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The key of the future is digital, and it offers more features than its analog predecessors – impossible to lose or steal, and there is never a need to search for it. That is because it is stored securely and specifically for each user in a smartphone app. “Our Perfectly Keyless app is making conventional vehicle keys a thing of the past. Bosch is taking the car key into the digital realm and making it available anywhere, anytime,” says Harald Kröger, President of the Bosch Automotive Electronics division. With Perfectly Keyless, the smartphone replaces the analog vehicle key. This concept can offer owners of private vehicles increased convenience, but where it really shines is in vehicle fleets with multiple drivers. No more key handovers – fleet managers and logistics providers simply use the app to give drivers access to the vehicles. “Bosch’s digital vehicle key gives fleets a boost towards greater connectivity,” Kröger says. The company believes there is a huge market for its solution, which is making its world debut at the IAA Commercial Vehicles in Hannover. The potential customers include some 15,000 logistics providers in Germany alone. Most of them manage at least a dozen vehicles and drivers. A keyless journey Row upon row of hundreds of keys hanging on large boards – logistics providers still often use this method to organize the keys to their fleet vehicles. A missing key triggers a massive search operation. But every minute counts, especially with commercial vehicles. After all, if a truck isn’t moving, it’s not making any money. At the core of the new system is an app that dispatchers and truck drivers both have on their phones. This makes it possible to grant vehicle access with just a few clicks. In the future, the Bosch solution will also allow logistics providers to completely integrate digital key management into their dispatch and scheduling systems. As soon as dispatch is assigned drivers and trucks to a route, the system automatically generates digital keys for the vehicles and sends them to the drivers’ smartphones. If the route scheduling changes, the software adjusts the keys accordingly. “Thanks to Bosch’s fully digital key management, logistics providers enjoy both security and flexibility in their planning. This is the only way the logistics of the future will be able to function efficiently,” Kröger says. Secure key management with app and cloud Bosch digital key management connects trucks and the smartphone app via the cloud. Dispatchers or fleet managers use the app to assign a truck to a driver for a particular route. Perfectly Keyless generates a personal, secure digital key and sends it via the cloud to the truck and to the driver’s smartphone. As the driver approaches the assigned truck, the sensors installed in the truck detect the smartphone via a wireless connection. The vehicle doors will open only if the key on the phone ‘fits’ the digital lock in the vehicle. These sensors can also tell when the driver is in the driver’s seat, and the engine starts up as soon as the driver presses the start-stop button. When the driver gets out of the car at the end of the journey, the system detects this and automatically locks the doors. Battery dead – No problem But what happens if the smartphone’s battery dies, or the device has gone missing? In the future, the vehicle key in the smartphone will work even if the phone battery is dead. In that case, the phone and truck will communicate using near-field communication (NFC), a wireless protocol for sharing data over short distances. Bosch plans to make it the ‘double hull’ of its solution. If the smartphone is lost or stolen, and the app with it, the digital key can be simply deactivated online, thus blocking access to the vehicle. It cannot be opened and started until the fleet manager uses the app to provide another driver or a new phone with access to the truck.

Dahua Technology’s state-of-the-art facial recognition solution enhances safety and business intelligence for its users. In real life a person rarely wants to be seen as someone other than himself. The misrecognition problem is not only time consuming, dignity compromising, but also life threatening in lots of cases where certain dangerous people are not correctly identified in time. This mistake is no longer affordable to make in today’s context, whether for an individual, a group, or the society as a whole. Fortunately the facial recognition technology has matured and the security solution based on the technology is being widely used across the world. Dahua Technology is especially good in this realm and it has been proved by multiple championships and new records made in major international challenges including multiple object tracking challenge, the KITTI 2D object detection evaluation 2012, KITTI flow benchmark, Task [word recognition] of incidental scene text challenge and Born-digital image challenge. It is necessary to explain some basic rules concerning how facial recognition works before the tour to see how Dahua Technology’s products & solutions are applied in various daily scenes. Simply put, big data is useless if the accuracy and efficiency of facial recognition has not been improved to certain levels. The face detection, whether from a snapshot or from a stream of video, requires not only a high-quality camera but more importantly, a smart AI algorithm that optimizes the image captured in multiple angles or blurred in motion, and translates the face feature into digital model which can be crosschecked in the database. The whole process, from taking the picture to comparison, takes as short as 300ms. Suppose there is a Tom, a middle level manager in his mid-30s. Let’s follow Tom for a day and see how Dahua Technology’s facial recognition solution plays its role in his perfectly ordinary life. Tom vs. access control Tom hurried to his company on the 30th floor of a class A office building, the kind with additional barriers in the lobby between the front gate and elevators. There were long lines in front of the access control machines. Tom reached into his pocket and unfortunately found his access card wasn’t there. But Tom should not worry anymore because the building had just updated the security system with Dahua facial recognition solution, which overcame various shortcomings of traditional ways of card or fingerprint scanning including low efficiency and inadequate security. Comparing to a card, apparently it is much less likely for one to lose/ replicate/ borrow a face. The access control was no longer a gamble if one’s fingerprint works. Here is how exactly Dahua facial recognition solution works in this scene. The powerful cameras blessed with deep learning AI detect the faces and digitalize the features, and compare them purely through numbers with the ones in database which takes less than 1 second. The beauty of the solu tion goes both ways since the company no longer needs to make a card or import finger prints for the newly employed but simply upload their photos into the database that contains up to 10,000 faces. Besides offices, this solution can also be applied to any place that has a high standard for access control like customs, schools, residential communities etc. Tom on the white list Tom stepped into a bank. On behalf of his company, Tom had some serious business to discuss with the bank, which, at this hour, was full of people. Before Tom started to worry about the time to be spent waiting and if he could make it to the next meeting on time, he heard his last name called and was led into the VIP room. Now how did the bank manage to do that? Not by human efforts for sure. No clerk could remember each and every face and match it with a particular name and particular business without making any mistake. That’s why facial recognition solution is essential to the business. The immediate detection of a VIP face could be easily matched with the white list in database – no delay or misidentification and all VIP treatment. This goes not only for banks. Hotels, hospitals and casinos alike will also benefit from this solution that secures the proper respect those exceptional customers deserve. Tom unauthorized Tom went to the vault of the bank for the first time in his life. He was happy that now he was trusted by the company with such important mission. He walked fast and went in front of the escort. But before he could raise his hand to touch the door of vault, a warning siren was triggered. The escort, with a reassuring smile, caught up and patted on Tom’s shoulder and explained the whole situation to him. No unauthorized personnel, be it Tom or Jerry, could intrude the sensitive areas blessed with Dahua facial recognition solution. The face captured and automatically optimized by the camera would be put into real time comparison with the authorized faces in data base and the low percentage of similarity, from a pure mathematical point of view, would immediately trigger the alarm. Other limited access areas like labs and archives will also enjoy better protection with facial recognition solution. Tom and the black list After a long day’s work, Tom went to see a football game with a friend. The show began even before they entered the stadium because they saw an infamous football hooligan got rejected and taken away outside the entrance gate. Tom, who have been through plenty of adventures during the day figured out what had happened. Tom’s friend, who happened to be an employee of Dahua Technology, took the chance to explain how Dahua facial recognition solution informed the security force to deal with any persona non grata on the black list as soon as they showed their faces. Of course, this solution could be widely applied to other areas like airports, train stations, or in other words, city management. So, this was a day in Tom’s life,…

NETGEAR Inc., has introduced NETGEAR Orbi RBK20 Wi-Fi Router and Satellite that delivers unparalleled Wi-Fi coverage. It covers homes up to 4,000 square feet with strong Wi-Fi signals, and the innovative Tri-band WiFi helps maximize the Internet speeds available at home. Orbi RBK20 has a unique, industry-first tri-band architecture with a dedicated 5GHz wireless connection between the router and satellite, which provides both reliable Wi-Fi coverage and maximum internet speed throughout the home with a single network name. The new Orbi systems deliver industry leading 802.11ac AC2200 Wi-Fi speeds up to 2.2Gbps. “Wi-Fi is now considered to be a necessity for every household. People are not expected to be contended with a wireless network that does not deliver the required coverage and performance. With the introduction of new Orbi RBK20 Tri-band WiFi systems, we aim to provide a broader range of Wi-Fi solutions with maximum Internet speed,” comments Marthesh Nagendra, Country Manager – India & SAARC, NETGEAR. With the increase in demand for better Wi-Fi throughout home, the Orbi RBK20 addresses a broad range of home environments, from apartments to sprawling estates. The 2.2Gbps WiFi is enhanced by FastLane3, and the coverage increased by four high-gain internal antennas. It has dedicated TriBand Wi-Fi and works on a single network name.

When it comes to delivering networks to support smart buildings and applications like CCTV, IPTV and Internet service delivery, there is no doubt that the near-limitless bandwidth of optical fiber is of benefit. What is less clear is whether an active, or passive technology is better. In reality, it depends on many factors including the environment, applications being used and who is going to manage or operate the infrastructure. Let’s look at this in a little more detail. History and background Active Ethernet or point to point Ethernet has been used extensively in a broad range of applications and environments for many years from the early days of 10Base2 to the current Ethernet technologies that utilize copper or optical fiber to deliver 1G, 10G and beyond. In order to deliver next generation services to consumers or subscribers, the aging twisted pair infrastructure that had been used for many years was simply not capable of meeting the bandwidth requirements of services like HDTV. Optical fiber with its near limitless bandwidth was therefore an easy choice. Using an active or point-to-point technology, however, would have seen thousands to tens of thousands of strands of optical fiber required from the exchange. Alternately, it would have been necessary to have active equipment in the field from where optical fiber had aggregated. Neither of these options was particularly suitable so an alternative technology known as Passive Optical Networks (PON) was developed. PON had the benefit of using small counts of optical fiber from the exchange and then branching out to deliver services to subscribers with passive splitters overcoming the limitations of active Ethernet for this application. Application and use There is no question that in a ‘broadacre’ environment – one covering large distances – PON has many benefits for the delivery of consumer services. These benefits, however, are questionable when it comes to delivering services in other environments such as buildings, commercial buildings or hospitality environments. Today the benefits of a single converged network to support all applications within a facility are better understood. The simplicity of managing one set of infrastructure, flexibility to add additional services, and lower total cost of ownership are now being seen by organizations that head down this path. With 20% of commercial buildings predicted to be smart or intelligent by 2020, this trend will only increase. The requirements of services that leverage a converged network are quite different to those of the consumer services seen in ‘broadacre’ environments. Services regularly deployed within commercial buildings include telephony, CCTV, signage, wayfinding, wireless, access control, BMS/ HVAC and lighting. These applications often require Powerover-Ethernet (PoE) to power the endpoint, multicast support to manage the distribution of content, symmetric bandwidth to support content moving in both directions, and a high degree of redundancy due to the critical nature of some services. These are inherent within active Ethernet networks but are not typical of passive networks. Technology aside, another factor to consider is ownership and operation of the network. Passive networks are typically deployed by a carrier or service provider who then takes complete responsibility for the infrastructure and service delivery. When adds, moves or changes are required, this is undertaken by the organization responsible. This is ideal for the delivery of services such as voice, data and telephony to consumers but is less than ideal for building services. Within commercial buildings there is often a need for the facility owner or manager to reconfigure the network to support new services or add new endpoints. This level of flexibility is simply not available when the network is operated or managed by a carrier or service provider and would generally incur additional costs. This would not occur with an active network that is managed by the facility. Summary So, when it comes to deploying optical fiber to support services, it is not simply a case of an active topology being better than a passive topology or vice versa. Consideration needs to be given to the environment and applications before a choice is made based on the requirements. In some cases, both can co-exist – a passive topology to deliver consumer services to residents which would be managed by a carrier, and an active topology for building services that would be managed by the facility.  By – Scott Penno Regional Marketing Manager, APAC, Allied Telesis  

Cost of a server is one of the major concerns while considering a multi-location video surveillance solution. Moreover, it is complex to operate a server from a central location while monitoring different locations. Matrix video surveillance solution has a special feature called Cascading, which eliminates the need of a server for centralized management and monitoring. Cascading is a feature of adding multiple devices on a single network in a user interface (UI) so that all devices can be accessed from one location. This is done by configuring one of the SATATYA devices as master device and the rest as slave devices. Cascading is configured in the monitor connected locally with the device, as well as in the Matrix SATATYA Device Client when the devices are connected on the same network. Network video recorders can cascade up to 20 devices and can receive their camera streams without the need of a server. The master NVR at the central location can receive streams from all the cameras installed at various locations. It follows the architecture of multiple masters and multiple slaves. Hence, one organization can make several master NVRs, sharing their respective camera streams among themselves. For example, a company having two CEOs at dif ferent locations can have access to all camera streams of their branches using their local NVR. Cameras are categorized into three different types in accordance to their configuration in Matrix network video recorders:  Branded cameras: The brand and model names of these devices are available in SATATAYA NVR database.  ONVIF supported cameras: Open Network Video Interface Forum defines a common protocol for exchange   of information like automatic device discovery, video streaming and intelligent metadata between network   video devices.  Generic cameras: These cameras stream the video on specific HTTP or RTSP URL. What are the Benefits? Cascading totally eliminates the cost of a server for centralized management and monitoring. There is no need to enter credentials and other settings every time the user restarts. It simplifies monitoring by grouping important cameras from different locations on a single screen. If the number of cameras is higher, it also allows sequencing of cameras. Applications Monitoring a building with multifloors. Monitoring multiple buildings with multiple floors. Monitoring multiple buildings at a single location. Monitoring multiple buildings at multiple locations. Monitoring multiple buildings with multiple central locations. Monitoring multiple buildings with a single central location.    

At recently held Axis Solutions Day 2018, Axis Communications, shared implementation details of their large-scale community CCTV Nenu Saitham project in Hyderabad City. The annual event showcased their integrated smart solutions in IP audio, retail suite and thermal cameras. Centered on the theme, The Future in Integrated Security Solutions, the event brought to fore Axis’ recent India success stories and their key takeaways from prestigious surveillance implementations across the country including the Mysore City Palace project. The Government of Telangana has been proactive in adopting a one-of-its kind smart surveillance implementation. With this community CCTV programme, the Hyderabad City Police is encouraging enterprises, public sectors, residential associations and individuals to invest in CCTVs procured from government empaneled firms. They will then setup a monitoring centre in their own colonies which in turn can be integrated with the nearest police stations and the central command center. This will track, monitor and analyse the video feed for detecting criminal activities, traffic violations and road conditions in real time. According to the project, an entity or individual can buy a CCTV system that will cover the premise entry, exit and parking areas to the extent of 50 yards on the road, along with storage and video screen for self-monitoring within the colony. The Government of Telangana will provide the back-end connectivity to the police stations, command control centre along with real-time video analytics. “Axis carries a rich lineage of over 35 years in India and during this time, we have understood the pulse of the India market. With an estimated budget of ₹2.09 lakh crores for smart city programmes by the Government, we are upbeat that high-end surveillance solutions are the need of the hour.” -Sudhindra Holla Sales Director – India and SAARC, Axis Communications Mahender Reddy, the Director General of Hyderabad Police asserted, “The impact of CCTV installations in Hyderabad City police jurisdiction has been astounding, leading to a huge reduction in overall crime rate by 32% in the last three years (2014-17) and reduction of 90.6% in chain-snatchings incidents during this period. Additionally, the Govt of Telangana is planning to install 15 lakh cameras across the state in the next three years.” Highlighting the efforts that led to the success of the Hyderabad implementation, Sudhindra Holla, Sales Director – India and SAARC, Axis Communications said, “We are proud to be a partner of choice for the Hyderabad community CCTV project. This is an example of community participation towards building a safer and secured smart city. We have 1,500 camera installations across the city to track, monitor and analyze the video feed for detecting criminal activities, traffic violations, and road conditions. With our strong portfolio of product line-up, we aim to support the authorities to deliver high surveillance and build a model smart city and eagerly look forward to the phase two implementation.” Speaking on the Mysore Palace implementation, Sudhindra emphasized, “The project was challenging as the site continued to operate even during the installation. Mysore Palace, being one of the most visited heritage sites of India, we had to ensure that the work was seamless with minimum disruption. We also had to create a multi-point wireless network to ensure the infrastructure had the ability to support new cameras as well as the management software across the area for crowd and queue management.” Axis ‘Smart’ security implementation not only provides a better quality of life with clean and sustainable environment, but also promises a safer city. Some of the major smart city implementations include Aurangabad, Bhavnagar, Kolhapur and Junagadh. In the retail and hospitality segments Axis smart implementation includes Café Coffee Day and Novotel Goa Shrem Hotels, respectively. One of the prominent installations in the education segment is Dayalbagh Educational Institute. Video surveillance has seen a paradigm shift in India with security becoming a priority for both the Government and enterprises. With an increase in the number of cyber-attacks which exposes vulnerabilities, dealing with well-resourced cybercriminals becomes a challenge. If left unaddressed, these could lead to networks being breached, ransomware to be planted or, be responsible for costly downtime. The answer is to be proactive and systematic for ensuring that patches are implemented as soon as they are available. Recording high-resolution videos with in-built compression is what today’s IP video surveillance capable of. There are multiple benefits of using IP-based surveillance to provide efficient security in the smart cities arena, like video analytics, environmental sensors, and support in law enforcement for departments to gather evidence during investigations. Further integrated, with IP Audio, it can be used to make scheduled or live announcements, and to track security violation in manufacturing/ industrial sites. On the other hand, thermal cameras using thermal imaging and enhanced low-light capabilities have taken the smart surveillance a step ahead. With built-in analytics, such as Video Motion Detection helps detect motion from moving objects within a predefined area, these intelligent solutions are useful for environments where privacy is of utmost importance like – schools and care homes.  

The private security industry is a crucial component of security and safety which is responsible for protecting not only critical infrastructure systems but also intellectual property and sensitive corporate information. Business establishments rely heavily on private security for a wide range of functions including protecting employees and property, site security, cash logistics operations, conducting investigations, providing information technology security, and many other functions. FICCI has recently organized the sixth edition of Private Security Industry Conclave (PSIC) 2018 with an objective to bring together experts from the government, industry, controlling authorities, user agencies and other stakeholders to discuss and debate various policy and regulatory issues concerning the private security industry. The theme of the event was ‘Job Creation and Skill Development in the Private Security Sector.’ The PSIC 2018 was inaugurated by Shiv Pratap Shukla, Minister of State for Finance, GoI, who also released a FICCI-BDO report on ‘Private Security Industry: Job Creation and Skill Development,’ which dwells upon the skill development and jobs creation, policy issues, GST implication and its impact, shift from the unorganised to organised sector, and the need of integration of manpower and technology. Cmdr. Gautam Nanda (Retd.), Associate Partner, BDO India, the knowledge partner for the conclave, gave an overview of the industry, underlining the vital roles of PSI in skill development and job creation. He said that the industry was the largest employer with 8.9 million personnel with a potential to employ 3.1 million more by 2022. The estimated market size of the industry was Rs.57,000 crore and was expected to rise to Rs.1.5 lakh crore by 2022. Goods & Services Tax Issue Amongst various others, the issue of Goods and Services Tax (GST) imposition on the private security industry was strongly raised on the forum. The FICCI Committee on Private Security Industry sought relief in GST for PSI and put forth three options to resolve the issue. Impose GST only on the service charge, not on total invoice value (18% GST on 10% of invoice value): Private security sector operates on a cost plus pricing model. Bases for the calculation of per head cost are the applicable minimum wage, and statutory obligations like PF, ESIC, leave, bonus, gratuity etc. The agencies charge 10% or less as their service charge on above mentioned cost structure. Therefore, charging GST on invoice value results in taxing statutory payments. With the payment cycle of 90-180 days, this leads to significant cash flow pressure and even risk of default on statutory compliances. Charging GST on 10% of invoice value would not only enhance compliance but also ease pressure on thousands of MSME entities in private security sector Shift obligation to discharge GST to the recipient of service: Shifting of GST compliance obligation from PSAs to the service users would significantly ease cash flow pressure and risk of default under high interest burden. The change will also lead to timely GST compliance and eliminate possibility of leakage of revenue for the government. Reduce GST rate from 18% to 5%: Private security has emerged as an essential service to support the government machinery in homeland security activities. With reduction in the GST tax rate from 18% to 5%, pressure from customers on manpower reduction is likely to ease significantly resulting in job protection for private security guards. Lower GST rate is also likely to boost volume of work orders, thereby paving the way for demand expansion and resultant increase in skill development activities, as well as employment generation by private security sector. The minister assured that the Finance Ministry is actively considering FICCI’s recommendations to reduce the GST rate to minimise its impact on the industry and capitalise on its job-creation potential. He said that the government acknowledges the contributions of the private security industry in creating jobs for the poor, ex-servicemen and those who have migrated from villages, and promised that he would do the best possible to reduce the tax. He invited a FICCI delegation to his office to discuss and take the matter further. Rituraj Sinha, Chair of the FICCI Committee on Private Security Industry pointed out that based on the Committee’s discussions with the Finance Minister and the MoS for Finance, there is a conviction and genuine intent on the part of the government to give GST relief to the industry. Such relief would greatly benefit the small players who have to bear the burden of interest costs, as they have to borrow to deposit GST in advance. The Co-Chair of FICCI Committee on PSI & Chairman, Peregrine Guarding, Maj. Manjit Rajain (Retd.) also expressed optimism towards the serious inclination on the part of the government to give GST relief to PSI. Skill Development & RPL issue At the forum of PSIC 2018, seventeen MoUs were signed between the Management and Entrepreneurship & Professional Skills Council (MEPSC) and private security companies to impart training to over 3.17 lakhs security guards under the government’s ‘Recognition of Prior Learning’ (RPL) scheme. Addressing the gathering of security professionals Dharmendra Pradhan, Minister of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, GoI, said that skilling of manpower is critical for private security industry which is growing at an annual rate of 20-25 per cent. The industry must partner with the government in skilling, reskilling and upskilling of the workforce in order to meet the challenges of new RPL 4.0. He further said that there is a need to make the economy more formal. In other developed countries, skilling, reskilling and upskilling are the jobs of the industry, and the respective governments undergo partnership with the private sector for this purpose. Government of India has shown conviction in the industry and hence has changed the policy to RPL 4.0. There is a need to increase the employable workforce in the country and bring them under the skilling ecosystem. On the occasion, the Minister also felicitated controlling authority of NCT of Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana for the best practices in the proper enforcement and implementation of PSARA under various categories. Himachal Pradesh was given the…

PSI Intruder Product of the Year Pyronix Enforcer with Hikvision integration has recently won the PSI Intruder Product of the Year 2018 Award for the second consecutive year in a row. “Winning the Intruder Product of the Year is a great accolade, but to have won it for two years consecutively is such a fantastic achievement,” said Laurence Kenny, Marketing Manager, Pyronix, “We are extremely pleased that the Enforcer has once again been recognized as the market-leading intruder product by the installers. We are very proud and appreciative for this.” Since winning the award in 2017, many developments have been made that have contributed to this success, including the addition of ProControl+, Hik-Connect and Hikvision’s iVMS-4200 integration. These add great value to the Enforcer allowing installers to extend their offerings, compete in new markets, remain competitive, and provide new and desired solutions to end users in a converging industry. Now, installers can offer the best of both worlds in one solution – market-leading intrusion and video combined in one Enforcer system. PSI CCTV Product of the Year Hikvision also won the PSI Premier ‘CCTV Product of The Year’ Awards 2018 for the third year in a row. The honoured Hikvision product was the PanoVu mini-series IR network PTZ camera (DS-2PT3326IZ-DE3), which integrates four cameras into one to provide both panoramic video images for general observation or detection and closeups of any areas where more detail is required. The Hikvision DS-2PT3326IZ-DE3 was chosen by PSI readers – mostly surveillance systems designers and installers – who voted on the PSI website. With more than 1,000 surveillance professionals voting each year, PSI’s CCTV Product of the Year category is strongly contested, making Hikvision’s achievement even more gratifying. Gary Harmer, Sales Director for Hikvision UK & Ireland said, “Thanks to everyone who voted for Hikvision, and to PSI for running and hosting the awards. We’re constantly innovating to create surveillance products that provide installers and end customers high performance, industry leading features, and excellent value for money. With a keen balance of wide-angle video, close-up footage, and 3D positioning, the DS-2PT3326IZ-DE3 offers all of these benefits – a fact that was recognised by PSI’s readers this year.” The features behind the award The DS-2PT3326IZ-DE3 offers a range of innovative technology features that are likely to have appealed to PSI’s informed readership. These include 3x fixed lenses that capture panoramic views and 1x central PTZ for capturing more zoomed in views, which collectively support both wide-angle and close-up video. All cameras that are integrated into the product feature crystal-clear video imaging. In addition to these features, the Hikvision DS2PT3326IZ-DE3 provides a range of industry leading security features that installers and customers value. These include user authentication and IP address filtering, and protection against voltage surges. Finally, but of equal importance, the Hikvision DS2PT3326IZ-DE3 supports highly efficient audio and video compression. This helps customers minimize their data transmission and storage costs, and lower their overall OPEX. PSI is an industry-leading professional security magazine based in the UK, which annually hosts its PSI Premier Awards. This year the event was attended by Ray Parlour, the former England and Arsenal midfielder. The PSI Premier Awards ask industry professionals to nominate and vote for the solutions which catch the attention of the market. By allowing installers to vote for their favourite products and determine the winner, makes it a highly coveted accolade in the industry.  

The Ministry of Home Affairs, GoI has recently launched a website www.psara.gov.in on the Private Security Agencies (Regulation) Act 2005, which regulates the private security sector in India. The objective of the portal is to enable individuals, and public and private offices to easily access the provisions of the Act and know whether a particular agency has a valid license. This portal will help enhance the enforcement of licensing provisions and effectively curb the existence of unlicensed agencies. This will also help in improving compliance relating to the verification of antecedents of the employees of these agencies. This website makes it convenient for the general public to access the Private Security Agency (Regulation) Act, 2005 and Private Security Agencies Central Model Rules along with various instructions/ clarifications issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs time to time. It carries information in regards to the Controlling Authorities, licensed agencies, agencies whose licenses have been cancelled and the reasons thereof, model rules framed under the Act by the states/ UTs, details of valid training institutions, and other related information. Prospective entrepreneurs, who intend to set up an agency in this sector, can extract details of their relevance from the website and act accordingly. The portal was launched in a meeting presided over by Rajiv Gauba, Union Home Secretary. Other dignitaries present there were Vivek Bharadwaj, IAS, Joint Secretary (PM), MHA who briefed the Home Secretary about the various issues being faced by the Controlling Authorities and PSAs, Kunwar Vikram Singh, Chairman, CAPSI who made a brief presentation on the size, growth and issues of the private security sector, along with Mahesh Sharma, Secretary General, Jasbir Wasu, and Anil Puri, Vice Presidents, CAPSI.  

The Court of Hon’ble Justice Vibhu Bakhru upheld that the communication issued by National Skill Develop Corporation (NSDC) on 9 January 2018 to the AXIS Bank directing it to freeze the bank accounts of the petitioner i.e., Security Sector Skill Development Council (SSSDC), was plainly without any authority of law and accordingly that has been set aside. The Court asked Abhinav Vashisht, the senior counsel appearing for NSDC, to indicate any provision of law that authorises his client to take such action. Mr Vashisht contended that as the petitioner was diverting the funds, and the action was taken in pursuant to the direction issued by the Government of India, it was justified. However, he was unable to cite any provision of law which authorises the Corporation to direct the bank to freeze the accounts. The principal reason for NSDC to have taken the said action stems from an allegation that the petitioner had diverted the grant given by the Government of India. SSSDC does agree that the grant was provided to them some years ago, however, they also confirm that it was fully utilised for the purpose it was given for. At the given stage, the Court didn’t consider whether the allegations made were correct or not; it just examined whether NSDC had any authority in law to direct freezing of the bank accounts of any other entity. The court, however, clarified that the order does not preclude the Corporation from initiating any action in accordance with the law including for recovering any amount, which as it claims is recoverable from the petitioner. On the other hand, the court also reserved all rights of SSSDC including their right to pursue remedies in respect to other prayers which were not processed at the stage. A notice issued by the Court in this connection was accepted by the counsel of respondents. Earlier, SSSDC filed the petition, inter alia, praying as under: a. Issue an appropriate writ of Mandamus and/ or such other appropriate writ, order or direction quashing and setting aside the impugned order dated 05.01.2018 and 09.01.2018 issued by the Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship; and/or b. Issue an appropriate writ of Mandamus and/ or such other appropriate writ, order or direction quashing and setting aside the impugned order 09.01.2018 passed by NSDC. Arvind Datar, the senior counsel appearing for SSSDC, however, restricted the relief in the present petition to the second prayer by which SSSDC challenged the NSDC order whereby they had directed AXIS Bank to freeze the bank accounts of SSSDC. Vaibhav Gaggar, Partner, Gaggar & Partners, who represented SSSDC in the High Court Commented, “The way the proceedings went and the judgment of the Hon’ble court showed in no uncertain terms that certain bodies are clearly targeting the SSSDC and are willing to resort to means which are well beyond their powers under law in order to hurt them. It was inconceivable as to how the bodies concerned were able to get the bank to freeze accounts of SSSDC without following any law whatsoever. The judgment should go a long way in eradicating the arbitrary and strong arm measures which are sought to be resorted to by the concerned parties.”