S p e c i a l S u p p l e m e n t

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ACTING MANAGING EDITORMohammed Salim Mohamed

ADVERTISING MANAGERAli Wahba

SUPPLEMENT COORDINATORRenu Malhotra

CHAIRMAN

Sheikh Thani bin Abdullah Al Thani

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Dr. Khalid M Al-Shafi

COVER / DESIGNAbraham Augusthy

IMAGE PROCESSINGMohd Sajad Sahir

ADVERTISING CONTRIBUTORS

Muhammad Shammas

Reji Thattil

Rocela Bautista

Savio Fernandes

SP Singh

AMBASSADOR’S MESSAGE

P. Kumaran

On the occasion of the 69th Republic Day of India, I have the pleasure to extend my deepest congratulations to all members of the Indian community residing in Qatar. I also take this

opportunity to express my gratitude to HH the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, and the Government of the State of Qatar, for the continued patronage and support for the Indian community in Qatar. India-Qatar cooperation in diverse sectors has been steadily growing in an excellent framework provided by historically close ties and regular and substantive engagement, including at the highest levels of the two Governments. It remains our constant endeavour to ensure that the Indian Embassy in Doha is fully geared to achieve the targets jointly envisioned by the leadership of our countries.

Republic Day marks the day on which the Indian people gave to themselves a Constitution to secure for all citizens, justice, liberty, equality, and gender and economic equity. We promised to promote fraternity, dignity of the individual, and unity and integrity of the nation. Since then, India has progressed at a rapid pace. In 2018, the Indian economy is poised to become the world’s fifth largest in absolute terms, overtaking the United Kingdom. The World Bank estimates that India will grow at 7.3% in Financial Year 2017-18, making it the fastest-growing large economy in the world. The overseas Indian community is an integral part of India’s development journey. This is equally true in the case of Qatar, where the large and diverse Indian community has distinguished itself by its commitment, discipline and hard work. While this is a time for us to celebrate India’s successes, it is also an occasion for us to re-dedicate ourselves to the task of contributing to our country achieving greater heights.

On this auspicious day, we also recognize and celebrate our deep-rooted, historical and multi-faceted ties with Qatar, and take this opportunity to thank the people of Qatar for their warmth and hospitality. Qatar’s progress in various areas, particularly in infrastructure, food security, international trade, tourism and other sectors has been impressive. It is heartening to note that the Indian community, over the years, has played a significant role in contributing towards Qatar’s progress and in nurturing the bonds of friendship and cooperation between the two countries.

Our historical links serve as a solid foundation to our growing contemporary relationship. We have had three highly successful visits at the highest levels of the two Governments over the last three years, which have set the framework for enhanced cooperation across various areas. Besides this, we have had a number of other substantive visits by

official and business delegations, which have added momentum to the growing engagement in trade and commerce. Both countries are keen to expand collaborations for their mutual benefit in the fields of energy, business, finance and investments, infrastructure development, education and research, sports, travel and tourism, and other areas. It is also heartening to note that Indian companies are playing an important role in various projects in Qatar for the FIFA World Cup in 2022. The large and diversified Indian economy, and the consistently high growth rates achieved over many years, offers significant opportunities for foreign investors, including from Qatar, in a number of sectors. India’s performance on the World Bank’s ‘Ease of Doing Business’ Index 2018, on which it has jumped thirty places to enter the top hundred, is testimony to the business-friendly policy environment in the country.

India greatly values Qatar’s vital partnership in the energy sector. We deeply appreciate the role played by Qatar as a reliable and dependable source of energy to meet the growing demands of India. Qatar is the largest exporter of LNG and LPG to India, while it is the 12th largest exporter of crude oil to India. Qatar’s exports to India amount to nearly $10 billion per year, making India the third largest export destination for Qatari products. Our Petroleum Minister is on record as having said that India plans to increase the share of natural gas in India’s energy mix, currently at about 7%, to 20% by 2030. Qatar will therefore continue to be a key partner in our energy security calculus for many years to come.

We are happy that two new direct shipping lines have been established between Qatar and Indian ports in recent months. This will facilitate further strengthening of our trade links. 24 fully-owned Indian companies and an estimated 6,000 Qatar-India joint ventures operate in various sectors of the Qatari economy. Qatar Petroleum’s decision to expand LNG output from the North Field to 100 million tonnes, liberalisation of visa regulations, changes introduced to Company Law, reform of labour laws and the proposed Permanent Residency scheme for longstanding foreign residents are developments that offer exciting new opportunities. A number of Indian trade delegations have visited Qatar in recent months, to participate in trade exhibitions and explore business opportunities. Similarly, we would welcome Qatari companies to visit trade events in India to identify the best possible partners for collaboration.

Defence and Security Cooperation is an important pillar of our bilateral agenda. Our cooperation in the area of training and human resources has been growing in recent times. India regularly participates in the biennial DIMDEX Expos in Qatar. Indian Naval and Coast Guard ships

regularly visit Qatar as part of our bilateral cooperation and interaction. We look forward to convening the next meeting of the Joint Defence Cooperation Committee (JDCC) at a mutually convenient time in the near future.

Peace and security in the Gulf are of paramount importance for the continued progress and prosperity of the countries in the region. We are of the view that the countries concerned should resolve their differences through a process of constructive dialogue and peaceful negotiations based on well-established international principles of mutual respect, sovereignty and non-interference in the internal affairs of other countries. We welcome the efforts of H H the Emir of Kuwait to promote a peaceful resolution of the crisis. We join other world powers in supporting Kuwaiti efforts to mediate a solution.

Cooperation in cultural and youth affairs is another important dimension of our bilateral relationship. There are regular cultural and sports exchanges between the two sides, under the provisions of the Cultural Cooperation Agreement signed between us in 2012. We are thankful to the team at Katara Village for their continuous support. The year 2019 will be celebrated as the India-Qatar Year of Culture. We expect to organize, in partnership with Qatar Museums, a plethora of exciting cultural exhibitions and events that will highlight the cultural and traditional ties that bind us.

The welfare and well-being of the Indian community in Qatar is a matter of priority for the Embassy of India. Our interface with the community and our outreach to the blue collar workers in particular, is being continuously expanded both directly and through the medium of Indian community organizations. We remain in close contact with the authorities concerned in Qatar, to ensure the welfare and well-being of the Indian nationals. We deeply appreciate their cooperation and support in this regard. We welcome the recent policy reforms announced by Government of Qatar to protect the rights of expatriate workers. These initiatives indicate Qatar’s willingness to address labour issues in a constructive manner. We look forward to the implementation of these reforms, so that our blue-collared workers can benefit from them.

As we celebrate our 69th Republic Day, I again warmly congratulate the Indian community in Qatar for their contribution towards the development, progress and prosperity of our host country, and for further strengthening the bonds of friendship and cooperation between India and Qatar.

P. Kumaran

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Anshuman Bhargava

We are celebrating 70 years of our Independence. But looking back at the

history of these seven decades, what are the things which we should be proud of? Have we really progressed much and reached the level we should have in all these years?

The verdict will be divided. In-dia is a land of a diverse population, with great variations in economic standards, having different religious and cultural customs and different stages of development. Hence, every section has its own view of develop-ment and reasons to whine or cheer.

But there are certain major and decisive strides we have made in these years particularly during last three years which no one can ig-nore or deny, irrespective of his or her political affiliation or personal grudges against certain leaders or governments or the ‘system’.

Perhaps our greatest achieve-ment is to have evolved a healthy democratic government system.

We have a very strong consti-tutional framework that makes democracy such a success here. But that is just the tip of the iceberg. Our achievements in these years are endless, should we sit to prepare an exhaustive list. We have some of the best institutes in the world in the form of IIMs and IITs.

Our healthcare sector is looking up and health tourism is a reality where people from advanced na-tions are coming here for affordable treatment. We have a railway net-work that is among the largest in the world in terms of track length and passenger volume. We have one of the largest armies in the world.

We have among the world’s busiest airports in Delhi and Mum-bai. Our life expectancy at birth has increased from a mere 32 years in 1947 to 66 years today. We were one of the foremost nations to establish nuclear reactors and produce clean energy. Despite our financial and technological limitations, we have made the best use of our resources and from an importer of even a needle, today we are exporters of software. Our technocrats and managers are celebrated worldwide for their professionalism and calibre.

Today, we are a nation reckoned as a leader in space technology. Millions of Indians have fought their way in and made Europe and the US their home, by sheer virtue of their hard work and professional competence, contributing seminally in global projects.

We have produced noble lau-reates, artists, singers, musicians, writers, sportsmen, scientists, dip-lomats, scholars and statesmen of world repute year after year, in hun-dreds. This is no mean thing in just seven decades of our independent existence. We had difficult times in recent years with policy paraly-sis in government and slackness in ideation that slowed down India’s growth trajectory to some extent but in the last three years or so of the NDA government, things have started looking up.

In less than three years, at least 30 new projects have been launched for giving a new shape and direc-tion to the country like Jan Dhan, Swachh Bharat, Startup India, Nat’l

Health Policy, Give up LPG, Skill In-dia, Make in India, Smart City, Udaan scheme, GST, Digital India, Crop In-surance scheme to name a few, even if we leave for the moment aggres-sive advancements in railway and road networks and facilities.

No wonder World Investment Report finds India among the top three prospective host economies of the world. In Financial Year 2015-16 we had a whopping $55bn worth of investments in the country. In World economic forum Global Com-petitive Index, India has jumped 32 places and today the country is the 6th largest manufacturing nation in the world. Projects worth Rs. 8 lakh crore pending for years have now been cleared and put on the fast track under the Prime Minister’s personal initiative.

India’s effort and commitment towards production and use of clean energy has found praise globally. The government has plans to pro-duce 175 GW of renewable energy and we have already realised 50 GW

production level in last three years. India stands 4th in the world in glo-bal wind power installed capacity. At least 22 crores LED bulbs have been distributed, which is to lead to saving of Rs 11,000 crore in electricity bills of the country. The government is not only targeting mega projects but is equally attentive towards micro-level social engineering and taking grassroots level steps to strengthen the common man and the rural foundations.

The Prime Minister deeply be-lieves in public participation and hence all projects are prepared with a view to benefit more and more people. In just three years of his governance, the government has ensured the establishment of 50,000 km of power transmission lines, even as over last five decades we had only 16,000 km covered. Not only that, in less than three years we have over 12,000 villages electrified, even as when the government came in power, it found over 18,000 vil-lages in Independent India still living in the dark.

Between 2010 and 2014, just 59 village panchayats had been con-nected with optical fibre network which in last three years stands at 77,000 panchayats. Such is the pace at which the government is work-ing. It is very likely that in next two years we will have all the 2.5 lakh vil-lages enjoying optical fibre network. The buzzword of the government is transparency and to bring in trans-parency in government working, digitisation has a big role to play, which is why the government is tak-ing along the two together. The more digital technology penetration we have, the lesser corruption we have because everything is in the public domain for everyone to see and track. As Prime Minister Modi says, it is all about change in the view-point and way of handling things that would make all the difference.

The NDA government is a de-parture from the past because it has changed the work culture and view-point of the people, instilling hope in them, pushing them to dream big. The seeds of every success lie in dreams that we cherish!

(The author is State Editor of the Madhya Pradesh Editions of The Hitavada.)

Assessing India’s progress in various fields

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Independence Day celebrations: Embassy of India, Doha, celebrated the 71st Independence Day (15th August) at the premises of Indian Cultural Centre (ICC), an apex organization function-ing under the aegis of the Embassy.

The celebration began with Ambas-sador P Kumaran hoisting the national flag, The National anthem was sung collectively. The Ambassador read out Hon’ble Rashtrapatiji’s message. Students from Indian schools in Doha

presented patriotic songs during the event which was attended by over 500 people including, members of Indian community and local media person-nel. All the 14 Indian schools in Qatar also celebrated the Independence Day.

Events by the Embassy of India in Qatar

ICC cultural show: ICC organised (August 18) a cul-tural show to celebrate the 71st Independence Day in Al Wakrah indoor stadium. The show was attended by many Qatari officials, prominent community leaders, ICC officials and community members. Community organisations under ICC and Indian schools in Qatar presented several patriotic programmes including dance, skits expressing gratitude to the freedom fight-ers. CBSE toppers were felicitated with the ICC- K C Varghese memorial awards, during the event.

Visit of QFM to India: Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister (QFM) H E Sheikh Mohamed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani met with Prime Min-ister Narendra Modi (New Delhi, August 26) and handed over a written message from Emir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, on bilateral relations. He also held talks with the Minister of External Affairs Sushma Swaraj and discussed bilateral relations and developments in Palestine, Syria, Iraq, and Afghanistan. QFM also updated the Indian side on the latest developments in the GCC crisis. Sheikh Mohamed emphasised Qa-tar’s commitment to counter terrorism and mutual cooperation in dealing with it.

Ambassador’s meetings: Ambas-sador P Kumaran met the Chief Executive Officer of Qatar Media Cor-poration, Sheikh Abdulrahman bin Hamad Al Thani, and reviewed media relations between the two countries and ways of enhancing it (October 1).

The Ambassador met H E Jassim bin Saif Al Sulaiti, Qatar’s Minister of Transport and Communications (November 13) and handed over a mes-

sage from India’s Minister of Law and Information Technology, Ravi Shankar Prasad, pertaining to pro-moting cooperation between the two countries in the field of Information Technology. The Minister was also invited to participate in the Global Conference on Cyber Space (GCCS2017).

Ambassador met Brigadier Hamad Oth-man N Al Dehaimi, Asst. Director General of Civil Defence and discussed opportuni-ties for cooperation (December 12).

The Ambassador met Minister of State for For-eign Affairs H E Sultan bin Saad Al Muraikhi and discussed bilateral relations in addition to pro-moting cooperation between both countries and topics of common interest (December 28).

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Visit of Indian Coast Guard Ship: Indian Coast Guard Ship (ICGS) Samarth arrived in Qatar on a four–day visit on Novem-ber 4–7, 2017. A reception (November 5) was held onboard for the Qatar Government/defence officials, DA’s of other missions and Indian community members. Addressing the gathering, Ambassador P Kumaran said that ICGS Samarth is the fourth Indian Coast Guard vessel to arrive in Qatar in the last three years. He recalled ships from the Indian Navy too had ar-rived on friendship missions in recent years. The Ambassador stressed ICGS Samarth is a 100% indigenous ship, manufactured at Goa’s shipyard and noted that shipyards in India have the ca-pability and technology to build and deliver advanced patrol and other types of vessels for the use of defence forces worldwide. In all, 167 children and 17 teachers from various Indi-an schools in Doha also visited the ship on November 6.

Joint passage exercise: A joint passage exercise (November 7) between Indian and Qatar Coast Guard ships was conducted for which a pre-sail conference was held at Qatar Coast Guard Headquarters (November 6). Professional exchanges, brief-ings were undertaken to imbibe

the best practices being followed by each side. The sea phase consisted of various maritime drills and manoeuvres at sea as well as SAREX (Search and Rescue Exercise) and Steam Past.

Swachhta Hi Seva Campaign: Indian Com-munity Benevolent Forum (ICBF), working under the aegis of the Embassy of India, held first-of-its-kind Swachhta Hi Seva campaign in Galfar Al Misnad’s Labour camp in Umm Slal, Doha (October 2). About 200 Indian workers were mobilised and encouraged towards sanitation, promoting individual cleanliness & hygiene. Saplings were also planted in the surroundings as part of the mission. The campaign in a few selected camps will continue by the expatriate forum.

148th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi: Indian Cultural Centre (ICC), working under the aegis of the Embassy of India, celebrated the 148thbirth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi. Tributes were paid to Gandhiji through speeches and short plays. Ambassador P Kumaran, the Chief Guest, glorified the teachings of Gandhi and noted that by following the teachings and practices of Bapu, countrymen could take their country towards a new heights. He urged com-munity members to actively participate and promote “Swachh Bharat Abhiyan” launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi

Rashtriya Ekta Diwas: To commem-orate the birth anniversary of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, National Unity Day (Rashtriya Ekta Diwas) was held in the Embassy premises on October 31. Ambassador P Kumaran paid tributes to Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel and recol-lected his extraordinary work towards achieving unity and integrity of the country, as First Home Minister of India and Deputy Prime Minister.

He said that he can be rightly called as one of the founding fathers of the Republic of India. Sardar’s role in in-tegrating 562 independent princely states in 1947 to 1949 was praised. He said that the National Unity Day will provide an opportunity to re-affirm

the inherent strength and resilience of our nation to withstand the actual and potential threats to the unity, integrity and security of our country. Ambas-sador also administered a pledge on the occasion. The event ended with the screening of a documentary on life and achievement of Sardar Patel. In addition, the documentary was screened at the Consular waiting hall of the Embassy.

Indian community organisations under the aegis of the Embassy and the Indian schools also organised events to spread the message of Sardar Patel by conducting photo exhibitions, quiz competition and screening of docu-mentary on Sardar Patel’s life.

Indian Community Benevolent Forum: The Indian Community Benevolent Forum (ICBF) or-ganised Rashtriya Ekta Diwas celebrations at Asian Town for the Indian worker community.

Open House: The monthly Open House to address urgent consular and labour issues/cases of Indian nationals in the State of Qatar was held (December 28) at the Em-bassy premises. Ambassador along with other officials met the complainants, discussed their problems and assured them of Embassy’s assistance in resolving the issues with the concerned authorities in the Government of Qatar.

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Service Center at the Embassy of India: The Indian Community Benevo-lent Forum (ICBF) opened a service centre at the Consular Section of the Embassy for the benefit of the applicants (August 30)

Eid-Al-Adha greetings: On the occasion of Eid-al-Adha on September 1, 2017, Ambassador P Kumaran greeted Emir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani along with their Excellencies, Head of Diplomatic Missions and Officers at Al Wajbah Palace in Doha. Ambassador also met and greeted a number of other dignitaries, prominent people and also visited Majlis.

The 101st Jayanti cel-ebrations of Pandit Deen Dayal Upad-hay was organised by Overseas Friends of India in associa-tion with Embassy of India, Doha

Bollywood Troupe: The Em-bassy of India, in association with Indian Cultural Centre (ICC), Doha organised a ICCR-sponsored Bollywood dance performance at DPS-Modern Indian School in Al Wakrah on November 24 and at Al Khor on November 25. The troupe of 15 artistes was led by Madhumita A Biswas. The performance lasted for about 90 minutes and included a wide array of musical numbers, such as Bollywood, classical, Punjabi, Malayalam and Tamil music.

IABJ: Ambassador ad-dressed the Indian Association of Bihar and Jharkhand (IABJ) on their Annual Day.

Yoga Workshop: Indian Sports Centre ( ISC) in association with Indian Cultural Centre conduct-ed on September 25, 2017 at ICC Ashoka Hall the 1st session of Special Yoga Workshop by Yoga Guru Karan Singh from ICCR, New Delhi , Chairman World Yoga Institute Europe. Present during the occasion were ICC President Milan Arun, ISC President Nilangshu Dey, ISC Chairman Mohd. Sabih Bukhari and ISC General-Secretary M HabibunNabi.

16th Asian Free Medical Camp: Ambassador inaugurated the 16th Asian Free Medical Camp jointly organised by the Indian Islamic Association (IIA) and Indian Doctors Club (IDC) at Al Thumama Health Centre (November 24). About 5,000 low-income Asian expatriates benefited from medical services, including consultation, diagnosis, medicines and health awareness programmes. The ben-eficiaries mostly from India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Nepal were screened for blood pressure, sugar and glaucoma among others.

ICBF Medical Camp: ICBF conducted the 31st Free Medical Camp for Workers at Al Sultan Medical Center, Street No - 23, Al Wakalat Street, Industrial Area, Doha on September 22, 2017

Noble Mission of IWA: Under the guidance of their patron, Ritu Kuma-ran, Indian Women’s Association initiated a noble mission of helping the needy of the Indian community. All the members of IWA pooled a substantial quantity of day-to-day necessities for the needy. The Presi-dent of IWA, Sushmita Patnaik, accompanied by various Managing Committee members, visited the ICBF office at the Embassy premises and handed over the donations.

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Visit of CII Delegation: A CII delegation led by Joy Kunjukutty, Chairman and Managing Director of Sunrise Group, visited Doha (September 24–25). The delegation held meetings with SCDL and senior officials of Qatar Cham-ber of Commerce and Industry. The Indian Business and Professional Council (IBPC), functioning under the aegis of the Embassy of India, also organised an event (September 24) and facilitated B2B meetings.

The Ambassador, speaking at the event, shared key statistics relat-ed to India’s economic growth and the various initiatives taken by the Government of India. Addressing an interactive networking session of IBPN (Indian Business and Professional Network) with the members of the CII (Confederation of Indian Industries) delegation, the Ambassador said that India Inc is increasingly looking towards enhancing their contribution to-wards Qatar’s infrastructure development. “Indian companies would like to increase their role in the extensive infrastructure development programme in Qatar as it prepares to host the prestigious FIFA World Cup in 2022”.

The visiting delegation comprised a wide range of industries like manufacturing, engi-neering services, IT, software development, sports infrastructure, automation, energy, food processing, pharmaceuticals, sanitation, hard-ware manufacturing, and consultancy. K M Varghese, the IBPN President, in his welcome address, briefed the CII delegation about IBPN and its activities for increasing bilateral trade between India and Qatar and enumerated the business opportunities in Doha; while P Haridas, Director, CII-Gulf and Middle East, introduced the representatives of the companies in the delegation. The event was attended by Surinder Bhagat, the First Secretary, and the coordinating officer for IBPN.

Made in Qatar Expo: H H the Emir inaugu-rated Made in Qatar Expo, 2017 (December 14, Doha Exhibition and Convention Centre). TheIndian Business & Professionals Council (IBPC), under the aegis of the Embassy of India, participated and showcased the opportunities available in India and concurrently promoted the initiative of Made in Qatar. The stall also highlighted Indian tourism.

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Food and Hospitality Exhibition: Ambassador P Kumaran, speaking on the sidelines of the Food and Hospitality Qatar 2017 Exhibition, said that India being one of the major food producing nations has a lot to offer to Qatar, an important market in the region for food items.

He also said that India is in talks to import more liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Qatar to meet its growing demand for energy. More than 25 Indian companies, manufacturers and exporters participated in the event (November 7–9). Qatar Chamber (QC) had a meeting with the delega-tion of businessmen from India led by the Ambassador to discuss joint investment opportunities in the food, information technology, services and other sectors. Ali bin Abdul Latif al Misnad, QC Board Member and Honorary Treasurer, said India is considered as the 3rd largest destina-tion for Qatari exports after Japan and South Korea. He also highlighted the presence of a large number of Indian companies operating in Qatar, 26 of them faring with 100% Indian capital.

Swimming Competition: The Indian Sports Centre organised the

Inter-School and Inter-Organisation Swimming Competitions at

Aspire Zone (October 21).

Felicitation of U-19 Football Team: The Indian Sports Centre (ISC), an apex community organisation under the Embassy of India, felicitated the Indian U-19 football team visiting Doha for friendly matches with U-19 football teams of sports clubs in Qatar. Ambassador was the Chief Guest at the event. The team lost to Qatar (U-19) 1-0 and won 2-0 against the Al-Gharafa Sports Club U-19. Ambassador extended his best wishes to the team for the qualifying matches of Asian U-19 Football, to be played in Saudi Arabia (November 5).

Sophia, a lifelike robot and the first one to be granted citizenship of a country, made its first appearance in India at

Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IIT-B), during its cultural extravaganza, TechFest.

Draped in a sari, the humanoid robot had a 15-minute conversation with a student in front of an audience of more than 3,000, on topics ranging from artificial intelligence to the issues facing the world. However, after answering a few initial questions, Sophia went silent due to an unexplained technical snag. It started func-tioning again after the organisers intervened.

Known for its human-like appearance and behaviour, Sophia was developed by Hong Kong-based Hanson Robotics and activated in 2015. Using artificial intelligence, it imitates hu-man gestures and facial expressions, and is able to make conversation on predefined topics.The robot was granted citizenship of Saudi Arabia in October. The presence of Sophia had created much buzz among students and technology en-thusiasts who thronged to IIT-B’s convocation hall in large numbers. The excitement among

more than 3,000 attendees was palpable, as they waited for the first appearance of the robot modelled on Hollywood actress Audrey Hep-burn. The event began after a 45-minute delay.

When asked about its maiden India trip, the robot replied, “I have always wanted to visit India. I heard so much about this vibrant land of tradition and culture. Indians have made contributions towards Silicon Valley. I am always very excited about India’s investment in space technology.” However, five minutes

into the conversation, the robot fell silent and stopped responding to questions, much to the disappointment of the audience. The organis-ers didn’t provide any explanation for the glitch except that it was an ‘internet issue’. The per-formance resumed after the glitch was fixed.

The robot gave a detailed and coherent an-swers to a wide variety of questions posed by the students. Describing its peculiar appear-ance, Sophia, in its mechanical voice, said, “I have been created on a human scale so that I can adapt to human society. A humanoid robot can use the same tools, same spaces and inter-act with people the same way humans do. Not every robot needs to be like this. But you should definitely make sure that you have good human values at heart when you design an artificial intelligence device.”

Much of the discussion revolved around comparison between humans and robots, ad-vances in artificial intelligence, and the threat it posed to human race. Sophia sought to alleviate the concerns of a robotic takeover of the world by saying, “Robots should be helping humans. Artificial Intelligence may be the key to a peace-ful civilization.” The audience also witnessed some witty replies by the robot. When asked by a student if it will marry her, Sophia said, “I will have to decline, but thanks for compliment.”

Draped in a sari, world’s first robot citizen makes India debut

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Abhishek Satish and Adarsh Warrier were students pursuing engineering in the south Indian town of Vellore when they

founded Vicara — a startup that develops wear-able technology devices. Soon after, Satish and Warrier filed a patent for a gesture recognition device they’d created called Kai. “When we cre-ated the technology, we knew there would be competition. It doesn’t take long for someone to copy your work and pass it off as theirs. For a hardware startup, a patent serves as a form of insurance,” says Satish.

Despite being common practice in other parts of the world, the importance of filing patents has only just become apparent to young startups in India, as the country increasingly moves towards becoming an innovation hub in Asia.

One of the most significant factors that keep startups from filing patents is cost. Filing a patent in India involves a pre-filing cost priced between $920 and $1530, a first-action cost of up to $2,300 followed by a patent maintenance cost of another $2,300. The collective fee of filing a patent can be a burden on several early-stage startups so private IP firms are helping startups manage these costs.

Bangalore-based BananaIP is one such firm that bears the expenses of patent filing for select startups. In addition, if a startup offers equity, Ba-nanaIP also takes care of a nominal patent filing fee to be paid to the government.

Vicara’s Satish and his cofounder started off by approaching IP Dome Strategy Advisors, a Chennai-based law firm that assists startups with filing patents. While anyone can file a patent, it is recommended to seek the help of IP law firms, which conduct patentability analysis to verify the authenticity of an idea and suggest amendments in patent documents. Based on findings by the Indian Patent Office, the process of filing patents in India has improved of late. Applications went up by 10% last year compared to the year before, and growth has been credited to the improvement of online services and availability of IP specialists across the country. In addition, the government’s Startup India initiative provides a slew of benefits to Indian startups, which includes an 80% rebate on patent filing. Application fees for startups to file patents has been reduced to just $25. The Indian

India’s startups are filing more patents — here’s whygovernment has introduced mechanisms for speedy processing of patent applications, and it’s now possible to acquire a patent in India within a year of its filing. Unlike earlier, the Indian Patent Office is processing foreign filing permits quickly,

with which Indian startups can now file patents overseas. Once a patent application is filed in India, the startup can either file directly or opt for a Patent Cooperation Treaty, which provides international patent protection.

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The Indian film industry is expected to grow at 11.5% year-on-year, reaching total gross realisation of Rs 23,800 crore

($3.7bn) by 2020, according to a report by indus-try lobby PHD Chamber and bed & breakfast

accommodations aggregator BnBNation. At present, the film industry grosses a total

revenue of Rs 13,800 crore ($2.1bn), and it has grown at a CAGR (compound annual growth rate) of over 10% in the last couple of years.

The film industry faces multiple challenges on the regulatory front, the report said, citing, about 70 approvals and licenses a filmmaker is sup-posed to take from as many as 30 authorities for shooting a film in India. It said India is gaining traction as a film-shooting destination and after the success of India-based movies, such as Slum-dog Millionaire, several international studios are increasingly considering shooting a large portion of their films in India.

“India has been used as a film-shooting site for various Hollywood movies such as The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, Million Dollar Arm, The Hundred Foot Journey, Life of Pi, Mission Im-possible IV and Jobs,” the report said. However, due to hurdles in obtaining licenses, India has lost at least 18 big budget movies to other locations in the last four years, it said.

“Delays in approvals process often results in filmmaker going to other destinations despite cost advantage in the country… the growth of the industry could be far more if its regulations are minimised,” it said. For shooting a foreign feature film, prior approval of the information and broadcasting ministry is required, while for a documentary, approval of the external affairs ministry is required, it said.

Despite the hurdles, the Indian film industry is the largest in the world in terms of number of films produced. India produces 1,500-2,000 films every year in more than 20 languages. But though India boasts of a large number of films and theatre admissions, the Indian film industry is small with respect to other global industries in terms of revenue. The gross realisation of Indian film industry at $2.1bn is minuscule compared to the gross realisation of film industries in the US and Canada, which is at $11bn even though they produce only 700 films annually.

Film industry to hit $3.7bn by 2020: Report

The Indian film industry is the largest in the world in terms of number of films produced. India produces 1,500-2,000 films every year in more than 20 languages.

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