eNews
Demand for skilled cyber security professionals in India expected to rise
KOLKATA: With the adoption of the Internet of Things (IoT) policy, demand for skilled cyber security professionals in India is likely to rise in the coming years, said a top official of Information Systems Audit and Control Association (ISACA), a global information technology (IT) association.
The Department of Electronic and Information Technology (DeitY), under the Union Ministry of Communication and Information Technology, has defined ‘Internet of things’ as a seamless connected network of devices that enables machine-to-machine communication without human intervention using standard and interoperable communication protocols.
While personal computers, phones and tablets, which require human intervention, are not part of IoT, a wide variety of devices such as heart monitoring implants, biochip transponders, self-driven automobiles with built-in sensors are usually considered globally as part of IoT.
“The ministry has already come up with a draft IoT policy and the final policy is expected soon,” said ISACA international vice-president R. Vittal Raj.
With a major growth in the development of IoT devices, a preventive mechanism to deal with potential cyber crimes needs to be developed in the country, he said.
The ministry has set a target of building an IoT industry of $15 billion by 2020 and is eyeing a market share of five – six per cent of the global IoT industry, which will reach $300 billion, according to Gartner.
For implementing IoT, the government is looking at areas like agriculture, health, water quality, natural disasters, transportation, security, automobiles, supply chain management, smart cities, automatic metering in various sectors.
Raj added that while in India the policy framework is in place, implementation of cyber security is still a major hurdle.
Talking about Kolkata specifically, he said that ISACA is looking to tie up with educational institutions to develop skilled professionals in the sector.
eNews
PNB partners Kiwi to launch credit-enabled UPI for users
Targets 180 million customers; RuPay card offers 0.5 per cent to 1.5 per cent cashback
MUMBAI: Swipe, tap, or scan credit is quietly slipping into the rhythm of everyday payments, and Punjab National Bank wants in on the action. The state-run lender has partnered with Kiwi to roll out credit-enabled UPI payments for its 180 million customers, marking a significant push to blend traditional banking with India’s fast-evolving digital payments ecosystem.
At the centre of the collaboration is the launch of the PNB Kiwi Credit Card on the RuPay network. The card is designed with a digital-first approach, offering fully online onboarding and seamless integration with UPI, allowing users to transact via scan-and-pay while accessing credit.
The offering also brings in a rewards layer, with cashback ranging from 0.5 per cent to 1.5 per cent on online transactions, positioning the product as both a convenience play and a spending incentive.
The move comes as UPI continues to dominate India’s digital payments landscape, increasingly blurring the lines between debit-led transactions and credit access. For PNB, which operates over 10,000 branches around 60 per cent in semi-urban and rural areas, the partnership signals a targeted effort to extend formal credit to segments that have traditionally remained underserved.
The collaboration also reflects a broader industry shift, where banks and fintech platforms are converging to embed credit directly into payment flows, reducing friction while expanding access.
With RuPay credit cards gaining traction and UPI evolving beyond peer-to-peer transfers, the PNB–Kiwi tie-up positions both players at the intersection of scale, accessibility, and the next phase of digital finance in India.
