Category Archives: Business & Economy

Bicycle Alliance launched with vision of one crore cycles

Business & Economy, Records, All
Metallic rings with spokes of a bicycle wheel unique stock photo
Metallic rings with spokes of a bicycle wheel unique stock photo

To boost the city’s bicycle population, Bicycle Alliance has been launched in Bengaluru with a unique ‘Vision One Crore.’

The big objective is to get Bengalureans own one crore bicycles in the years to come so that cycling becomes second nature to all.

Launched as part of the World Bicycle Day on Wednesday, the vision was propelled by a disturbing piece of statistics: As the city’s first bicycle mayor Sathya Sankaran put it: “India is witnessing very slow growth in bicycle ownership and a decline in the use of bicycles as a form of mobility,” he said citing a report by TERI, 2014.

Between 2001 and 2011, the share of bicycle-owning households has increased by a mere 1%. “The corresponding share in rural areas has increased by 3.4%, whereas in urban areas it has declined by 4.1%. (TERI, 2018).”

Various estimates put the stock of bicycles in Bengaluru to be anywhere between 10 lakh and 30 lakhs. However, as Sankaran informed, most are lying unused. “The bicycling mode share in the city is estimated at 3%.”

The Bicycle Alliance is a collaborative of bicycle retailers, cyclists, corporates, government agencies and the community, spearheaded by the city’s bicycle mayor.

Under the Vision One Crore, the Alliance will aim to provide the people with information on events designed to help them make the switch to owning and riding a bicycle in the city. “We will identify ways to promote bicycling via engagement and technology platforms.”

The retailers will provide feedback that would help measure the success of the campaign. Nine flagship bicycle retailers in Bengaluru have already shown joined this alliance with more on the way, Sankaran informed.

Among the retailers are BumsOnTheSaddle, Track & Trail, CycleWorld, Cadence90, Pedal In Tandem, iCycle, Crankmeister Bicycle Works, Wheelsports and Jayant Probikes.

The Alliance, he said, will support the flagship #ResetWithCycling campaign that brings together government, citizens and businesses to make bicycling a means of recovery in the post-Covid world.

source: http://www.deccanherald.com / Deccan Herald / Home>City> Life in Bengaluru / by Rasheed Kappan / DHNS / June 04th, 2020

 

Hubballi railway platform in Karnataka to be world’s longest

Amazing Feats, Business & Economy, Records, All, Science & Technology, World Opinion
Passengers move to board Hubballi-Jodhpur Shramik Special train, at Hubballi railway station. DH FILE PHOTO
Passengers move to board Hubballi-Jodhpur Shramik Special train, at Hubballi railway station. DH FILE PHOTO

The Hubballi railway station will have the world’s longest platform within one year when the existing 550-metre long Platform No 1 will be extended to 1,400 metres.

Platform No 1 of South Western Railway’s Hubballi railway station which is an inspection carriage line, is being converted into a full platform of 1,400-metre length and 10-metre width. Presently, Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh has the longest platform in the world at 1,366 metres.

The Hubballi yard has five platforms, and trains can be dispatched in one direction only at the same time. The Hubballi yard is being remodelled to increase the number of platforms from the existing 5 to 8. This work is being done as part of the Hubballi-Bengaluru line doubling project.

A third entrance is coming up for the station too.

The cost of the works is Rs 90 crore for yard remodelling, signalling, electrical, building work and other works. Work on the project has began and will be completed in the next one year, said SWR chief public relations officer E Vijaya.

source: http://www.deccanherald.com / Deccan Herald / Home> State> Karnataka Districts / by DHNS, Hubballi / June 04th, 2020

Bengaluru’s Mitti Cafe wins Bumble Grant Program 2020

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MittiCafeBF14jun2020

Mitti Cafe founder explains how the grant helped them kickstart their COVID-19 relief work

Mitti Cafe is one of the winners of the Bumble Grant Program launched in March 2020, to support women-led small businesses. The Bengaluru café is run by people with physical and intellectual disabilities, and claims that the grant helped Mitti kick-start its COVID-19 relief work.

“Food is the need of the hour,” says founder Alina Alam, “The grant money is going towards the Mitti Karuna Meals, where our persons with disabilities are serving daily-wage earners and the homeless. We have been able to serve over four-and-a-half lakh meals.”

Social networking site Bumble, which focusses on women-empowerment, has taken initiatives to support 180 local businesses through the Grant Program, launched in March 2020. As a part of the initiative, they offered winners ₹1,00,000 across 11 countries, including India, USA, UK, Russia, Germany, Australia, France, Canada, Mexico, Ireland, and New Zealand.

Of the 20,000 applicants worldwide across sectors like food and service, retail, CSR, technology, fashion and lifestyle, healthcare, education, and more, 2,000 SME applicants were from India. Thirteen of these have received the grant, and eight of these businesses are led by women entrepreneurs.

Director and COO of Mitti, Swati Dokania says, “Bumble’s vision of small businesses working through the community, to make a change, and sustain each other, aligns with ours. That is why we applied for the grant.”

As of now, the 12 Mitti Cafe branches, set up inside various office campuses such as Infosys and Wipro, will remain shut to stay safe from the pandemic. However, the Mitti Karuna Meals initiative is on-going. “Our staff of adults with disabilities came up with this idea, and that’s why we reached out to organisations, including Bumble, to kickstart this,” says Alina.

The 116 staff members at Mitti Cafe are currently helping feed the homeless. However, many of the staff, including assistant manager, Rajasekhar, used to live off the streets as well. “He has an intellectual disability, but today, he trains other people we hire,” says Alina, adding, “Our aim is to help create awareness while at the same time, support them financially.”

Mitti Cafe now has plans of expanding to Chennai, Mumbai and Hyderabad.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Society / by Sweta Akundi / June 10th, 2020

Microsoft’s venture fund sets up office in Bengaluru

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Representative image/Credit: AFP Photo
Representative image/Credit: AFP Photo

Microsoft’s venture fund M12 on Wednesday said it has set up an office in Bengaluru that will bolster efforts in pursuing investment opportunities.

The Bengaluru office joins the M12 network that includes San Francisco, Seattle, London, and Tel Aviv.

The local office will pursue investment opportunities across the region, focusing on B2B software startups in the sectors of applied artificial intelligence, business applications, infrastructure, security, and vanguard technologies, a statement said.

M12 seeks to invest in disruptive enterprise software startups in the Series A through C funding stages, targeting both local and cross-border solutions, it added.

“The new office is a step forward in M12’s long-term commitment to the Indian startup ecosystem,” it noted.

M12 has already been remotely investing in India since 2019 and its portfolio includes names like Innovaccer and FarEye.

“Typically, we see the greatest hurdles in a startup’s journey as they scale from local success to global challengers, and then again when they go on to become category leaders,” M12 India Lead Abhi Kumar said.

He added that both inflMicrosoftection points require specific and deep organisational strength, proven talent, GTM partnerships, and global investors.

“M12 is proud to be co-located in the region, and to bring experience and resources that will help startups successfully navigate these inflection points,” he said.

Post-investment, the startups in M12’s portfolio can elect to work with the fund’s Portfolio Development team.

M12’s portfolio companies are actively supported through connections to Microsoft’s go-to-market resources, access to Microsoft technology and internal thought leaders, co-marketing opportunities, and engagement with engineering teams to explore product integrations, the statement said.

Set up in 2016, M12 (formerly known as Microsoft Ventures) has invested in 90 companies.

source: http://www.deccanherald.com / Deccan Herald / Home> City / by PTI / June 10th, 2020

Real ‘aatmanirbharta’: Denied job, Karnataka man becomes ‘bitter gourd specialist’

Agriculture, Amazing Feats, Business & Economy, Records, All, Science & Technology

38-year-old Satish Shidagoudar is popular in this region as ‘Bitter Gourd Specialist’ for his amazing skills in growing quality and quantity vegetable in his agricultural field.

He has been cultivating it in his 1.5-acre lands out of five-acres owned by him and is earning in lakhs every month, which he says, no employer could have paid him that much salary, if he had got a job.
He has been cultivating it in his 1.5-acre lands out of five-acres owned by him and is earning in lakhs every month, which he says, no employer could have paid him that much salary, if he had got a job.

Belgavi :

Being a double degree holder he could have easily landed job anywhere. But he wasn’t that lucky as he was denied a job. But it didn’t stop him from doing something else to eke out a living and to his luck he is a successful farmer now, mainly In cultivating ‘ bitter gourd’.

He is Satish Shidagoudar, a 38-year-old farmer from Shirur village of Hukkeri taluk, about 35 km from Belagavi, popular in this region as ‘Bitter Gourd Specialist’ for his amazing skills in growing quality and quantity vegetable in his agricultural field.

He has been cultivating it in his 1.5-acre lands out of five-acres owned by him and is earning in lakhs every month, which he says, no employer could have paid him that much salary, if he had got a job.

He is also a wealthy farmer now, as he owns four vehicles, a piece of land and is also planning to build a bungalow.

Speaking to Express, Satish Shidagoudar said that “I wanted to be a teacher for which I also studied bachelor’s degree in education.

I had also completed BA degree. But I was asked to pay Rs 16 lakh as a bribe for a job with Rs 16,000 salary per month. My father was also planning to arrange money by taking loans as he was desperate to get a job for me. But I refused to and decided to help my father in the field”.

My father Nagappa who is aged 69 and uncles were growing variety of vegetables from the past 15 years in a traditional way.

But the yield and quality were poor due to which they were barely generating any income.

“After joining them in agriculture in 2008, I chose the advanced techniques of growing vegetables by adopting drip irrigation for proper water management, mulching the base to maintain moisture and prevent the growth of weed and providing micronutrients regularly and management of pest.

“I chose to grow bitter gourd by studying its demand in the market. It is bitter by taste, but it is a remedy for diabetes, cancer and many more diseases. People have started consuming it more nowadays. It is also used in making medicines,” said Satush.

“Following this, we started growing the very crop throughout the year by changing the plots in one-and-a half-acres of land. We harvest about 50 tonnes in one season.

“This year, it is being sold at Rs 35,000 per tonne against Rs 48,000 last year. During seasons, I earn about Rs 25,000 to Rs 35,000 per day which I think is far more than the salary earnings of any teacher’ says Satish with a smile on his face”, he added.

“I hardly invest Rs 1.5 Lakh and earnings are several times more than the investment. This is possible only due to hard work and dedication.

“I take care of the plants like a baby due to which I get quality yield. Many people from various districts visit my field to understand the method of cultivation”, he said.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Good News / by Sunil Patil / Express News Service / June 10th, 2020

Colourful Yakshagana saris now for anyone’s wardrobe

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Business & Economy
George Amanna weaving a Kase sari in Udupi. | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
George Amanna weaving a Kase sari in Udupi. | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

Efforts are on to make and market Kase saris — which have colourful bold checks and are traditionally worn by Yakshagana (Badagathittu) artistes — to suit any woman’s wardrobe.

The Karkala-based Kadike Trust, which has been working to popularise the Udupi sari, which enjoys the Geographical Indication (GI) tag, is now doing the same with Kase sari, which come in bright shades of yellow, red and black checks.

“Some decades ago, the late Kamaladevi Chattopadhyaya, founder of the Crafts Council of India, who was attracted to the Kase sari, visited Manjunath Shettigar of Brahmavar, a master weaver, and collected some samples,” said Mamatha Rai, trustee of Kadike Trust.

A couple of years back, the Crafts Council of India sought a couple of saris for exhibition at a national conference in Manipal. It was then that the trust decided to encourage weavers to weave Kase sari, which is being marketed as “Yaksha Udupi Sari”. “The marketing of this sari is fetching better returns for weavers and we are sharing profits with them,” Ms. Rai said.

At present, about five weavers from three primary weavers’ cooperative societies (at Brahmavar, Shivally, and Talipady) weave these saris. “The Kase sari worn by Yakshagana artistes is 8.25 metres long. But we are getting it weaved for 5.5 metres with a pallu. We presently have orders for weaving 50 saris,” Ms. Rai said.

Use of social media

The trust has been using social media to popularise these special saris. It is also encouraging weavers’ societies in Udupi district to take up weaving of this sari and is facilitating its marketing.

George Amanna, 68, a weaver, said the initiative to popularise Kase sari was laudable at a time when the demand for handloom saris was low. “I hope the trend of wearing Kase sari catches on,” he said.

Shashikanth Kotiyan, secretary, Shivally Primary Weavers Service Cooperative Society, Udupi, said the society had weaved about 70 Kase saris (of 5.5 metres length) and supplied them to the trust for marketing so far.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> States> Karnataka / by Ganesh Prabhu / Udupi – June 08th, 2020

Move over NASA, IISc builds ventilator in just 60 days

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Indigenous prototype

A ventilator developed by IISc
A ventilator developed by IISc

A crash-course programme by the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) to develop a new ventilator model has resulted in a proof-of-concept prototype some 60 days later.

The development has been compared to a similar ventilator programme by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA) Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), which churned out a working, high-pressure prototype in 37 days.

“What both projects have in common is utilising engineering know-how for different applications,” said Dr Gaurab Banerjee, of the institute’s Electrical Communications Engineering (ECE) Department and one of the core members of the development team.

Dr Banerjee insisted that the invention, dubbed “Praana” took just 35 days from the drawing board to the prototype stage. “The initial days of the project were spent ensuring that we could replicate ventilator mechanics,” he said.

But where the JPL device has a lifespan of three to four months, the IISc team said their unit is intended as a full-fledged alternative to existing ventilators.

“The technology will be transferred to interested manufacturers,” the IISc team said, adding that the new unit would probably be priced between Rs 1.5 and 2 lakh per unit. Existing commercial machines cost between Rs 5 to 7 lakh.

Before that happens, however, the unit still has to pass compliance tests to ensure that it stands up to field use.

Worst-case scenario

But is such a project needed? When the team first began their work, there was a serious shortage of ventilators in the country. According to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, the country had roughly 14,000 ventilators, out of which 734 were in Karnataka.

The situation has now changed with a Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) spokesperson telling DH that the company is already churning out ventilators against a 30,000-unit order.

The IISc team, however, pointed to the recent surge in cases in Karnataka and in Mumbai, coupled with observations that the pandemic could rebound in winter, as a sign that we are not yet out of the woods.

“We will have this completely indigenous technology, built mostly out of water filter automotive parts, ready if things get worse,” they said.

The project began in the penultimate week of March, with staff from both the ECE and the Department of Aerospace Engineering, and joined over the internet by volunteers.

source: http://www.deccanherald.com / Deccan Herald / Home> City> Top Bengaluru Stories / by Akhil Kadidal / DHNS, Bengaluru / June 03rd, 2020

Biocon’s partner Mylan receives favourable ruling for device in U.S.

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Clears hurdle for patenting Biocon’s Insulin Glargine.

Biocon Ltd. today announced that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Appeal Board (PTAB) ruled in favour of Mylan, Biocon’s partner in inter-partes review (IPR) proceedings, finding all challenged claims of Sanofi’s Lantus SoloSTAR device patents unpatentable. The PTAB found three claims of patent unpatentable, and two claims to be patentable. However, Mylan and Biocon previously obtained a covenant not to sue from Sanofi on the patent and therefore this ruling does not impact Biocon and Mylan’s ability to commercialise Semglee (Insulin Glargine) upon final approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

The PTAB also found Sanofi’s proposed amended claims for the ‘486 and ‘844 patents unpatentable. Dr. Christiane Hamacher, CEO and Managing Director, Biocon Biologics, said, “We are extremely pleased with the U.S. PTAB’s ruling in favour of our partner Mylan for four device patents of Sanofi’s Lantus SoloSTAR. This strengthens our resolve to provide high-quality, affordable Insulin Glargine to diabetic patients in the U.S. and generate savings for their healthcare system. Our partner’s New Drug Application (NDA) for Semglee is under active review by the U.S. FDA and this favourable ruling further clears the path for the anticipated launch of our Glargine in the U.S. in mid-CY20..”

Last month, the PTAB held the sole challenged claim of another Lantus SoloSTAR device patent as unpatentable and in March, Mylan and Biocon announced that a U.S. court found the asserted claims of the ‘844 patent not infringed by Mylan’s Insulin Glargine product and invalid for lack of written description. Sanofi’s formulation patents were previously affirmed to be invalid by the Federal Circuit.

“The positive IPR developments are greatly encouraging as we believe greater competition in the U.S. insulins market will help rationalise the cost of therapy and generate savings for the healthcare system. Once approved and commercialized, our co-developed Semglee will expand access to insulin therapy. Lantus is a long-acting insulin used to treat adults with type-2 diabetes and adults and pediatric patients with type-1 diabetes for the control of high blood sugar. Our partner, Mylan’s New Drug Application (NDA) is under active review by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.”

Sanofi sells the product in vials (Lantus) and as a disposable injection pen (Lantus SoloSTAR®). Sanofi’s total IQVIA sales for the 12 months ending March 31, 2020, were approximately $1.71 billion for Lantus 100 Units/mL and about $4.32 billion for Lantus SoloSTAR.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Business> Industry / by Special Correspondent / Bengaluru – June 01st, 2020

South Western Railways distributes emergency food packets and Channapatna toys to migrant worker families

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Business & Economy, Records, All

 SWRailwaysBF31may2020

Raushan Kumar, Divisional Commercial Manager, Bengaluru Division, South Western Railways, speaks about the Gantway Sathi Aahar and Put The Smile Back initiatives

“The train got delayed when we were about to reach Bihar. A route that should have taken two hours took 12. We were supposed to reach at 6 pm, but we arrived at 3 am,” says Sanjeev Kumar, a migrant worker who left this month from Bengaluru. “Had it not been for the emergency food packets provided to us at the Bangalore railway station, I don’t know what we would have done. We also received free servings of chitranna at Vishakhapatnam and upma at Vijayawada.”

The idea for Gantway Sathi Aahar (friend till destination) initiative, which provides emergency food packets in addition to cooked food, came to Raushan Kumar (27), Divisional Commercial Manager, Bengaluru Division, South Western Railways. Akhil Bhartiya Ekta Manch, United Sikhs, and IITians4India provided assistance in this endeavour. “Since trains were getting delayed, the migrant workers needed food packets that would sustain them during their journey,” says Raushan. That is when the idea for emergency food packets emerged. Bengaluru-based Sudhanshu Garg and Bikesh, alumnus of IIT Mumbai, and members of IIT4India, wanted to take action to help migrant workers instead of lamenting and criticising. Sudhanshu decided to speak with Raushan to see what they could do. “IITians4India is a group of IIT volunteers working on short term and long term high impact projects through the support of IITians across the globe,” says Sudhanshu. “Their first project is ‘Combat Food Bags for Migrants’ led by alumni of IIT Bombay, Bikesh and me. It started when the team wanted to do something to help the migrants as they commute. Sudhanshu reached out to the Railways department and that is how we contributed.”

Gantway Sathi Aahar food packets were thus provided in addition to cooked food. “They have a shelf life of more than three days and contain friend-till-destination food pack with litti (a delicacy in Bihar), four pieces of onion and green chillis, four buns, two one litre water bottles, two tetrapacks of juice, one biscuit packet, 250 grams of papdi namkin, two bananas and two chocolates. There were complaints that due to intense heatwaves migrant workers are suffering from dehydration. “So we have started to give one sachet of ORS (oral rehydration solution) to vulnerable sections, particularly lactating mothers, children and other women passengers,” says Raushan.

Considering the hardships migrant workers have faced ever since lockdown, with their arduous journey back home, either walking for thousands of kilometres without any money, food or water, or travelling packed in buses and trains, Raushan decided they could do more to uplift their spirits. “That is when we introduced the ‘Put The Smile Back’ initiative, in which we distribute Channapatna toys to children of the migrant workers. This way we not only uplift their spirits but also rejuvenate the local business of Channapatna toy makers. I had received a letter of appreciation from the Channapatna Toy Makers Association. Till now we have purchased toys worth ₹1 lakh. I am also trying to promote the toys in other states too. We have received orders from officers in Rajasthan, Pune and Ranchi.”

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Society / by Sravasti Datta / May 30th, 2020

Capgemini’s Delaporte to take over as Wipro CEO and MD

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Thierry Delaporte.
Thierry Delaporte.

Frenchman had spent 25 years with the consulting firm

Wipro Limited on Friday appointed Thierry Delaporte as its new CEO and MD. The appointment is effective from July 6.

In a regulatory filing, Wipro said: “Until recently, Thierry Delaporte was the chief operating officer of Capgemini Group and a member of its group executive board. During his 25-year career with Capgemini, he held several leadership roles including that of the CEO of the global financial services strategic business unit, and head of all global service lines. He also oversaw Capgemini’s India.”

Mr. Delaporte will be based in Paris and report to chairman Rishad Premji. The company’s current CEO and MD Abidali Neemuchwala will relinquish his position on June 1.

Commenting on Wipro’s new French connection, global analysts who know Mr. Delaporte, say: the new leader comes with a strong finance background and he will be able to bring operational and financial discipline at Wipro. They also said that culture too won’t be a big challenge for Mr. Delaporte as he worked with several companies of diverse cultures, although culture fit’ is a major `concern’ and `criteria’ for CXO selection for many family-driven businesses in India as well as globally.

Thierry is a global leader and has worked with multiple cultures, across different types of companies. He has experience in the international environment and worked in similar types of company cultures,’’ said Ray Wang, principal analyst, founder and chairman of Silicon Valley-based Constellation Research Inc,. Commenting on the appointment, Peter Bendor-Samuel, CEO, Everest Group, said, “[Mr.] Thierry is an interesting choice for Wipro, signalling its move to be a true multinational and global player. [Mr.] Thierry faces many challenges as he assumes Wipro leadership; the biggest amongst them is to get Wipro back to industry-leading growth. To achieve this, he must increase accountability, and streamline decision making.”

Phil Fersht, CEO and chief analyst at London-based HFS Research, said, “He is an ambitious business leader with a strong finance background. He will bring strong operational and fiscal discipline to Wipro and has a lot of energy and leadership capabilities.”

As per analysts, everything has quickly changed, in a post pandemic world, including market realities, business challenges, customer needs and work culture and with these also changed the role, priorities and focus of global tech leaders.

On the priorities in front of Wipro’s new leader, as per analysts, the challenges going forward are to bring the vast elements of Wipro together onto accounts. There are many opportunities for multiple teams to work with clients at the same time and gain synergies.

This requires a relook at how industries are organised as they get collapsed post pandemic. For example, manufacturing, retail, and distribution are very similar today just like telecom, media, entertainment, and technology. Those collapsed value chains will change how companies like Wipro service these industries,’’ added Mr Wang. According to Mr. Fersht, Thierry has an immediate challenge of creating a renewed strategy for Wipro and bringing in some new leadership in various areas. “He will likely look to restructure the firm as it seeks to develop a “digital workplace” delivery model for the post-COVID environment that caters for intense cost pressures, remote staff and rapid transformation that many clients demand.”

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Business> India / by Mini Tejaswi / Bengaluru – May 29th, 2020