Delhi Faces Worst Smog In 17 year

Delhi Faces Worst Smog In 17 years

Delhi is slowly choking herself into a grave, risking the lives of 17 million people to several chronic diseases. On Wednesday, the capital witnessed the worst smog in 17 years with the pollution levels soaring to 62.7% higher than on Diwali night. This comes as a presage to what lies ahead during the winter that is on its way.

Visibility remained poor as a thick layer of haze blanketed the city, forcing severals schools to shut down. No measures have been taken so far to bring the present situation under control.

What is Smog?

Smog is a mixture of air pollutants—nitrogen oxides and volatile organic compounds. Smog is a kind of air pollution, originally named for the mixture of smoke and fog in the air. It is a problem in a number of cities and continues to harm human health.

What can smog lead to?

Smog can cause or aggravate health problems such as asthma, emphysema, chronic bronchitis and other respiratory problems as well as eye irritation and reduced resistance to colds and lung infections. Children bear the highest risks from exposure to smog. They are more prone to respiratory ailments than adults.

 Smog also inhibits plant growth and can cause widespread damage to crops and forests.

What have been cited as reasons for the Delhi smog?

Enough scientific proof has been cited that shows air pollution in Delhi has aggravated due to the increase in the number of vehicles plying on the roads. The number of vehicles has tripled in the last five years to 8.9 million, and this is one of the biggest contributors to toxicity in Delhi’s air. In 1975,  vehicular air pollution was just at 2.35%, and in next 40 years, it rose to about 60%.

Burning of crackers during Diwali has however overtaken vehicular pollution. Not only Delhi, but the entire country’s pollution level was alarmingly high during the Diwali weekend. This is certainly because of a combination of adverse factors like slow wind speed and moisture in the air, a major hindrance in the dispersion of suspended pollutants.

However, a recent image by NASA has revealed that more than vehicular pollution and Diwali celebration, burning of crop stubble is considerably impacting the pollution levels. Farmers in neighbouring Punjab and Haryana have been setting fire to paddy stubble in their fields after cultivating the crop as part of the slash and burn process. As per The New York Times report, farmers are burning around 32 million tons of leftover straw

By Manmeet Kaur

KM tools available on the market today and to understand their role in the KM process

The scope of this section is to provide the reader with an overview of the types of KM tools available on the market today and to gain an understanding of what their role is in the KM process. This is the most important step, since there are literally thousands of options to choose from.

IT based tools fall into one of the following categories 

  Groupware systems & KM 2.0

  The intranet and extranet

  Data warehousing,data mining, & OLAP

  Decision Support Systems

  Content management systems

  Document management systems

  Artificial intelligence tools

  Simulation tools

  Semantic networks

Groupware Systems & KM 2.0

Groupware is a term that refers to technology designed to help people collaborate and includes a wide range of applications. Wikipedia defines three handy categories for groupware:

• Communication tools: Tools for sending messages and files, including email, webpublishing, wikis, filesharing, etc.
• Conferencing tools: e.g. video/audio conferencing, chat, forums, etc.
• Collaborative management tools: Tools for managing group activities, e.g. project management systems, workflow systems, information management systems, etc.

The best known groupware system is Lotus Notes.

Web 2.0, Enterprise 2.0, & KM 2.0

In recent years, the term web 2.0 has appeared to describe the increasingly popular tools that promote two way communication on the internet. These social tools include blogs, wikis, social bookmarking, commenting, shared workspaces, micro blogging and polling (Bebensee et al. 2010). They differ from traditional publishing in that they “put the knowledge sharing power in the hands of the users themselves” (Gurteen, 2012).

The web 2.0 tools that have been applied within organizations have been called enterprise 2.0 (Bebensee et al., 2010), and even more recently, the mapping of these principles to KM has been dubbed KM 2.0 (Gurteen, 2012).

It is fair to say that KM 2.0 is very much in its early stages. For this reason, I will discuss it separately from the very general groupware subsections below.

The value of KM 2.0: According to Cronk (2011, p. 84), web 2.0 tools “facilitate the development of social capital through knowledge sharing, which in turn increases the potential to create intellectual capital.” The author defines social capital as the total resources existing across social networks. Wright et al. (2010) find that the adoption of social media is not being championed by KM to the extent that one might expect, representing a missed opportunity.

Limitations of KM 2.0: Enterprise & KM 2.0 systems can suffer from the same failure factors as other KMS (more on this in the sections below). A failure example is presented by Garcia-Perez & Ayres (2009), who outlined the failure of an enterprise wiki. The study found that time needed to access & contribute to the wiki as well as the achievement of critical mass (i.e. having an adequate ratio of contributors) were failure factors. Furthermore, the authors warn that just because when asked employees claim that they will share knowledge, that does not actually mean they will do so when the system is implemented.

The Intranet & Extranet

The intranet is essentially a small-scale version of the internet, operating with similar functionality, but existing solely within the firm. Like the internet, the intranet uses network technologies such as Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP). It allows for the creation of internal networks with common internet applications that can allow them to communicate with different operating systems (Newell et al 2000).

Although it need not be, the intranet is usually linked to the internet, where broader searches are implemented. However, outsiders are excluded through security measures such as firewalls.

The Role of the Intranet

The intranet can be a very useful tool in the knowledge management process. It allows for the integration of multimedia communication and can act as a platform for groupware applications and publishing. It is intended to enhance collaboration, productivity, and socialization, but also to influence organizational culture and to act as a repository for embedded knowledge.

  news

  navigation

  key tools

  key information

  community and culture

  internal marketing

  collaboration

The Extranet

The extranet is an extension of the intranet to the firm's external network, including partners, suppliers and so on. The term is sometimes used to refer to a supplementary system working alongside the intranet or to a part of the intranet that is made available to certain external users.

The extranet provides a shared network with limited, controlled access to organizational information and knowledge resources, and uses security protocols, such as authentification, to limit access. An extranet can enhance collaboration and information transfer with partners in the external network.

Warehousing Data: The Data Warehouse, Data Mining, and OLAP

Warehousing Data

Tanler (1997) identifies three stages in the design and implementation of the data warehouse. The first stage is largely concerned with identifying the critical success factors of the enterprise, so as to determine the focus of the systems applied to the warehouse. The next step is to identify the information needs of the decision makers. This involves the specification of current information lacks and the stages of the decision-making process (i.e. the time taken to analyze data and arrive at a decision). Finally, warehousing data should be implemented in a way that ensures that users understand the benefit early on. The size of the database and the complexity of the analytical requirements must be determined. Deployment issues, such as how users will receive the information, how routine decisions must be automated, and how users with varying technical skills can access the data, must be addressed.

OLAP

OLAP allows three functions to be carried out.

• Query and reporting: Ability to formulate queries without having to use the database programming language.
• Multidimensional analysis: The ability to carry out analyses from multiple perspectives. Tanler (1997) provides an example of a product analysis that can be then repeated for each market segment. This allows for quick comparison of data relationships from different areas (e.g. by location, time, etc.). This analysis can include customers, markets, products, and so on,
• Statistical analysis: This function attempts to reduce the large quantities of data into formulas that capture the answer to the query.

OLAP is basically responsible for telling the user what happened to the organization (Theirauf 1999). It thus enhances understanding reactively, using summarization of data and information.

What is Data Mining?

This is another process used to try to create useable knowledge or information from data warehousing. Data mining, unlike statistical analysis, does not start with a preconceived hypothesis about the data, and the technique is more suited for heterogeneous databases and date sets (Bali et al 2009). Karahoca and Ponce (2009) describe data mining as "an important tool for the mission critical applications to minimize, filter, extract or transform large databases or datasets into summarized information and exploring hidden patterns in knowledge discovery (KD)." The knowledge discovery aspect is emphasized by Bali et al (2009), since the management of this new knowledge falls within the KM discipline.

Decision Support Systems

The role of these systems is to access and manipulate data. They usually work with a data warehouse, use an online analytical processing system (OLAP), and employ data mining techniques. The goal is to enhance decision-making and solve problems by working with the manager rather than replacing him.

Content Management Systems

Content management systems are very relevant to knowledge management (KM) since they are responsible for the creation, management, and distribution of content on the intranet, extranet, or a website.
A content management system may have the following functions:

• Provide templates for publishing: Making publishing easier and more consistent with existing structure/design.
• Tag content with metadata: I.e. Allowing the input of data that classifies content (e.g. keywords) so that it can be searched for and retrieved.
• Make it easy to edit content
• Version control: Tracking changes to pages and, if necessary, allowing previous versions to be accessed
• Allow for collaborative work on content
• Integrated document management systems
• Workflow management: Allowing for parallel content development
• Provide extensions and plug-ins for increased functionality

Document Management Systems

Document management systems, as the name implies, are systems that aid in the publishing, storage, indexing, and retrieval of documents. Although such systems deal almost exclusively with explicit knowledge, the sheer volume of documents that an organization has to deal with makes them useful and in some cases even mandatory.
Usually, a document management system will include the following functions:

1.      Capturing:

2.      Classification using metadata

3.      Indexing

4.      Searching & retrieval

5.      Versioning

6.      Administration & security


BY ANSHU PANWAR

Why Knowledge Managemengt Is Important For An Organisation

Managers are bombarded with an almost constant stream of data every day. According to David Derbyshire, “Scientists have worked out exactly how much data is sent to a typical person in the course of a year – the equivalent of every person in the world reading 174 newspapers every single day” (Derbyshire, 2011, p. 1).

This overload of data is making knowledge management increasingly more important. Three key reasons why actively managing knowledge is important to a company’s success are: 1.) Facilitates decision-making capabilities, 2.) Builds learning organizations by making learning routine, and, 3.) Stimulates cultural change and innovation.

Facilitates Decision-Making Capabilities

Data can offer managers a wealth of information but processing overwhelming amounts can get in the way of achieving high-quality decisions. GE’s Corporate Executive Council (CEC) is an example of how one company put a knowledge management system in place to help executives cut through the noise, share information, and improve their decision-making. The CEC is composed of the heads of GE’s fourteen major businesses and the two-day sessions are forums for sharing best practices, accelerating progress, and discussing successes, failures, and experiences (Garvin, 2000, p. 195). While information overload or needing knowledge from people in other parts of the company for decision-making can handicap managers, putting in place knowledge management systems can facilitate better, more informed decisions.

Builds Learning Organizations by Making Learning Routine

In his book, Learning in Action: A Guide to Putting the Learning Organization to Work, author David Garvin (2000) notes, “To move ahead, one must often first look behind” (p. 106). The U.S. Army’s After Action Reviews (AARs) are an example of a knowledge management system that has helped build the Army into a learning organization by making learning routine. This has created a culture where everyone continuously assesses themselves, their units, and their organization, looking for ways to improve. After every important activity or event, Army teams review assignments, identify successes and failures, and seek ways to perform better the next time (Garvin, 2000, p. 106). This approach to capturing learning from experience builds knowledge that can then be used to streamline operations and improve processes.

Stimulates Cultural Change and Innovation

Actively managing organizational knowledge can also stimulate cultural change and innovation by encouraging the free flow of ideas. For example, GE’s Change Acceleration Process (CAP) program includes management development, business-unit leadership, and focused workshops. CAP was created to not only “convey the latest knowledge to up-and-coming managers” but also “open up dialogue, instill corporate values, and stimulate cultural change” (Garvin, 2000, p. 125). In this complex, global business environment, these types of knowledge management programs can help managers embrace change and encourage ideas and insight, which often lead to innovation, even for local mom and pop business owners

What is Chaos Theory?

Chaos is the science of surprises, of the nonlinear and the unpredictable. It teaches us to expect the unexpected. While most traditional science deals with supposedly predictable phenomena like gravity, electricity, or chemical reactions, Chaos Theory deals with nonlinear things that are effectively impossible to predict or control, like turbulence, weather, the stock market, our brain states, and so on. These phenomena are often described by fractal mathematics, which captures the infinite complexity of nature. Many natural objects exhibit fractal properties, including landscapes, clouds, trees, organs, rivers etc, and many of the systems in which we live exhibit complex, chaotic behavior. Recognizing the chaotic, fractal nature of our world can give us new insight, power, and wisdom. For example, by understanding the complex, chaotic dynamics of the atmosphere, a balloon pilot can “steer” a balloon to a desired location. By understanding that our ecosystems, our social systems, and our economic systems are interconnected, we can hope to avoid actions which may end up being detrimental to our long-term well-being.

Principles of Chaos

• The Butterfly Effect: This effect grants the power to cause a hurricane in China to a butterfly flapping its wings in New Mexico. It may take a very long time, but the connection is real. If the butterfly had not flapped its wings at just the right point in space/time, the hurricane would not have happened. A more rigorous way to express this is that small changes in the initial conditions lead to drastic changes in the results. Our lives are an ongoing demonstration of this principle. Who knows what the long-term effects of teaching millions of kids about chaos and fractals will be?

• Unpredictability: Because we can never know all the initial conditions of a complex system in sufficient (i.e. perfect) detail, we cannot hope to predict the ultimate fate of a complex system. Even slight errors in measuring the state of a system will be amplified dramatically, rendering any prediction useless. Since it is impossible to measure the effects of all the butterflies (etc) in the World, accurate long-range weather prediction will always remain impossible.

• Order / Disorder Chaos is not simply disorder. Chaos explores the transitions between order and disorder, which often occur in surprising ways.

• Mixing: Turbulence ensures that two adjacent points in a complex system will eventually end up in very different positions after some time has elapsed. Examples: Two neighboring water molecules may end up in different parts of the ocean or even in different oceans. A group of helium balloons that launch together will eventually land in drastically different places. Mixing is thorough because turbulence occurs at all scales. It is also nonlinear: fluids cannot be unmixed.

• Feedback: Systems often become chaotic when there is feedback present. A good example is the behavior of the stock market. As the value of a stock rises or falls, people are inclined to buy or sell that stock. This in turn further affects the price of the stock, causing it to rise or fall chaotically.

• Fractals: A fractal is a never-ending pattern. Fractals are infinitely complex patterns that are self-similar across different scales. They are created by repeating a simple process over and over in an ongoing feedback loop. Driven by recursion, fractals are images of dynamic systems – the pictures of Chaos. Geometrically, they exist in between our familiar dimensions. Fractal patterns are extremely familiar, since nature is full of fractals. For instance: trees, rivers, coastlines, mountains, clouds, seashells, hurricanes, etc.

“As far as the laws of mathematics refer to reality, they are not certain, and as far as they are certain, they do not refer to reality.”

-Albert Einstein

BY ANSHU PANWAR

                                     GOODS AND SERVICE TAX

What is the Goods and Services Tax?

As the name suggests, it is a tax levied when a consumer buys a good or service. It is meant to be a single, comprehensive tax that will subsume all the other smaller indirect taxes on consumption like service tax, etc. This is how it is done in most developed countries.

What is preventing GST from being a reality?

A major change like GST requires a constitutional amendment, which requires a bill to passed in both houses of Parliament. The GST constitutional amendment bill was passed in the Lok Sabha in May this year.

It has been held up in the Rajya Sabha due to objections being raised by the Opposition regarding the Bill as well as issues with no direct connection to GST.

The Bill was also placed before a Rajya Sabha select committee, which made its recommendations regarding changes to the Bill. The Cabinet cleared these changes in July.

What are the Opposition’s objections?

The Congress wants a provision capping the GST rate at 18 per cent to be added to the Bill itself.

It also wants to scrap the proposed 1 per cent additional levy (over and above the GST) for manufacturing states.

This levy was demanded by manufacturing states who argued that they needed to be compensated for the investment they had made in improving their manufacturing capabilities. The Centre had agreed to this demand to encourage the states to support the GST Bill.

The third demand by the Congress was to change the composition of the GST council—the body that decides the various nitty-gritty’s like rates of tax, period of levy of additional tax, principles of supply, special provisions to certain states, etc. The proposed composition is for the Council to be two-thirds comprised from states and one-third from the Centre.

The Congress wants the Centre’s share to be reduced to one-fourth.

This demand, however, was rejected by even the Rajya Sabha Standing Committee.

***

Ten things to know about the GST Bill

Source: prsindia.org

1	Officially, the Constitution (One Hundred and Twenty-Second Amendment) Bill 2014.
2	It was introduced in the Lok Sabha on December 19, 2014 by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley.
3	The Bill seeks to amend the Constitution to introduce a goods and services tax (GST) which will subsumes various Central indirect taxes, including the Central Excise Duty, Countervailing Duty, Service Tax, etc. It also subsumes State value added tax (VAT), octroi and entry tax, luxury tax, etc.
4	The Bill inserts a new Article in the Constitution make legislation on the taxation of goods and services a concurrent power of the Centre and the States.
5	The Bill seeks to shift the restriction on States for taxing the sale or purchase of goods to the supply of goods or services.
6	The Bill seeks to establish a GST Council tasked with optimising tax collection for goods and services by the State and Centre. The Council will consist of the Union Finance Minister (as Chairman), the Union Minister of State in charge of revenue or Finance, and the Minister in charge of Finance or Taxation or any other, nominated by each State government.
7	The GST Council will be the body that decides which taxes levied by the Centre, States and local bodies will go into the GST; which goods and services will be subjected to GST; and the basis and the rates at which GST will be applied.
8	Under the Bill, alcoholic liquor for human consumption is exempted from GST. Also, it will be up to the GST Council to decide when GST would be levied on various categories of fuel, including crude oil and petrol.
9	The Centre will levy an additional one per cent tax on the supply of goods in the course of inter-State trade, which will go to the States for two years or till when the GST Council decides.
10	Parliament can decide on compensating States for up to a five-year period if States incur losses by implementation of GST. BY ANKIT PAL

India Needs Good Cyber Security Team to handle Cyber threats

Three financial institutions, including the BSE, have faced cyber attacks in the last three months. Several banks have faced an increase in some form of cyber attack or security breach in recent times.

Axis Bank recently informed the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) that it had experienced a cyber attack, while the State Bank of India said it was re-issuing over 600,000 debit cards because of a potential security breach.

In some of these, a virus or malware blocks the system, which can be accessed only after a ransom is paid.

“Software viruses were found in three personal computers at the BSE in August, which were identified, separated and quarantined immediately,” said the exchange.

“The viruses did not have any impact on the working of theBSE or any of its departments. The viruses have also not been found to have affected other PCs. The incident was reported to regulatory agencies as part of routine compliance reporting,” the exchange added.

Sources said similar attacks had occurred at the National Payments Corporation and HDFC Bank. However, HDFC Bank and NPCI said that they had not experienced any specific ransom malware threat.

Axis Bank has hired EY to investigate the cyber attack that it had experienced.

There have also been reports that ATM card details of several account holders may have been compromised. Several banks have asked their customers to change their card security details and to stick to their own ATM networks.

A survey on fraud in the financial sector by Assocham and PwC found these caused $20 billion (Rs 1.26 lakh crore) in direct losses annually. The RBI has said the number, frequency and impact of cyber attacks have increased manifold in the past few months. However, experts said in none of these cases has any financial loss been reported.

“The level of preparedness for cyber crime in India is very basic. Companies need to improve their response and detection capabilities,” said a cyber security consultant. The RBI has asked banks to increase focus on cyber security and is checking their preparedness to handle cyber fraud.

About 30 lakh bank debit cards have come under threat after a security breach at a private bank's ATM raised fears of potential fraud, according to media reports. Though this is just about half a percent of total cards issued in the country, this could be the biggest security breach in the Indian banking industry, say reports.

About 30-32 lakh debit cards are learnt to have come under threat of potential fraud after a ATM security breach through malware infestation. According to media reports, the payment systems of Hitachi Payment Services were infested with malware that helped miscreants to steal personal information and do fraudulent transactions.The problem

Banks, cards affected

A report in The Economic Times says citing sources that cards issued by State Bank of India, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, YES Bank and Axis Bank as "worst affected". The cards, as per the report, include 2.6 million of Visa and MasterCard and 6 lakh of RuPay cards.

How the breach happened

The breach might have happened at YES Bank as Hitachi manages the bank's ATMs, says a report in The Times of India. The reason why other banks became vulnerable is because YES Bank ATMs see many third party transactions, says the report. What is worrisome is that the breach was effected in such a way that anyone using the bank's ATMs in the region would risk having data compromised, a PTI report said citing bankers.

"Data processes of one private bank was compromised which affected other banks' customers well. Customers who used that bank's ATM stand to get potentially affected," the PTI report quoted a banker as saying without naming the bank. Though the bankers claim the breach has not led to any monetary losses to anyone, the ET report says some customers have complained of unauthorized usage from China.

YES Bank on its part has "proactively undertaken a comprehensive audit of ATMs". "There is no evidence of a breach or compromise on ATMs. We continue to work with relevant stakeholders, including other public sector and private banks, and NPCI, to ensure utmost safety and security of ATM network and payment services which are completely safe to use," a bank spokesperson told the PTI.

Hitachi too has denied that its systems have been compromised. "I do not think it is necessary for any bank to reissue cards," Loney Antony, MD, Hitachi Payment Services, has been quoted as saying in the ToI report.

Steps taken by banks

The breach happened sometime between May and July. Banks have been alerting customers to change the security PIN or even replacing the cards. Bankers have told PTI that all measures being taken are to safeguard the system against any potential threat.

RBI steps

The PTI quotes an RBI official as saying that the central bank is seized of the matter and is looking into the issue. According to the Times of India, the infested systems have been quarantined and inspected, the affected cards have been spotted. The RBI has also asked banks to inform it about any suspected fraud immediately, the report said.


BY SAURABH GULATI

Internet of Things (IoT)

The “Internet of things” (IoT) is becoming an increasingly growing topic of conversation both in the workplace and outside of it. It’s a concept that not only has the potential to impact how we live but also how we work. But what exactly is the “Internet of things” and what impact is it going to have on you, if any? There are a lot of complexities around the “Internet of things” but I want to stick to the basics. Lots of technical and policy-related conversations are being had but many people are still just trying to grasp the foundation of what the heck these conversations are about.

Let’s start with understanding a few things.

Broadband Internet is become more widely available, the cost of connecting is decreasing, more devices are being created with Wi-Fi capabilities and sensors built into them, technology costs are going down, and smartphone penetration is sky-rocketing.  All of these things are creating a “perfect storm” for the IoT.

So What Is The Internet Of Things?

Simply put, this is the concept of basically connecting any device with an on and off switch to the Internet (and/or to each other). This includes everything from cellphones, coffee makers, washing machines, headphones, lamps, wearable devices and almost anything else you can think of.  This also applies to components of machines, for example a jet engine of an airplane or the drill of an oil rig. As I mentioned, if it has an on and off switch then chances are it can be a part of the IoT.  The analyst firm Gartner says that by 2020 there will be over 26 billion connected devices… That’s a lot of connections (some even estimate this number to be much higher, over 100 billion).  The IoT is a giant network of connected “things” (which also includes people).  The relationship will be between people-people, people-things, and things-things.

How Does This Impact You?

The new rule for the future is going to be, “Anything that can be connected, will be connected.” But why on earth would you want so many connected devices talking to each other? There are many examples for what this might look like or what the potential value might be. Say for example you are on your way to a meeting; your car could have access to your calendar and already know the best route to take. If the traffic is heavy your car might send a text to the other party notifying them that you will be late. What if your alarm clock wakes up you at 6 a.m. and then notifies your coffee maker to start brewing coffee for you? What if your office equipment knew when it was running low on supplies and automatically re-ordered more?  What if the wearable device you used in the workplace could tell you when and where you were most active and productive and shared that information with other devices that you used while working?

HoneywellVoice: Why We Need Smart Buildings

On a broader scale, the IoT can be applied to things like transportation networks: “smart cities” which can help us reduce waste and improve efficiency for things such as energy use; this helping us understand and improve how we work and live. Take a look at the visual below to see what something like that can look likeThe reality is that the IoT allows for virtually endless opportunities and connections to take place, many of which we can’t even think of or fully understand the impact of today. It’s not hard to see how and why the IoT is such a hot topic today; it certainly opens the door to a lot of opportunities but also to many challenges. Security is a big issue that is oftentimes brought up. With billions of devices being connected together, what can people do to make sure that their information stays secure? Will someone be able to hack into your toaster and thereby get access to your entire network? The IoT also opens up companies all over the world to more security threats. Then we have the issue of privacy and data sharing. This is a hot-button topic even today, so one can only imagine how the conversation and concerns will escalate when we are talking about many billions of devices being connected. Another issue that many companies specifically are going to be faced with is around the massive amounts of data that all of these devices are going to produce. Companies need to figure out a way to store, track, analyze and make sense of the vast amounts of data that will be gener