Monthly Archives: February 2013

Azim Premji transfers Rs 12,300 crore to his not-for-profit foundation

Amazing Feats, Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Education, Inspiration/ Positive News and Features, Leaders, Records, All, Science & Technology

Bangalore :

Azim Premji, chairman of the Azim Premji   Foundation, announced on Friday that he has transferred 295.5 million equity shares representing 12% of the total shares of Wipro Ltd , held by certain entities controlled by him, to an irrevocable trust. With this transfer (valued at about Rs 12,300 crore based on current market price), the trust’s shareholding in Wipro will go up to about 19.93%.

This trust will utilize the endowment to fund social, not-for-profit initiatives of the foundation, which are expected to scale significantly over the next few years.

The “Giving Pledge” campaign had recently announced that Premji was amongst the billionaires around the world to commit half their wealth to philanthropy. The campaign, led by billionaires  Warren Buffet, Bill Gates  and others, is a commitment by the world’s wealthiest individuals and families to dedicate the majority of their wealth to philanthropy.

Azim Premji Foundation  is a not-for-profit organization set up in 2001 with the goal to create and sustain initiatives to contribute to a just, equitable, humane and sustainable society. The foundation has worked largely in rural India, often in close partnership with various state governments, to help contribute to the improvement of quality and equity of school education.

Currently the foundation’s work is spread across Karnataka, Uttarakhand, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Pondicherry, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh.

The foundation’s strategy focuses on creating and scaling up a network of institutions at various levels to contribute to improvement in the school education system and allied areas. As part of this strategy, over the last two years, the foundation has set up the Azim Premji University  at Bangalore, state level institutes in three states, district level institutes in seven districts and six demonstration schools associated with the district institutes. Seven more district level institutes are in various stages of formation.

The University has been established with the social purpose of developing outstanding professionals in the domains of education and development for the entire country. The University does this through offering various kinds of degree programmes, continuing education programmes and creation of knowledge in education and allied development areas. Currently, the university offers MA Education and MA Development programmes. It offers specializations in school leadership & management and curriculum & pedagogy under MA in education, and livelihood, public policy, health & nutrition and law & governance under MA in Development.

As part of scaling up of the institutional strategy, over the next 4 to 5 years, the number of district level institutions will expand to 50-60, state level institutions to 6-8 and the university will expand to have 3,500 students with 350 faculty members across multiple programs. The foundation will also have 50-100 demonstration schools associated with district level institutions. During this period, the team size is expected to grow from the current 800 people to about 4,000 people.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / Home> Tech> Tech News> Software & Services / by Sujit John, TNN / February 22nd, 2013

Bamboo markets proposed at Sankeshwar, Shimoga

Business & Economy, Green Initiatives / Environment, Nature

‘Intention is to provide market linkage for bamboo growers’

As part of an initiative to promote bamboo cultivation and create a marketing network for bamboo, it has been proposed to set up bamboo markets at Sankeshwar and Shimoga in Karnataka.

Speaking to presspersons on the sidelines of the Bamboo Mela here on Tuesday, Chief Conservator of Forests of National Forestry Action Programme (NFAP) and Liaison Officer for Karnataka for National Bamboo Mission A.C. Keshavamurthy said that the proposals were aimed at providing market linkage for bamboo growers.

Mr. Keshavmurthy said that the structure of the bamboo markets was being worked out. “We are contemplating whether to have an APMC yard type set-up for the bamboo market. We will plan and send a proposal to the bamboo mission for approval and release of funds,” he said.

Market at Kushalnagar?

To a query, Mr. Keshavmurthy said that initially, a bamboo market was to be set up at Bangalore, but the idea was dropped in view of huge transportation costs.

“However, we are considering setting up a bamboo market at Kushalnagar in Kodagu.

“It is still in the planning stage,” he said.

He said that market linkage and other programmes related to bamboo cultivation would be easier if growers came forward with declarations regarding cultivation of bamboo.

It would also become easy for the Forest Department to extend facilities and subsidies to them.

Subsidy given

He said that, at present, a subsidy of Rs. 8,000 an acre was being given to growers if they took up micro-irrigation to cultivate bamboo. Even bamboo saplings were being supplied at subsidised rates to SC/ST farmers as well as marginal farmers.

Mr. Keshavmurthy said that there was a need to extend subsidies to all farmers cultivating bamboo. The bamboo mission was yet to take a decision on it.

He said that though the bamboo mission had written letters to the State government and all deputy commissioners on creating awareness about schemes for the promotion of bamboo cultivation, officials at the district- and taluk-level seemed indifferent.

He said unless the officials were interested and created awareness, it would be difficult to motivate farmers.

  • ‘We will send a proposal to bamboo mission for approval, funding’
  • ‘There is a need to extend subsidies to all farmers cultivating bamboo’
  • _________________________________________________________________________
  • source: http://www.TheHindu.com / Home> National> Karnataka / by Staff Correspondent / Hubli, February 20th, 2013

    • Infosys launches new analytics platform for BigData

    Business & Economy, Science & Technology

    Will simplify the complex task of analysing BigData to discover relevant information

    India’s second largest IT services company Infosys today announced the launch of new analytics platform called as BigDataEdge.

    The company claims that the new platform will simplify the complex task of analysing Big Data to discover relevant information. With the new strategy ‘Infosys 3.0’  the company has started focusing on products and platforms and has already launched various platforms like Infosys BrandEdge, Infosys CommerceEdge, Infosys WalletEdge, Infosys TradeEdge among others.

    Vishnu Bhat, Vice President and Global Head–Cloud, Infosys said, “Enterprises today cannot afford to spend an inordinate amount of time making sense of the data deluge that surrounds them. Infosys BigDataEdge draws upon our deep research and development capabilities and proven expertise in Big Data and analytics to help clients turn data into revenues faster. This unique platform is already enabling ten global organizations to develop actionable insights in a matter of days and act on them from day one.”

    With Infosys BigDataEdge, enterprises can reduce the time taken to extract information by up to 40% and generate insights up to eight times faster, the company said in a press release.

    source: http://www.Business-Standard.com / Home> Companies> News> N ews / by Pradeesh Chandran / Bangalore, February 20th, 2013

    Cheer for bookworms, Gangarams comes to Church Street

    Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Business & Economy

    The famed Gangarams will be opening shortly on Church Street —Satish B.

    Bengaluru:

    The landmark Gangaram’s Book Bureau, which closed down last March, 35 years after it first opened on M.G. Road on May 9, 1977, will be back in business by the month-end.

    The iconic store, that was the only one of its kind in the city for book lovers before the onslaught of the big box book retailers, will now be located on the second floor of Triumph Towers on Church Street, two floors above Habitat, the well known audio/video circulating library. The building is diagonally opposite the popular restaurant Mainland China.

    While the earlier store was spread across three floors spanning 7,500 sqft –  one floor dedicated to stationery, one for general books and another for academic books – the new store will be spread across one spacious floor spanning 8,200 sqft, but minus the stationery.

    “Selling stationery is not very profitable, therefore we are discontinuing it. Our new store is spacious, allows for easy browsing and will offer one million titles across categories”, said Atmaram N. Gangaram.

    On how different the new store will be, he said, “Any customer who walks into our store looking for books will get whatever he or she wants within 24 hours. If he’s looking for two books in a category, he will get 10, that’s the kind of variety we will offer. If the book that a customer wants is not available in India, we will source and deliver it to them from anywhere in the world within four working days” he said.

    On entering the store, you will see an entire selection of bestsellers from fiction and non-fiction categories under the name ‘Gangaram’s Picks’. The largest section in the store is dedicated to children’s books, and in the fiction category, some of the oldest titles which are 70-80 years old from authors such as H.G. Wells, will be available.

    The new book store was originally due to open above Koshy’s on St Mark’s Road where the British Council was located earlier. The property belongs to the St Mark’s Cathedral.

    “The building was very weak and the Church, Koshy’s and us had committed to jointly renovating and strengthening the structure. However, Prem Koshy decided not to go ahead because of the cost involved and therefore, that did not work out for us. Hence, the delay in re-opening our store”, said Atmaram.

    source: http://wwww.DeccanChronicle.com / Home> News> Current Affairs / by DC, Sangeetha Chengappa / February 21st, 2013

    Mumbai: Kannada Sangha celebrates 55th annual day

    Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Education

    Mumbai, Feb 18:

    Kannada Sangha recently celebrated its 55th annual day at Billava Bhavan’s Shree Naryana Guru Convention hall at Santa Cruz East.

    Veteran hotelier Padmanabha S Payyode inaugurated the programme in the presidential presence of L V Amin.

     

    Businessmen Suresh R Kanchan distributed annual scholarships to students.

    Naryana S Shetty former advisor of the organization was also felicitated on the occasion.

    B D Suvarna, BR Punja, vice president Nithyanada D Kotiyan, honorary chief secretary Sujatha R Shetty, honorary treasurer Chandrahasa J Kotiyan, joint secretary JR Bangera, joint treasurer RP Hegde, auditor Dinesh Amin, were present on the dais.

    Education committee secretary Sudhakar Uchil, social and cultural committee working president Prema R Kotian, secretary Shardha S Poojary, organization member Shivaram Kotiyan, Mahesh Karkal, Suma M Poojary, Raghunath B Poojary and all committee members were present on the occasion.

    source: http://www.Daijiworld.com / Home> Mumbai / by Rons Bantwal, Daijiworld Media Network – Mumbai (DV) / Monday, February 18th, 2013

    Police personnel honoured at ‘Abhimana -2013’

    Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Records, All

    Cultural prog. enthralls audience

    Retd. DGP Shankar Bidari being honoured during Abhimana-2013 in city yesterday while IGP Dr. Ramachandra Rao, Umadevi Bidari, Chamarajanagar SP P. Rajendra Prasad, City Police Commissioner K.L. Sudhir and film producer S.R. Govind look on. Picture right shows actress Harshika Poonacha and other artistes presenting a dance.

    Mysore, Feb. 17 :

    The Chamundi Vihar Stadium in city yesterday witnessed a rare occasion as Police personnel, far from their regular rigorous daily routine, enjoyed an evening filled with entertainment at the Abhimana-2013 programme in which several of them were felicitated for their outstanding services.

    The programme which had been organised by New Dimension Media and Entertainment organisation was inaugurated by film producer S.R.Govind with Sridhar Jain and troupes presenting a melodious Ganesha Stuthi which gave a devotional touch to the occasion.

    It was followed by DCP Basavaraj Malagathi rendering the ever-memorable song ‘Baare Baare’ from a popular Kannada blockbuster Nagarahaavu.

    Police officials Anand, M.Nagaraj, T.P. Manjunath, Mallikarjunaswamy, C. Prabhakar, C.G. Mahadevappa, Anwar Pasha, Guruswamy Nayak, Radha, Krishnaiah, B.L. Yogesh Kumar, Seetha Ramu, Kaveerappa, Vijayendra, Kalashaiah, Ravi, Nanjundaswamy, Tirumalesh, Basappa and others were felicitated for their services.

    Former MLA Vatal Nagaraj, retd. DGP Shankar Bidari, IGP (Southern Range) Dr. Ramachandra Rao, SP R. Dileep, City Police Commissioner K.L.Sudheer, DCP K.P. Bheemaiah, Director of New Dimension Shanmugappa, M.P. Prakash, Krish Amarnath, BBMP Commissioner R.P. Sharma, cine stars Jayamala, Sai Kumar, Krishna, Sanjana, Amulya and SPs of Mandya, Chamarajanagar, Kodagu and Hassan were present.

    I was instrumental in Police getting trousers

    Former MLA Vatal Nagaraj, participating in the function, said that it was he who was instrumental for Police personnel getting trousers instead of knickers, stating that ever since he was beaten up by the Police in 1967, he has had a very friendly relation with them which made him successfully take up the issue of providing Police personnel with trousers with the Government.

    He also demanded that Policemen who brave the vagaries of nature while performing their duties be given additional allowances for maintenance of physical fitness which plays a major role in Policemen performing their duties.

    Cine star Jayamala, in her address thanked the Police Department for protecting lives and properties of citizens during crisis. Reacting to this, IGP (Southern Range) Dr. Ramachandra Rao said it was the duty of the Police to protect lives and properties and urged citizens to encourage Police personnel in their good work.

    source: http://www.StarofMysore.com / Home> General News / February 17th, 2013

    JSS Polytechnic for differently abled receives National Award

    Education, Records, All

    Mysore, Feb. 17:

    Recognising the yeoman service being rendered by JSS Polytechnic for the Differently Abled in Mysore, the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, Government of India, honoured the Polytechnic with the National Award (Additional) 2012 under the category “Best Institution Working for the Cause of Persons with Disabilities.”

    The award was presented to Nanjundaswamy, Principal of the Polytechnic, by President Pranab Mukherjee on Feb.6 in a function held at Vigyan Bhavan, New Delhi. Kumari Selja, Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment and D. Napoleon, Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment, were present.

    The differently abled need equality, opportunity and accessibility in all respects to prove their abilities and not the mere sympathy. Knowing this philosophy, the JSS Mahavidyapeetha established JSS Polytechnic for the Differently Abled in Mysore in 1991 with the support of the Dept. of Technical Education and Govt. of Karnataka under its World Bank Assistance Scheme.

    The Polytechnic was the first of its kind in India which started to provide formal professional education at diploma level exclusively for the Differently Abled.

    The new campus of the Polytechnic was inaugurated by the then Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee on Jan.3, 1999 in the presence of Sri Shivarathri Deshikendra Mahaswamiji, President of JSS Mahavidyapeetha.

    Initially, three diploma courses namely Architecture, Computer Science and Commercial Practice were started as aided courses. Three more diploma courses were added later in Jewellery Design & Technology, Electronics & Communication Engineering and Computer Applications for the Visually Impaired.

    Totally, 439 differently abled candidates are studying during the current academic year 2012-13 in the Polytechnic and about 75% of them are hearing impaired.

    About 1,100 differently abledcandidates have obtained diploma from the Polytechnic so far. Many of them are well placed in educational institutions and companies like IBM, Wipro, Infosys, Excel Soft etc.

    source: http://www.StarofMysore.com / Home> General News / February 17th, 2013

    Lending a voice to the voiceless

    Arts, Culture & Entertainment

    Jaydev of Radio Active—R. Samuel

    Bengaluru:

    It began as a project for the mass communication class in Jain University. A radio programme is a standard part of any mass communication course, but Radio Active soon became much larger than that.

    Started in 2007 by a group of students, it wasn’t long before it burgeoned into a full fledged community radio service. Tucked away in the basement at the Centre for Management Studies, is a group of people who have become the lifelines of their communities, the repressed, under-represented marginal groups for whom life is a sordid, hopeless affair.

    Jaydev, a 20-something student at Mitra Jyoti, an NGO which caters to the blind, might have had almost no chance at making it in this world. He first came to Radio Active, a shy, awkward young man. Today, he can handle the station if he has to and focuses on disability issues, reaching out to differently-abled people and helping them see the light. In 2011, Jaydev was felicitated by the National Federation for the Blind for being a role model to thousands of visually impaired youngsters.

    Priyanka, lively and garrulous, the ‘Drama Queen’ at Radio Active, hosts the most popular show at the station, Yarivaru, which focuses on issues faced by the LGBT community, like sexual harassment, discrimination and unemployment. Priyanka and Sujata, the daughter of a scrap dealer, also reach out to waste pickers in the city, mentoring them in livelihood and development opportunities. Salma and Siddique became the country’s first waste picker radio jockeys.

    “It’s a voice for the voiceless,” said Marwan Abubaker A.M., Manager Projects, Radio Active. Marwan joined the station in 2009, two years after its launch. He has also started Petpals, the street animal management programme. “We started out having awareness programmes with schools and colleges on understanding street dogs. We live in a country that has (stray) animals, we can’t run away (from that),” he said. “Since we’re sharing, we have to coexist.” This programme was launched with the support of the BBMP that provides free vaccinations at government veterinary hospitals.
    The urban waste management programme, which is run in collaboration with Solid Waste Round Table Management, has actually come up with a very practical dry waste solution.

    “We call it the Kartavya programme,” said Marwan, who had dabbled in waste management before he founded Radio Active. “Then, we found SWMRT and they suggested setting up a Kartavya centre in every ward, so that dry waste doesn’t have to leave the city.” The team is now working on mobilising the work force — the pourakarmikas, who will be trained along with scrap dealers. They will then be listed and certified to run the centres.

    “We have a lot of trouble broadcasting and actually reaching people with our programmes. Community radios don’t have very high transmission,” said Marwan. This means tremendous amounts of work on the field, organising health camps, eye camps and awareness programmes.

    It’s a sad truth, but a system designed to favour a simple majority means a very large number of people are confined to the fringes, never using the rights to which they are entitled by birth or receiving the opportunities that seem to be limited to an arbitrarily chosen few.

    To suffer in silence has become a way of life for most of these groups and even with a community radio station, change, if it does happen is superficial and short lived. That’s what makes Priyanka, Jaydev, Sujata and RJ Auto Shiv Kumar even more remarkable. The odds are insurmountable, but they continue trying.

    source: http://www.DeccanChronicle.com / Home> News> Current Affairs / by DC, Darshan Ramdev / February 18th, 2013

    Harman Opens Bangalore’s First Exclusive Harman Lifestyle Showroom

    Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Business & Economy, Science & Technology

    Saturday, February 16, 2013:

    HARMAN, a leading global provider of premium audio and infotainment solutions, unveiled its first exclusive store in Bangalore today. The exclusive Harman lifestyle showroom will feature a comprehensive range of its lifestyle products including JBL, Harman Kardon and AKG.

    The store was inaugurated by Mr. Anand Ramamoorthy, Country Head and Managing Director, India Operations, Harman International (India) Pvt. Ltd., today in Phoenix Market City mall, Bangalore.

    ‘We are focused on providing customers access to our unmatched portfolio of speakers, headphones, docking systems and home theatre systems in India. At this exclusive Harman store, customers will have access to our audio/product experts and can experience our latest portfolio crafted to appeal to the needs of the Indian consumers” said Mr. Anand Ramamoorthy.

    Harman recently launched the first ever JBL audio docks compatible with Apple iPhone 5, the first ever in the India market. In addition to this, several award winning Harman products including the Harman Kardon Soundsticks Wireless, JBL Flip, JBL Micro, JBL SoundFly, will be available at this exclusive store.

    The store is located at G65, Ground Floor, Phoenix Market City mall, Whitefield, Bangalore. The first 100 customers can avail attractive discounts on their purchase**.

    source: http://www.efytimes.com / Home> Infotech> Trends / Saturday, February 16th, 2013

    Ek sham Rafi ke Naam: A retro musical journey

    Arts, Culture & Entertainment

    Mysore, Feb.12 :

    Ek Sham Rafi Ke Naam, organised by the Bharatiya Jain Sanghatan, Mysore, at the MMC Platinum Jubilee Auditorium on the JK Grounds on Feb. 10 took the audience on a retro journey of Mohd. Rafi’s songs, soaking them in melody and melancholy.

    Anil Bajpai, who replicates Rafi as closely as possible, is any Rafi fan’s delight as he makes sure that he picks up all those nuances of the immortal singer — be it the romantic sighs, the naughty bickerings or the melancholic musings, so deftly brought out in Rafi’s renditions.

    Adding flavour to the musical journey was the mellifluous voice of Veena Venkatesh and Venkatesh of Sunheri Yaadein, Mysore. The very pleasant surprise was the voice of anchor Sanjay Singh who rendered two of Shammi Kapoor’s best peppy numbers and proved that apart form being a versatile anchor, he is also a good singer.

    The main attraction of the evening was of course the 14-piece live orchestra with some of the best musicians from the South. They included Pappan, Haridas, Nithin, Raju (from Calicut), Goutam, Anand, Bhimashankar, Eshwar, Murthy, Prasad, Andrew (Mysore), Rajesh (Bangalore) and Patric Rosario on the accordion who led the orchestra.

    Earlier, Police Commissioner K.L. Sudheer, who was the chief guest, inaugurated the programme and said Rafi’s songs were his best stress busters.

    President of the Sanghatan Ashok Salecha and Vice-President Prakash Dak, spoke about the social service activities of the Sanghatan.

    source: http://www.StarofMysore.com / Home> General News / February 12th, 2013