One of the most exciting manifestations of the Digital India story is in the process of being unleashed in the Indian investment scenario shortly.  The undersigned was one of the financial professionals who has seen the Capital markets in all its glory when it was a retail market where millions of investors used to participate in IPOs. (It was then termed Public Issues). The undersigned had also created an index to project the investment potential of a proposed public issue at different prices etc. However subsequently, changes in the policy of SEBI converted the IPO markets from a retail market to a whole sale market.

Now the sunny days for the IPO market appears to back with SEBI finalizing a proposal for e-IPO. SEBI is expected to finalize a detailed guideline for e-IPOs by the end of this month as per this ET report.

SEBI’s discussion paper

SEBI had issued a discussion paper which provides some details of what may be coming forth. This is an attempt to use the current secondary market infrastructure where investors have been investing in various capital market instruments through their brokers using e-investment tools. Since IT provides  all the flexibility for auctioning, reverse auctioning, instant processing of applications etc, it is the ideal platform to involve a large number of Netizen investors directly in the process of IPO.

In fact just as Retail business has seen a sea change with Flipkart/Snap deal/Amazon etc coming into fray, the e-IPOs are sure to revive the retail interest in the primary markets which is very essential for the growth of Capital markets in India. This is bound to give a huge boost to the capital markets much more than a good monsoon this year or a RBI dropping interest rates or Inflation coming down etc which are being touted as huge market movers.

I congratulate SEBI on its move.

Before we end, there is of course a Cyber Law angle into the development since IPO applications need to be “Digitally Signed” and the Certifying authorities may be rejoicing the development. I recall that one of the first E-Commerce initiatives I had personally supervised was the hosting of public issue application forms of Corporation Bank some time in the mid 80’s with a running serial number which was a great innovation at that time. Lot of water has flowed under the bridge since then and we will now see an e-form being filled up and digitally signed, application electronically processed and demat shares issued all in the back end servers…. Three Cheers to ICT revolution..

Naavi

In the cacophony surrounding the Times Now campaign against Sushma Swaraj, the media did not high light an important event yesterday where the Chief of the Anti Corruption Bureau (Appointed by the LG) complained that his office was bugged with spy devices for voice recording. The “Pen like spying  tool” was reportedly found in his office. (See report here)

The natural inference is that it was planted there by Arvind Kejriwal’s group which has appointed its own chief for the same Anti Corruption Bureau.

Apart from the political issues involved in two officials working in the same capacity, what needs to be recognized is that “Unauthorised implant of spying devices” is a serious violation of Privacy.

Unfortunately India does not have a good Privacy Protection law and hence we need to struggle to find out how this prima facie offence can be brought under legal scrutiny.

It is essential for Mr Ravi Shankar Prasad to examine if there is a need to amend ITA 2008 to enable such offences be recognized without ambiguity, when the next revision is undertaken.

Naavi

Arnab Goswami has been a disruptive influence on the TV media especially in the last one year. Times Now claims that it has made a huge progress in media ratings because of Mr Arnab’s antics. Mr Rajdeep Sardesai who was once a Guru of Arnab has now become a secondary journalist and has to team up with Rahul Kanwal and others to fight Arnab. Even Bukah Dutt has become subdued under the verbal onslought of Arnab. In fact the predicament of the competing channels is evident from the fact that they are running ad campaigns depicting Times Now as  the “Noice Channel” and “Circus Channel”.

Recognizing this contribution of Mr Arnab Goswami, he has been recently elevated as President and Editor in Chief of Times Now and more importantly ET Now. (Refer article here).

As if intoxicated by this new found recognition from within, Arnab Goswami went hammer and tongs at Sushma Swaraj yesterday even announcing that his reporter was waiting at the gate of Sushma Swaraj’s residence expecting her to come out any time and announce her resignation to the press. Unfortunately, BJP called his bluff and refused to budge to his wishes. He is ofcourse trying again today and continuing his tirade against BJP much to the delight of Congress and Aam Admi Party.

Now with the new found responsibility in ET Now, it would be amusing to see whether the noice levels increase in the studios of ET Now and whether it would disturb the clear leadership that CNBC TV possesses in this market.

If we predict the influence of Arnab on ET Now, we can expect more of negative reports from ET Now particularly on the Reliance Group companies which own CNBC TV. There could even be a “Combo Attack” by both Times Now and ET Now on Reliance companies for a domino effect in bringing down the share prices.

There have been many financial journals which we have seen in the past which have adopted the “Black Mail Strategy” to growth where they publish negative reports to boost circulation and extract benefits of various kinds. Most of them have however withered away after flattering to deceive.

So far, the Arnab antics was limited to Political discussions and affected the country only in the political scenario. Now that he will have a hand in the management of economic news, his potential to bring down the future of India has increased.

We may therefore have another Kejriwal of the Indian media set to destroy the economic progress of the country.

However, there is one management principle that we all need to remember. It is called the “Peter’s Principle”. I suppose this will start working now in the case of Arnab. His strategies which worked well for political debates with an audience who rejoice the noisy debates for fun, may fail miserably in the investor market. And Arnab might have been elevated to his “level of inefficiency” as Peter’s principle enunciates.

The ground is set for the same since what Arnab Goswami has claimed in yesterday’s report includes a claim to possess confidential emails of some persons which he has used for the furtherance of his business. This is a prima facie offence under Section 66 of Information Technology Act 2008 which is a cognizable offence. If any person files a complaint, the Police will have no option but to register an FIR, and investigate whether Times Now was directly or indirectly involved in the hacking of email accounts of any one of the stake holders whose names have come out during the exposure of the emails.

The only defense that Arnab will have would be to claim that what seems to be an offence was done without malicious intention and with public interest. He will also claim that he is exercising a “Freedom of Speech” and he cannot be questioned on his reports. These however is not a defense against any civil claims if any that may also be filed by various persons whom the report has tried to defame.

Naavi

In his enthusiasm to break a sensational story, Arnab Goswami appears to have landed himself in one of the biggest problems of his life by declaring possession of e-mails of an UK Member of Parliament which the MP has challenged as a Criminal act.

The defense for Mr Arnab is only that he is a “Journalist” and doing this “Apparent Criminal Act”  in “Public Interest”. Unfortunately this may have to be defended in an UK Court and not in the Indian Court.

The incident relates to a revelation that Mr Lalit Modi living in UK wanted to travel to Portugal ostensibly to sign some hospital papers for his wife to undergo surgery for Cancer and was having difficulty in obtaining travel clearances. Since UK Government had been earlier informed of the pending Enforcement Directorate investigations going on on Lalit Modi in India, there was a perception that allowing Mr Modi to travel would make India unpleasant. In this context it is alleged that Ms Sushma Swaraj, the External Affairs Minister was approached by Mr Modi and she had spoken to the UK MP which ultimately resulted in Mr Modi getting the travel permissions. Ms Sushma Swaraj has stated that she only requested the UK Government to deal with it under UK laws and it would not hurt the relations with India.

Mr Goswami is tying to present this as if Ms Swaraj should be considered as a part of Lalit Modi investigation and naturally the other political parties will be happy to debate this issue all through the day.

However, Mr Goswami has been challenged by the UK MP Mr Keith Vaz that Mr Arnab Goswami is guilty of hacking into the email account of Mr Vaz. The fact that Mr Arnab Goswami is in possession of the emails is prima facie evidence that Mr Keith Vaz’s emails have reached unauthorised hands. It is also prima facie clear that these emails have been used for commercial benefit by Times Now. Hence the charge of “Unauthorized Access” to an electronic document which is also an offence under ITA 2008 cannot be denied.

Mr Goswami has been alleging that Ms Sushma Swaraj was trying to help Mr Modi to get travel clearances. However the accusation is not for any other financial fraud or illegal activity. Ms Sushma on the other hand claims that this was a “Humanitarian” act. It will be therefore essential for Mr Goswami to defend that there was “Public interest” and claim the immunity which journalists normally claim in sting operations. However given the limited benefit if at all that Mr Modi could get from the intervention of Ms Sushma Swaraj, it is unlikely that a Court will be convinced of the “Public Interest” in this e-mail hacking case.

It would be interesting if this issue is taken to a Court.

(PS: It would be interesting to see if Times Now continues to carry Mr Keith Vaz’s interview in which he accuses Mr Arnab of a criminal activity during the rest of the day.)

Naavi

One of the main concerns of the community as it exists today when the concept of Smart City is unveiled is on what happens to the concept of Privacy?

The very concept of a “Smart City” is one where information exchange happens between the residents and the command center in such a manner that every aspect of the individual’s life gets reported to the command center and triggers actions in different parts of the city. The concept of “Internet of Things” and “Smart Transport” etc can work only if individuals give up the concept of “Privacy”. Unfortunately the residents of a smart city cannot have the option of “opting in or out” since “Opting out” of a Smart City information network would essentially mean that the individual not only is denied of the benefits of the smart city but also be a “rogue” element as to the rest of the community. The community norms would therefore force every one who comes within the “network boundaries” of the Smart City to “Opt in” or otherwise be identified as an “Untouchable” within the city.

We will therefore be in a situation where either we accept the Smart City concept and forgo the “Privacy Right” or opt to remain outside the boundaries of the smart city. It would perhaps be a “Visa” condition for entry into a smart city that one has to forego his Privacy Rights.

We all know that in India we are still struggling to form a “Privacy Law”. Repeated attempts have not been taken to the logical end and have died at the stage of drafts.

Now, we are discussing the concept of  smart cities 100 in number to start with and perhaps  more to follow as India turns Digital. We already hear that one city in Gujarat, a part of Mumbai and perhaps a part of Bangalore may either come up as a complete Smart City or become significantly more smart than the rest of the environment.

In many areas of technology, we some times observe that some “developing” countries jump the developmental steps that other earlier developed countries take and join the que in the front.

I see the possibility that the development of “Privacy laws” in India may be confronted with this choice of whether we first pass the Privacy Law and then fight against it in Smart Cities or all together work for a “Smart Privacy Law” that works both within the smart city and outside.

The solution that can solve the Smart city-Privacy Conflict is “Regulated Anonymity” which the undersigned has presented a few years back. (Refer : The Theory of Regulated Anonymity published on  2nd March 2012).

The essence of this theory of “Regulated Anonymity” is the creation of an “Authority” to “Anonymize” a participant in such a manner that no state actor will have an unfettered right to “identify” an individual. The system will however provide the identity as required for the information exchange except that the data will travel in the name of an “Avatar” rather than the real physical identity of the individual. It is the ideal situation for exploiting the best of both worlds, the benefits of identifying to the “Smart City Control Center” and maintaining the anonymity of who the individual is in the physical world.(..though the Big Data Analysts would say that we can still find out who you are..).

The undersigned had also discussed

It is therefore interesting days ahead of those who watch the development of Privacy laws in the county as also the Smart City administrators.

Naavi

Related Articles:

Privacy Protected Zones Required.

“International City Zone” scheme suggested to address US investor’s concerns

Is India’s 100 smart cities project a recipe for social apartheid?

Smart Cities: are you willing to trade privacy for efficiency?

When we visualize a “Smart City”, we normally see a futuristic city  laced with the clean, wide roads with sky scrapper buildings with fancy architecture all around. But the “Smartness” of a city does not lie with the civil architecture alone. In fact, a good looking civil architecture can make any city look like a “Futuristic City”. But it need not necessarily be a “Smart City”.

A “Smart City” by definition has to be characterized by an information exchange system that flows all across the city like the nerves or blood go across a human body making each organ give and take information that eventually make it function better.

The key therefore to “Smartness” is the way how this information network is built and how the functional units interact with individual organs of city administration. Hence most of the critical work that determines how the smart city shapes up has to be complete before the first roads are built or first civil structure comes up.

While each organ of administration such as the Transport, Health, Electricity Supply, Water supply, Sewerage systems, Supply of  Clean air, Education, etc can be considered as sub systems and can be developed with the best available ICT resources, the key is the information infrastructure.

The information infrastructure has the technical component which consists of the Optical Fiber network which should run side by side with the water and power lines and should be a supported by a network of WiFi  that is as ubiquitous as the air around us.  While the WiFi network can also be brought in later during the development of a city, the Optical Fiber network is one which needs to be built as a fundamental component of infrastructure before the city layout is completed. The quality of this physical network would be what would determine the future of the city. It is therefore writing the horoscope of the city.

In the future, this network of Optical fiber would also be the biggest target for attack by all types of Cyber criminals including the terrorists. Hence even while laying down these cables, the security of these cables in future both from unauthorized physical and logical access becomes critical. This security starts from the people employed today to lay the cables and the knowledge and information shared with these people would determine how secure the network would be in future.

Knowing the smartness of terrorists around the world and their motivation, it is possible that these terrorist organizations may be already planning to infiltrate the work force who would be involved in the construction of smart cities in India. Hence we need to identify the possibility of moles being introduced to the work force as a “Risk”.

Extensive back ground checks and also security motivation of the workers would therefore be an essential part of the management of the smart city infrastructure. People need to be continuously monitored and their behaviour analysed to identify existence of people with deviant mindsets  who can be exploited by the criminals and anti national elements.

Additionally, measures to obfuscate some critical information that can be misused, randomizing the network paths, testing the misuse of the network in future as well as checks and balances to prevent any deviant behavior of the network need to be planned and built into the systems today itself.

It is in this context that we are highlighting that “Cyber Security” should be among the first building blocks of a smart city infrastructure and needs to be focused. In fact the Cyber Police Station of the Smart City should be in place now before the network cables are laid.

Presently the way the planners are moving ahead does not indicate the appreciation of this security requirements.

As always, we hope that the planners will turn their attention on this issue before it is too late.

Naavi

New Mobile App launched for Cyber Law Awareness for Everyone