Day: March 14, 2021

Data Security Council of India in collaboration with Ashoka University recently launched CIPHER – Coalition of India for a Progressive and Holistic Encryption Regime. CIPHER is a coalition of like-minded institutions and individuals committed to preserving privacy and promoting digital trust by leveraging cutting edge cryptographic technologies. CIPHER would strive towards building a nuanced understanding of encryption among policymakers; assist policymakers in building optimal crypto based solutions for improving governance in India and promote development of encryption-based technologies; nurturing India’s start-up ecosystem in this domain. The launch witnessed wide representation from industry, academia, and civil society organisations. Eminent speakers such as Keri Pearlson, Executive Director, Cybersecurity, MIT Sloan; Peeyush Bajpai, Director, Big Data Solutions, The Nielsen Company; Yashovardhan Azad, Retired IPS Officer, Intelligence Bureau joined the discussions, among others. In the coming days, CIPHER will witness increased collaboration from interested individuals and institutions, enable cutting edge work in crypto technologies, hold discussions, symposiums, and advance the theme of privacy and encryption. Those willing to join the alliance can express their interest at the CIPHER website: https://cipher. ashoka.edu.in/en/ Rama Vedashree, CEO, DSCI, said, “Given the importance of encryption in the digital ecosystem and its cross-cutting impact on the overall policy discourse, it is imperative to hold constructive discussions and bring together a wide variety of stakeholders. CIPHER provides a platform to carry out these difficult yet important conversations, and will strive to create awareness about trust, privacy, and cryptography. We welcome everyone who is interested to join the alliance for a meaningful and solution-oriented approach towards encryption.” Debayan Gupta, Asst. Professor, Dept. of Computer Science, Ashoka University, said, “For too long, cryptographers, policy makers, civil rights activists, and law enforcement have been having parallel conversations around encryption, privacy, and data security without a coherent exchange of ideas. Given the multidimensional nature of these issues, it is critical that we have a common platform to systematically discuss and resolve problems. It is with this hope that we are building CIPHER.” Data Security Council of India (DSCI) is a not-for-profit, industry body on data protection in India, setup by NASSCOM®, committed towards making the cyberspace safe, secure and trusted by establishing best practices, standards and initiatives in cyber security and privacy. DSCI works together with the Government and their agencies, law enforcement agencies, industry sectors including IT-BPM, BFSI, CII, Telecom, industry associations, data protection authorities and think tanks for public advocacy, thought leadership, capacity building and outreach initiatives. For more information, visit: www.dsci.in Ashoka University is a pioneer in its focus on providing a liberal education at par with the best in the world. An Ashoka education carries a strong emphasis on foundational knowledge, thorough academic research based on rigorous pedagogy, and hands-on experience with real-world challenges. The 2000-plus student community, drawn from over 28 states and 100 cities in India as well as 17 other countries, receive a world-class interdisciplinary education through undergraduate and post-graduate programmes led by internationally renowned faculty.  

With an objective to expand the footprint of ASIS International in North India, under the aegis of ARVP North, Region 13A, the Chapter Executive Committee of ASIS New Delhi Chapter # 207 organized ASIS International security meet on 27 February 2021 (Saturday) at Taj, Chandigarh. Security and risk professionals from Chandigarh, Panchkula, Mohali, Ludhiana, Jalandhar, Amritsar, Hissar, Panipat, Baddi, Paonta Sahib, Bhatinda, Jaipur, Rohtak, Sonipat, Karnal, Pune, Zirakpur, Mansa were contacted through community contacts and after registrations were duly invited. Since this was a physical security meet, the registration was restricted to 60 professionals only. The theme of the security meeting was ‘Together We Grow.’ To give thrust and momentum to the theme, the various esteemed committee members of ASIS New Delhi Chapter travelled from Delhi NCR to Chandigarh including Sanjay Kaushik, ARVP, North Region 13A; Gurbir Singh Wasu, Member Certification Committee; Mrs. Aman Singh, Women in Security Committee, Roop Singh Kuntal, Member Certification Committee; J Deepak Kumar Rao, Chapter Law Enforcement Liaison; Balwant Atwal, Former Chapter Chair; Santosh Pathak, Editor, SecurityLinkIndia; Manish Datta, Chapter Chair; Diwakar Nath Pandey, Chapter Vice Chair; Harvindra Singh, Chapter Secretary; Ravi Pratap Chauhan, Chapter Treasurer. The meet started at 4:45pm with registration and high tea. Diwakar Nath Pandey, Chapter Vice Chair welcomed all the participants and spelt out the agenda. Manish Datta, Chapter Chair provided a glimpse on the benefits and introduction on ASIS International. Sanjay Kaushik, ARVP North, Region 13A provided some interesting insights on ‘Evolving role of risk managers in the current environment’ in his address. Harvindra Singh, Chapter Secretary spelt out the benefits of ASIS International Membership. Roop Singh Kuntal covered the benefits of ASIS Certification and Boot Camps. Simagarh Mann of SIS Group Enterprises covered ‘The new dynamics of security operations’ in his address. Two professionals who had signed up for ASIS International membership during the meet – Sohan Pal Yadav and Parminder Chandras – were also introduced. They covered briefly how excited they were about joining ASIS International and what made them sign up. Ravi Pratap Chauhan, Chapter Treasurer concluded the security meet with a vote of thanks and felicitation of the speakers including Ram Panwar and Sohan Pal Yadav who worked tirelessly in making the security meet a great success. Simagarh Mann and other dignitaries of SIS Group Enterprises were felicitated for sponsoring the security meet. The efforts are bearing fruit as the chapter executive committee of ASIS New Delhi Chapter # 207 is signing up new members in Chandigarh and nearby cities, a testimony to establishing a new chapter in the coming months.  

Prama Hikvision has been leading the Indian security industry in video security for years. The company has recently introduced its all new ColorVu cameras powered by the new Hikvision ColorVu technology. ColorVu technology enables cameras to produce colorful videos, even in extremely dimly lit environments. When using a conventional camera with infrared lighting for night monitoring, people, vehicles, or other important objects are blurry and blend into the background, making it difficult to identify details. Color-related information is crucial for many scenarios and is a great asset for data and analyses. However, conventional cameras often lose important details when rendering only black and white images. ColorVu technology is our solution to this common challenge faced by many security system users. Hikvision ColorVu technology Hikvision ColorVu cameras’ powerful ability to capture details in low lighting comes from two specific breakthroughs in hardware technologies – advanced lenses and high-performance sensors. Coupled with a supplemental light for extremely dark scenarios, ColorVu cameras guarantee video with colorful details when needed. The key benefits of full-color video True color information Accurate color rendering. Excellent performance in low-light environments. More details. Clearly captured color information and richer details compared to black and white imaging. Better visual experience Balanced brightness. F1.0 super aperture and advanced sensor guarantee realistic rendering. Application scenarios Residential: Residential buildings, whether town houses, multi-family homes, or apartments, often have several low-light areas that become potentially risky and difficult to navigate in darkness such as walkways, stairwells and other outdoor areas. ColorVu cameras provide unmatched surveillance where incidents or accidents occur, and illuminates areas to reduce risk and improve safety for tenants and visitors. Better quality imaging improves suspect identification when needed, providing a safer environment for residents. Small businesses: Users can monitor entrances and exits as well as dimly-lit interior and exterior areas where theft or other crimes occur such as dark hallways and walkways, dumpster areas, and loading docks. Enjoy better illumination with ColorVu cameras while they protect the employees, customers and assets, helping them to feel safe around and within the property. Parking lots: Parking lots are difficult to protect for many reasons. But ColorVu uses sophisticated supplemental lighting to make parking areas easier to secure. This means there is no need for additional lighting to capture high-quality, full color images. ColorVu’s environment-friendly natural light will not interfere with a driver’s vision, as opposed to harsh, bright, or discolored lights. All these features reduce costs and ensure high-resolution, detailed imagery – such as the color of a person’s clothing or the color of a car – and everything is recorded for forensic review when necessary. Parks and recreation areas: Strategically placed ColorVu cameras illuminate areas with limited lighting that pose risks for accidents or other incidents such as walkways, play areas, entrances to the restrooms, and exercise areas. Better evening and night time illumination keeps members of the community feeling safe and comfortable. Enriched ColorVu options with 4K and varifocal cameras The latest ColorVu cameras offer enriched options to the market with having covered both Turbo HD (DF8T series/ DF3T series/ DF0T series) and network products. The enriched ColorVu series can satisfy a multitude of customer needs, from high performance products to budget friendly choices and smart solutions.   Hikvision has now included 4K ColorVu cameras in its product range, which brings color imaging to ultra-high-definition levels day and night. With better image quality and richer detail, 4K ColorVu cameras can be applied across an even wider range of scenarios including stadiums, airports, harbors, and parking lots, where clear and high-resolution images are necessary. In addition, Hikvision has also added varifocal cameras (the DF8T-Z series) to the new ColorVu models to create 24/7 color imaging in all focal lengths. With 2.8-12mm motorized lenses, ColorVu varifocal cameras will allow users to zoom in on colorful images at night. Enhanced colorful imaging with AA manufacturing technology The latest ColorVu camera lenses have kept the F1.0 super-aperture design, allowing four times more light to enter the lens than conventional cameras (that have F2.0). Focusing high definition cameras with large F1.0 apertures is extremely technical for the industry, requiring very strict and accurate manufacturing. Hikvision has applied its advanced Active Alignment (AA) technology in the production of ColorVu cameras to bring the adjustment accuracy to within 4 pixels, even smaller than 1/30 hair diameter. Meanwhile, with optimized sensors, night time color imaging of ColorVu camera renders much brighter than conventional cameras. A new 3D dynamic noise reduction (DNR) algorithm helps the cameras record additional remote details clearly and deliver sharper images. In addition, ColorVu cameras are equipped with a soft and warm supplemental light that illuminates to guarantee color imaging even in zero-light environments. Quick target search with AcuSense technology Most security camera users only need to focus on alarms triggered by human and vehicles, especially at night. These newly released ColorVu cameras can integrate Hikvision’s cutting-edge AcuSense technology to help users focus only on events that matter to security. Empowered by deep learning algorithms, ColorVu cameras can distinguish people and vehicles from other moving objects such as rain, leaves and animals. Alarms will only be triggered when the pre-set intrusion type takes place. With this solution, video clips are sorted by human and vehicle categories, and object classification vastly improves search efficiency.        

Anil Puri CMD, APS group A thought leader and an action catalyzer rolled into one – Anil Puri is a rare combination of a visionary, and one who has mastered the art of strategic and tactical thinking to the core. He has been using this combination to seed new ideas and to lead them to their implementation on-ground. This has been a consistent feature of his career. He has rich experience of approximately 35 years in corporate in diverse domains & from functional managerial level to apex as chairman of a corporate group. His acumen for handling crisis management has prompted him to share his exclusive and niche experiences will be discussing the topic of Disaster Management which has been one of his favorite subjects. The tragedy of glacial outburst on 07 Feb 2021 in Chamoli Distt of Uttarakhand took him back to basics – the ‘National Disaster Management Authority Guidelines’ issued in Oct 2020; a solitary document on how to handle Glacial Lake Outburst Floods (GLOFs). Deep dive into the document led to many insights into the key issues which he felt to share with the fraternity to usher in better understanding of the handling of GLOFs. He had extensively toured the entire area of Chamoli to just short of Govind Ghat, and returned only on 26th Jan 2021, just a few days before the disaster.   The sudden flood on 07 Feb 2021 (Sunday morning) in the Dhauli Ganga, Rishi Ganga and Alaknanda rivers triggered widespread panic and large-scale devastation in the high mountain areas. At least 76 persons have been killed and over 150 are still missing after a portion of the Nanda Devi glacier broke off in Uttarakhand’s Chamoli district, triggering an avalanche and a deluge in the Alaknanda river system. The sudden flood in the middle of the day in the Dhauli Ganga, Rishi Ganga and Alaknanda rivers – all intricately linked tributaries of the Ganga – triggered widespread panic and large-scale devastation in the high mountain areas. Two power projects – NTPC’s Tapovan Vishnugad Hydel Project and the Rishi Ganga Hydel Project – were extensively damaged with scores of laborers trapped in tunnels as the waters came rushing in. The glacial outburst has raised many eyebrows and fingers about early warning, preparedness and rescue operations and overall handling of such disasters. This sent alarm bells ringing which set in motion my inclination to study the NDMA Guidelines on the subject. Mountain regions are characterized by sensitive ecosystems, enhanced occurrences of extreme weather events and natural hazards. They also symbolize the conflicting interests between economic development and environmental conservation. With rapid global warming, fragile-mountain cryosphere and landscapes are evolving and new threats of landslides, glacial lake outburst floods (GLOFs), avalanches, cloud burst, drought and flash floods are posing grave risks to the vulnerable mountain communities. The Indian Himalayan region (IHR) is facing critical challenges while coping with the adverse effects of climate change. The disappearance of mountain glaciers, expansion of large glacial lakes and the formation of new glacial lakes are amongst the most recognizable impacts of global warming in this environment. IHR lies in Seismic Zones IV and V making the region highly prone to earthquakes. Flash floods and GLOFs have killed thousands in many parts of the world. Some of the largest events have occurred in the Indian Himalayas such as the Kedarnath disaster in Uttarakhand (2013) and Parechu river flash floods in Himachal Pradesh (2005). Despite these losses, disaster risk management related to GLOFs has not been mainstreamed into development policies and programs. Objectives of the NDMA Guidelines The National Disaster Management Agency (NDMA) has partnered with the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) along with national experts from concerned Indian institutions for the development of the National Guidelines on Management of Glacial Lake Outburst Floods (GLOFs). The main objective of the NDMA Guidelines is to generate awareness of various aspects of dam failure hazards in India and to implement suitable actions to reduce both the risk and costs associated with these hazards. The Guidelines envision to improve administrative response, bringing together the relevant scientific capabilities of the nation to eliminate the losses from glacial and landslide hazards. The primary aim of these guidelines is to develop a strategy that encourages the use of scientific information, maps, methodology, guidance for early warning system, response management, development and implementation of initiatives to reduce losses from glacial hazards. These Guidelines also describe the awareness, preparedness, capacity development, research and development, regulations and enforcements and roles and responsibilities of the local, state and national ministries/ departments along with the various scientific organizations and institutions to reduce the potential risks. These guidelines aim to enable concerned ministries or departments of state/ UT, central governments and other stakeholders to take concerted action for preparedness, prevention, mitigation, and response to GLOFs. These guidelines also emphasize awareness and capacity building of the relevant stakeholders. The possibility of GLOF and LLOF in the Indian Himalayan region (IHR) are escalating very rapidly and pose a threat to the lives of millions of people living in this region. NDMA Guidelines lays down the roadmap to mitigate the impacts of glacial hazards and risks, to develop disaster resilient communities and significantly reduce the loss of lives and assets. These guidelines meant to assist the central ministries, departments and states to formulate their respective DM plans and extend necessary cooperation/ assistance to NDMA for carrying out its mandate. What is GLOFs The melting of the glaciers leads to the accumulation of water in the glacial lakes behind the natural dams made of pebbles, sands, ice and ice residue. These dams are called glacial or moraine dams. When such dammed water suddenly gets released, it results in floods known as GLOFs. The moraine dam is a weak structure and this can give way to an abrupt failure of the dam atop the glacial lake. The glacial lake holds a large amount of water, and a dam failure can possibly release millions of cubic…