Tarunai is the digital magazine which can be downloaded for free. It composes short fiction and articles on the festival, sports, technology and finance. There are supplementary applications that include topics like the history of Diwali traditions, faraal recipes, safety measures to be adopted during celebrations and an array of digital greeting cards. Unique Features, Pune has created an audio ank aimed at teenagers. The director of www.maayboli.com puts Maayboli magazine online consisting of audio and video recordings. Audio and video can play a significant role in enriching a Diwali ank. Though there is no substitute for traditional print magazines, these is a need to keep engaging with a more tech savvy readership.
Author: Shabbir Chunawalla
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Robotics in IT
India’s $142 billion IT industry employing 4 million people so far depended upon the addition of manpower to deal with additional business — for every additional $1 billion business, they need 14000 more engineers in 2014-15. To tackle this linear model, the industry is trying to depend more and more on machine learning, automation, robotics and artificial intelligence. It results into more revenues with less employees. This helps the shrinking bottom line of the IT companies.
Cognizant has rolled out AI-based automation across thousands of customer projects. So far Cognizant lead two platforms — ADPART and Automatika. ADPART is patented alogorithm. It automates test cases, and learns from past defects stored in the defect libraries. It intelligently predicts the most vulnerable business processes. Automatika is used in BPOs. It uses proprietary algorithm for natural language processing and machine learning to automate manual tasks, e.g. analyzing, searching, extracting and organizing information from different unstructured sources. Cognizant acquired TriZeta in 2014 which has HPA or Health Process Automation platform. HPA is used to process insurance claims with one robotic global manager which delegates work actions to individual robots. Each robot is assigned a different claim to process. The researchers are working to extend HPA’s use to different verticals.
All this raises the classic debate of man vs. machine. Attrition will be combined with the recruitment of a lower head-count. It will cushion the march to non-linearity.
In next five years, all IT firms are marching towards greater automation. The faster ones will have better revenues per employee and better profit
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Innovative Organisation
According to Peter Drucker, an innovative organization realizes that any innovation has to start with an idea. Many of these ideas do not make sense. A few does get converted into a product. Innovation is not measured against the technological prowess, but by its contribution to the market and customer. People innovate, money does not. There are two separate budgets — an operating budget and an innovative budget.
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SAP Software
SAP, German multi-national is too slow, unable to innovate or to adapt its enterprise software for the cloud. SAP’s software is designed to manage business operations. Small rivals such as Salesforce.com had started giving SAP sleepless nights. SAP needs intellectual renewal. It has started HANA project. HANA is short for ‘ High Performance Analytic Appliance.’ It is a data base management system — a product category where rival Oracle is a clear leader. They worked on ‘in-memory’ approach that allows big data to be crunched and analysed many times faster in real time. HANA stores the data in columns of data base, rather than in rows. It speeds up search and access. Vishal Sikka is called the father of HANA. A critical component of HANA is the modeler. They are adapting SAP’s older products to HANA platform. They are building next generation applications which help SAP move into areas where it was not present before. New applications will drive SAP in the future.
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Scriptwriters
Rajat Arora, Farhad-Sajid, Shibani Bhatija, Abhijiat Joshi are today’s well-known scriptwriters. Habil Faisal wrote Band, Baaja, Baaraat. According to rough estimates, a new comer may get anything between Rs 30000 and Rs 1 lac, depending upon the script. The more established names can earn figures as high as Rs 1 crore. Largely, most writers get a figure on the upper side of Rs 20 lac but less than a crore.
Most scriptwriters natural progression is to become directors. Thus they get better control of the script. According to Reema Kagti, writing and direction go hand in hand. Some like Habil Faisal direct films independently of other writers. and do the writing work for other directors.
Some scriptwriters write their own dialogues whereas some delegate dialogue writing function to others. They should be on the same page. The writers are generally present on the sets everyday of the shooting.
Anjum Rajabali feels that industry today is open to newer ideas and more sophisticated writers. For every 100 films made, there are 5000 scripts at work. The quality has gone up.
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Fearless Nadia Wadia
Nadia (Fearless) Wadia was born Mary Ann Evans in Perth, Australia in 1908. She came to Mumbai in 1913 when she was five. She lived in Colaba with her father, a Scotsman, in the British army and mother. She left for Peshavar with her mother. In 1928, she returned to Mumbai. She joined a dancing troupe. Her first film was Hunterwali (1935). She acted in 50 or 60 films. She was called Fearless Nadia, Hunterwali, Miss Frontier Mail, Diamond Queen or Jungle Queen. She died in Mumbai in 1996. Her best known films were for Wadia Movitone in the 1930s and 1940s. She was directed by Homi Wadia in Diamond Queen (1940) whom she later married. The Wadia brothers J B H and Homi Wadia used Nadia to Indianize the stunt-film genre. Her stunts survive as clips on YouTube and low quality VCDs in the market. A musical Fearless Nadia was performed at Liberty Cinema in Mumbai and Sir Mutha Venkatasubba Rao Concert Hall in Chennai in November, 2012. Wadia’s grandson in 1993 (the late Riyad Vinci Wadia) introduced her to the world through a documentary on her life called Fearless : The Hunterwali Story. It generated a lot of interest. She expired in 1996. Shiamak Davar is Nadia’s grand-nephew.
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Digital Era Journalism
Online journalism is different, operates faster, and is more efficient than print and broadcast journalism. Each article can be evaluated through audience metrics. The team has to track the breaking news and produce top quality SEO-enriched content. SEO stands for Search Engine Optimisation. There are updates on an hourly or minute-by-minute basis. The key words that are trending are incorporated into either the headline or the initial few paras of the article. The content that incorporates key words draws traffic to your site. Reporters become content-providers and editors manage the content. Commentators primarily write for search engines.
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Branding of Low Involvement Commodities
Many products-commodities have been branded. Plywood has become Century Plyboards (CenturyPly). The putty before the paint has been branded Birla White. Asian Paints is popular. Anchor electrical switches and sockets is another example. Wood adhesives are Fevicol and the sealant is M-Seal. The water leakage stopping compound is Dr Fixit. Low involvement commodities have been successfully branded.
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Digitization of Indian Cinema
Digitization of Indian cinema influences all the three aspects of a movie — pre-production, production and post-production. Digitization goes beyond and has revolutionized the distribution of movies. It has expanded the sheer reach of Indian cinema.
Digitization was initiated in Indian movies in 2005-2006. The real momentum came in 2008-2009. A film like Singh is King was released in 415 digital theatres. Ghajini was released in 1200 digital prints. It made inroads into small-town screens across India on the same day as in the metros.
Producers benefit as they can increase as they can increase the number of prints without any additional cost. There is a larger reach. The scope of piracy is reduced. There are quicker returns on investment. Small-budget films can be distributed efficiently. Old-films can be re-released as an additional revenue stream.
Out of 12,900 movie theatres in India, a little over 10 per cent were digital. By 2013, there were around 5000 plus digital screens across India. (FICCI-KPMC M&E Report,2009).
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Evolution of Movies
Movies are all about entertainment and technology which enhances the experience. Initially, films were black and white with no sound. The musical score was played in the cinema hall while the film was being screened. The movie was shot using one camera — largely a fixed angle. The perspective was limited. Then came the talkies. The background score was added. Later the colour and animation films came on the scene. There are large scale sets on huge studio floors. The real world was recreated. The capability of movie cameras was enhanced. They were put on rigs, cranes to give a totally new feel to shots. There were tele-photo lenses which enhanced the depth of the field.