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EdTech Start-up Bada Business appoints Sunil Chopra as COO

Jayashankar Menon Bada Business, Dr Vivek Bindra, Sunil Chopra 0 Comment July 25, 2020

One of the leading EdTech start-up firm, Bada Business has announced the appointment industry leader Sunil Chopra as Chief Operating Officer.

***EdTech Start-up Bada Business appoints Sunil Chopra as COO***

Chopra, a veteran business manage with a cross industry experience of almost three decades, has played entrepreneurial roles for a decade, co-founding two reputed organisations. Sunil brings with him a multi-dimensional experience of vivid sectors ranging from IT, Technology, Electronics to Telecom. He has also held multiple positions and performed a variety of roles in his illustrious career ranging from sales, management, business development to people strategy. Sunil has been the Group Executive Director of manufacturers for Gionee and Karbonn Mobiles (Jaina Mobiles) as well as the first country head of Sapient, India during the course of his career. Whtat’s more, Chopra’s last stint was as Global President with HealthCubed Inc, Alkemi and Acumen Funded.

At Bada Business, Sunil Chopra will be responsible for spearheading and overseeing operations as the organization enters its next phase of growth. He has assumed charge at a time when the Covid 19 outbreak has fueled unprecedented growth in the EdTech sector.

Dr. Vivek Bindra, Founder and CEO, Bada Business.com, said: “We are extremely happy to welcome Sunil Chopra as the COO of one of the fastest growing EdTech startups in India. At Bada Business, we are planning to undertake a major country-wide expansion over the next few years. Thanks to a stupendous phase of growth, we are hoping to more than double our employee base as well as presence across the country. In such circumstances, we need a multi dimensional leader of operations to seamlessly spearhead the growth. We are certain that his rich experience will help lead the company to new heights.”

Sunil has a proven track record of creating and leading businesses in Executive Search, Telecom, IT/Technology and E-Gov, combining deep knowledge of sales and business development in a B2B and B2C environment, as well has lead significant initiatives globally and in India in the area of People Strategy and Talent acquisition.

While speaking about his appointment, the elated Sunil Chopra said: “It gives me immense pleasure to become a part of an organization that is scripting a silent revolution for SME’s in India by creating an alternative model of business management education. As a pioneer and category creating organization in its field, Bada Business has added new dimensions to the Indian EdTech sector. I hope to use my experience and expertise to further augment the growth of the organization and help craft more viable, effective and sustainable business strategies for it.”

An alumnus of IIM, Lucknow, Sunil has undertaken successful leadership roles with top MNCs including GE, Nokia, Sapient, Xerox, among others. He has also been a successful entrepreneur for over a decade. He co-founded and lead Spruce, a Search and Selections firm focused on marquee Fortune clients and Top Indian conglomerates. He also co-founded Calance as a Technology Consulting firm which is almost a 500+ people operation in the US and India today. Chopra has been one of the youngest CEOs in the Telecom industry. He has also lead four figure teams for executing some of the biggest E-Gov projects nationally, leveraging technology for enrolment of millions of beneficiaries for Govt schemes – Aadhaar (UIDAI), and RSBY (Ministry of Health), Microfinance (Ministry of Finance), and Rural skilling projects (NSDC).

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Technology cannot replace Teachers says Dr. Bhushan Patwardhan, VC of UGC

Jayashankar Menon Dr (mrs) Pankaj Mittal, Dr. Pankaj Gupta, IIHMR Webinar, Indian Education, KOVID-19 0 Comment June 23, 2020

As the future education will be a blended one where institutes will be focused on delivering content with quality, along with this, Higher education system in India should also focus on achieving sustainable goals which is important for our existence, said Dr. Bhushan Patwardhan, Vice-Chairman, UGC.

***Technology cannot replace Teachers says Dr. Bhushan Patwardhan, VC of UGC***

While expressing his view during the webinar organised by The Indian Institute of Health Management Research (IIHMR) University, Jaipur on ‘Heartful Leadership: Transforming Education and Supporting Sustainability,’ Dr. Patwardhan expressed his views on transforming education and supporting sustainability and he further referred the ancient system of education and said that the visionaries had identified the ways of transforming education way back.

Adaptive Mode of Change

“Due to COVID-19, people are in adaptive mode of change. The education system in India has adopted and accepted the webinars so fast, which is remarkable but we should not make our education system automatic as technology cannot replace teachers.”

Dr. (Mrs.) Pankaj Mittal, Secretary General, AIU said, “COVID -19 enabled us to face the practical aspects of education system in India. She suggested that within coming two months, Higher education institutes in India should be ready with technical infrastructure, capacity building of teachers and faculty staff, evaluate cost effective online platforms where education can be imparted, assessment and evaluation system should be streamlined, placement and internship opportunities should be identified, national and international collaboration should be made for students and counseling and mental health session should be organized to culturally engage students.

Re-strategising Existing Education System

***Dr. Pankaj Gupta, President, IIHMR, Jaipur.***

Dr. Pankaj Gupta, President, IIHMR University, Jaipur said: “We need to restrategise our existing education system and look of more adaptive way of educating the future generation. The new online system has increased the screen time of students and faculties both, which might hamper their mental health in near future.”

What is more, Dr. Gupta further suggested that the immediate way of adopting heartful leadership is to treat students as we treat our son or daughter. This will help students to get better guidance for their future.”

The webinar organized in association with Heartfulness Institute, India (HFI) and UN Global Compact Network India (UNGCN) is addressed by veteran Indian and International thought leaders, academicians, scholars, and media professionals. The webinar was attended by 1000 plus participants.

A host of eminent personalities in the education horizon including Dr. H. Chaturvedi, Director, Birla Institute (BIMTECH) and Alternate President EPSI; Dr. D.P. Goyal, Director, IIM, Shillong; Dr. Sandeep Sancheti, Vice Chancellor, SRM Institute, Chennai; Dr. Bhimaraya Metri, Director, IIM Tiruchirappalli; Dr. Elizabeth, Editor in Chief, Trainer and Curriculum Development, Heartfulness Institute; Kamal Singh, Executive Director, UN Global Compact Network, India; Dr. Ravi Gupta, Founder, CEO and Editor-in-Chief, Elets Technomedia and Dr. Geoffrey Clemants, Chairman, Commonwealth Infrastructure Partners, London, UK took part in the Webinar and enlightened the audience.

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PSD, OBEETEE announce One year MFA Textiles Programme

Jayashankar Menon Burak Cakmak, MFA Textiles Programme, OBEETEE, Parsons School of Design, PSD, Rudra Chatterjee 0 Comment October 8, 2019

The New School’s Parsons School of Design forge alliance with the world’s leading handwoven rug firm, Obeetee to integrate one year MFA Textiles Programme.

***PSD, Obeetee announce One year MFA Textiles Programme***

The New School’s Parsons School of Design is proud to announce a new partnership with leading global handwoven rug brand OBEETEE. This innovative partnership is the first of its kind for both Parsons and OBEETEE and has been integrated into Year 1 of the school’s newly launched MFA Textiles program in a formal curricular course called Textiles Industry Partnership. The collaboration affords students the opportunity to work with the OBEETEE team to explore new markets, develop colors and patterns, introduce sustainability techniques to the brand, and create and innovate new design concepts for the global luxury market.

OBEETEE is the world’s leading manufacturer and supplier of handwoven rugs, and the first company in the market to be recognized with the Social Accountability System Certificate by DNV and the Social Accountability International of New York in 2004. As a foundational partner in the program OBEETEE provides Textiles MFA students with the opportunity to understand the rug industry’s market and supply chain, as well as develop skills and product at the highest, most reputable and traceable levels. The MFA Textiles program will primarily serve as an innovation hub for OBEETEE, as students will research, re-imagine and conceptualize what rugs can be in the 21st century. The students’ research and innovation highlight The New School’s values of social justice and sustainability, while considering the potential integration of technology in handcrafted rugs.

Throughout the sponsored course, which began in Spring 2019 and cumulate during the fall semester, students focus their research and practice on creating the most innovative and luxurious products within sustainable parameters. The partnership will include an exhibition at OBEETEE’s New York showroom during the September 2019 design market, allowing the students to share their design concepts with editors buyers and decorators in person for real-world feedback and learning.

Additional real-world learning opportunities for students also included a month long weaving immersion with OBEETEE artisans in their Indian workshops, where successful sustainability efforts have included the Women Weavers program along with expanded educational support for workers and their families.

Students conducted interviews and research, developed prototypes, learned about manufacturing processes, supply chain, design methodologies and discovered the underlying philosophy and values of the company. The students then shared their findings and rug experiments with the rest of their classmates back in NYC, and together the class developed a vision for OBEETEE that includes design concepts, materials, and systems innovation under the expert guidance of their faculty in the MFA Textiles studio at Parsons.

***Rudra Chatterjee, Chairman of OBEETEE***

“We’re so pleased to be partnering with The New School’s Parsons School of Design on this groundbreaking program,” said Rudra Chatterjee, chairman of OBEETEE. “For both our organizations, our commitment to thoughtfully crafted and sustainable design practices has made each of us the leaders in our markets. This is a true marriage of equals and we’re both excited to be collaborating this way and be sharing our unique expertise and heritage with the next generation of global design leaders.”

“Parsons is proud to collaborate with OBEETEE on this ‘real-world’ project that enabled our students to research, understand, innovate, and propose new design concepts and systems to the world’s leader in hand-woven carpets,” said Burak Cakmak, Dean of Fashion at Parsons. “We are grateful to OBEETEE for the opportunity this provided our students to gain professional experience and valuable insights about the rug industry as it is today.”

The MFA Textiles programme at Parsons is centered around the inter-sectionality of craft, technology, and sustainability. Students engage with heritage and contemporary hand crafting of textiles, seeking to dissolve the boundaries between craft and technology in order to create a new paradigm for textiles in the 21st century.

OBEETEE is a global leader in handwoven rugs. A dynamic, creative and ethical company, OBEETEE is driven by design excellence, quality craftsmanship and process innovation throughout its network of 25,000+ independent weavers and its almost 100 year history.

Headquartered in India, with design studios and showrooms in New York and Delhi, OBEETEE has one of the largest and most modern rug manufacturing facilities in the world – featuring the rug industry’s first large-scale water recycling plant – and was the first rug company to be recognized with the Social Accountability System Certificate.

Founded in 1896, Parsons School of Design is one of the leading institutions for art and design education in the world. Based in New York but active around the world, the school offers undergraduate and graduate programs in the full spectrum of art and design disciplines, as well as online courses, degree and certificate programs. Critical thinking and collaboration are at the heart of a Parsons education. Parsons graduates are leaders in their respective fields, with a shared commitment to creatively and critically addressing the complexities of life in the 21st century.

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M6-cyberknife Radiosurgery best treatment for cancer, says Dr Aditya Gupta

Jayashankar Menon Bhopal, DBS Surgery, Dr Aditya Gupta, Dr Sumit Singh, M6 Cyberknife radiosurgery, Parkinson's Disease 0 Comment June 3, 2019

“M6 Cyberknife Radiosurgery is precise, painless and non-invasive radiation treatment,” says Dr. Aditya Gupta, Director, Neurosurgery, Agrim Institute of Neurosciences at Artemis Hospital.

***Dr Aditya Gupta and Dr Sumit Singh at the M6 Cyberknife radiosurgery technology awareness campaign held today in Bhopal.***

What with the recent advancements in the field of neurosurgery and non-invasive radiosurgery technology, treatments for various types of tumour have become lot more easier, pretty much reliable and way safer. With the introduction of M6 cyberknife, one of the most advanced techniques provides precise treatment for even the hard to access cases. Being minimally invasive with reduced operational time, the patients seeking treatment are at an added benefit.

In order to create awareness among the public and the doctors, an awareness campaign was held in Bhopal, today, led by Dr Aditya Gupta, Director-Neurosurgery, Artemis Hospital along with Dr Sumit Singh, Director, Neurosurgery highlighting the importance and advantages of the technology.

While addressing the gathering, Dr. Gupta said, “M6 Cyberknife Radiosurgery is precise, painless and non-invasive radiation treatment. It is extremely efficient for the treatment of inoperable cancerous and non-cancerous tumors, requires no anesthesia and incision and has no reported risks or side effects. With a vision to provide best of the facilities to the patients around the world, the hospital takes pride in raising the bar of medicine and introducing technology for accurate and better treatment options. With M6 Cyberknife, it is affirmed that people will be benifitted the most and this endeavor is to bring most progressive and responsive care, closer to the patient.”

In contrast with other traditional radiosurgeries like gamma knife, tomotherapy or conventional radiation therapy, M6 cyberknife robotic surgery eliminates the need for stereotactic head frames with screws and bolts thereby enabling the surgeon to achieve higher levels of micro-millimeter accuracy. The surgery is performed in a non-invasive manner with a higher brain surgery recovery time done on outpatient basis.

Late diagnosis

People usually miss the early diagnosis for movement related disorders like Parkinson’s Disease, due to lack of knowledge about the disease and delay in the diagnosis leads to irreversible position. Though there is no cure for the disease but timely treatment can help in better outcomes by subsiding the symptoms.

***M6 Cyberknife radiosurgery technology awareness campaign held today in Bhopal.***

Dr. Singh said, “With the recent advancements in neurosurgery, treatment for Parkinson’s diseases and other related movement disorders has better outcomes. Deep brain stimulation is one of the game changer methods for treating movement disorders. DBS is preferred only when the effects of medication tends to stop functioning. Over a period of time the effect of the medicines on the body tends to stop and hence the frequency of medicine intake increases. This is where DBS surgery is beneficial as it stimulates that part of the brain which generates the seizure attack. What DBS does is that it provides a constant effect to the patient for 24 hours thereby stabilizing the quality of life.”

Success rate

Stating that this therapy has a proven clinical success rate of over 95% of the brain tumour patients and works best for tumors up to 2.5-3 centimeters in size, Dr. Gupta went on to add: “As the system automatically adjusts itself to track the tumour, it aids in curtailing the radiation exposure to healthy organs and tissues. The objective of the focused beam is only to destroy the harmful cells and prevent the tumorous cells from multiplying, provides multiple benefits over other radiosurgical treatments. The treatment through Cyberknife is cost effective and it is almost similar to the cost of other surgeries.”

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Zoho, FICCI FLO organise workshop in Chennai on January 25, 2019 empowering women entrepreneurs

Jayashankar Menon Anupama Shivaraman, Chennai, Diya Mehra, Empowering women entrepreneurs, FICCI FLO, Kavya Sabareesh, Lavanya Mohan, Ramya PC, Rehshma Roy, Sivaramakrishnan Iswaran, Sripriya Kumar, Zoho 0 Comment January 25, 2019

Zoho, one of the leading Information Technology giant in India has joined hands with FICCI FLO, the women’s wing of the Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry in organising a workshop in Chennai on January 25, 2019 helping them to learning decoding financial numbers and further leveraging cloud accounting.

In excess of 70 FICCI FLO Chennai members including business professionals, entrepreneurs and homepreuners picked up the nuances of business finance management and the benefits of moving to a cloud accounting solution such as Zoho Books in the GST era. Prominent speakers from the Charted Accountants community conducted the workshop, which included three key sessions: Basics of accounting and making key business decisions by CA Sripriya Kumar and the benefits of cloud accounting by Kavya Sabareesh, Varam group of companies. An entrepreneur and a Zoho Books user, Kavya Sabareesh shared how cloud accounting has benefited her business. In addition to that, practical tips to get GST-ready and compliant for your business by CA Lavanya Mohan, enlightend the audience and set the tone for the events to unfurl.

Sivaramakrishnan Iswaran, Director of Product Management, Zoho said, “We believe that women entrepreneurs contribute immensely to the growth of our economy, and technology can play an important role in their business growth. By partnering with FICCI FLO, we aim to empower women entrepreneurs to take informed financial decisions for their businesses, learn how to stay GST-compliant and understand the benefits of embracing cloud accounting for their business.”

Talking about the workshop, Anupama Shivaraman, Chairperson, FICCI FLO Chennai Chapter said, “This workshop is aimed at empowering women entrepreneurs to take bold and confident decisions when it comes to their business finance. The expertise and practical guidance given by the speakers will definitely aid in making those decisions. By partnering with Zoho Books, we are also able to show women how to leverage the power of cloud technology for their day-to-day accounting and back-office operations.”

Diya Mehra, an entrepreneur and founder of ‘A Little More’ (playschool in Chetpet, Chennai) opined: “I am glad I attended the workshop organised by FICCI and Zoho. Everything that we needed to know about GST – right from how to apply them, set it off and the other tax requirements was explained in a very simple manner. As a women entrepreneur, I strongly believe that women should learn about the basics of accounting and tax compliance and how it’ll apply to their business.”

Ramya PC, Founder, Skuillions said, “When you start your business, for the few years you are busy doing business development and you don’t really have the time to learn basics of finance. After this workshop, I have more clarity on the accounting and GST concepts.”

Zoho is the operating system for business—a single online platform capable of running an entire business. With apps in nearly every major business category, including sales, marketing, customer support, accounting, and back office operations, and an array of productivity and collaboration tools, Zoho is one of the world’s most prolific software companies. In 2017, Zoho introduced the revolutionary Zoho One, an integrated suite of applications for the entire business.

***Participants at the Zoho workshop with FICCI FLO held in Chennai.***

Zoho respects user privacy and does not have an ad-revenue model in any part of its business, including its free products. More than 40 million users around the world, across hundreds of thousands of companies, rely on Zoho every day to run their businesses, including Zoho itself. Zoho Corporation is privately held and profitable with more than 6,000 employees. Zoho is headquartered in Pleasanton, California, with international headquarters in Chennai, India. Additional offices are in Austin (US), Utrecht (The Netherlands), Singapore, Dubai (UAE), Yokohama (Japan), and Beijing (China).

Kerala announces the launch of Startup Centre of Excellence as Kerala Startup Mission forge alliance with Unity Technologie

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Kerala Startup Mission forge alliance with Unity Technologies to establish Startup Centre of Excellence

Jayashankar Menon AV/VR Market, CDIT, Department of Information Technology and Electronics Government of Kerala, ICT Academy, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, Kerala Startup Mission, M Sivasankar, Unity Technologies 0 Comment January 14, 2019

Kerala Startup Mission, Unity Technologies sign deal to roll out Startup Centre of Excellence

***Kerala announces the launch of Startup Centre of Excellence as Kerala Startup Mission forge alliance with Unity Technologies***

Government of Kerala has announced that its nodal agency, Kerala Startup Mission has forged alliance with technology behemoth, Unity Technologies to roll out a Centre of Excellence for AR/VR gaming. Kerala Startup Mission is a technical entrepreneurship in the State to create a conducive environment in projecting Kerala as an investment destination. With this deal in place, Unity Technologies will encourage startups in terms of developing products, services and games on platforms such as mobile, PC and various AR/VR hardware. In addition to that, the Centre will also have cohesive focus on providing various levels of training on AR/VR developer tools to the student community as well as professionals in Kerala. Therefore, the alliance is a giant leap in terms of developing an AR/VR ecosystem in the southern Indian state of Kerala.

While speaking after signing the MoU, in the presence of Kerala Chief Minister, Pinarayi Vijayan, M Sivasankar, Secretary, Department of Information Technology and Electronics, Government of Kerala said: “The AV/VR market is expected to witness humongous growth globally in the next 5-6 years. Apparently, this growth in demand for AR/VR content ad solutions will be accompanied by the mushrooming of a new set of businesses. What is more, the Centre of Excellence for AR/VR Developer tools with Unity Technologies is a right step taken by the Government of Kerala in order to create an ecosystem for businesses to grow and cater to the global demand. The ICT Academy of Kerala and CDIT has a pivotal role to play in the creation of this ecosystem in the state.”

Stating that Unity Technologies is at the centre of the AR/VR ecosystem powering in excess of 60% of all content, Hubert Larenaudie, Vice President, Asia Pacific, Unity Technologies went on to add that the Centre will pavthe way to create an ecosystem for the new businesses to grow and thrive.

Saji Gopinath, CEO, Kerala Startup Mission said, “Kerala Startup Mission was committed towards creating an enabling ecosystem for young ventures working on various emerging technologies. With its rich pool of creative talent, Kerala has the humongous opportunity to become a hub for this extended reality disruption, which is a combination of content and solutions powered by hardware and distribution platforms. This emerging industry will, in turn, create new jobs that require new sets of skills. Therefore, we will be working with ICT Academy of Kerala for skilling interested students and professionals on these design and development tools.”

Promoting Startups

In line with the Knowledge City initiative of the Government of Kerala, the Kerala Startup Mission is laying major emphasis on promting startups working in various emerging technologies such as Artificial Intelligence, Cyber Security, AR/VR and more. Over the last year or so, KSUM has touched bases with more than one hundred, to be exact, startups in these emerging technologies and has further provided these startups with a slew of support mechanisms including technology access through Future Technologies Laboratory, Innovation Grants, Seed Loands, Exposure Programmes and Market Connects. Future Technologies Lboratory also runs evangelisation drives across Kerala to attract more professionals and students to take up research, in addition to learning and development programmes in these newer technologies.

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Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan to inaugurate R&D Sub Centre of KSCSTE-JNTBGRI at Kuzhur in Thrissur on January 12, 2019

Jayashankar Menon Dr R Prakashkumar, Kerala Environment, KSCSTE, KSCSTE-JNTBGRI, Kuzhur Thrissur, Pinarayi Vijayan, R&D Sub Centre KSCSTE Kuzhur, Screw Pine, Screwpine 0 Comment January 11, 2019

R&D Sub Centre of KSCSTE-JNTBGRI to be inaugurated by Pinarayi Vijayan at Kuzhur in Thrissur on January 12, 2019

***Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan to inaugurate R&D Sub Centre of KSCSTE-JNTBGRI at Kuzhur in Thrissur on January 12, 2019***

The inauguration of the first phase of the R&D Sub Centre of Kerala State Council for Science, Technology and Environment (KSCSTE) – Jawaharlal Nehru Tropical Botanic Garden and Research Institute (JNTBGRI) will be held at Kuzhur in Thrissur district on January 12, 2019 (tomorrow).

The Kerala Chief Minister and President of KSCSTE, Pinarayi Vijayan will formally inaugurate the Sub Centre at 10.00 PM, Dr. R. Prakashkumar, Director, KSCSTE-JNTBGRI told The Indian.News in an exclusive interaction with the Editor, Jayashankar Menon.

***Dr. R. Prakashkumar, Director, KSCSTE-JNTBGRI***

Dr R Prakashkumar was appointed as Director, KSCSTE-JNTBGRI from June 1, 2018. Dr. Prakshkumar is the Fellow of the Linnean Society of London, Academy of Environmental Biology, Indian Botanical Society, Indian Association for Angiosperm Taxonomy, Electron Microscope Society of India, Indian Association of Bio Medical Scientists, National Academy of Biological Sciences, Kerala Academy of Sciences and National Academy of Sciences, India. What is more, he is also a member of the Commission on Eco-system Management, IUCN and Fresh Water Specialists Group, IUCN. Dr Prakashkumar is recipient of several Awards and has published more than 100 research papers in the field of plant biology.

PH Kurian, Executive Vice President of KSCSTE will deliver the welcome address, while VR Sunilkumar, the MLA of Kodungallur will deliver the Presidential Address, which will be followed by a report presentation by Dr. K Satheeshkumar, Principal Scientist and Scientist-in-Charge. Pinarayi Vijayan will then formally inaugurate the R&D Sub Centre. EP Jayarajan, Minister for Industries and Sports, Government of Kerala; VS Sunilkumar, State Minister for Agriculture; Prof C Moideen, State Minister for Local Self Government; Prof C Ravindranath, State Minister for Education and TN Prathapan, Ex-MLA of Kodungallur will address the gathering. Mary Thomas, President of the District Panchayath – Thrissur; Jaya Chandran, Block President; P Shanthakumary, President of Kuzhur Grama Panchayath and Dr Sharmila Mary Joseph, Managing
Director of KSIDC will be felicitated at the event. Dr. R Prakashkumar will deliver the Vote of Thanks.

The Chief Minister of Kerala, Pinarayi Vijay had earlier tweeted: “Putting science to work for common people: KSCSTE’s new Research Institute in Kuzhur, Thrissur will revive traditional industries based on pandanus (screwpine). The Institute will also focus on value added products. It will house a Training Centre for Women in the area.”

Also in social media post on Facebook @CMOKerala, Pinarayi Vijayan noted, “We must put science to work for the benefit of common people,” a theme, which the Chief Minister often reminds in meetings with science and technology professionals. He said that the KSCSTE had imbibed this message and launched a new initiative in this direction. Their new research institute in Kuzhur, Thrissur will focus on supporting cottage industries, protection of river banks and value added products from agricultural produce.

***R&D Sub Centre of KSCSTE-JNTBGRI to be inaugurated by Pinarayi Vijayan at Kuzhur in Thrissur on January 12, 2019***

“It will be a subsidiary of the Jawaharlal Nehru Tropical Garden and Research Institute in Palode in the capital city of Kerala, Thiruvananthapuram and will be established with the support of Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation. The institute is aiming at expanding the cultivation of pandanus (screwpine). It has a modern lab to facilitate the production of value added products. There is also a centre for providing scientific training to women in the area. The institute will help
to revive the traditional industries based on pandanus (screwpine) in Kodungallur and its surrounding areas”, Pinarayi Vijayan added.

Environmental Damage

India has witnessed exponential industrial growth since the enactment of economic liberalisation policies in 1991. This increase in growth in the resource intensive Manufacturing sector is enabled and facilitated by an ever-increasing rate of material use leading to manifold impacts to the environment. The cost of environmental damage has been estimated at approximately $32 billion as per figures identified by the National Productivity Council of India. It has been well accepted all over the world that every development in the society should be free from devastation of our existing nature and environment,.

About various efforts being taken up from different quarters, the official statement said, “Many of our health problems are due to environmental pollution and consumption of vegetables, fruits and other agricultural products that are produced using various harmful chemicals and other pesticides. Nowadays most of us knowingly or unknowingly use the word “Eco friendly” in our day today life. “Eco friendly” denotes the products or the activities of human beings in a way which is friendly to the environment. Eco friendly products are nothing but products that are being manufactured with the thought that the procedure of producing as well as distributing those products are not having any kind of negative impacts or harm to the environment or ecology. Considering the significance of maintaining our environment clean and pollution free, several efforts are being made from various quarters including public and private sectors to boost up environment friendly industries for the sustainable development of our society.”

Sustainable Utilisation of Natural Resources

***Sustainable usages of natural resources in Kerala.***

Speaking about the systematic approach pertaining to the issues of developing suitable strategies for sustainable utilisation of natural resources, the statement said, “Kerala is an abode of vast array of natural resources and holding a unique position among the states of India. Kerala is also renowned for its rich green landscape with plenty of water resources. Though we are very rich with plant and other natural wealth, no significant efforts have been initiated to tap these natural
resources effectively to develop product(s)/processes so far with few exceptions. Hence systematic approach pertaining to the issues of developing suitable strategies for sustainable utilisation of natural resources leading to product development is imperative.”

Laying emphasis on the development of research facilities, press note said, “Kerala has been identified as the Centre of Origin of many plant taxa and also popular in traditional cottage industries using coir and other natural fibres. Apart from that Kerala is also branded with many Ayurvedic products for a variety of uses. Considering the importance of such products coupled with huge demand in national as well as international markets, development of research facilities for the
refinement of existing technology leading to product development and marketing is very vital. Besides, improvement of the primitive technology used in the cottage industries as well as ensuring the availability of natural resources in a sustainable manner to the workers for their lively hood are also found very important.”

Evolution of the project

Shedding more insight on the current status of the proposed Centre, another official said, “The present project is part of Jawaharlal Nehru Tropical Botanic Garden and Research Institute, Palode in Thiruvananthapuram. The setting up of the present R&D Sub Centre at Kuzhur has a sequential growth starting from 2010 with the involvement of Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation (KSIDC). As part of the ‘Constituency Development programme’ of the Government of Kerala in 2010, Kodungallur constituency was selected. As per KSIDC’s findings, it was reported that the cause of declining screw pine cottage industry was due to dearth of raw materials. It was further scrutinised and recognised the importance of scientific input to address to circumvent the issues of screw pine availability and hence the present R&D centre initiated.”

Plant Tissue Culture

While elaborating on the major activities and expected specific products/processes, the senior official said, “The first activity is the setting up of Plant Tissue Culture Laboratory for large scale multiplication of natural fibre yielding plants with special emphasis on screw pine plants and other economically important agri- horticulturals. The expected outcome from these products include different cultivars of banana for domestic as well as outside Kerala, production of screw pine (different varieties including a long leaved species from Andaman) for reviving the dejected cottage industry, the plants so propagated would also be used for protecting the seashores from tsunami and establishing congenial condition for fish breeding, tissue culture mass production of spice crops (cardamom and nutmeg), mass production of pine apple through sale of plants, the is aiming at becoming self sustained in three years.”

Production of Quality Natural Fibres

“The second activity will be the scientific validation of quality and durability of natural fibres (screw pine) leading to productisation and technology transfer. The expected product/process includes production of quality natural fibre from different plant species including screw pines for rejuvenating the cottage industries as well as making attractive products. Furthermore, technology would be developed for easy harvesting of screw pine leaves (currently, collection of leaves is very hard as the leaves are highly thorny). The quality natural fibre developed through scientific validation will be transferred to entrepreneurs and the technology/process developed will also be made available to women workers employed in the cottage industry,” the official pointed out.

Modular Type Poly Houses

Speaking about the third activity, the official concurred, “The initiative includes cost-effective modular poly house design and development of package of practice for homestead organic cultivation of vegetables. Technology for ready made assembled modular type poly houses will eventually be one of the most important and attractive products that would certainly help popularising vegetable cultivation even in 100 square feet terrace.”

People Participation

According to Dr. Prakashkumar, development of technology for the value addition of wild edible fruits/vegetables with people participation is part of the fourth activity. “Hitherto relatively less-known/underutilised wild edible vegetables, fruits, herbals etc., collected with the participation of tribal people will be used for making high-value products including neutraceuticals and for developing herbal health supplements.”

Last, but not the least, the statement added: “Development of effective organic pesticides and package of practices for pesticide-free open house farming leading to sustainable yield of agricultural crops will be the fifth initiative. Natural resources will also be used for developing effective insect/pest repellents (organic pesticides) for wide spectrum of agri-crops.”

Union Minister Anant Geete unveils e-rickshaw from Goenka Electric Motor Vehicles during the 8th EV Expo 2018 at Pragati Maidan in New Delhi on Friday_2

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Goenka Electric Motor vehicles bag order for 500 e-rickshaws from Essel Infratech, to invest $5 million for increasing production, also launch Super King at EV Expo 2018

Jayashankar Menon Anant Gangaram Geete, e-rickshaw Super King, Essel Infratech, EV Expo 2018, EV Expo 2018 Pragati Maidan New Delhi, Goenka Electric Motor Vehicles Private Limited, Government of India, Senegal 0 Comment December 22, 2018

EV Expo 2018: Goenka Electric Motor Vehicle launch e-rickshaw Super King, announce investment of $5 million to increase production in 2019

***Photo: Union Minister Anant Gangaram Geete unveils e-rickshaw from Goenka Electric Motor Vehicles during the 8th EV Expo 2018 at Pragati Maidan in New Delhi on December 20, 2018.***

Goenka Electric Motor Vehicles Private Limted (GEM), the top name in e-rickshaw production in India announced that it would invest $5 million in 2019 to ramp up the production capacity. GEM also launched a new e-rickshaw, Super King at the EV Expo 2018.

Bags Full

Goenka Electric Motor Vehicles is in cloud nine as its hands are full with orders. Recently GEM bagged a big order worth 500 e-rickshaws from Essel Infratech. Also, GEM is the first Indian EV maker to export e-rickshaws to Africa, when it recently made 250 e-rickshaws for Government of India, which gifted these vehicles to Senegal. The announcements came during the launch of Super King, a premium and highly efficient electric auto-rickshaw at the 8th Eco-Friendly Electric Vehicles Exp (EV Expo 2018), which began on December 20, 2018 at Pragati Maidan in Delhi. Anant Gangaram Geete, Union Minister for Heavy Industries and Public Sector Enterprises formally launched Super King at the beginning of EV Expo 2018.

GEM has a production capacity of 40,000 e-rickshaws a year. As the company is pretty sure that EVs are going to rule the roost in the coming years, as the fossil fuel will become more expensive and stringent laws are going to reduce the number of vehicles made with combustion engines. As part of gearing up for the future demand, GEM is expanding its production capacity in its plant by infusing a fund of $5 million that would be accomplished in 2019. Rightly so, the company had kept a punchline “Because the Future is Electric.” Equipped With high-end technology, superior grade engineering and a combination of composite materials, GEM vehicles are the most energy efficient in the market. The light weight vehicles ensure an increased battery life and enable easy driving. Ownership cost of GEM vehicles is 40% lower in comparison to autos that run on internal combustible engines.

***Photo: Union Minister Anant Geete unveils e-rickshaw from Goenka Electric Motor Vehicles during the 8th EV Expo 2018 at Pragati Maidan in New Delhi on December 20, 2018.***

Zafar Equbal, CEO, GEMS said, “GEM believes in innovation and we are pioneers in the electric vehicle space in India.. Since our foray into e-rickshaw space, GEM has emerged has the leader in the sector and our products are available through our 150 dealers across the country. We are adding an additional 200 dealers in the coming year and we expect our products to be available to an even wider consumer set. Our products are developed to the highest standards, utilising exceptional quality material and components. The newly launched Super King vehicle is not just an environment and user-friendly vehicle but is also exceedingly energy efficient and has high load tolerance to endure extreme conditions. And we hope, like all our previous variants, Super King too will delight the customers with great performance.”

Goenka Electric Motor Vehicles has a large team of experts comprising of electrical engineers, mechanical engineers and other industry professionals. All vehicles are manufactured using automotive industry equipment and processes by an accomplished team of experts. Each of these vehicles undergo rigorous quality checks to ensure that the quality of the product meets industry-best and predefined quality standards.

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Ducati India announces Royal Rajasthan Ride from February 1-5, 2019

Jayashankar Menon ‘Land of Kings’ – Rajasthan, Delhi-Mandawa-Bikaner-Khimsar-Samode-Delhi, Diavel, Ducati Gurgaon, Ducati India, Ducati motorcycles, Ducati Panigale, Ducati Riding Experience, Eagle Rider India, Hypermotard, Managing Director of Ducati India, Monster, Multistrada, Royal Rajasthan Ride, Sergi Canovas, SuperSport 0 Comment December 18, 2018

Ducati India First Dream Tour of 2019, Royal Rajashtan Ride from February 1-5

***Ducati India announces first Dream Tour of 2019 to Rajasthan from February 1-5***

Luxury motorcycle brand, Ducati today announced its first dream tour of 2019 – The Royal Rajasthan Ride, in association with Eagle Rider India. The ride is to be held from February 1-5 which will offer a chance to experience the ‘Land of Kings’ – Rajasthan, in the most unique way possible and is open to all Ducati owners. The five-day, one of a kind expedition will allow riders to immerse in the rich heritage and royal culture of Rajasthan while riding their Ducati motorcycles on some of the finest stretches of tarmac that exists in India.

Rajasthan is by far, the most colourful state of India and is therefore an astonishing visual delight. The five-days and four-nights excursion will allow riders to experience the true essence of Maharaja like luxury, cultural brilliance and royal food that each place has to offer. The ride would be flagged-off from Ducati Gurgaon and the riders will follow the Delhi-Mandawa-Bikaner-Khimsar-Samode–Delhi route that will provide the pleasure of riding through the glorious landscape of Rajasthan.

Registration

Registrations for the Dream Tour are now open with an early bird slot for Rs.49,000 per rider (including 5% tax) till December 31, 2018 and will be Rs.59,000 thereafter. The tour is limited to only 18 riders and will include all accommodations along with food & beverage. Package inclusions also cover support vehicles equipped with complete backup, medical aid, place to keep guest luggage, a dedicated Ducati tech for any service and recovery needs.

Sergi Canovas, Managing Director of Ducati India, said “With three successful Dream Tours this year, we are glad to kickstart 2019 with another Dream Tour for Ducatisti to experience the myriad faces of Royal Rajasthan. These Dream Tours are organised keeping in mind the evolving Indian riders, the growing interest and passion for riding. With every Dream Tour, we aim to deliver premium Ducati lifestyle and experience to further enhance their love and passion for riding a Ducati.”

The Dream Tour is a prestigious Ducati Riding Experience (DRE) where riders get to experience the capabilities of their Ducati in different conditions with various other entertainment activities that are designed to create memories of a life time, for all participants.

Ducati Motor Holding S.p.A. – A Sole Shareholder Company – A Company subject to the Management and Coordination activities of AUDI AG. Founded in 1926, since 1946 Ducati has been manufacturing sport-inspired motorcycles characterised by high-performance Desmodromic engines, innovative design and cutting-edge technology. With its factory located in Bologna’s Borgo Panigale district, in 2016 Ducati celebrated 90 years since it was founded. The model range covers several market segments with the following families: Diavel, Hypermotard, Monster, Multistrada, SuperSport and Panigale.

In 2015 Ducati presented the Ducati Scrambler: a new brand made of bikes, accessories and apparel that provide the last word in creativity and self-expression. These authentic icons representing what the world knows as “Made in Italy”, together with an extensive range of associated accessories and technical and lifestyle apparel, are distributed in 90 countries globally. Breaking all records for the company, in 2017 Ducati delivered 55,871 bikes to customers. Ducati competes in both the World Superbike and MotoGP World Championships. In Superbike, Ducati has won 17 Manufacturers’ titles and 14 Riders’ titles. Ducati has been competing in MotoGP since 2003, winning both the Manufacturers’ and Riders’ titles in 2007.

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“We are making accreditation process more scientific and tough for colleges”, MHRD Prakash Javadekar

Jayashankar Menon Accreditation process, AICTE, Conference on Positioning India on Global Education Map, graded autonomy, HEFA, Higher Education, Innovation Club, NAAC, National Institutional Ranking Framework, NBA, NIRF, Prakash Javadekar, Smart India Hackathon, Smart India Hackathon- 2019, UGC, Union Minister for Human Resource Development 0 Comment December 15, 2018

India is making accreditation process more scientific and tough for colleges

***“We are making accreditation process more scientific and tough for colleges”, MHRD Prakash Javadekar says. Photo: PIB.***

The Union Human Resource Development Ministry is going all out to make accreditation process more scientific and tough for colleges. “The Government is committed to increase quality education in the country right from primary education to higher education. In higher education, we have taken tremendous steps to improve college education, for this we are making accreditation process more scientific and tough. Government wants to increase the strength of NBA and NAAC so that more number of institutions can be accredited, the Minister added.He further said that government is open for other agencies to take the responsibility of accreditation and IITs and IIMs have been asked for the same so that more and more institutions can be accredited from reputed agencies”, Prakash Javadekar, Union Minister for Human Resource Development said in New Delhi on December 14, 2018.

While speaking at national Conference on ‘Positioning India on the Global Education Map’ in New Delhi, Javadekar said, “Ranking and rating increase competitiveness among institutions for better performance. Let me cite you an example. Take National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF). Thanks to the introduction of NIRF every institute has constituted an internal committee to improve the ranking. Students also see institutions ranking before taking admission.”

Good Teachers

Stressing the role of a teacher, Javadekar said, “Teacher is the most important component to increase quality education in the colleges and varsities. Attendance should increase in the classroom apparently due to the teacher’s skills and not due to the infrastructure of the college. We are lacking good teachers in the institutions precisely because of the fact that good people are not becoming teachers. We have to attract good people for teaching profession and we have to give respect to teachers then only we can create a good learning environment in the institutions. Best teachers attract students to the institution not the best infrastructure.”

Graded Autonomy

Stating that the graded autonomy was another major step of his Ministry to boost quality education in the country, Javadekar said, “The universities will remain within the ambit of UGC but will have the freedom to start new courses, off campus centres, skill development courses, research parks and any other new academic programmes. What is more, they will also have the freedom to hire overseas faculty, enrol international students, offer incentive based emoluments to the faculty, enter into academic collaborations and run open distance learning programmes. We are focusing on research and innovation to boost research culture in the country. The Ministry of HRD successfully conducted two Smart India Hackathon in 2017 and 2018 and started process for third instalment of Smart India Hackathon- 2019.”

The Minister further said that to promote innovation culture in India we have started Innovation Cell in AICTE and more than 1000 colleges started Innovation Club in their campuses. The research and innovation culture will make education more relevant and reliable. In addition these steps to promote quality education in India, we have increased budget amount for the higher education through HEFA. India is improving its ranking in world class institutions but we want to enter in top 100 club of best institutions, therefore we are trying to make 20 Institutes of Eminence in the country, ten each in public and private category”, Javadekar added.

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