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  • Are you lost interest in OTT apps? Cross-platform skills can be handy

    Are you lost interest in OTT apps? Cross-platform skills can be handy

    Consumers have subscribed to multiple streaming platforms, but often struggle to keep track of new releases, missing several shows that they may be interested in. In this backdrop, cross-platform recommendation engines are set to gain in popularity, as consumers demand a better search experience to find content across OTT apps.

    On average, consumers juggle three to four paid streaming subscriptions, and nearly 50% express frustration with finding content across these services, as per Deloitte’s Digital Media Trends Survey. Globally, several types of cross-platform recommendation engines are gaining traction. These platforms, like Reelgood and JustWatch, aggregate content from numerous streaming services and build recommendation algorithms that work across a unified catalogue.

    New premium real estate in streaming
    In fact, the common user interface will be the new premium real estate on digital platforms, particularly on connected TVs (CTVs or internet-enabled TV), and could drive carriage and placement revenues in the medium term as platforms struggle for profitability, according to the latest Ficci EY report.

    This would require a strategy that goes beyond bundling, or offering multiple apps together for a discounted price. Entertainment industry experts say cross-platform recommendation engines that are emerging as a fix, track user behaviour across multiple services, offering unified recommendations. Big tech companies are leading the charge, leveraging their data ecosystems to power multi-platform insights. Independent data intelligence companies are also playing a pivotal role, offering APIs (application programming interfaces) and metadata solutions that connect disparate platforms. These engines bridge the gap between siloed platforms, helping users navigate the fragmented OTT space.

    Challenges in content discovery
    “With over 40 OTT platforms catering to diverse linguistic and regional audiences, users often struggle to find content that aligns with their tastes. That’s where aggregators come in, they act as one-stop content discovery hubs, reducing the friction of app-hopping by offering a unified recommendation layer. Beyond aggregators, telecom giants and connected TV are integrating AI-powered recommendation engines at the device level, influencing user behaviour by suggesting content even before users open an app. This makes the entire experience feel more intuitive and seamless,” said Saurabh Srivastava, chief operating officer, digital business, Shemaroo Entertainment Ltd.

    OTT platforms today face a discovery overload, thanks to too much content, but limited ways to discover what’s relevant, said Russhabh R. Thakkar, founder and CEO, Frodoh, an ad tech company. Algorithms often prioritize trending content over personalized recommendations, leaving smaller titles buried. This problem has grown bigger, as platforms rapidly expand libraries without parallel innovation in discovery tech.

    Future of OTT discovery, personalization
    Kavita Shenoy, CEO, Voiro, an ad operations and revenue analytics platform, pointed out that while some series release content in tranches, today, the audience either waits for a season to drop completely or watches it asynchronously and not at an appointed time, making it difficult for recommendation engines to understand viewership and content consumption behaviour.

    Additionally, the rise of addictive short-form video content has significantly altered user attention spans. Streaming TV has normalised behaviours like skipping and skimming content and fragmented viewing, further complicating the task of recommendation algorithms, she emphasized.

    “With smart TVs aggregating content from different apps, recommendation engines can now pull data from multiple sources to create a seamless viewing experience. This aggregated interface becomes the perfect canvas for cross-platform recommendation engines to thrive. Additionally, the rise of family co-viewing on CTVs means recommendations must now cater to group preferences, pushing platforms to rethink their algorithms. CTV also opens up deeper personalization possibilities through richer data—such as time-of-day usage patterns, viewing durations, and real-time context,” Thakkar said.

    To be sure, the future of OTT discovery lies in smarter, more seamless solutions that prioritize viewer experience over platform boundaries, according to entertainment industry experts.

    Smarter search, seamless discovery
    Phanimohan Kalagara, chief technology officer, Gracenote, the content data business unit of Nielsen, said that a key step forward is the development of universal content registries that index availability across services, paired with standardized metadata frameworks to create a more cohesive and intuitive search experience. “Voice-powered search, enhanced with natural language understanding, will further reduce friction—allowing users to make contextual queries like ‘show me something funny’ or ‘find action movies with female leads’.”

    Beyond traditional genres, mood and theme-based discovery will align recommendations with viewers’ emotions and preferences, making content discovery more intuitive, Kalagara said. Personalized content feeds, aggregated across multiple platforms through unified viewer profiles, will streamline recommendations, ensuring users spend less time searching and more time watching, he added.

    Avinash Mudaliar, CEO, OTTPlay, the recommendation and content discovery platform for streaming services launched by HT Media Labs (part of the same organization as Mint) said OTTPlay provides a unified platform where users can see movies and shows available across their various subscriptions in one place. It operates on an AI-based recommendation engine which captures its users’ watch patterns, likes, dislikes and clubs it to deliver a personalised recommendation engine.

    “In today’s fiercely-competitive OTT landscape, while content remains paramount, it is the viewers who ultimately determine its success. Viewers expect services that understand their consumption habits, including time spent, preferred viewing times, language preferences, and content choices such as genres and favourite actors,” said Devyani Ozarde, managing director and lead – media and entertainment, Accenture in India. “With AI-powered advancements, original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) can now offer superior cross-platform content discovery, catering to users who often subscribe to multiple providers. Connected TV OEMs are at the forefront with data and AI-powered recommendations and voice-based search, significantly reducing search time.” LiveMint

  • Funding cuts by the Trump admin chill the biotech sector

    Funding cuts by the Trump admin chill the biotech sector

    Trump administration cuts across federal health agencies have sent shivers through a biotech industry already struggling through a prolonged downturn, increasing concerns they will have a harder time getting products approved, investors, company executives and analysts said.

    Mass firings at the US Food and Drug Administration are particularly risky for small- and mid-cap biotech companies that have innovative treatments in clinical trials but no products on the market to keep them afloat, these sources told Reuters.

    Directives from President Donald Trump’s administration to freeze grant funding from the National Institutes of Health may also discourage future talent and resources from flowing into the biotech sector, some of them said.

    The S&P Biotech ETF index hit an 18-month low last week and is trading at less than half its 2021 peak. It is down about 20% this year.

    A record nearly 30% of US-listed small- and mid-cap biotech companies are trading at or below cash, suggesting the market does not ascribe any value to their existing business or drug development pipeline, according to Jefferies analysts.

    “The sector needs a predictable, science-led regulator to function,” said Linden Thomson, senior fund manager at asset manager Candriam, whose biotech fund holds shares in Vertex and Ascendis Pharma.

    “The future cash flows of the businesses that are used to value stocks are, in biotechnology, in large part based on US commercial sales. If you don’t have US approvals you don’t have future value,” Thomson added.

    US Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. says the layoffs that began last week are needed to streamline the nation’s health bureaucracy and will improve agencies’ work. But the ouster of top scientists at FDA and other institutions has raised questions over how they will fulfill their missions.

    Biotechs have faced delays in scheduling meetings and receiving feedback from the FDA that guides drug development, according to a letter from company executives and investors to Congress this week. “Many have concerns that approval decision deadlines will be missed,” the letter said.

    “The overwhelming view is that the regulatory agency is impaired, although we have not seen the consequences of it yet since the layoffs and firings have only recently occurred,” said Paul Ariano, associate portfolio manager at Thornburg Investment Management, whose fund holds shares in Sarepta Therapeutics and Cytokinetics.

    “Sentiment is bad and there is little clarity on the factors that could provide more optimism,” he said.

    ‘Perilous time’
    Multiple Trump executive orders are blocking funding from the NIH. Funds for early-stage research that NIH has traditionally provided help drive the formation of biotech startups, some of which go on to develop important medicines on their own or in conjunction with large pharmaceutical companies.

    “It’s a perilous time for small- and mid-cap biotech companies and this will have knock-on effects for the development of new medicines and treatments in years to come,” said Tim Opler, managing director in Stifel Investment Bank’s Global Healthcare Group.

    Shares in biotech firms have been under pressure since a peak of investment during the Covid-19 pandemic, hampered by high interest rates.

    They declined further after Trump took office in January and the selloff deepened following the resignation of senior FDA scientist Peter Marks, who led the FDA center that regulates vaccines and biological treatments.

    “Everyone is wondering what it will mean with the FDA losing this champion for accelerated regulatory approvals for innovative treatments,” said Nawal Ouzren, CEO of French company Sensorion, which has hearing loss treatments in mid-stage clinical trials.

    The market is viewing each FDA decision on new drug products as a barometer of whether it is functioning normally, investors said. The agency recently missed a decision deadline on a Covid vaccine from Novavax, but gave a green light to a pre-filled syringe version of Argenx’s already-approved immune disorder drug.

    The climate of uncertainty has left biotechs largely unable to access public capital. Biotech companies have raised $4.2 billion this year compared to $11.1 billion in the same period last year, according to LSEG data.

    Christian Koch, head of the biotech fund at Bellevue Asset Management in Zurich, said his fund had recently exited from some companies that could not access capital, while others were trying to find alternative ways to extend their cash runways. He did not name them.

    Arbutus Biopharma, which is testing a hepatitis B drug in mid-stage trials, announced layoffs in March, adding to a growing list of biotech firms who have collectively announced hundreds of staff cuts this year.

    Biotech firms unable to raise fresh funds may increasingly see a benefit in being acquired, said Jefferies analyst Michael Yee. But large deals involving pharma and biotech companies have stalled as executives grapple with mercurial White House economic policies and a global trade war, Reuters reported last month.

    “The vast majority of biotech companies in our coverage are now trading below their fundamental fair value in a near worst case scenario,” said RBC Capital Markets global healthcare analyst Brian Abrahams. Reuters

  • BMC will turn six hospitals up to investors

    BMC will turn six hospitals up to investors

    For seven months last year, Aktari Mohammed Khan had to make frequent visits to Lokmanya Tilak Municipal hospital, 10 km from her home in Mumbai.

    Khan had splitting headaches due to a neurological condition called occipital neuralgia. With no money to afford private treatment, she had to travel in crowded buses till the hospital in Sion, where a government neurologist treated her for free.

    The 38-year-old lives in a tiny hutment in a slum in Mankhurd, where a large number of people displaced by various development projects in Mumbai have been settled over the years. Most of the slum’s residents live in cramped, poorly ventilated spaces and have little access to healthcare.

    For years, they have demanded a government hospital for their needs.

    In 2013, the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority decided to construct a hospital for the rehabilitated people of Mankhurd. The hospital was supposed to have a high-tech operation theatre, a maternity wing and was to have been finished by 2015.

    After a delay of 10 years, the hospital is nearly ready and has been handed over to the municipal corporation.

    Domestic worker Sunita Gazdhane said they have waited for the hospital to open up for years. The 50-year-old lives in a hutment across the new hospital building. “It will be a huge relief for slum dwellers,” said Gazdhane, who visits a private clinic whenever she is ill. “I spend between Rs 100 and Rs 200 there.”

    But there is a catch.

    The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, short on staff and funds, is in process of handing the hospital over to a private organisation to run.

    Khan, whose four sons work in a landfill not far from their home, said she was disappointed with the news. “How will we ever pay for private treatment?” she asked.

    Ateeque Ahmed Khan, a leader of the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen, who contested for the Mankhurd Shivaji Nagar Assembly seat in 2024, asked what “purpose a government hospital will serve in a poor locality if it is privatised”.

    For Mankhurd’s residents, it is vital for the entire hospital to be run at government rates, he said.

    Besides the Mankhurd hospital, the municipal corporation has announced plans to give away five major hospitals in Borivali, Bandra, Vikhroli, Govandi and Mulund to private players under the public-private partnership model, said Ashok Jadhav, chairman of the Municipal Mazdoor Union.

    Each of these hospitals currently serves a significant slum population, who stand to lose out because of the decision.

    Municipal workers protest
    The municipal corporation has so far floated tenders for two hospitals to be handed over to private players – one in Borivali and the second in Mankhurd.

    In Borivali, a newly redeveloped Shri Harilal Bhagwati hospital with 490 beds will be given out to a private player for 30 years.

    According to the tender, accessed by Scroll, the private organisation will have to reserve 147 beds for poor patients, according to rates fixed by the civic body, and can charge private rates on the remaining 343 beds.

    In the Mankhurd hospital, which has 410 beds, only 150 beds will be reserved for free for patients like Khan. The private partner can profit from the remaining 260 beds.

    Four other hospitals that the corporation plans to give away are the KB Bhabha hospital in Bandra, the MT Agrawal hospital in Mulund, the Madan Mohan Malviya Shatabdi hospital in Govandi and Krantiveer Mahatma Jyotiba Phule Hospital in Vikhroli.

    All the hospitals have either undergone a recent expansion funded by the municipal corporation or were in the process of completing it. In its 2020-’21 budget, the civic body had estimated the revamp of Bhagwati hospital in Borivali to cost Rs 592 crore, that of MT Agrawal hospital to cost
    Rs 457 crore, the Shatabdi hospital in Govandi to cost Rs 500 crore and the redevelopment of the Bandra Bhabha to cost Rs 287 crore. It has allocated Rs 1,849 crore for the hospitals in the last four years.

    A former additional municipal commissioner at the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation said the hospitals’ capacity was expanded to meet the growing patient load.

    Bhabha hospital’s bed strength grew to 497 beds, MT Agrawal hospital now can accommodate 470 beds, and the Shatabdi hospital’s bed strength was increased to 580. The Mahatma Jyotiba Phule is still undergoing an expansion.

    The redeveloped hospitals have departments like cardiology, plastic surgery, urology, and gastroenterology, making it easier for people to access free treatment closer to their homes.

    But a health department official said the civic body is fund-strapped as well as short on staff, making it difficult to handle the 17 hospitals under it. This finally led to the decision to hand over the five hospitals, with nearly 2,500 beds, to private partners.

    The move has run into opposition from municipal employees, who will be removed from the hospitals.

    Pradeep Narkar, from the Municipal Mazdoor Union, said their union has begun to approach MLAs and MPs to gather support against the decision. “At least 2,000 nurses, staffers and doctors will be relieved from these hospitals once they get handed over,” Narkar said. Their union has already held a protest outside Bhagwati hospital.

    The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation has promised that the staff will be absorbed in other hospitals with vacancies. For example, there are about 2,230 vacant posts in the KEM, Sion and Nair hospitals.

    “But our opposition is also to the idea of PPP,” Narkar said. “These hospitals are meant for the public who depend on the government to provide affordable treatment.”

    Past experience
    The municipal corporation’s former executive health officer Dr Mangala Gomare said the public-private partnership model is a good option if the civic body has no manpower to manage hospitals or maternity homes.

    “But the challenge is monitoring the private partner and whether they are following all the terms of the contract,” Gomare said, adding that they need a separate cell to monitor such projects.

    For instance, the corporation handed over three maternity hospitals in Goregaon, Mulund and Deonar to private players in 2019. Gomare said monitoring had posed a problem when she was in charge.

    Dr Abhijeet More, from Jan Swasthya Abhiyaan, an organisation that works on public health, said the lack of supervision allows the private partner to profit disproportionately. “This finally affects the health services a poor person receives,” he said. “We have seen in the past that this model has failed in the BMC hospitals.”

    In 2018, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation handed over the administration of intensive care units of six hospitals to Jeevan Jyot Charitable Trusts.

    Five years later, a first information report was filed against the trust for recruiting doctors with Bachelor of Ayurvedic Medicine and Surgery and Bachelor of Homeopathic Medicine and Surgery degrees, instead of trained intensivists, to treat patients in intensive care units. The municipal corporation had to terminate the contract.

    After the Jeevan Jyot incident, similar contract with Criticare and Associates to run intensive care units of two hospitals was terminated.

    The civic body had also handed over the Seven Hills hospital in Marol to a private player in 2005. The contract had to be terminated in 2018 after numerous lapses were found in the implementation of the contract.

    In Govandi, activist Jameela Shaikh helps local residents avail Ayushman Bharat cards to get free treatment under the Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana. “People in this area are very poor,” she said. “They earn Rs 20,000 per month. With that earning they buy rations, pay children’s school fees and rent. There is hardly any money left for healthcare.”

    She added: “If the Shatabdi hospital is privatised, many poor people will have nowhere to go. Instead of expanding services, the BMC is stripping them of their health rights.” Scroll.in

  • Charitable hospitals in Pune spent ₹95.2cr on patient care

    Charitable hospitals in Pune spent ₹95.2cr on patient care

    Last year, charitable hospitals in Pune districts spent ₹ 95.2 crore on treating patients free or at discounted rates under the Indigent Patients Fund (IPF) scheme. However, many such hospitals couldn’t utilise all their funds due to patients’ preferences, said the officials.

    Dr H K Sale, chairman of the Association of Hospitals in Pune, claims that the IPF scheme at Charitable Hospital is benefiting the rich instead of the needy and eligible patients.

    “Several hospitals have noticed a new trend in which ineligible patients are getting admitted to Charitable hospitals as paying patients for treatment. While receiving treatment, they present documents claiming to be eligible for the scheme and free treatment. With the help of politicians and officials, they pressure the hospitals to provide free treatment and even demand a refund for the money they had initially paid despite being ineligible,” he said.

    District collector Jitendra Dudi, who is also head of the district monitoring committee for Charitable Hospitals, said that there is a preference amongst the patients who want specific hospitals due to which funds of some hospitals get exhausted and their IPF account goes into negative balance. However, even if they are in negative balance, they cannot refuse treatment to needy patients,” he said.

    As per the officials, there are 58 charitable hospitals in Pune, 74 in Mumbai and 468 across the rest of the state.

    In the Pune district last year, as many as 86,826 patients were provided free and discounted treatment under the IPF scheme by Charitable Hospitals. Between 1 January and 31 December 2024, as many as ₹ 81.8 crore were deposited in the IPF account by all 58 charitable hospitals. However, the hospitals together provided treatment worth ₹ 95.2 crore, i.e., ₹ 13.4 crore more than they were supposed to spend, said the officials.

    The Indigent Patients Fund (IPF) scheme, framed by the Bombay High Court (HC) and rolled out in September 2006, all charitable hospitals in the state allocate two per cent of their gross billing to help indigent or economically weak patients. This aid has to be in the form of free treatment to those with an annual income below ₹ 1.8 lakh and at 50 per cent discounted billing for patients whose family’s annual income does not exceed ₹ ₹ 3.6 lakh. Charitable hospitals get FSI, concessions in water, power, customs, sales and income taxes, amongst other benefits.

    Dudi further informed that last year, 34 complaints were received against the charitable hospitals, and all have been resolved.

    “Patients and kin in case of any complaints regarding the charitable Hospitals, can approach the Joint Charity commissioner Pune or district collector office with their complaints,” he said.

    The State government last year (April) established a Special Help Cell and district-level committees (November) to monitor the reserved beds and implementation of the IPF scheme at charitable hospitals in the state. These changes were made to monitor the successful implementation of the IPF scheme to increase transparency and ensure that poor patients receive free and subsidized treatment under the system.

    According to government data, after the system was made online, in 2024, 10,040 patients were allotted beds online, with ₹9.40 crore spent on their treatment in the state. Officials report no formal complaints this year, except for one against Aditya Birla Memorial Hospital, Pune, during which a notice was issued to the hospital, said officials.

    Rameshwar Naik, head of the Special Help Cell, Maharashtra, said some hospitals reportedly fail to even display their charitable status or inform patients of their entitlements. Due to this, we have established a district-level committee to monitor the IPF scheme. “There are preferences due to which there is a load on some hospitals and their funds get exhausted. We don’t want injustice either to the hospital or the patients. Soon we will make mode changes in the scheme for better implementation,” he said. Hindustan Times

  • Musk affirms Somalia’s acceptance of Starlink

    Musk affirms Somalia’s acceptance of Starlink

    Elon Musk announced on Sunday that his Starlink satellite internet service had been granted a license in Somalia.

    Starlink’s network of low Earth orbit satellites can provide internet to remote locations or areas that have had normal communications infrastructure disabled.

    Roughly 30 percent of Somalia’s population has access to the internet, according to the World Bank in 2022, but regular connectivity is frequently stymied by the east African country’s poor infrastructure.

    “Starlink now in Somalia!” Musk said in a post on X, without giving any further details.

    “Today is another historic day for Somalia’s communications and technology sectors, today we have issued here and provided Starlink, one of the major satellite telecommunications and internet services company the license to operate in Somalia,” a post on state media outlet SONNA said.

    It added that the license had been issued after two years of discussions.

    The massive connectivity gap between the world’s wealthier countries and those less advantaged is particularly acute on the African continent. AFP

  • Uncertainty for space firms as the US lowers governmental spending

    Uncertainty for space firms as the US lowers governmental spending

    U.S. federal budget cuts have started to have some early impact on space startups after funding for such companies dropped 12.5% in the first quarter, according to investment firm Seraphim Space.

    Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency and the Trump administration have been delaying or cancelling contracts across its agencies to curb federal spending.

    “Within certain government departments, uncertainty is causing delays as they assess which contracts to move forward with,” Seraphim Space investment analyst Lucas Bishop said.

    Space startups — which garnered $2.1 billion in investments in the first quarter — have largely relied on government contracts over the past few years as rising geopolitical tensions led to a surge in demand for imaging and analytics.

    Following strong stock performance of space companies such as Rocket Lab and Redwire late last year, Voyager Space filed to go public in January, while Karman Holdings listed in February.

    But the early momentum is fading with uncertainty sparked by President Donald Trump’s tariffs and ensuing market volatility, Seraphim Space said.
    Investments in the January-March period were concentrated in companies that make and operate space hardware such as rockets and satellites. The first quarter saw the two largest fundraising rounds from Stoke Space and Loft Orbital, together bringing in $430 million.

    “More protectionist trade policies could slow development in the short term, as many advanced space technologies — from propulsion systems to high-performance materials — depend on global supply chains,” said former NASA division chief Robert Ambrose.

    However, in times of economic uncertainty, commercial spaceflight and space technology companies have become more critical partners, enabling cost-effective missions, said Ambrose, who is also chairman at Alliant robotics.

    Investments in space startups rose 12% to $8.1 billion in the 12 months to March, with the number of deals in Europe rising nearly 50% in the first quarter on bigger European Union budgets and a renewed focus on self-reliance. Reuters

  • The UID law will be amended once the data privacy law is revealed

    The UID law will be amended once the data privacy law is revealed

    As India’s data privacy law approaches notification, another law that is behind a unique identification number for citizens is being prepped for overhaul to bring it in sync with the new privacy law, a move industry experts said is overdue but needs wider consultation.

    Bhuvnesh Kumar, the new chief executive of Uidai (Unique Identification Authority of India), the governing body behind Aadhaar identification, said in a conversation with Mint that discussions “will now begin and take its due course of lawmaking” for a new law to replace the near-decade-old Aadhaar Act, 2016.

    “Just an amendment won’t be sufficient—we need a new law to bring Aadhaar up to speed with the Digital Personal Data Protection Act (DPDP Act), 2023,” Kumar said in his first media interview since taking charge of Uidai on 3 January.

    Pointing out that the DPDP Act was not there when the Aadhaar law was made, Kumar, who is also the additional secretary at the ministry of electronics and information technology (Meity), said the current Aadhaar law is quite restrictive and needs to be changed.

    “Aadhaar’s usage has been limited by legal restrictions and the requirement for authentication. It is linked to benefits and subsidies, but has far more potential than that,” he added.

    To be sure, the current Aadhaar Act was enacted nearly a decade ago and, thus, does not comply with the rules under the DPDP Act. This includes data sharing, data transfer and a host of other regulations.

    At stake is not just a legal revamp of Aadhaar, which has over 1.4 billion registered individuals in the government’s database, but also a potential widening of its scope of use.

    “In line with the law, we are also expanding the scope of usage of Aadhaar at businesses, while minimizing the risk of the identity document being misused by entities,” Kumar added.

    Uidai is also making a new Aadhaar app that eases on-the-move verification of an individual’s identity without the need for an active internet connection.

    “It’s not just for benefits—Aadhaar’s QR-scan feature, for instance, can be used to verify the authenticity of a person in line with government laws by a business without third parties getting involved,” said Kumar.

    He added that other areas where Aadhaar can be integrated in line with the new law and Aadhaar app include verifying parental consent on social media platforms as mandated by the DPDP Act’s soon-to-be-notified rules, if technology platforms so desire.

    For perspective, technology platforms can decide how they want to comply with verifiable parental consent for underage users of online platforms, and Aadhaar is not mandatory for it. For example, companies can accept a voluntary age disclosure form to onboard underage users.

    Security of the crucial document is on the radar as well. “Uidai is also setting up a data sharing instrument that businesses can buy from us. This will help businesses automate identity verification without human intervention or people taking photos of your document that can later be misused,” Kumar said.

    On 9 April, Union IT minister Ashwini Vaishnaw mentioned the need for “a new law” for Aadhaar for the first time—calling for India’s most-issued government identification document to be “harmonized vis-à-vis the DPDP Act keeping human interest at the centre”.

    Read this | DPDP draft rules raise concerns on parental consent, national security checks

    The 12-digit identification document is the most widely used government identity today, for which Uidai attracts 75,000 applications per day for new Aadhaar issuance. As per Kumar, 99.5% of adults in India are already under Aadhaar’s ambit, covering 1.41 billion entries in the Aadhaar database.

    Timely move
    Policy consultants and stakeholders believe the move is necessary, but certain safeguards need to be considered.

    Isha Suri, research lead for technology policy and data privacy at think-tank, Centre for Internet and Society (CIS), sought an extensive public consultation process to understand gaps that a new Aadhaar law should address. On his part, Kumar said public consultation will be a part of the lawmaking process, which will “take its due course and time”.

    Suri added, “Instead of retrospectively looking at which areas of the law would need to be filled in as technology and private sector’s tech adoption evolves, a robust consultation with civil society and private entities alike can help frame a law that better addresses user privacy and the efficacy of Aadhaar.”

    The new Aadhaar Act will look to make Aadhaar data verification more seamless through new sharing mechanisms, reduce the number of people in the middle with access to a person’s own data, and more.

    Kumar, a career bureaucrat who joined public services with the 1995 Uttar Pradesh cadre, is keen to showcase Aadhaar as a seamless identification document that can help authenticate identity and transaction, while minimizing the number of hands through which data transfers take place.

    “The only time we share data with entities is in requests for e-know your customer (KYC). Aadhaar is the only document that can be verified through a mobile phone itself—without needing internet connectivity or a specialized device. This increases the scope of usage of the document,” Kumar said, adding that all of this is expected to widen Aadhaar’s scope in fields such as hospitality, financial services, etc.

    At stake is also a question around minimizing the amount of data shared with entities and reducing the number of intermediaries in the data sharing process.

    Underlining that data storage and retention, as defined by the DPDP Act, is “principle-based”, Kumar said that for Aadhaar, any individual challenging the tenure of data retention will have the power to first request the business holding the data. In case of no resolution, the Data Protection Board—an empowered entity under India’s privacy law—can intervene and rule on a per-case basis.

    However, identity scammers have doubled down on attempts to breach data security by generating Aadhaar identification lookalikes through artificial intelligence platforms, such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT. Such identification, privacy advocates have underlined, pose a key challenge to information sanctity when presented to businesses.

    Kumar underlined that it is “impossible” to generate an Aadhaar from any AI engine. “What it is generating is a look-alike image of something, which is replicated,” he said, adding that this won’t work as there is no supporting biometric. Livemint

  • In the India-US trade a contract, a zero-for-zero tariff policy is absurd

    In the India-US trade a contract, a zero-for-zero tariff policy is absurd

    A zero-for-zero tariff strategy under the proposed bilateral trade agreement between India and the US is unlikely, as the two countries are at different levels of economic development, official sources said.

    Certain trade experts have suggested that India can propose a zero-for-zero tariff strategy to the US for addressing America’s reciprocal tariff hikes.

    An official said that zero-for-zero tariffs can be possible between the US and the European Union as both are developed and advanced nations.

    The India-US agreement will always be a “package” deal that could include issues such as goods and non-tariff barriers, the official said, adding “it does not happen like this that if he will do ‘zero’ in electronics, we will also do in electronics. Trade agreements do not happen like this. It is wrong thinking”.

    India and the US have been engaged in negotiating a bilateral trade agreement since March. Both sides have targeted to conclude the first phase of the pact by fall (September-October) of this year with an aim to more than double the bilateral trade to $500 billion by 2030 from about $191 billion currently.

    “The work has started for the agreement. India is far ahead of other countries in negotiating a trade deal,” the official added.

    India and the US have decided to hold sector-specific talks in the coming weeks under the agreement. The decision to hold discussions in the coming weeks follows four days of talks between senior officers of India and the US that concluded on March 29.

    In February, Delhi-based think tank GTRI suggested that India should propose a zero-for-zero tariff strategy to the US for addressing America’s tariff hikes. Under this strategy, it has stated that India can identify tariff lines (or product categories) where it can eliminate import duties for American imports and in lieu of that, the US should also remove duties on a similar number of goods.

    In a trade pact, two countries either significantly reduce or eliminate customs duties on the maximum number of goods traded between them. They also ease norms to promote trade in services and boost investments.

    While the US is looking at duty concessions in sectors like certain industrial goods, automobiles (electric vehicles particularly), wines, petrochemical products, dairy, agriculture items such as apples, tree nuts, and alfalfa hay; India may look at duty cuts for labour-intensive sectors like apparels, textiles, gems and jewellery, leather, plastics, chemicals, oil seeds, shrimp, and horticulture products.

    From 2021-22 to 2023-24, the US was India’s largest trading partner. The US accounts for about 18% of India’s total goods exports, 6.22% in imports and 10.73% in bilateral trade.

    With America, India had a trade surplus (the difference between imports and exports) of $35.32 billion in goods in 2023-24. This was $27.7 billion in 2022-23, $32.85 billion in 2021-22, $22.73 billion in 2020-21 and $17.26 billion in 2019-20.

    In 2024, India’s main exports to the US included drug formulations and biologicals ($8.1 billion), telecom instruments ($6.5 billion), precious and semi-precious stones ($5.3 billion), petroleum products ($4.1 billion), gold and other precious metal jewellery ($3.2 billion), ready-made garments of cotton, including accessories ($2.8 billion), and products of iron and steel ($2.7 billion).

    Imports included crude oil ($4.5 billion), petroleum products ($3.6 billion), coal, coke ($3.4 billion), cut and polished diamonds ($2.6 billion), electric machinery ($1.4 billion), aircraft, spacecraft and parts ($1.3 billion) and gold ($1.3 billion). NDTV Profit

  • Fentanyl might undermine the US-Indian tariff edge over China

    Fentanyl might undermine the US-Indian tariff edge over China

    The surprise step back by the Donald Trump administration late Friday evening could provide an edge to India vis-a-vis China. The US Customs and Border Protection has exempted smartphones, laptops and other electronic items from reciprocal tariffs—a move that is being seen especially beneficial for Apple, which contract manufactures iPhones in China, India and a bit in Brazil.

    India could however lose its advantage if Trump scraps the duty on China because of fentanyl trade.

    The exemption will enable China to export smartphones to the US at 20 per cent—a tariff imposed earlier by the Trump administration because of China’s alleged role in fentanyl trade. While in a major respite, China will escape the staggering 125 per cent tariff imposed earlier as reciprocal duties, India will be again able to export mobiles at zero duty to the US. India does not have to pay the mandated 10 per cent tariffs for 90 days and the subsequent 26 per cent reciprocal duties imposed earlier this month.

    India could however lose its advantage if Trump scraps the duty on China because of fentanyl trade. Also, the US administration has indicated that there may be a fresh round of tariffs on electronic goods soon, without specifying the details. US commerce secretary Howard Lutnick said on Sunday that the decision to exempt a range of electronic devices was a temporary reprieve.

    In his first term, Trump had listened to Apple CEO Tim Cook and exempted penal duties on smartphone imports by the US, keeping it at zero. This time, global tariff war is already in play.

    According to a senior consultancy firm executive who has worked with Apple Inc, the equation is simple. ‘’India has a cost disability with China on iPhones of around 12 per cent even after the production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme. With the new tariff structuring, it will have a 8 per cent advantage.” He argues that considering the escalating tensions between the US and China on trade, it will make sense for Apple to increase its share of imports from India —which offers a secure supply source.

    In the meantime, the play book of Apple Inc has changed quietly. Since 2018, its strategy has been to slowly hedge the bets in China and shift capacity in India for iPhones. In FY25, about 80 per cent of the iPhones shipped to the US came from China. But in the same year, the growing demand for iPhones in the US was met by India assembled phones including the latest iPhone 16 . Smartphones, led by iPhones, also became the largest exported item in value based on HS (harmonised system) code from India, surpassing diamonds for the first time.

    The PLI scheme for mobile devices came in handy. Apple vendors (Tata Electronics and Foxconn) were able to hit exports of ₹150,000 crore (over $17.5 billion) of iPhones at FOB (free on board) value. That’s more than double of what they had committed to achieve under the scheme to the government in the fourth year. Half of that came from exports to US.

    As a result, India’s share in the global production value of iPhones has now hit between 18 and 20 per cent. Even if it goes according to the normal plan and as JP Morgan had estimated, the share of global iPhone production should touch 25 per cent by FY 26–the final year of the PLI scheme with a production value of around $ 25-26 billion.

    Can Apple speed things up for India? A top executive of a vendor company which supplies to Apple Inc pointed out that the aim should be to rework the global supply chain so that the bulk of the US iPhone demand is met from India, while China takes care of its own large domestic demand, that of Europe and Asia Pacific amongst others. ‘’This will not put Apple Inc under the vagaries of a US-China trade war.”

    India must play its part to make this happen. Analysts believe that India would have to nearly double the production value of iPhones in the next 12 or may be 24 months.

    On the positive side, both Apple vendors are putting in new plants for assembling iPhones which would be up and running by this year. But a lot will depend on how the Apple management is able to negotiate with the government to be able to expand quickly.

    Experts point out that it won’t be an easy ride as the bulk of the supply chain (around 1,000 vendors) is based in China and seamlessly integrated with the iPhone assembly vendors. In India, there are still only a dozen odd local vendors, though numerous players like Tatas, Samvardhana Motherson and Wipro are getting in.

    Then there are others who say the supply chain strength is over exaggerated—it took China 30 years to reach a value addition in iPhones of 38-40 per cent, India has

    reached 15 per cent for Apple Inc in just four years and expects to go to 20 per cent in a year or so. There are challenges for sure–high input tax on components tops the list. Despite being lowered, there’s still a 2-3 per cent burden on overall cost of assembling a phone for exports in a hyper competitive market. Many lament that the tax structure in India is geared for domestic production and local consumption. Recently, a Niti Aayog report said that high tariffs on components significantly increases the cost of inputs and its simplification is the only answer.

    On PLI for mobile devices, which ends in FY26, demand for an extension is getting louder for an export push. The cost disability, for which incentives were given, is still pretty high, industry representatives argue. An official at the ministry of electronics and information technology said no decision had been taken on the issue.

    Apple could have other alternatives. Vietnam, for instance, looks attractive. It has a successful story with Samsung which exports over $60 billion of electronics and phones from the country and has BYD and Luxshare Precision making iPads and wearables for Apple Inc already. Like India, Vietnam is in the zero tariff bracket. It has already announced it’s ready to sign an agreement with the US on zero duty across items. But unlike India, Vietnam does not have a vibrant domestic market for iPhones. It also has labour shortage problems to grapple with.

    There are also other destinations which are wooing Apple. Saudi Arabia is one such. It wants to build a large electronics SEZ hub and provide attractive incentives to bring in high tech into the country. There’s Singapore, which is known for ease of doing business. And Brazil, which already assembles iPhone 16 for the local market but has challenges in terms of high duties.

    While the ball is in Apple’s court, the India story still needs a big push. Business Standard

  • Users of UK digital ID apps will rise by 267% by 2029

    Users of UK digital ID apps will rise by 267% by 2029

    The number of UK residents using digital identity apps will rise from 6.9 million in 2025 to 25.5 million in 2029; a growth of 267%, according to Juniper Research.

    The forthcoming GOV.UK app will be a key driver; offering a government-authenticated and standardised approach to digital identity of which over 45% of the UK adult population are forecast to use by 2029.

    The report identified that, despite a decrease in popularity of third-party identity apps, overall adoption of digital identities will increase. The GOV.UK app will drive this adoption significantly; presenting a regulated digital identity platform that streamlines access to government services.

    An extract from the new report, Digital ID & Verification in the UK Market 2025-2029, is now available as a free download.

    Third-party Providers to Take a Back Seat
    The research found that third-party apps will grow by just 9% between 2025 and 2029; a result of the GOV.UK app becoming a primary method of verifying an individual’s information, both remotely and in-person. The introduction of this app will force third-party providers to re-strategise and place greater emphasis on advertising their verification services for onboarding onto the GOV.UK app.

    Report author Thomas Wilson added: “In order to retain a role within the digital identity ecosystem, third-party identity providers must seek certification against the government’s trust framework, or they will be bypassed by certified providers and lose out on additional revenue.”

    The report asserted the combination of government certification and third-party verification technologies as critical to overcoming concerns among UK citizens around privacy, which have been a long-term stumbling block to digital identity growth and promoting further adoption. Juniper Research