Category: National

The 5th Smart Cities India expo, jointly organised by India Trade Promotion Organisation (ITPO) and Exhibitions India Group, was inaugurated by Durga Shanker Mishra, Secretary, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, Government of India, at the Pragati Maidan, New Delhi on 22nd May 2019. The three-day expo was a congregation of innovators and imaginators, academia, policy makers and city administrators, government representatives, business delegates, multinationals etc., that came to strike business deals, expand their markets, and explore new technologies and solutions in the fields of smart cities, water management, solar, transport and infrastructure. The expo saw record visitor numbers and strong sales across all disciplines. It had something to offer to all – trade delegations moved fruitfully from booth to booth, ideas exchanged among compatriots, and business was discussed. The fourth smart cities awards, conducted by Exhibitions India Group on the last day of the expo, received 236 nominations across 17 categories. A jury of 11 eminent members having vast experience and knowledge on the subject of smart cities across various categories such as water, education, infrastructure etc., selected the winners. The awards were presented to 17 winners, while certificates of merit were presented in 5 categories. Among the winners were New Delhi Municipal Council Smart City Ltd. for e-waste collection; Smart City Ahmedabad Development Ltd. for intelligent transit management system – automatic fare collection system; Smart City Ahmedabad Development Ltd. for safe and secure Ahmedabad project; Diesel Loco Modernisation Works Patiala for new electric locomotive – WAP7; Southern Power Distribution Company of Telangana Ltd. for solar rooftops etc. Meanwhile, talking about their experience at the 5th Smart Cities India 2019 expo, Bharat Kaushal, Managing Director, Hitachi India said, “Cities are complex organisms of people, governments, businesses and organisations, which require holistic solutions that address the needs of all stakeholders. The 5th Smart Cities India 2019 expo is an integrated platform for us to showcase Hitachi’s technological prowess in the smart city space, displaying our diversified social innovation business solutions and our commitment towards enhancing the lives of citizens digitally.” Samson Khaou, Managing Director (India), Dassault Systèmes said, “By 2030, India’s urban population will increase to more than 800 million, and over the next decade, cities will account for more than 70% of the country’s GDP. We have witnessed a push from the state governments to modernise infrastructure and build smart cities that involves building and renovating facilities, as well as construction of roads and highways. This will require significant collaboration and efficient monitoring. In addition, urban planners, architects and engineering and construction firms will leverage our 3d experience platform to deliver ‘more by using less’ in order to create a sustainable city that improves the life of the citizens.” Sharing his experience of the expo, a visitor said, “We, as common people, usually do not realise the hard work put in by our government and local administrators in creating the infrastructure of our cities. This exhibition and the conferences that I attended have been an eye opener for me.” A group of students who had come exploring, discussed in excitement all the new technologies they had seen and were fascinated with some exhibits as well. “We have heard about electric vehicles, but never seen them. Here, we got to experience such vehicles first-hand and saw their charging stations. The EV technology is the future and I am glad to see our government is actively promoting it.” Sharing his views about the exhibition, Prem Behl, Chairman, Exhibitions India Group said, “It has been action-packed three days for us and the response has been overwhelming. From the first-ever Smart Cities India expo, we have grown to emerge as one of the most popular trade shows in South Asia that showcases all facets of a smart city. Today, we cover multiple technologies that shape modern cities. Our intent is to provide a platform to all verticals associated with the Smart Cities to create state-of-the-art infrastructure, capable of providing a holistic experience to the citizens dwelling in the urban habitats. Our focus will now shift to preparing for next year with the vision to give our partners, clients and visitors an experience that would be as business productive, intriguing and enriching. We have already lined up a few surprises that will be unveiled at the 6th Smart Cities India 2020 expo.”  

Against a global backdrop, holograms continue to be widely deployed as an effective weapon in the fight against counterfeiting and anti-tampering, offering product authentication benefits to business and commerce. As small unobtrusive devices, they are also seen as handy platforms for the unique identifiers required as part of advanced track and trace programmes. Growth in hologram usage is being driven by increased global consumption on the back of rising populations, particularly in developing parts of the world and geographic regions with nascent economies. As demand has grown, so has the trade in illicit goods produced by ever more skilful, determined and resourceful counterfeiters and criminal organisations. However, innovative technologies and processes are helping holograms to reach out, broadening their appeal and secure new markets where they can play integral roles in resisting the dark underbelly of illegal trade in place like Asia and the Far East, where authentication procedures are not so strenuous and the dangers more acute. In India, for instance, holograms are supporting new ways to protect indigenous industries such as fishing. The state government of Kerala in India has introduced 300 Holographic Registration Plates (HRPs) in a move to tackle the increasing number of unregistered fishing vessels that infiltrate coastal regions and have been identified as being involved in criminal activities including human trafficking. Chair of the International Hologram Manufacturers Association considers how holography is finding a new role in the battle to protect fishing. – Paul Dunn The HRPs, which are designed as a tetrahedron to be visible from all sides, feature embossed security holograms which are extremely difficult to duplicate. Individual plates are fixed on top of the wheel house with an identification ion number laser etched to ensure each of the vessels has a unique identifier. The application of holograms in this way is replacing the traditional registration marks applied to boat hulls, or to the beading on top of the wheel house. This is enabling the authorities to better track fake fishing vessel, improve coastal security, boost the recognition of unregistered vessels out at sea and in conducting rescue operations more effectively. The project is already reaping benefits, according to S Venkatesapathy, Director, Fisheries Department, Kerala who is quoted as saying HRP will prove extremely helpful in ensuring coastal security and vessel identification. Looking to the future, the department is considering the practicality of creating an HRP networking system for real-time monitoring of sea-going vessels through incorporating the HRP with GPS functionality. A microchip containing the details of the vessel and the crew could also be fitted with it. The capacity for holography to incorporate other data forms and recognition information continues to grow in importance but for now it is clear the technology demonstrates an ability to thwart criminal activity in challenging and difficult to monitor industries. With advancements in technology and widening applications, there’s no reason why the technology should not continue to play a critical part in the on-going battle to remain one step ahead of the counterfeiters. The IHMA is made up of almost 100 of the world’s leading hologram companies. Members include the leading producers and converters of holograms for banknote security, anti-counterfeiting, brand protection, packaging, graphics and other commercial applications around the world, and actively cooperate to maintain the highest professional, security and quality standards.  

In pursuit to educate, skill and upskill the aspirants for private security industry as well as the private security personnel, and to upscale their technical knowledge, Central Association of Private Security Industry (CAPSI) has recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Sardar Patel University of Police, Security and Criminal Justice (SPUP), Jodhpur (Rajasthan) to establish a collaborative relation between the two institutions towards academics and research. The MoU was signed by NRK Reddy, IPS, (DGP – Prison, Jaipur) and Vice Chancellor of SPUP, and Kunwar Vikram Singh, Chairman, CAPSI at the headquarters of CAPSI New Delhi. Sardar Patel University of Police, Security and Criminal Justice (SPUP) is a statutory body which was established under an Act passed by the State Legislature, Government of Rajasthan in 2012. Mr. Reddy appreciated CAPSI for their efforts to bring quality security knowledge to security personnel as well as the community at large. With this association, they will cooperate and work together to frame the syllabus, and conduct degree, diploma and certificate courses in security management as per the requirements of the industry. They have also decided to put their joint efforts in arranging for easy internship and placements for the successful students. These advance courses will help security personnel to get job overseas. In their first step in this endeavour, SPUP and CAPSI have framed the syllabus for BA in Security Management, and launched the course which will start from July this year. This course will be a launch pad for aspiring students who are willing to work in supervisory and managerial positions in the private security industry. “There is a need for specialized courses on security management. Our association in collaboration with SPUP will help in getting good quality of managers and supervisors for private security industry. There is a growing demand for private security personnel from all over the globe. Our trained manpower with proper degrees and certificates will increase their employability abroad, particularly in Europe and Gulf nations where demand is sky high,” said Kunwar Vikram Singh. “Our collaboration with CAPSI will help in getting more and more trained personnel on the ground. Going ahead we will introduce new courses and training modules for guards as well as supervisors,” said Mr. Reddy. The MoU signing ceremony was attended by dignified representatives of both SPUP and CAPSI. Earlier CAPSI also introduced BBA in Security Management under the aegis of Noida International University, Noida.  

Fifty nine (59) years old Ramanjit Singh Oberoi, Head – Credit Control, AP Securitas Group has once again defied his age and upheld that age is just a number. He has participated in the Boston Marathon on 15 April 2019 with around 30000 runners, and finished the 26 mile (42 Kms) run in three hours and forty minutes. He believes that everything is achievable, if one pursues one’s passion single mindedly. “I discovered running rather late in life when almost people are slowing down. But I saw how it made me feel – I feel free and doubly alive. When I am on the road, in the hills, I start singing. It’s the most enjoyable part of my life, I will not give it up,” said Mr. Oberoi. “An Individual’s pursuit of excellence needs to be encouraged and supported. We at APS are deeply involved in Raman’s journey of marathons. We find more and more members of the APS family taking part in shorter runs. It is not uncommon to see people talking of building stamina and adopting a healthier life style. His strenuous hard work also inspires us to imbibe this indomitable spirit in our work place and become a better professional and service Provider “ – Anil Puri CMD, APS Group Now at the age of 59, he has an enviable track record of huge successes in various marathons. His unbounded energy and enthusiasm found inspiration in the APS environment and he ran his first half-marathon at the age of 55. He has participated in 23 half-marathons and 3 full-marathons before qualifying for the Boston Marathon 2019 (USA). Raman reflects and embodies the indomitable spirit of a ‘Security Man.’ Anil Puri, CMD – AP Securitas, celebrated the achievement, and felicitated Raman at a grand party thrown in his honour.  

IndiaNivesh is one of the leading financial service conglomerates in India which is into various aspects of investment banking and consulting business. It plans to emerge as a dynamic, customer-centric and progressive financial group in the country with pan India presence. Having its head office in Mumbai, IndiaNivesh is growing with eight regional offices and 29 branch offices across India. Business challenge IndiaNivesh required eradication of forged attendance data and manual attendance process, as security is a crucial aspect for them. It has been a tedious task for them to streamline and manage attendance data of all employees accurately and perform calculation of error-free salary. Integrating their existing payroll software with the time-attendance software was challenging. Offered solution Matrix offered COSEC Time-Attendance solution with web based architecture, that can help IndiaNivesh in connecting all its regional and branch offices to their head office in Mumbai. Matrix COSEC time-attendance software can get easily integrated with existing payroll software, and hence it can also help the company in automatic salary calculation. Result Real-time attendance of all employees at a centralized location. Integration with its existing payroll software. Ease of implementation using the existing infrastructure. Fraudulent time-keeping is completely eliminated. Accurate in/ out time of each employee. Live monitoring of in/ out timing. Generation of time-attendance and access control reports and charts for all branches. Improved overall productivity of the organization. Continuous operations with excellent service support. Products COSEC Door FOP: Optical fingerprint based door controller for access control and time-attendance. COSEC Door CAS: Card based door controller for access control and time-attendance. COSEC Panel: Site controller to manage multiple door controllers and advanced access control features. COSEC LE Platform: Application server platform for 1000 Users and expandable up to one million users. COSEC LE TAM: Comprehensive time-attendance and leave management module for COSEC LE platform. COSEC LE ACM: Comprehensive access control module for COSEC LE platform.  

NEC Technologies India (NECTI), a leading player in the integration of IT and network technologies, has been awarded a contract as the master system integrator for installing CCTV surveillance and traffic management systems in Gurugram City. Under the project, selected locations in Gurugram will be fitted with a variety of CCTV cameras to perform traffic enforcement and general surveillance across 115 sectors of Gurugram and Manesar. The project was awarded in March 2019 and is expected to be implemented within this year. To support the implementation of a comprehensively integrated video surveillance system, NECTI will set up IP-based outdoor security cameras across various identified locations in the city. The video surveillance system from NEC will help in enforcing traffic discipline through the use of AI-based analytics software such as automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) and red light violation detection (RLVD). The system will monitor traffic junctions and other sensitive areas to identify traffic offenders and issue alarms. Subsequent e-challans (electronic fines) can be issued to offenders who are captured flouting traffic rules with the help of these systems. In the first phase of the project, approximately 1,200 high definition (HD) and ultra high definition (UHD) cameras are expected to be deployed in over 200 traffic junctions, sending video feeds to monitoring centers 24 hours a day. The project will utilize the dedicated optical fiber backbone currently being laid out by the Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA) using robust ring network topology. Cameras deployed in key selected locations will be equipped with facial recognition technology featuring NeoFace Watch, NEC’s flagship facial recognition software platform, to identify persons of interest and other suspicious elements to support law enforcement efforts. Commenting on the occasion, Takayuki Inaba, Managing Director, NEC Technologies India said, “Gurugram, one of Delhi’s major satellite cities, is host to many leading brands and representatives from across the world, and is widely acknowledged as a finance and technology hub. We are honored to be awarded this project and contribute to Gurugram’s smart city ambitions. NEC aims to leverage our global expertise while bringing cutting edge technologies and established best-practices to Gurugram as a master system integrator. We are looking forward to working closely with the Gurugram Municipal Development Authority to create a better society and a safer environment for its residents.” The Gurugram Municipal Development Authority added, “The current population of Gurugram is estimated to be close to 2.5 million and is expected to grow rapidly over the next few years. We need to constantly aim and strive to work towards enhancing public welfare, and NEC’s leading position in the field of public safety is paramount behind our decision to work with them. We are hopeful that the successful implementation of this project will propel Gurugram into an attractive city to live, work and visit.” NEC brings more than 100 years of expertise in technological innovation to provide solutions for empowering people, businesses and society. Headquartered in Japan, NEC started operations in India in the 1950s, accelerating its growth through the expansion of business to global markets. NEC in India expanded its business from telecommunications to public safety, logistics, transportation, retail, finance, unified communication and IT platforms, serving across governments, businesses as well as individuals. With its Centre of Excellence for analytics platform solutions, big data, biometrics, mobile and retail, NEC in India offers innovative new services and solutions for India and global markets.

Kumbh Mela – one of world’s largest spiritual gatherings and a mass Hindu pilgrimage of faith – is a highly revered religious event where Hindus gather to bathe in a holy river. The spectacular fair displays uniqueness of the Hindu tradition, culture and historical significance. There are four normal Kumbh Melas, which are held periodically in every three years at Allahabad (Prayagraj), Haridwar, Nashik, and Ujjain. At any given place, the Kumbh Mela is held every 12 years.   The recently held event at Prayagraj is Ardh Kumbh Mela which is held every six years at Hardwar and Prayagraj. The Allhabad Ardh Kumbh Mela, held from 15 January to 4 March 2019, is claimed to be one of the most successfully organised mega event of this calibre – especially in terms of safety and security. A massive 39 sq. km of land area was turned into a temporary city, constructed by nearly 20,000 workers, to provide shelter to millions of pilgrims, sages and ascetics. The whole area had an arrangement of 1 lakh makeshift urinals, and 40,000 LED lights were installed to brighten the ceremony.  Challenges Managing and ensuring safety and security of people in lakhs was not an easy task. Safe movement of pilgrims, monitoring of crowd and dispersals through gates at such a large scale were some key challenges, and hence the concerned authorities planned to implement several security measures considering factors like the expanse of area, number of people, vulnerable spots and methods of security arrangement. There were arrangements of four Police Lines with 40 Police Thanas, three Mahila Thanas, and 62 Police outposts. The authority also employed Jal Police with 3 units along the river stretch, and one Mounted Police Line to ensure seamless pilgrim movement by the river front and in other crucial religious spots. Monitoring that massive crowd in millions to prevent stampede and like disasters also required cutting edge security solutions such as integrated CCTV surveillance system (ICCC). Solution by CP PLUS Collaborating with the UP Police, CP PLUS installed a total of 1,135 CCTV cameras covering 268 vulnerable locations of the expansive 39 sq. kms of area. An Integrated Command and Control Centre (ICCC) was set up, which included 2 sub-command and control centres with 4 video monitoring cells and 20 video wall cubes, well-connected to installed CCTV cameras. The integrated ICCC surveillance solution by CP PLUS helped in the monitoring of crowd activities and provided round the clock surveillance of the entire expanse, preventing any unfortunate occurrences. The ICCC unit was manned by 120 monitoring operators and 30 call centre operators, making the execution of this mammoth-size project by CP PLUS a roaring success. CP PLUS meticulously combined some of the latest surveillance solutions for the event – Video analytics and real-time video analysis for crowd management. Real-time detection and alert algorithm for overcrowded spaces. Automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) system for parking sites. Vehicle detection by vehicle colour/ license plate and date time combinations. Variable message display (VMD) boards. Real-time information dissemination containing warnings, traffic advice, route guidance and emergency messages. Text and graphic based messages display. Integrated traffic management system. The impact With the given safety and security measures, Ardh Kumbh Mela Prayagraj 2019 went on for more than 20 days with reportage of zero mishap. The operators of the integrated command and control centre remotely helped authorities by making live feeds of the vulnerable areas readily available, enabling early alarm mechanism, and providing complete control on the crowd movement with the police personnel. Director General – UP Police, O.P. Singh applauded the efforts of the police personnel and CP PLUS, and said, “We employed all kinds of modern surveillance technologies to make this Kumbh Mela a huge success. Simultaneously, forces – ATS and NSG – were on duty to prevent terrorist’s acts an/ or any other criminal or unpleasant incidents in the fair. Commandos monitored the event via choppers and worked in collaboration with the surveillance provider. For us, it was crucial to maintain safety of the people at the most vulnerable spots without intervening in the fair rituals. We received tremendous support from the designated surveillance teams who enabled us in monitoring such a massive crowd as per our requirement with zero mishap count.”  

Parekh Integrated Services Pvt. Ltd (PISPL) is in the business of providing high-quality logistics services that give customers a competitive advantage in the Indian market. Established in 1981, PISPL is a one-stop shop logistics and supply chain service provider in India offering storage and distribution services, freight forwarding, transportation, information technology and cold chain management solutions, along with other value added services to multiple industry verticals. Challenges Parekh Integrated Services Pvt. Ltd (PISPL) has established their operation with more than 1,500 warehouses and distribution setups to cover all the major cities in India for their services. With this expansion, IT infrastructure equipment was procured, including IP video surveillance systems of different reputed brands from different vendors. Over a period, it became costly and difficult to manage different brands procured separately at different locations. Cost of operation also went up due to the technical expertise required for each individual system. PISPL was looking for a centralized solution, which can work with different reputed brands as well as give them a common control of all the video surveillance systems to reduce the technical manpower cost for different systems. Due to low bandwidth at some of the remote locations, PISPL was not able to secure video evidence at a central location. It was required for any kind of post analysis or dispute resolution. PISPL were looking for an occupancy control system in each warehouse/ storage area to manage and control the worker’s presence in sensitive areas. It was getting difficult to do it manually at each location with the increase in number of employees over the last few years. Solution offered Matrix provided video management software (VMS) as the centralized platform to monitor and manage all the cameras from a central location on a single platform, which led to reduction in operation cost. Matrix VMS supports all the camera models of major brands including ACTI, Samsung, SONY, Mobotix, Panasonic, Vivotek etc., along with ONVIF protocol. Using Matrix VMS solution, PISPL enabled the centralized schedule backup at an even lower bandwidth from all locations to the central location. This made it easy to go through the video evidence at a central location and resolve issues in a short time. Another issue of maintaining occupancy up to a certain limit in each zone was addressed by the Matrix VMS Crowd Management feature. All the entry/ exit points were covered with a camera to count number of heads passing through the points. From central control room, using Matrix Smart Client, security can monitor the total occupancy of an area and instruct the team accordingly. Why Matrix? Matrix VMS architecture supports centralized/ decentralized monitoring and management. Matrix VMS interoperable with most of the reputed brands. Possibility of scheduled backup at central location even at lower bandwidth. People counting feature to control zone occupancy Benefits Centralized control and management. Ease of use. Secure evidence. Improve productivity.  

Hikvision, the world’s leading supplier in innovative video surveillance products and solutions, has recently conducted the Hikvision Certified Security Associates (HCSA) Program in five different phases in five cities including Chandigarh (25-27 February), Ludhiana (28 February-2 March), Ahmedabad (7-8-9 March), Surat (14-15-16 March) and Ranchi (25-26-27 March). It got an overwhelming response from the young security professional community. The three day comprehensive HCSA Program included training sessions on optics basics, turbo HD analog solution, PTZ configuration, network basics, IP camera, NVR, fish eye camera, iVMS 4200 and smart functions and applications. The HCSA training program was conducted by the trainers Vinit Narvekar, Kishan Parakhiya and Amit Singh. The idea behind HCSA is to give hands on training and demonstration as a part of the training program. As part of this certification program a dedicated online examination and practical test was conducted after training sessions. “Hikvision has set the industry standard by offering professional video surveillance certification to validate video expertise under Hikvision Certified Security Associate (HCSA) program in India. This Hikvision certification program is specially designed for the security professionals. Besides, Hikvision provides meaningful endorsement to those, who succeed in the exam and become Hikvision Certified Professionals,” said Ashish P. Dhakan, MD & CEO, Prama Hikvision India Pvt. Ltd. The Hikvision Certified Security Associate (HCSA) level certification focuses on training participants in essential configurations, operations & maintenance of Hikvision video surveillance products and its features. It is designed for technical engineers, who have worked in the security industry for some years and have already gained knowledge and experience about security basics. The certification program is open to anyone looking at to gain expertise in video surveillance and total security solution. The trainee should have at least one- year of work experience in the security industry and be familiar with security basics. The successful batch of Hikvision Certified Security Associates (HCSA) Program participants will receive the HCSA certificates along with the enriching technology updates and product training experience. The next HCSA program schedule will be announced as per schedule on the Hikvision website.