must introduce certain more tax benefits for women entrepreneurs which seems in need of the present time.
The answers by all the panellists driven from real life experience and challenges they have faced in certainly made the discussion more insightful and perceptive.
In my opinion, this has correctly pointed out the issue, since, women in India, especially in backward are not literate enough to understand English and in some areas even Hindi. The introduction of documentation and government websites in native language of State or UT will allow women to obtain a better understanding, hence, more chances of women being able to avail benefits of the schemes.
In a long run, this could also allow women to commence small scale business or commence savings, etc.
After the penal discussion, presentation and workshops were conducted by the Rt. Hon’ble Baroness Verma herself, highlighting some of the real-life experiences, which has helped her shape the future of thousands and hundreds of women globally. Moreover, the event also enabled insightful discussions on soft and hard skills, women’s fears, how to boosts confidence, leaderships, among others.
The event like these does not only brings like-minded people together, but it also brings women forward to speak about the challenges they face in this world, which is getting more advanced with time.
Besides this, the panellists like Ms. Mahak Garg, Ms. Priyanka Bhide, talked about importance of education for women, challenges women face in raising finance to start business, among other insightful topics.
Maybe someday, the homemakers or housewives will become the part of these events, only to reflects how they have been shaping the future of global economy by only supporting their husbands, brothers, fathers, mothers, and sisters.
In my opinion, “The women are a nurture by its nature and their contribution in society is much more than it seems. A woman is not only learning how to be herself in the world, but she is acting as a teacher for everyone around us, creating history in distinct fields, supporting their family in whatever way she can.”
I myself, provides complete support to women entrepreneurs of entire world in order to contribute to achieving equality and equity.
Has a chatbox ever asked you to open a savings account? Does ever a computerized assistant resolve your queries in minutes?
In this blog, we will understand how Artificial Intelligence drives the Indian economy.
The world of AI is tremendously booming and it can be seamlessly seen that no industry or sector has remained untouched by its prevalence. And the world of finance and banking is also among those worlds which are also anchoring the power of kick-fast change in AI.
AI is intelligence demonstrated through machines, as opposed to natural intelligence present in humans and animals. It contains streamlined programs and procedures, including its ability to perform automated routine tasks, improve customer service, and assist businesses in achieving success, not only in the financial sector, but also in other sectors such as telecommunications, manufacturing, and more.
Therefore, taking the economy on the path of automation.
Undoubtedly, Artificial Intelligence has been evolving in India since 1950s, from the neonatal stage, when the idea of AI culture had coined to a complete boom state, where AI was intensively being used to store large data, VRs, ARs, and IoTs – India is taking every possible initiative to embed AI in every nook and corner of society.
India’s National Strategy for AI has been prepared by NITI Ayog (a premier policy think tank of the Indian Government through providing directional and policy inputs) to harness the power of AI in distinct fields. AI’s practical and effort approach can adequately address societal needs in distinct aspects of healthcare, agriculture, education, smart cities, infrastructure, smart mobility and transportation.
With the advent of the 21st century, due to its incredible advances in data processing, collection, and computation power, electronics has become ubiquitous in almost every sector, be it the manufacturing or the service sector. Further, AI is now deployed in distinct tasks and decision-making to allow better connectivity and productivity.
Basic Pillars Which Contribute To The Development of AI
Talent
Talent is the strongest pipeline for India to be successful and no doubt, India does have the resources for the same. Since India has the largest youth population in the world (around 66% of the population), and with the Indian government’s emphasis on continual training of a high-skilled workforce, India can soon become an AI hub.
Moreover, India produces twice as many master-level engineering graduates as the United States, which provides it a competitive edge over other countries. And India is moving in the right direction through the introduction of initiatives like AI for Youth (commenced in 2020) to make the youth ready for future AI developments.
Taking this initiative forward, “Responsible AI For Youth 2022” was created by the National E-governance Division, Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, Government of India in collaboration with Intel. It is launched by the Ministry of Electronics and IT.
Research
India has the largest AI research community in the world and since 2010, it stands 4th in the largest producer of AI-relevant scholarly papers. It provides an edge to India’s youth population to increase their outreach, especially with their counterparts in the United States.
A two-tier integrated approach is introduced to magnify the core and applied research in AI –
Centers of Research Excellence in Artificial Intelligence (CORES), it will emphasize on the core research of AI.
International Center for Transformational Artificial Intelligence (ICTAI), this tier will help in establishing an ecosystem for the application based technological development and deployment.
Patents
Since 2012, India ranks in the 10th position in the top 10 AI patent-producing countries, due to the immense increase in AI-driven inventions. Moreover, personal devices and computing, business, telecommunications, including life science are the four largest categories for AI patents in India.
Collectively, these are associated with over 70% of India’s AI patents and reflect that Indian innovators have emphasized on applying AI to traditional strengths. In the past two decades, India has come a long way in AI patenting, since, the benefit of using patents to protect their devices is reflected.
AI Companies and Investments
More than 50% of Indian companies applying AI to their products are active in business analytics, medicine, finance, sales, retail, and customer relations.
NASSCOM has predicted that by FY 2026, industrial and automotive, healthcare, retail and CPG and BFSI will contribute 60% of possible AI-driven value to India. Moreover, AI companies and investments are continually bouncing back, considering that private companies’ investment in India has witnessed steady growth from 2015 to 2019.
Cloud Computing
India is using market cloud computing as a proxy for AI chips to support its AI computing needs since it does not have the domestic manufacturing capacity to manufacture AI chips. Also, India is lagging behind in cloud computing, yet contemporary, cloud bared markets are growing because of the rising demand for computing power.
Be it talent, research, patents, investment in AI, or cloud computing – India has been moving in the right direction utilizing its population strength by introducing varied initiatives to promote AI in distinct fields.
In addition to that, the government has introduced “AIRAWAT”(AI Research, Analytics, And Knowledge Assimilation Platform) which is a cloud platform for big data analytics and assimilation, with the power-optimized AI computing infrastructure using advanced AI processing.
Apart from that, the Indian government has been investing in other schemes such as Digital India with the purpose to boost AI, IoT, big data, and robotics, including providing subsidies to startups under “Start-up India.”
From the given information, we can easily understand that the Indian government has been working on all aspects to make AI a reality in India, from establishing institutes to providing cloud support and AI research. This in return, is contributing to business growth through financial inclusions since, due to the development of AI in the financial services and sector, students can easily access the loan facility for education, training, or even to establish their business.
How AI is Helping The Financial Services | Contribution of AI in Financial Services To Boost Indian Economy | AI in Financial Services
The field of Artificial Intelligence has enormously evolved since the introduction of revolutionary techniques and algorithms using automated tools. This revolutionized growth of AI in financial services and sectors has significantly been an impetus for the Indian economy.
The majority of banks and financial institutions use and recognize the true benefits of Artificial Intelligence. They are using it to respond to their customers at a faster pace around the clock. Not only does AI help provide a better customer experience, but it also frees up the personnel, improves the security measures of the institutions, and ensures that they are moving in the right direction when it comes to technology.
Here are some of the ways Artificial Intelligence is helping in the financial services and sectors:
1. Risk Assessment and Management
Till now, fintech, banks, and other financial institutions were using human resources to assess and manage their risks. Whether it was loan eligibility checking, trading, or banking, human resources were the way to go.
But with the implementation of AI, these tasks have now become much easier to perform. With the advancement of data sciences and machine learning algorithms, Artificial Intelligence is becoming even smarter in risk assessment and management for financial institutions.
2. Process Automation
One of the best things about an AI is that it can do the same thing again and again without getting tired, in other words – automation. With the help of AI, financial institutions can automate repetitive and mundane tasks with ease and efficiency. This allows valuable human resources to focus on the other important tasks and projects.
3. Reducing Human Error
Humans tend to make mistakes regardless of how experienced or gifted they are. According to recent studies, more than 90% of cloud breaches and financial frauds are caused by human errors. There have been several cases where the loss of valuable data, capital, and resources has been caused by minor human errors.
With the implementation of artificial intelligence, these errors have dropped drastically. In other words, AI reduces human errors and saves valuable data and resources while preventing cyberattacks and frauds.
4. Better Customer Interaction
Virtual assistants (VAs) and chatbots can do what regular human resources can not, they can be available for customers 24/7 and offer relevant solutions. Thanks to the implementation of Artificial Intelligence, chatbots and VAs have become even smarter in their workings.
Of course, the customers of any financial institution still need human interaction to solve difficult problems. Still, thanks to the help of AI, virtual assistants can respond to customer’s needs with minimal effort.
5. Cyberattack and Fraud Detection and Prevention
Any financial institution, whether it is banks, insurance companies, or brokerage firms, they are always in danger of fraud and cyberattack. And it’s not just the business houses themselves, it’s also their customers who are prone to cyber crimes.
However, thanks to the implementation of AI, fraud, and cyberattacks are detected and prevented regularly keeping both the financial institution and its customer safe.
6. Compliance
AI can successfully streamline compliance alert systems to near-perfection, considering that it is built to learn from compliance officers’ data, especially in today’s data-driven compliance environment, AI technology is tremendously improving the efficiency of complianceoperations by lowering expenses.
One of the best examples of “how AI helps in ensuring compliance” could be its usage in IT solutions to address the problem of wasting time and money every day.
Apart from that, Artificial Intelligence successfully automates the workflow, therefore, minimum time and human resources are necessary to support compliance operations. In addition to that, AI minimizes the possibility of human error which could occur due to the availability of a sheer volume of data.
7. Financial Inclusion
With AI and data analytics, financial products are seamlessly available to a large part of the population, even those with no formal bank account, payslip, or digital financial track record.
The access to small financial loans have now become feasible, since the entire process is automated and scalable. In addition to that, fintech companies have found a pathway to monetize the regulatory stumbling blocks which have kept traditional banks from lending money to the poor. With the introduction of AI, the idea of money lending has taken a new shape that’s “data available on customer’s mobile.” Therefore, creating a mobile digital credit score, a reality, which was once a dream.
Financial inclusion has established a new pathway, where a needy person can easily obtain a loan from the banks and financial institutions, thus pushing Indian youth on the path of “entrepreneurship” rather than seeking jobs. Therefore, fulfilling one more agenda of the Indian government that’s “employment generation.”
Such development has marked the emergence of new business models, with traditional banks parenting with fintech to provide digital credit score services, including the emergence of non-bank fintech in a digital lending space.
Apart from that, the use of AI is tremendously increasing to screen loans and select financial product sale recommendations. This is done based on historical data, therefore, eliminating the possibility of prejudice.
Benefiting youth with easy access to loans, AI has become a tool for maximizing the access of financial services to farmers using data and machine learning (major components of AI) algorithms to eliminate the possibility of fraud and allow seamless access of funds to credit-worthy farmers.
That can allow the government to limit farmers’ suicide in India, since easy access to loans and credit facilities will resolve farmers’ problems by ensuring direct access to equipment for irrigation, fertilizers, etc. Therefore, it will result in better cultivation and profit.
AI not only resolves credit and funds-associated issues for farmers, youth, or entrepreneurs, but it also provides financial services/ assistance to startups, MSMEs, and emerging tech companies.
With the introduction of AI, financial inclusion has become a reality, where everyone has access to financial services since it facilitates branchless banking that not only minimizes the cost of banking but also makes financial services accessible.
From AI-based chatbots resolving your query 24*7 to communicate through messaging apps, including educating customers about their financial health, AI has taken over the world.
India is the fastest growing economy with a significant contribution to the development of AI, considering that India has the finest AI research concentrated institutes such as IITs, IIITs, and IISc.
And let’s not forget, that India is home to a highly skilled workforce, which matches the distinct technological market and a large start-up ecosystem that adds to over 77,000 DPIIT-recognized startups accessing 655 districts of the country as of August 2022.
Realizing the potential, the Indian government is also taking the necessary initiatives to steer the country and position it among the top leaders in AI.
Moreover, as per a recent study, AI is estimated to boost India’s annual growth rate by 1.3% by 2035 and has the potential to add 1 trillion to the Indian economy in 2035.
From this data, we can conclude that AI plays an important role in the development of the Indian economy as a whole.
However, with tremendous growth, AI also brings “privacy and data protection issues” which are far from only one. Concerns range from threats to privacy to threats to human dignity and safety.
Artificial Intelligence – Issues
Artificial Intelligence is developing at a fast pace and it seems like it could grow so immensely that it would be challenging for humans to control it. Moreover, AI systems developed by humans are working in every possible intelligence they could, now humans are themselves threatened by its development.
Threat to Privacy
An AI program recognizes speech, understands natural language, and is capable of understanding every conversation via emails and telephone calls. Therefore, the amount of data stored in AI models could impose the risk of data security and privacy violations.
Proposed Solution –
The usage of “state of art encrypted methods” can be used to ensure data security and privacy violations.
The use of “low encrypted cloud software” must be avoided.
Threat to Human Dignity
AI has replaced humans in many industries, however, there is no doubt that in the near future, it will replace humans working in dignified positions such as nurses, surgeons, etc. Therefore, the functions performed by AI systems are a substitute for us (humans) that devalues and deteriorates human flourishing.
Proposed Solution –
Despite massive improvements in AI technology, any minor fault can impose major risk, especially in the case of the use of AI in hospitals. Therefore, the presence of a doctor is essential to avoid such situations.
Software engineers or developers should come up with a hybrid model, where AI technology could assist doctors/ surgeons/ or other practitioners, rather than completely taking over the work. This will prevent the devaluation of human flourishing.
Threat to Safety
AI systems are self-improving and advanced, which can become so mighty in comparison to humans that it could be challenging to prevent them from achieving their goals, which can result in unintentional consequences.
Therefore, AI applications, which are in direct contact with humans or are integrated into the human body, impose safety risks, since they can be misused and hacked.
Artificial intelligence is certainly a blessing, only if used for the right purpose and to minimize interference in human lives.
Proposed Solution –
Strong and unique passwords and two-factor authentication must be used to prevent hacking.
Search engines must be blocked from tracking.
Evict the unused applications and extensions.
Online browsing must be done through a secure VPN.
Conclusion
“India is all set to be an AI hub, with the right acquisition of talent (youth), research, patents, AI companies, investment, and cloud computing.”
From the introduction of metaverse to bitcoins/ cryptocurrency, indeed the world is on a rollercoaster ride of growth and development.
AI can change the financial services and sector completely, by allowing intelligent automation, labor and capital augmentation, and innovation diffusion which will help in ensuring technical feasibility, availability of structured data, regulatory barriers, and other benefits. Maybe someday, AI would be advanced enough to improve human relationships and resolve ethical issues.
India has emerged as the 3rd largest startup ecosystem globally, containing over 77,000 DPIIT-recognized startups across 656 districts of India as of 29th August 2022. As of September 2022, India had a total of 107 unicorns accounting for a valuation of $340.79 billion. The Indian unicorns (a term used to describe a privately owned startup company with a valuation of over $1 billion) are flourishing in a fast manner since these startups are not only developing or proposing innovative solutions and advanced technologies but are also contributing to the employment generation at a large scale.
Moreover, researchers have seen that AI has the potential to add 1 trillion dollars to the Indian economy in 2035. However, this is not the only factor responsible for economic growth. To know more on what are the factors that will lead to a $30 trillion economy, read it on our upcoming blog.
Financial activities of the Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs) are regulated by Reserve Bank of India under the provisions of Chapter III B of the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934. With the amendment of Section 45 IA of the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934 in January 1997 and amendment of the National Housing Bank Act, 1987 in August 2019, in terms of Section 29 A of the National Housing Bank Act, 1987, all Non-Banking Financial Companies including Housing Finance Companies (HFCs) have to be mandatorily registered with the Reserve Bank of India.
Background
Consistent with the policy of giving greater operational freedom to banks in the matter of credit disbursement and in the context of mandatory registration of NBFCs with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), most of the aspects relating to financing of NBFCs by banks have also been progressively deregulated. However, in view of the sensitivities attached to financing of certain types of activities undertaken by NBFCs, restrictions on financing of such activities continue to be in force.
Gist of the Master Circular
This Master Circular consolidates instructions on the above matter issued up to January 04, 2022 by which more autonomy have been given to NBFCs registered with RBI and is summarized hereunder:
(a.) The ceiling on bank credit linked to Net Owned Fund (NOF) of NBFCs has been withdrawn where NBFCs are engaged in principal business of asset financing, loan, factoring and investment activities. Accordingly, banks may extend need based working capital facilities and term loans to all NBFCs and engaged in infrastructure financing, equipment leasing, hire-purchase, loan, factoring and investment activities subject to provisions of para 8 of these guidelines.
(b.) Now, banks may also extend finance to NBFCs against second hand assets financed by them.
(c.) Banks may formulate suitable loan policy with the approval of their Boards of Directors within the existing/prudential guidelines and exposure norms prescribed by the Reserve Bank of India to extend various kinds of credit facilities to NBFCs.
Bank Finance to NBFCs not requiring registration
In terms of “Master Direction – Exemptions from the provisions of RBI Act, 1934” dated August 25, 2016, few categories of NBFCs are exempted from certain provisions of the RBI Act, 1934 including the need for registration with the RBI. Such NBFCs need not to register with the RBI and the banks may take their credit decisions on the basis of purpose of credit, nature , quality of underlying assets, repayment capacity of borrowers and risk perception, etc.
Activities not eligible for Bank Credit
(a.) The following activities undertaken by NBFCs are not eligible for bank credit:
(i) Bills discounted/rediscounted by NBFCs, except for rediscounting of bills discounted by NBFCs arising from sale of commercial vehicles and 2-wheeler and 3-wheeler vehicles subject to the following conditions:
the bills should have been drawn by the manufacturer on dealers only,
the bills should represent genuine sale transactions as may be ascertained from the chassis/engine number and
before rediscounting the bills, banks should satisfy themselves about the bonafides and track record of NBFCs which have discounted the bills.
(ii) Investments of NBFCs in any company/entity by way of shares, debentures, etc. However, need-based credit may be provided to Stock Broking Companies against shares and debentures held by them as stock-in-trade.
(iii) Unsecured loans/inter-corporate deposits by NBFCs to/in any company.
(iv) All types of loans and advances by NBFCs to their subsidiaries, group companies/entities.
(v) Finance to NBFCs for further lending to individuals for subscribing to Initial Public Offerings (IPOs) and for purchase of shares from secondary market.
(b.) Leased and Sub-Leased Assets
Banks can extend financial assistance to equipment leasing companies but they should not enter into lease agreements departmentally with such companies as well as other NBFCs engaged in equipment leasing.
Bank Finance to Factoring Companies
Banks can extend financial assistance to the Factoring Companies which comply with the following criteria with the restrictions mentioned at Paragraph 4.1 (i) and 4.1 (iv) above if:
(a) The companies qualify as Factoring Companies and carry out their business under the provisions of the Factoring Regulation Act, 2011 with notifications issued by RBI from time to time.
(b) They derive at least 50% of their income from factoring activity,
(c) The receivables purchased/financed, irrespective of whether on ‘with recourse’ or ‘without recourse’ basis, form at least 50% of the assets of the Factoring Company ;
(d) The assets/income referred to above would not include the assets/income relating to any bill discounting facility extended by the Factoring Company,
(e) Credit limits extended by the Factoring Companies is secured by hypothecation or assignment of receivables in their favour.
Bank Finance to NBFCs not permitted for:
Bridge loans/interim finance
Banks should not grant bridge loans of any nature or interim finance against capital/debenture issues and/or in the form of loans of a bridging nature pending raising of long-term funds from the market by way of capital, deposits, etc. to all categories of NBFCs.
Advances against collateral security of shares to NBFCs
Shares and debentures cannot be accepted as collateral securities for secured loans granted to NBFC borrowers for any purpose.
Restriction on guarantees for placement of funds with NBFCs
Banks not to execute guarantees covering inter-company deposits/loans thereby guaranteeing refund of all type of deposits/loans accepted by NBFCs/firms from other NBFCs/firms. However, banks are permitted to provide Partial Credit Enhancement (PCE) to bonds issued by NBFC-ND-SIs and Housing Finance Companies (HFCs) as per guidelines contained at para 2.4 of the Master Circular on Guarantees and co-acceptances dated November 09, 2021 as updated from time to time.
Prudential ceilings for exposure of banks to NBFCs
(b.) Banks’ exposures to a single NBFC (excluding gold loan companies) will be restricted to 20 percent of their eligible capital base (Tier-I capital). However, based on the risk perception, more stringent exposure limits in respect of certain categories of NBFCs may be considered by banks. Banks’ exposures to a group of connected NBFCs or group of connected counterparties having NBFCs in the group will be restricted to 25% of their Tier-I Capital.
(c.) The exposure of a bank to a single NBFC which is predominantly engaged in lending against collateral of gold jewellery (i.e., such loans comprising 50% or more of their financial assets), shall not exceed 7.5% of the bank’s capital funds (Tier-I plus Tier-II Capital). However, this exposure ceiling may go up to 12.5% of banks’ Capital Funds if the additional exposure is on account of funds already lent by such NBFCs to the infrastructure.
(d.) Banks may also consider fixing internal limits for their aggregate exposure to all NBFCs put together.
(e.) Banks should have an internal sub-limit on their aggregate exposures to all NBFCs, having gold loans to the extent of 50% or more of their total financial assets, taken together. This sub-limit should be within the internal limit fixed by the banks for their aggregate exposure to all NBFCs put together as prescribed in paragraph 7.4 above.
(f.) Infusion of eligible Capital Funds, after the published balance sheet date, may also be taken into account for computing exposure ceiling subject to obtaining an external auditor’s certificate on completion of the augmentation of capital and its onward submission to RBI (Department of Supervision) before reckoning the additions to Capital Funds.
Restrictions regarding investments made by banks in securities/instruments issued by NBFCs:
(a.) Banks not to invest in Zero Coupon Bonds (ZCBs) issued by NBFCs unless the issuer NBFC builds up sinking fund for all accrued interest and keeps it invested in Government bonds.
(b.) Banks are permitted to also invest in Non-Convertible Debentures (NCDs) with original or initial maturity up to 1-year issued by NBFCs. However, while investing in such instruments, banks should be guided by the extant prudential guidelines in force, ensuring the disclosure of the purpose for which the NCDs are being issued in the disclosure document and such purposes are eligible for bank finance.
Conclusion:
In view of policy measures to build scale and enhance NBFC’s contribution in
Global Trade significantly, RBI has brought the master circular, efforts have been made to ease financing to needy borrowers through NBFCs while sensitivities attached to financing have simultaneously been taken care of. We hope this masterstroke would definitely accelerate the trade and economic activity as is expected by Government of India.
Please also refer to previous Master Circular DBR.BP.BC.No.5/21.04.172/2015-16 dated July 1, 2015 on the captioned subject.
For more details on the topic, you may refer to Master Circular no RBI/2021-22/149/ DOR.CRE.REC. No.77/21.04.172/2021-22 dated January 05, 2022 of RBI or access the author at https://www.sunilkumargupta.com/ to explore more on other related topics.
Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs) have been growing in size and have substantial interconnectedness with other segments of the financial system. Reserve Bank of India had introduced a PromptCorrective Action Framework (PCA) for Scheduled Commercial Banks in 2002 and the same has been reviewed from time to time based on the experience gained and developments in the banking system. Accordingly, RBI has now decided to put in place a PCA Framework for NBFCs to initiate and implement remedial measures in a timely manner so as to restore its financial health for strengthening the supervisory tools applicable to NBFCs.
The PCA Framework for NBFCs, as summarized hereunder, comes into effect from October 1, 2022 based on the financial position of NBFCs on or after March 31, 2022. The objective of the PCA Framework is to enable supervisory intervention at appropriate time and is intended to act as a tool for effective market discipline. The PCA Framework does not preclude the Reserve Bank of India from taking any action as it deems fit at any time in addition to the corrective actions prescribed in the framework.
A. The PCA framework is applicable to the following category of NBFCs:
(a) All Deposit Taking NBFCs [Excluding Government Companies] (NBFCs-D)
(b) All Non-Deposit Taking NBFCs in Middle, Upper and Top Layers 3 (NBFCs-ND),
[Including Investment and Credit Companies, Core Investment Companies (CICs), Infrastructure Debt Funds, Infrastructure Finance Companies, Micro Finance Institutions and Factors]; but [Excluding – (i) NBFCs not accepting/not intending to accept public funds 4; (ii) Government Companies, (iii) Primary Dealers and (iv) Housing Finance Companies].
B. For NBFCs-D and NBFCs-ND, Capital and Asset Quality would be the key areas for monitoring in PCA framework. For CICs, Capital, Leverage and Asset Quality would be the key areas for monitoring in PCA framework.
C. For NBFCs-D and NBFCs-ND, indicators to be tracked would be Capital to Risk Weighted Assets Ratio (CRAR), Tier-I Capital Ratio and Net NPA Ratio (NNPA). For CICs, indicators to be tracked would be Adjusted Net Worth/Aggregate Risk Weighted Assets, Leverage Ratio and NNPA.
D. A NBFC will generally be placed under PCA framework based on the audited Annual Financial Results and/or the Supervisory Assessment made by the RBI. However, the RBI may impose PCA on any NBFC during the course of a year (including migration from one threshold to another) in case the circumstances so warrant.
E. The Reserve Bank of India may issue a press release when a NBFC is placed under PCA as well as when PCA is withdrawn vis-à-vis a NBFC.
F. Breach of any risk threshold may result in invocation of PCA as detailed under:
For NBFCs-D and NBFCs-ND (excluding CICs):
Indicator
Risk Threshold-1
Risk Threshold-2
Risk Threshold-3
CRAR
Up to 300 bps below the regulatory minimum CRAR [currently, CRAR <15% but ≥12%]
More than 300 bps but up to 600 bps below regulatory minimum CRAR [currently, CRAR <12% but ≥9%]
More than 600 bps below regulatory minimum CRAR [currently, CRAR <9%
Tier I Capital Ratio
Up to 200 bps below the regulatory minimum Tier-I Capital Ratio [currently, Tier-I Capital Ratio <10% but ≥8%]
More than 200 bps but up to 400 bps below the regulatory minimum Tier-I Capital Ratio [currently, Tier-I Capital Ratio <8% but ≥6%]
More than 400 bps below the regulatory minimum Tier-I Capital Ratio [currently, Tier-I Capital Ratio <6%]
NNPA Ratio (including NPIs)
>6% but ≤ 9%
>9% but ≤12%
>9% but ≤12%
For Core Investment Companies (CICs)
Indicator
Risk Threshold-1
Risk Threshold-2
Risk Threshold-3
Adjusted Net Worth/Aggregate Risk Weighted Assets
Up to 600 bps below the regulatory minimum ANW/RWA [currently, ANW/RWA <30% but ≥24%]
More than 600 bps but up to 1200 bps below regulatory minimum ANW/RWA [currently, ANW/RWA <24% but ≥18%]
More than 1200 bps below regulatory minimum ANW/RWA [currently, ANW/RWA <18%]
Leverage Ratio
≥2.5 times but <3 times
≥ 3 times but <3.5 times
≥3.5 times
NNPA Ratio (including NPIs)
>6% but ≤ 9%
>9% but ≤12%
>12%
G. Exit from PCA and withdrawal of restrictions under PCA – Once a NBFC is placed under PCA, taking the NBFC out of PCA framework and/or withdrawal of restrictions imposed under the PCA framework will be considered: a) if no breaches in risk thresholds in any of the parameters are observed as per four continuous quarterly financial statements one of which should be Annual Audited Financial Statement (subject to assessment by RBI), and b) based on supervisory comfort of the RBI including an assessment on sustainability of profitability of the NBFC.
H. The menu of corrective actions is as below:
Mandatory and Discretionary actions
Specifications
Mandatory actions
Discretionary actions
Risk Threshold – 1
1. Restriction on dividend distribution/remittance of profits,
2. Promoters/shareholders to infuse equity and reduction in leverage,
3. Restriction on issue of guarantees or taking on other contingent liabilities on behalf of group companies (only for CICs)
Common menu
Special Supervisory Actions
Strategy Related
Governance Related
Capital Related
Credit Risk Related
Market Risk Related
HR Related
Profitability Related
Operations/Business Related
Any Other
Risk Threshold – 2
In addition to mandatory actions of threshold: Restriction on branch expansion
Risk Threshold – 3
In addition to mandatory actions of threshold 1 & 2,
1. Appropriate restrictions on capital expenditure other than for technological upgradation within board approved limits
2. Restrictions/reduction in variable operating costs
Common Menu for Selection of Discretionary Corrective Actions by the RBI are mentioned below:
1. Special Supervisory Actions
2. Strategy Related Actions
3. Governance Related Actions
4. Capital Related Actions
5. Credit Risk Related Actions
6. Market Risk Related Actions
7. HR Related Actions
8. Profitability Related Actions
9. Operations Related Actions
10. Any other specific action that the RBI may deem fit considering specific circumstances of the NBFC.
RBI would initiate suitable corrective actions including in particular mandatory and discretionary actions to check the wrong doings of the companies. Corrective measures are summarized in brief i.e. may conduct Special Supervisory Monitoring Meetings at quarterly or other identified frequency, special inspections/targeted scrutiny of the NBFC, restricted and need based regulatory/supervisory approvals, review short-term strategy, medium-term business plans, identify achievable targets and set concrete milestones for progress and achievement, may recommend to promoters/shareholders to remove and bring in new management/board, restriction in expansion of high risk-weighted assets, preparation of time bound plan and commitment for reduction of stock of NPAs, restrictions on branch expansion plans, PCAs would prove to be a milestone in the history of NBFCs and RBI will definitely have more control over NBFCs and would protect interest of the public funds at large.
For more details on the topic, you may refer to circular no RBI/2021-22/139DoS.CO.PPG. SEC.7/ 11.01.005/2021-22 dated Dec. 14, 2021 of RBI or access the author at: www.sunilkumargupta.com/ to explore more on other topics.
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