Monthly Archives: September 2012

Microsoft Appfest in Bangalore sets Guinness Record

Amazing Feats, Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Records, All, Science & Technology, World Opinion

Microsoft Windows 8 Appfest made history by setting a new Guinness world record for most participants in a software development marathon at one location here today.The Appfest saw participation of 2,567 developers coding non-stop for 18 hours.

The event, hosted by Microsoft and aimed at encouraging developers to build, design and test applications (apps) for the Windows platform, had commenced here last afternoon.

Paul O’Neill, Vice President, Guinness World Records Commercial announced Microsoft’s entry into the Guinness world records for “Most Participants in a Software Development Marathon in One Location”.

A certificate validating the record was presented to Jon DeVaan, Corporate Vice President for Windows Development at Microsoft, and Bhaskar Pramanik, Chairman, Microsoft Corporation India Pvt Ltd.

At the closing of the Windows Appfest, O’Neill said, “The spectacle of thousands of developers toiling through the night has demonstrated great commitment to their work.”
Pramanik said: “This Guinness Record at Windows AppFest is a great accomplishment by all the developers who participated. Over the course of the 18 hours of the Windows AppFest we saw some outstanding talent and many innovative apps being developed.”

source: http://www.DeccanHerald.com / Home> Business / Bangalore, September 22nd, 2012  (PTI)

Newspaper archive at Alva’s Degree College makes history come alive

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Education

Mangalore:

The department of mass communication and journalism in Alva’s Degree College, Moodabidri, has a collection of around 4,500 old newspapers and magazines of various Indian languages, and also foreign newspapers.

The collection is a matter of pride for a region that saw Herman Mogling start the first Kannada newspaper ‘Mangalooru Samachara’ in 1843. Of the 4,500 journals, most are Kannada newspapers. There are some rare copies of Kannada newspapers on display like Nava Chethana, Kranthi Deepa, Mungaru and others published in 1970s.

For the past two years, this enormous and diverse collection of newspapers and magazines has been on display at the college. The old journals are preserved in special covers and exhibited in huge showcases to help students learn the history of journalism. This has been possible due to the efforts of Hareesh K Adhur, a lecturer of the department of mass communication and journalism, who has collected these newspapers by travelling to different places across the country.

“I have been collecting old newspapers since I was a student. I collected around 3,000 newspapers and a few years ago, a friend of mine gave me nearly 1,500 different newspapers. This collection of newspapers has been exhibited for students mainly because journalism is not a theoretical subject.”

Hareesh hopes the collection will help students understand how news was reported and presented in the earlier years, and compare it with the present day. The exhibition is open to all and entry is free.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / Home> City> Mangalore / TNN / August 16th, 2012

Mysore’s visionaries

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Historical Links, Pre-Independence, Leaders, Science & Technology

Radhika and Sanjeev Jain scan documents obtained from the Karnataka State Archives and discover that two illustrious doctors, Dr B K Narayan Rao and Dr M S Mekhri, made remarkable contributions to the modernisation of hospitals in the erstwhile Mysore State.

As part of our effort to study the history of medicine in Karnataka, we pored through the documents obtained from the Karnataka State Archives and discovered a report of Dr B K Narayan Rao and a document that talked of grant of foreign scholarship to Dr M S Mekhri.

While B K Narayan Rao was the first eye surgeon of Mysore State, Dr M S Mekhri was co-founder of Bangalore Medical College and Research Institute. Their journeys abroad, during the late 1920s and early 1930s, were aimed at modernising not merely Minto Hospital, but many medical institutions in the Mysore State.

Maharaja Chamarajendra Wodeyar whose vision was to make Mysore a ‘model state’ on par with, if not better than, British India set about modernising Mysore through interventions in different spheres, including medicine. As part of this agenda, doctors were specially sent abroad to minutely document the latest advancements in medical knowledge and practice.

Narayan Rao’s visit

One of the consequential visits was that of Dr B K Narayan Rao, for over four months in 1933, to reputed ophthalmic and other medical institutions in Europe and England. Dr Rao, who was then Superintendent of Minto Hospital and Principal, Mysore Medical College, covered 37 hospitals across Berlin, Prague, Vienna, Paris, London, Italy, Switzerland and Geneva.

The outcomes of the visit were: an opening for future Mysore medical postgraduates to study in Vienna; recognition of the work at the Minto Hospital by the Royal College of Physicians and the possibility of recognising Mysore’s MBBS degree. However, what is remarkable is the descriptive 32-page report that Dr Narayan Rao submitted, subsequent to the visit, accompanied by photographs of hospital buildings and equipment, and blueprints of hospital layout plans. The report is rich in detail ranging from treatments to hospital design. Dr Rao comments on new surgical methods and treatment techniques.

He also mentions the rise of plastic surgery as a specialisation after World War I.
Having visited many university hospitals, especially the eye clinics at Vienna, Amsterdam, Berlin and Prague, Dr Rao highlights how they incorporate both practice and research. Subsequently, one of the foremost recommendations he makes to the then government is the need for research laboratories in our hospitals without which “our work can never attain the high quality of many western institutions.”

Lamenting the absence of adequate diagnostic instruments in Mysore hospitals, a situation not unfamiliar even today, Dr Rao says that if the University Eye Clinic, Berlin with about 50 beds and a daily out-patient attendance of 100 patients “has 5 slit lamp microscopes, 4 perimeters, 3 heretometers, we with 125 beds and 300 out-patient attendance have but one of each.” Additionally, “it is a frequent experience for patients to go from Minto to Victoria and vice versa for their BP taken because the one instrument is ‘out of order’”! Further, the few instruments we have are “jealously guarded against both breakage and use”!

Dr Rao’s report ends with a series of recommendations to set up: annual fund to hospitals; library to support research, trained staff to keep records and statistics, testing laboratories and notably, to employ women in these labs. Women, he adds, could also work as almoners, i.e., welfare workers. Citing financial constraints, only a few of the Dr Rao’s recommendations were considered: library, personnel for maintaining records, research and teaching in bigger hospitals, and providing fellowships for specialised training abroad. Others were to wait for better times.

Mekhri’s visit

The other momentous visit is by Dr Muhammad Shaffiuddin Mekhri to England in 1930 for specialised training in Ophthalmology. Dr Mekhri had at the time just completed his MBBS in Madras Medical College and begun working as a Medical Probationer at the Minto Ophthalmic Hospital earning Rs 100/month.

But Dr Mekhri’s great skill and interest was noted by Dr Narayan Rao and Dr Mahommed Usmon, Senior Surgeon in Mysore. What was in dispute however was whether Dr Mekhri could be granted study leave since he had only put in six months of service at the hospital and whether his pay was adequate to maintain himself in England.

The travel and stay was estimated for six months at about Rs 3,575, including passage money at Rs 750 and scholarship amount at Rs.2700 (=£150). The matter was finally resolved with the government approving a one year scholarship of “£275 together with passage to and fro”.  But what is fascinating is the petition submitted by Dr Mekhri to the Government of Mysore where he discusses, along with his meritorious academic record, his “main object…to serve his fatherland and to be one of the humble servants of the Universally beloved sovereign” the Mysore Maharaja.

He mentions his choice of serving in Mysore as a Medical Graduate getting a meager Rs 100 instead of going to Madras where as House Surgeon and subsequently Asst. Surgeon he would have earned Rs 200 rising to Rs 1,000.

What is even more fascinating is his allusion to the immemorial service rendered “faithfully and with distinction” by many generations of the Mekhri family to the Mysore Maharajas. This includes Dr Mekhri’s father Mohamed Jafar Mekhri (City Superintendent of Police) his grandfather Mohamed Myruddin Ali Khan Mekhri (Palace Pensioner) and great grandfather Bakshi Mohiuddin Ali Khan Mekhri (Adalat Committee Bakshi).

The petition symbolises a double movement of a desire for modernity but a means of accessing modernity through not only academic proficiency but also monarchic patronage. It highlights the contrary pulls on science and technology in Mysore that adopted the universalism and modernity of science but evolved under conditions of feudal patronage.

The Mysore State saw itself as a modernising monarchy that had to implement graded reform in the social and political spheres, having to contend with ‘tradition’ but also emerging identities of caste and religion. However, in spheres such as medicine, especially in the incorporation of advancements in science and technology, the state marched ahead with its modernising project.

source: http://www.DeccanHerald.com /  Home> Supplements> Spectrum> Heritage / September 18th, 2012

Reviving the Family Doctor

Business & Economy, Science & Technology

Neighbourhood health clinics are trying to revive the dying breed of GPs

Image: Manoj Patil for Forbes India
HEALING TOUCH Chains of clinics with GPs are making a difference by ensuring that patients don’t have to run around for elementary diagnosis

In August, Norwest Venture Partners invested Rs 25 crore in Bangalore-based NationWide Primary Healthcare Services, a chain of clinics that promotes family doctors. Healthspring, another similar chain from Mumbai, has received Rs 20.5 crore from Catamaran Ventures, Reliance Venture Asset Management and BlueCross BlueShield Venture Partners.

In Bangalore, The Family Doctor chain has announced an ambitious plan to expand to 30 clinics (up from its existing 13 in the city) across the country.

Such initiatives to prop up neighbourhood clinics mark a trial-and-error approach to revive the dying breed of once-ubiquitous family doctors.

General practitioners lost out somewhere along the growth path of large hospitals. With big money coming in for specialists, being a GP wasn’t good enough. Despite long hours and the perils of being on call 24/7, graduating doctors went for specialisations.

Dr Shantanu Chattopadhyay, founder & MD, NationWide, says, “If you go to a medical college today, probably only three in a class of 100 would like to be general physicians.” In a class surveyed by Forbes India, the number was zero.

Dr Ramnik Parekh, president, Federation of Family Physicians’ Association of India, reiterates the lack of the doctor-next-door. “There are 1.7 million family doctors in India. One-third of them hold MBBS degrees, one-third are ayurvedic or homeopathic doctors, and the rest are unqualified or quacks,” he said.

Dr Rana Mehta, executive director of consulting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), estimates there are about 200,000 family doctor clinics
in the country.  That roughly works out to 0.16 GPs per 1,000 people. In stark contrast, Canada has 10 GPs per 1,000.

This is where chains like NationWide, Healthspring, and The Family Doctor are trying to make a difference by bringing together GPs, and ensuring that patients don’t have to run from pillar to post for elementary diagnosis.

If you go to a hospital with a sprained neck, for instance, the outpatient department will straightaway direct you to an orthopaedic for whom you may have to fork out at least Rs 400.

Add to that the expenses for a battery of tests that a specialist is likely to recommend. The Family Doctor, on the other hand, charges Rs 125 per patient, NationWide Rs 200 and Healthspring Rs 350.

The teething problems were there, of course.  Naresh Malhotra, director, The Family Doctor, had told Forbes India on an earlier occasion: “We had priced our consultation fee at Rs 50, but no one came in because they had doubts about us being professionals. Then we increased it to Rs 125 and our patient pool doubled.”

Buoyed by its success, the chain plans to open 100 clinics across the country by the end of 2013.

The Family Doctor keeps
its operating costs low by working out of an area of 400-800 square feet. For stability, they are looking to hire women doctors as they “tend to stick around in the organisation for longer”. The clinic won many fans last year when it alerted civic authorities about a possible outbreak of malaria after it diagnosed at least 11 patients with similar symptoms.

An organised chain of qualified family doctors also substantially eases the burden on large hospitals by detecting primary-stage ailments, and reducing cases that require complicated procedures. NationWide and Healthspring have earned plaudits among the on-the-move professionals in Bangalore and Mumbai, respectively, for delivering quick and efficient services.

NationWide founders Dr Shantanu Chattopadhyay and Dr Shantanu Rahman are trying to create India’s version of the UK’s National Health Service.

One of the ways of achieving this is through their database that tracks patients’ medical records. This plays the role of family doctors who would treat patients from their childhood and know their medical history like the back of their hands. “When people move into a new city, they struggle to find such practitioners. It’s an area we are trying to work on,” said Chattopadhyay.

If numbers are to be believed, the concept is slowly catching on. Healthspring CEO Kaushik Sen said they’ve treated about 50,000 patients across four clinics since September 2011, while The Family Doctor has seen about 60,000 (including repeat patients).

At NationWide, about 1,000 have signed up for annual memberships that include 24/7 doctor-on-call and discounts on lab and pharmacy services.

Why are patients returning to GP clinics? “The key lies in establishing good relationships. Any good GP practice is based on trust,” said Rahman. Doctors are hired on a full-time basis and the chains are doing away with referral fees to ensure they don’t chase monetary benefits.

Ronald Mascarenhas, a 71-year-old from Mumbai, is very happy with the personalised care provided by the clinics.

“I have taken the diabetic plan at Healthspring and pay Rs 9,500 annually. Compared to big hospitals in Mumbai, it works out to be very economical because all my diabetic tests are covered and  extra consultancies for cold, fever, etc are free. These places are good for people who live alone. They are not like general hospitals, where you go for a check-up and then you are forgotten. They even call to check and remind me that my blood test is due,” he said.

Aruna Sakhuja, a 69-year-old entrepreneur, was touched when her physicians from NationWide paid her a visit after she underwent surgery at a large hospital. “No one does that these days,” she said.

This article appeared in Forbes India Magazine of 28 September, 2012

source: http://www.forbesindia.com / Home> UpFront, BreakPoint / by Nilofer D’Souza / September 19th, 2012

Engineers’ Day celebrated in Bidar

Business & Economy, Records, All

The Association of Consulting Engineers celebrated Engineers’ Day here on September 15.

Raghavendra Auradkar, senior IPS officer, urged engineers to constantly improve their skills and adopt latest technologies in planning and implementation of projects.

Later, association president Shantkumar Chanda announced that Madhav Joshi, Pranesh Nandikol and Srinivas Sale have won the UltraTech Building of the Year awards.

source: http://www.TheHindu.com / Home> National> Karnataka / by Special Correspondent / Bidar, September 19th, 2012

 

Max Miss Bangalore: Top 16

Arts, Culture & Entertainment

Max Miss Bangalore in association with Gitanjali Gems revealed the top 16 girls who will compete for the crown through a glitzy fashion capsule at the Lalit Ashok. Giving an exclusive preview of the Festive – Winter 2012 collection of Max, the beautiful girls wore the designs with a unique charm.

The afternoon hosted by Max and Dream Merchants proved to be an absolute fashion treat with exceptional attitude and oomph as the 16 contestants strutted their way down the ramp, hopeful to make the best first impression. The contestants were selected from the hundreds of aspirants who registered into the contest by dropping into Max stores and the auditions that took place at malls and various colleges across the city. The shortlisted girls have gone through a series of grooming sessions with top professionals in the field of modelling, mentored by renowned fashion choreographer & ex-model, Achala Sachdev and MS Sreedhar to prepare them for the Sub Events on 20th September and an explosive finale on September 21st, 2012.

Max Miss Bangalore aims at recognizing the talent in aspiring young women and then grooming them into poised and confident models. The finalists who walked the ramp comprised of 16 such young ladies who have the charisma and attitude to make it big.

Commenting on the initiative, Vasanth Kumar, Executive Director, Max, said “Max as a brand is synonymous with international fashion and has a strong youth following in the country. Our core brand value is to democratize fashion making it accessible to everyone. In keeping with this philosophy, we have associated with Miss Bangalore which provides a window of opportunity to the young ladies of the city to showcase their talent and get their first break in the glamour industry”.

Also in the words of, Feroz Khan, Director, Dream Merchant “Bangaloreans are known for their high fashion quotient. Miss Bangalore Beauty Pageant organised by Dream Merchants since 1994 takes Bangalore’s Fashion charisma one leap ahead by being the launch pad for aspiring, beautiful and talented young women of Bangalore. We have discovered talents such as Sara Corners, Vitika Agarwal, Madhuri Bhatacharia, Nafisa Joseph etc. in the past. In its 12th edition, we promise the pageant will be much grander than ever before and with Max as our main sponsor, the fashion quotient of this contest will be on an all time style high”.

Along with Max the other sponsors are Gitanjali (associate sponsor), Kingfisher (after party partner), Green Trends (makeup, hair & skin partner), Blenders Pride (event partner). Lalit Ashok was the official host of the show.

source: http://www.bolksky.com / Home> Insync> Trends-n-style / posted by Sneha / September 17th, 2012

Boon a minute

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Historical Links, Pre-Independence

The Minishamba Temple / The Hindu

In a tiny and dilapidated temple on the banks of the Cauvery, we discover a quick-fix goddess

The lone black horse looks away even as its owner drags it reluctantly towards me. It is almost twilight and the lights have just come on in this little hamlet called Ganjam located at the furthest end of Tipu Sultan’s capital town Srirangapatna. Some college girls who have come on a tour are stealing glances at the local boys who have gathered around the temple and are lost in a wave of giggles.

The man asks me if I want to go on a ride. I refuse with a smile, wondering why tourists would want to go on a horse ride in front of a temple. He shrugs and mutters, “We will go around the town. There are several tourist places here.” The horse is, however, reluctant. It can barely balance its gaudy headgear as it looks wistfully away.

The village Ganjam is indeed filled with tourists. Besides the Ranganatha Swamy temple in the main town, several ruins and palaces from Tipu Sultan’s era dot the village. However, I am interested in a temple located right at the end of the hamlet, on the banks of the river Cauvery, dedicated to a goddess who they say grants your every wish within minutes. Which is why her name is Nimishamba! Her power, attributed to Goddess Parvathi, ensures that your prayers are answered in a ‘nimisha’ or a minute.

The locals besiege you with flowers, lemons and fruits as I walk barefoot into the ancient temple.

An old dilapidated monument, the temple rests peacefully on the banks of the river Cauvery. I hear that it was built by Mummadi Krishnaraja Wodeyar some 400 years ago. But the priest tells me that they believe that it dates back to the years of Adi Shankaracharya and point to a ‘srichakra’ carved on a stone in front of the deity.

I wonder about the name, Nimishamba, and about the story behind it. “There may be many stories but eventually it’s about faith. Even the ancient Puranas speak about prayers being granted in a minute if you pray with devotion,” he theorises, before addressing a fellow devotee who is interested in the many ceremonies organised by the temple. Later, I am told that the goddess came to the support of a local king within a minute of his prayers when he was fighting his enemies. I learn that there are other Nimishamba temples in Bangalore as well, but this is probably one of the earliest.

“People come here with all kinds of prayers — to get married, to have children, to do well in business, to get good health. It is all your belief. Close your eyes and pray and you will get whatever you want,” he says as he walks away. The bell rings as the arati finishes.

I step out and look at the river bathed in a sheath of twilight, as the clouds turn dark and threaten to rain.

I tell myself that faith is always comforting. And in our days when time is a precious commodity, it is reassuring that our prayers will be answered soon.

source: http://www.TheHindu.com / Home> Life & Style> Travel / by Lakshmi Sharath / September 14th, 2012

Bangalore’s Restaurant Week — good prices, good food, good fun

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Business & Economy
(L-R) Mangal Dalal, Azeem Zainulbhai and Nachiket Shetye

Mangal Dalal makes an interesting point as we settle in for an interview over coffee. “The idea of Restaurant Week is to give people an experience they aren’t likely to subscribe to on their own.”

Co-founders Mangal and Nachiket Shetye are gearing up to kickstart the September ’12 edition of Restaurant Week India. To be held simultaneously in Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore— the two have been quite busy, making sure everything is as seamless as possible.

“We’ve made quite a few changes since the last edition, the price point being one thing. Bangalore is an extremely price-sensitive market. So this year, we’ve got meals at `750 plus taxes for three courses and it’s worked. The idea is to give everyone the opportunity to try out a restaurant they would not normally walk into — either because it’s too formal, expensive or the diner did not put on his experimental cap,” Mangal adds.

Keeping it under `1,000 enabled the organisers to reach out to a wider audience. “The price is a good balance; it’s low enough for customers to try out a new place and just right for restaurants to break even. They won’t make any money but they won’t lose any either,” he says.

Seventeen restaurants across cuisines, ambience, service and geographies — the count of participating restaurants in Bangalore has definitely impressed the two. “We came into the city and over a week, we ate at over 25 restaurants and zeroed in on the top 17.

The entire experience is curated and therefore, we know what is going to be served. The focus is definitely on the menu,” Nachiket proffers.

Discussing on the kind of experience one can expect, Nachiket says, “We’ve focussed on the dishes the restaurants do best. There is no point in them seducing a diner with something drastic and then not have him return to the place. And if there are no repeat customers, why would that restaurant partner with us the next time?”

The two like to call Restaurant Week, ‘a flea market of sorts’. “People bring in their stuff, we add our inputs, come to a conclusion and then the selling begins. And everything is at a good price,” Mangal points out.

Talking about the three different yet parallel events, it’s hard not to compare the three cities. And both made some very interesting points. “Mumbai has a large vegetarian population. And I am referring to the general public, not the affluent. Even among non-vegetarians, they have days on which they don’t eat meat. Chicken and fish are the two preferred meats.

Delhi, on the other hand, is very trend driven. The general spread of mid-level restaurants is way better than most other cities but the dining out pattern is based more on ‘what is doing well’ than on knowledge and information. Of course, how much they spend is also a factor.

Bangalore, we have found, has more information when it comes to eating out. Most food lovers know what’s going on in their city and where to get their favourite food. They are also more open to go beyond their regular places, and that’s commendable,” they say.

Back to the event that’s coming up soon, Nachiket says, “As for the restaurants in Bangalore, we need people to be on board with us. Feedback is a must and we expect that from our customers. If a restaurant makes a technical fault and that’s pointed out, correction has to be made. We don’t want restaurants who don’t identify with our cause to be a part of this, because this is a very special initiative for us,” sign off the two.

source: http://www.dnaindia.com / Daily News & Analysis / Home> LifeStyle> Report / by Priyadarshini Nandy,  Place:Bangalore, Agency:DNA / Saturday, September 15th, 2012

Mysore musicians’ contribution to music is great

Arts, Culture & Entertainment

Caption: N. Murali, President of Madras Music Academy inaugurating the TAG digital music archives at Ganabharathi’s Veene Sheshanna Bhavan in city yesterday. Ganabharathi President Dr.C.G. Narasimhan, Madras Music Academy Secretary Pappu Venugopala Rao, TAG Corporation Managing Director R.T. Chari and Journalist Krishna Vattam were present.

Mysore, Sept. 7

“The musicians of cultural city Mysore have contributed a great deal to the music field,” said N. Murali, President of Madras Music Academy.

Speaking after inaugurating the TAG digital music archives at Ganabharathi in Kuvempunagar here last evening, he opined: “Veene Sheshanna, Vasudevacharya and Sadashiva Rao were doyens in the field of music. They are very well known in the society. Though many old songs of Karnatak and Hindustani music may not be available anywhere else, they can be listened to at the digital music archives. Upcoming singers and music lovers should make use of this facility.”

Chennai’s TAG Corporation Managing Director R.T. Chari, who also spoke on the occasion, said: “The digital archives was first started in 2008. After Bangalore and Chennai, it has now been granted to Ganabharathi. At the archives with songs of music maestros, music can be listened to for about 1,000 hours. This will be extended to 10,000 hours. At present there are 10 computers with touch screen.”

source: http://www.StarofMysore.com / General News / September 07th, 2012

Making a real difference

Amazing Feats, Education, Leaders, Records, All, Uncategorized

Muscat:

He’s one of the wealthiest men in the world -“ he’s India’s third wealthiest man and the world’s 36th -“ but what gives Wipro chairman Azim Premji immense joy and fulfillment is devoting time and money to philanthropy.

That, of course, is evident through the innumerable acts of generosity he has indulged in all through the 40 years he has headed Wipro. Premji, in fact, is one of the first industrialists in India to devote a significant portion of his wealth to philanthropy (he donated $2 billion for the purpose of improving education). This money has been used for activities of the Azim Premji Foundation that works to promote education in rural India as well as the Azim Premji University in Bangalore.

For Azim Premji, the chairman of Indian multinational Wipro, social responsibility is a serious vocation, which is why they have appointed a full time CEO for their philanthropy movement, as he revealed to Times of Oman in an exclusive interview, while also lavishing high praise on the Oman government for creating a business-friendly environment . /Photo by Jun Estrada


The Wipro founder, who considers social responsibility his greatest duty in life, sheds light on his philosophy of philanthropy thus: “I have been lucky to have created quite a lot of wealth and feel that it should be used for the betterment of the society.-

Azim Premji was in Oman recently on an official visit when Times of Oman caught up with him.

Why this emphasis on education?
Premji replied, “We figured that we have a certain social responsibility and decided to focus on one area. So we focused on education. Through our foundation we focused on school education in the villages of India. Since the beginning, we worked in close partnership with various authorities, to help contribute to the improvement of the quality of education. We found the need for change and the need for improvement in the education sector was the most pressing there. That’s why we’ve been single mindedly focusing on education for the last 10 to 11 years and the good thing is that we have found success.-

Informing that the group is scaling up its operations now, Premji said, “We are using Azim Premji University for training teachers and for training in leadership and community development. We are taking young people with about two to three years experience, preferably from small towns, in the hope that at the end of the two-year course they’ll go back and use the learning in leadership in the places they come from.-
The university, he informed, has around 68 world class professors on the role.

“We have been pleasantly surprised at the quality of the talent we have been able to recruit. This goes to show that if we want to do sustained and honest work, people want to be part of the team. They think there’s a lot of pride, learning, and a sense of being able to contribute to that atmosphere,- he explained.
Premji believes that good education is crucial to building a just, fair, compassionate and sustainable society.

“We want to contribute significantly towards improvement of education in India, and through that towards building a better society. Next year we plan to launch a four-year bachelors’ programme.-

He is happy that his team has been making a difference.
“Our programme, called Wipro Applying Thought in School, has covered a million programmes so far accumulatively. The intent of this initiative is to improve the quality of education -“ so that opportunities and possibilities are expanded for everyone.-

Talking about a programme called Mission 10X launched in 2007 for engineering schools, Premji said, “India sees around 700,000 engineers graduate every year of which only a third are employable by the industry. The rest are not employable because the curriculum is primarily not current and professors are not taught well or up to date on technology. The Mission10X is basically a not-for-profit initiative created by Wipro to enhance employability skills of engineering graduates.-
Wipro has dedicated some 15 full time professors for this purpose from its training and leadership institute.

“We have also covered 30,000 professors. We feel if we can bring up the quality of teaching in the engineering students, the quality of students will improve, which in turn will result in the eligible students going up by 50 per cent,- he explained.
As for the philanthropy meet Premji hosted along with Bill Gates and Ratan Tata in Bangalore recently, he said, “This will be an annual event with workshops in between. There is a lot of wealth in our country. So we thought let’s together assemble corporates that have shown a track record of philanthropy and get some common understanding with them.

“We started off with this thought and now, as per the need, we have appointed a full time CEO for this philanthropy movement. Four to five of us are funding in terms infrastructure and people cost. We have formed four groups (education, healthcare, water and agriculture). Each group has a chairman who is a member of the large core group. We’ll have small workshops throughout the year so that more specialised discussion can take place.

“We are satisfied with the interest we got and what we are doing. We are all serious people because we didn’t want a tamasha. We had shown a track record of doing serious work and we hope to see success. We have started and plan to expand it. But we hope to do something which has a possibility of success.-

Recently, his wife, Yasmeen Premji, launched her first book, Days of Gold and Sepia and Azim Premji looks very proud of this endeavour. “I have read the book twice. It is an interesting book which is well written. I am not saying that because she is my wife. It has to be good; she has taken 20 years to write it,- he told Times of Oman.

On investing in India, Pemji said, “I think you have to have faith in India. It is a sound democracy. The voter is mature. Besides, the leadership is there in the country so it can change or get modified. Politicians can see the threat of survival and change themselves in terms of survival. Overall, I am optimistic. Besides, we wouldn’t be investing so much in India if we were frightened.-

About his impressions about Oman, he said, “I think it’s a country which has a great future. Government and companies are open to do business here, which is why they are open to meet companies.-

And at this note, he concluded: “I will back to Oman within a year.-

source: http://www.TimesofOman.com / Home> News / by Mrudu Naik, mrudu@timesofoman.com / September 13th, 2012