Category Archives: Business & Economy

Diploma dropout develops modified version of ‘Multi-Tree Climber’

Business & Economy, Inspiration/ Positive News and Features, Nature, Science & Technology

Shivamogga youth claims to have received 350 orders in two days at ISC

Nithin Herale displaying his invention
Nithin Herale displaying his invention

Mysuru :

True to the saying ‘Necessity is the Mother of all Inventions,’ a young farmer who was unable to get skilled climbers to pluck arecanut in his farm, turned himself as an inventor, came up with a Multi-Tree Climber equipment and is all set to help other farmers including coconut and arecanut growers with his invention.

The young farmer is 23-year-old Nithin Herale, a resident of Gajanur village which is about 10 kms from Shivamogga. Nithin, a diploma dropout, has displayed his invention at the Pride of India Science Expo being held as part of the 103rd Indian Science Congress (ISC) in city.

Nithin, speaking to SOM, said that the Multi-Tree Climber is his sixth modified version of the equipment and has used Stainless Steel 304 grade to reduce the weight of the equipment. He said that when he first invented the equipment, it weighed about 16 kgs and was finding it difficult to carry it to the farm. He then thought of reducing the weight of the equipment so that it would be easy for even women farmers to carry it.

He further said that keeping in mind to reduce the weight, he modified the equipment using SS 304 grade Stainless Steel and added that his equipment now weighs just 7.2 kgs.

Nithin, who has gone commercial by launching his equipment in the market, claims that he has received 350 orders in two days from customers especially in Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Odisha.

He further said that initially he invented equipment for his purpose but due to demand from other fellow farmers he opened a small workshop in his village to manufacture the equipment and even obtained licence to sell it.

He said that the Multi-Tree Climber works on a two assembly locking system, safety belt gripper and rubber plates to help climb tress with ease and added that even those with no expertise or special skills can also easily climb a branch-less tree.

He further said that equipment which is also very useful to climb coconut tress is priced at Rs. 8,000 and comes with an instruction CD.

source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> General News / Thursday – January 07th, 2015

180 agencies to showcase India’s S&T achievements

Business & Economy, Science & Technology

To inspire young minds to cul tivate a scientific attitude, the Pride of India, a five-day expo will be held as part of the In dian Science Congress that gets under way on Sunday . Around 180 organizations, including DRDO and Isro, are expected to participate in the exhibition that will showcase the country’s achievements in science and technology .

Three dozen laboratories attached to the Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO) will put up models and technologies at the DRDO pavilion.This includes models of missiles, aircraft, BrahMos missile, and the LCA fighter jet. Night vision goggles and binoculars, fire suppressing gel, portable water mist gun, aluminized fire retardant clothes, mobile autonomous robotic system, rotary engines, multi-purpose decontamination system and a mannequin with combat free-fall parachute will also be on display .

This year’s Hall of Pride -a section dedicated to eminent personalities in science and technology-looks at the life and achievements of the late President APJ Abdul Kalam.

The expo, spread over an area of 1500 sqm, will be open between 10 am and 7 pm. The National Council of Science Museum will showcase a zoom table, a gravity well and portability curve. Sajju Bhaskaran, curator of Visvesvaraya Industrial and Technological Museum, says visitors can zoom into and zoom out of the images to get clear view of the subject. The gravity well explains about movement of planets around the Sun.

A separate enclosure has also been set up to showcase the achievements of the Karnataka education department.

Professor G Hemantha Kumar of the department of computer science, University of Mysore, said the Pride of India expo was first organized during the 87th Indian Science Congress by MM Activ Sci-Tech Communications and since then it has been a regular feature.

Genesis for exchange of ideas

A one-day symposium “Genesis” is being organized at the University of Mysuru during the Indian Science Congress to bring scientists, industrialists, academicians and policymakers to a common platform to exchange ideas and explore collaborative opportunities. The theme of the XIV Genesis is Realising the Make in India mission through indigenous development – role of MSME.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News Home> City> Bangalore / by Lawrence Milton / TNN / January 03rd, 2016

180 agencies to showcase India’s S&T achievements

Business & Economy, Science & Technology

To inspire young minds to cul tivate a scientific attitude, the Pride of India, a five-day expo will be held as part of the In dian Science Congress that gets under way on Sunday . Around 180 organizations, including DRDO and Isro, are expected to participate in the exhibition that will showcase the country’s achievements in science and technology .

Three dozen laboratories attached to the Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO) will put up models and technologies at the DRDO pavilion.This includes models of missiles, aircraft, BrahMos missile, and the LCA fighter jet. Night vision goggles and binoculars, fire suppressing gel, portable water mist gun, aluminized fire retardant clothes, mobile autonomous robotic system, rotary engines, multi-purpose decontamination system and a mannequin with combat free-fall parachute will also be on display .

This year’s Hall of Pride -a section dedicated to eminent personalities in science and technology-looks at the life and achievements of the late President APJ Abdul Kalam.

The expo, spread over an area of 1500 sqm, will be open between 10 am and 7 pm. The National Council of Science Museum will showcase a zoom table, a gravity well and portability curve. Sajju Bhaskaran, curator of Visvesvaraya Industrial and Technological Museum, says visitors can zoom into and zoom out of the images to get clear view of the subject. The gravity well explains about movement of planets around the Sun.

A separate enclosure has also been set up to showcase the achievements of the Karnataka education department.

Professor G Hemantha Kumar of the department of computer science, University of Mysore, said the Pride of India expo was first organized during the 87th Indian Science Congress by MM Activ Sci-Tech Communications and since then it has been a regular feature.

Genesis for exchange of ideas

A one-day symposium “Genesis” is being organized at the University of Mysuru during the Indian Science Congress to bring scientists, industrialists, academicians and policymakers to a common platform to exchange ideas and explore collaborative opportunities. The theme of the XIV Genesis is Realising the Make in India mission through indigenous development – role of MSME.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News Home> City> Bangalore / Lawrence Milton, TNN / January 03rd, 2015

National Institute of Technology students develop shopping app

Business & Economy, Education, Science & Technology

Mangaluru :

A team of students from National Institute of Technology Karnataka (NITK) have developed an Android App that will come in handy for shoppers, who visit malls.

Winkl, a first of its kind app available on Play Store, provides relevant, contextual and personalized information as shoppers walk around the mall. Third year mechanical engineering students Pratham Pramod, Supreet Deshpande, final year metallurgy engineering student Rahul Singh Thakur and final year mining engineering student Nikhil Kumar took nearly three months to develop the app.

Pratham Pramod told TOI that they have made tie-up with Forum Fiza Mall in Mangaluru and very soon more malls across the state will brought under the Winkl’s service network.

“Once the app users enter a Winkl Zone, real time shopping feed including all the latest arrivals, trending, offers and recommendations will be displayed on your smartphone. As customer walk around the mall, content keeps loading on the phone based on indoor mall location and personal interests. This way, shopper knows exactly which store he or she would like to walk into as they enter the mall or a particular floor in the mall. This will save lots of time and help one experience the products they are interested in,” Pratham Pramod said.

“Today, in the present world, offline shopping has hit a new low mainly because of the lack of easy access to useful and engaging content to users like offers, recommendations, product reviews, latest arrivals and trending. Winkl, a young start-up by NITK students addresses this problem and is bringing offline shopping back to life. Offline shopping has obvious advantages like touch and feel and instant delivery. Winkl has partnered with Forum Fiza Mall and it is active there from today (Friday). Users also will get a chance to win a lot of exciting rewards. Winkl automatically provides users with Winks (points) for walking into their favourite stores which can be redeemed for rewards,” he added.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News Home> City> Mangalore / by Vinobha K T, TNN / December 26th, 2015

Science fiction comes alive as Indian startup grows human liver in lab

Amazing Feats, Business & Economy, Records, All, Science & Technology, World Opinion
Liver team at Pandorum Technologies: Dr. Abdullah Chand, senior scientist (left); Arun Chandru, co-founder and managing director (centre); and Dr. Sivarajan T., senior scientist / @ABHINAV_MAURYA
Liver team at Pandorum Technologies: Dr. Abdullah Chand, senior scientist (left); Arun Chandru, co-founder and managing director (centre); and Dr. Sivarajan T., senior scientist / @ABHINAV_MAURYA

Pandorum Technologies, a Bengaluru-based biotech startup, has developed an artificial tissue that performs the functions of the human liver.

Pandorum said these 3D printed living tissues made of human cells would enable affordable medical research with reduced dependence on animal and human trials. It will also eventually lead to full scale transplantable organs.

Arun Chandru, 30-year-old co-founder of Pandorum, said liver toxicity and drug metabolism are the key hurdles, and contributors to failed human trials.

Pandorum’s 3D bio-printed mini-livers that mimic the human liver will serve as test platforms for discovery and development of drugs and vaccines. The firm said these drugs would have better efficacy, less side-effects and be developed at lower costs.

“We developed everything here in India,” said Mr. Chandru. “We can grow thousands of these tissues in the laboratory and test the efficacy of drugs on them for diseases including cancer.”

He said large pharma companies on an average spend about $10 billion (Rs. 66,290 crore) and 10 years on research and development to get a single new drug to the market.

Tuhin Bhowmick (34), another co-founder of Pandorum, said development of artificial organs has numerous clinical uses. The cell-based miniature organs can be used to develop bio-artificial liver support systems for preserving life in patients who have developed liver failure.

“In the near future, such bio-printed organs will address the acute shortage of human organs available for surgical transplantation,” said Dr. Bhowmick, who holds a Ph.D. from the Indian Institute of Science.

Pandorum was founded by a group of friends in 2011 who were pursuing their higher studies at IISc. They came together to work on the development of artificial human organs after winning a business competition.

Surviving initially on money from friends and family, the team approached the Department of Biotechnology with their vision. The company was awarded funding support by the Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council in 2012. The same year, the company got incubated by the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Platforms in Bengaluru.

Mr. Chandru said they created the innovation with a funding of about Rs. 1 crore, more than half of which came from the government.

Scientists and startups across the globe are growing artificial organs made of human cells to better study diseases and help test drugs. A team of researchers led by Hebrew University professor Eduardo Mitrani is growing pancreas in a petri dish to better regulate blood sugar in diabetic patients.

The global artificial organ and bionics market is expected to reach $38.75 billion (Rs 2.5 lakh crore) by 2020 at an estimated CAGR of 9.3% from 2014 to 2020, according to a study by Grand View Research.

Pandorum’s ultimate aim is to make personalised human organs such as lungs, liver, kidney and pancreas on demand, according to Mr. Chandru.

Pandorum’s innovation takes the area of making artificial organs to the next level. Bengaluru-based bioinformatics firm Strand Life Sciences founded by IISc. professors had earlier developed a virtual liver that mimics the functions of liver through software simulation. It is a predictive method that integrates data and insights for deeper understanding of the impact of a drug on the liver. The platform can predict the toxicity of several known drugs and toxins and explain the mechanism.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Sci-Tech / by Peerzada Abrar / Bengaluru – December 23rd, 2015

Udupi company’s MasterChef game earns $5 million

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Business & Economy, Uncategorized, World Opinion

Bengaluru :

Want to be aggressive like Gordon James Ramsay, the Scottish-born British chef and restaurateur. Or would you like to be the likeable and lovable judges of MasterChef Australia, George Calombaris, Matt Preston or Gary Mehigan?

Star Chef, a mobile game developed by Udupi-based 99Games, is making waves on the iPhone. Revenue from the app has just crossed $5 million on Apple’s App Store, giving an indication of its popularity among people trying to becoming a MasterChef in the virtual world.

Anila Andrade, associate vicepresident-operations, says: Star Chef is a lovingly crafted cooking and restaurant management game where players progress from chefs to five-star chefs, and expand their restaurant business in the process.

“The game mainly targets women aged 20-55 and those who love cooking-related apps and games.When players begin, they start off as an amateur chef and are given a small restaurant space with one cooking appliance. Customers start dropping in, requesting different items from the menu. While the menu catalogue is limited during the initial phases, newer recipes are unlocked as the game progresses,” Anila says.

There are eight to 10 cuisines – American, French, Korean, Italian, et al – and over 100 recipes to unlock as the game evolves. The player can purchase ingredients for the menu from in-game supermarkets. Eventually, the backyard is opened up, where they can farm and produce their own organic veggies.

The game has several fun social features, including an option to trade their produce with other realtime players via a Food Truck.

Star Chef was launched worldwide on the iOS platform in August 2014. The game is free to download and players can spend on the game eventually to buy upgrades like cook ing appliances, restaurant decor and other ingredients and goodies.

Star Chef is available in English, French, German, Spanish, Italian, Russian, Korean, Simplified and Traditional Chinese. “The game is showing strong potential when it comes to numbers. Where the most popular cooking TV show, Master Chef has a run time of 40 minutes, Star Chef has an average game time per day of 42 minutes including different sessions,” notes Anila.

“While it took us around six months to reach our first $500,000, it took us about nine months to get to $5 million,” she notes. The game is growing 20-25% month on month in revenue. 99Games has 16 games in their catalogue so far. Star Chef is their 15th game. She attributes success of Star Chef to a great combination of a good concept that has a universal theme (cooking), art, technology , analytics and well-targeted user acquisition. All these play a very important role in defining a great game with good monetization capabilities, she adds.

An Android version is already in development. The pilot launch will be done in Canada and Australia next week.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News Home> City> Mangalore / by Stanley Pinto, TNN / December 23rd, 2016

Creativity is her USP

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Business & Economy, Inspiration/ Positive News and Features
All things handmade
All things handmade

Reetika Vaish discovered the art of decoupaging, fell in love with it, and made it her profession

Most people belonging to the growing breed of crafters in the city have “always cherished” the dream of starting their own art/craft venture. But, Bengaluru–based Reetika Vaish has a different story. “I was never an art or craft person until my son was born two and a half years ago. As I stayed home to care for him, I surfed the net and chanced upon the nuances of decoupaging (art of decorating an object by gluing coloured paper cut outs onto it in combination with special paint effects, gold leaf and so on.) What started out as a hobby soon turned into something I was extremely passionate about to make a career out of it,” says the founder of RTK’s Creations (www.facebook.com/rtkcreations).

Reetika
Reetika

Reetika’s work primarily revolves around exhibiting prints of Indian culture and the beauty of nature. She says, “I do my best to keep my creations unique and not use the prints again for another product. I also customise them with my clients’ pictures to their products.”

With time, her product line has expanded and RTK’s Creations now offers items such as handmade trays, coasters, watch organisers, keepsake boxes, metal planters, etc. Wallets, mobile cases, tablet sleeves, up-cycled bottle lamps, and candles are also among her popular products. In addition to creating and retailing, Reetika also conducts workshops over weekends.

Reetika, who holds a double post-graduation in finance and commerce, says, “The need to exhibit my creativity and connect with people encouraged me to give up the corporate world and pursue my passion. Having the full support of my family and friends sure made the switch easy,” Reetika narrates.

She adds, “That apart, things weren’t easy for me when I started this. I had no clue how to market my products. Gradually I started posting my work on craft portals like Bangalore Craft Lovers and Fevicol Hobby Ideas. I finally got down to creating a page of my own on Facebook and that’s when orders started coming in. Free time is still an issue as my son keeps me on my toes when he is awake. So I work on my projects/experiments/orders in the night after he sleeps or over weekends. My husband has also been my biggest encouragement.”

Like many other crafters, Reetika too took to the internet for lessons. Later, she attended workshops to learn the techniques in depth and to gather contacts of suppliers to source base materials. The challenge she faces is to “convince people that these products are handmade and that it involves time and effort. It is therefore a challenge to explain our pricing to them. But personally, the most interesting challenge is to keep experimenting and enhancing the appeal of my products.”

This column features those who choose to veer off the beaten track.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Features> MetroPlus / by Neeti Sarkar / Bangalore – December 01st, 2015

Sweet corn turns into money-spinner for him

Business & Economy, Green Initiatives / Environment, Nature
Basavaraj Arjun Rao Patil taking a look at the sweet corn crop in his field at Udnur, a village on the outskirts of Kalaburagi, on Monday.— PHOTO: ARUN KULKARNI
Basavaraj Arjun Rao Patil taking a look at the sweet corn crop in his field at Udnur, a village on the outskirts of Kalaburagi, on Monday.— PHOTO: ARUN KULKARNI

Basavaraj Arjun Rao Patil has earned a profit of Rs. 50,000 from one acre of land

For progressive farmer Basavaraj Arjun Rao Patil, the cultivation of sweet corn on his 14-acre agriculture plot has turned out to be a virtual money spinner.

While a majority of the farming community is reeling under heavy loss by taking up the cultivation of traditional crops due to failure of rain, it has been a windfall for Mr. Patil, who reaped a profit of Rs. 50,000 from one acre of land by taking up the cultivation of sweet corn.

He has turned out to be a benevolent seller of green fodder to needy farmers at a time when the farmers are facing severe shortage of fodder to feed their cattle. Talking to The Hindu in his agricultural field, Mr. Patil said that the market for sweet corn was very good and the traders come to his agriculture field to purchase the crop which was in great demand in Kalaburagi and outside. .

Average income

He said that the average income by selling the fodder and the sweet corn in an acre was around Rs. 55,000 to 60,000 and after deducting the cost of the cultivation the average profit from one acre of land was around Rs. 50,000. Mr. Patil said that the green fodder was edible and mixed with jaggery and salt water, the fodder would be more acceptable to the cattle.

Mr. Patil said that the maintenance and cultivation of the sweet corn was very easy compared to other crops.

Another added advantage was that it was a short duration crop and the harvest of the crop can be done after 75 days. The only costly thing in the cultivation of the sweet corn was the seeds, he said. “I used to cultivate sugarcane and banana.

The average income generated was around Rs. 50,000 per season and the duration of the cultivation of these crops was one year, whereas sweet corn is a short duration crop,” he said.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> National> Karnataka/ by T.V. Sivanandan / Kalaburagi – December 01st, 2015

PSLV bags two more US launch orders

Business & Economy, Records, All, Science & Technology, World Opinion

To lift weather company PlanetiQ’s first two satellites next year.

Two more U.S. satellite launch contracts have come the way of ISRO’s PSLV rocket, this time from commercial weather satellite company PlanetiQ.

A couple of space industry observers noted this as an inevitable trickle of business, if not a flow yet, from a top space market such as the U.S. to the now proven Indian player.

PlanetiQ, the Colorado-based commercial weather satellites operator, recently signed a deal with Antrix Corporation, ISRO’s marketing arm, for launching its first two weather satellites. Its final fleet totally will have 12 to 18 satellites.

Secondary passengers

The two spacecraft, just 10 kg each and carrying a special sensor to glean weather data globally, are planned to be put in space in the last quarter of 2016 as secondary passengers of a PSLV, according to the company.

PlanetiQ quoted its Chairman and CEO Chris McCormick mentioning “the stellar track record of the PSLV” in its Thursday night’s announcement of the contract.

The global launch market scene for small satellites and PlanetiQ’s keenness for the Indian launcher may well bring its remaining weather fleet also to the PSLV, said ISRO Chairman A.S. Kiran Kumar on Friday.

Antrix has bagged nine such U.S. launch orders for 2015-16.

The PlanetiQ satellites are small bites for the PSLV, which can launch up to 1,200 kg to medium distances (36,000 km) and 1800-kg satellites to low-Earth (below 2,000 km) orbits.

Until about a year ago, U.S. satellite operators could not conceive of launching from India because of a longstanding U.S. policy bar. In recent years, established U.S. launch companies have moved on to lifting far heavier satellites [ten tonnes and beyond], leaving a demand for launchers that can put smaller satellites in space.

In September, US operator Spire Global became the PSLV’s first US customer by getting four 4-kg-each Lemur satellites from Sriharikota. Antrix, which has won around 55 foreign launch orders to date, a bulk of them small ones, prefers to get bigger foreign satellites to launch from here.

Lobbying works

Susmita Mohanty, co-founder and CEO of Earth2Orbit, the country’s first space start-up, who is familiar with the Indian and U.S. space industry scenes, said: “[US] companies can benefit tremendously now that PSLV has been added to their portfolio of international launch options. This has been made possible by the companies themselves lobbying for access to the PSLV, the export control reforms introduced by the Obama administration and the efforts of “NewSpace companies” such as hers.

Russia’s converted missile launcher, Dnepr, Soyuz and the newer European vehicle Vega are in the same category as the PSLV.

Space industry tracking agency Euroconsult estimated in February this year that by 2020, governments and private operators would launch a total of 510 small satellites. The biggest number of small satellites is foreseen to come from the U.S. in the next five years. That country has also launched almost half of 600-plus smallsats in the last decade, the report says.

This article earlier mentioned PlanetiQ as a Maryland-based company. It is a Colorado-based firm.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> National / by Madhumathi D.S. / Bengaluru – December 06th, 2016

Workshop on papaya farming on Dec. 8

Business & Economy, Green Initiatives / Environment, Nature

The University of Horticulture Sciences, Bagalkot, will hold a workshop on papaya farming at the varsity on December 8.

A release said that 250 papaya growers had registered for the event which would be inaugurated by progressive farmers and the former Minister Ajaykumar Sarnaik. Vice-Chancellor D. L. Maheshwar would be present. An interaction programme between farmers and experts would be held and farmers could share their views and seek clarifications from the experts.

Second session

The second session would deal with pest management in papaya plantations and the last session would deal with the equipment required for papaya farming, preservation of the fruit and its marketing.

Exhibition

A special exhibition of material related to papaya cultivation too would be held, the release said.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> National> Karnataka / by Staff Correspondent / Bagalkol – December 07th, 2015