India’s EV conundrum: Incentives in place, but no infrastructure

 This article I wrote appeared in the Deccan Herald on 31st Dec 2020. In spite of the government actions to improve EV uptake, the numbers are not encouraging. . 

1) India has 22 cars per 1000 people now and this is expected to touch 175 by 2040. Even a fraction  is assumed to be EV, the infrastructure required is huge and we are way off the mark. The global average is 1 public charging station for every 7-8 cars. 

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2) EV price is about 25-30% . But the Maintenance and Running costs will add upto  about 15-18% or ICE price. Net-net the car becomes cheaper than ICE car in over 4 years of regular driving. 

3) OEMs and government need to invest in R&D. We need to steps-up R&D spend on upcoming technologies like Induction charging or Solid state batteries. 

Overall, the government has to take the lead with proactive investment in Infra OEMs and we the public must also support. 

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Should kids code or not?

 This one I wrote appeared in the Deccan Herald Panorama page. The article argues that it may not be a good idea to mindlessly push children into software programming. 

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Education and the town-country divide

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This article I co-authored with Prof PV Krishna bhat is published in the. This  Indian Express on 2nd Sep 2020. The article looks at the following:

1) We need a large scale orientation programme for teachers similar to the one done by Germany soon after unification

2) We need rural focus by creating Bridge infrastructure, Significantly improve R&D spend on Agriculture and allied industries.

3) Need to building rural leadership that can help in generating jobs in Agri and allied industries. 

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Much ado about banning Chinese apps

This article I wrote appeared in the Deccan Herald on 16th July 2020. The article brings out the impact of the government banning 59 apps.

1) Internet by nature should not have boundaries, there is no end to the blocking game . Will we block American apps later?

2) Just asking for alternate apps from India is not sufficient. The user experience must be best in class3) We have fundamental issues on the internet ecosystem in the country , be it stable connectivity, or policies on Data storage and Data processing. 4) Top technology institutes who were ranked high - An opportunity to task them on next generation technology research 

5) Overall an opportunity for India to test it’s strength. It is a pity that being the 3rd largest country in terms of internet users, we lack world class apps and solutions that the world will look upto.  

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Multimode delivery: The best way to impart learning

This article I wrote, appeared in the Financial express on 16th June 2020. 

1) India will have to go with Multi mode education delivery ( class room, online interactive  And recorded )

2) Bridge  Digital Divide -providing Tablets and internet connection with teaching faculty intervention will help

3) TV in households is much better than Mobile and internet reach . 95% of South indian homes have TV.

4)  We should use TV as a main stream methodology for imparting learning . Move beyond the DD Gyan . Incentivise Free to air Channels  to carry daily education content .  Localised content and the teachers can talk to Students weekly to monitor progress.

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Jio-FB deal: Kirana stores to benefit, but the govt must be vigilant

Some Caveats to Jio-FaceBook deal

This article I wrote appeared in The Hindu Business Line on the 8th May 2020.

While the on-boarding of kirana stores onto a digital platform like JioMart will give a fillip to these stores, the government will have to address issues of data privacy, Predatory pricing and  Net neutrality

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COVID-19: Need for improved net infrastructure

This article I wrote appeared on 2nd April 2020 in the Indian Express. 

The article focuses on the following

1) India's internet infra has significantly improved over the psat two decades and hence working from home / remote working is a possibility

2) Working from Home has not been popular in India due to Trust and cultural issues. We could see Uberization of work picking-up as a direct consequence

3) Educational institutions are adopting Virtual classes and MOOC model 

4) We are lagging behind many countries on internet speeds. A wake-up call for the government and telecom Industry to improve the Internet speeds in the country

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Creating world class talent in India

This article I co-authored appeared in the Indian Express on 22nd Feb 2020.  The article looks ar the following: 

1) The concept of Teaching university is welcome. However, there must be provision for lateral entry of industry experts to get education

2) Multi-disciplinary approach to HEI is good. However, it needs unlearning on the part of the goverment as well as the educational instituions
3) Skill Development : The focus must be on Learning by Doing approach.
4) Often ignored, there must be innovative methods to emphasise the need for values and ethics.

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