Category Archives: World Opinion

Bangalore-based startup Mu Sigma acquires Singapore’s Webfluenz

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

Bangalore :

Startup posterboy Mu Sigma is making its first acquisition by buying Singapore-based social media analytics company Webfluenz. The Bangalore company, which is valued at $1 billion and counts Microsoft, Pfizer, and Dell among its clients, will integrate Webfluenz’s technology to create products to mine real-time intelligence from huge chunks of data.

“Webfluenz will add significantly to Mu Sigma’s products portfolio in serving our clients’ advanced needs going beyond traditional social media monitoring,” said Deepinder Dhingra, head of products and strategy at the data analytics company.

Mu Sigma, which employs around 3,500 employees, declined to reveal financial details of the deal. Investment banking firm Nine Rivers Capital was the advisor to Webfluenz, which was founded by National Institute of Design graduate Bharani Setlur and Chennai Mathematical Institute alumnus Harish Madabushi in 2010.The team created a platform to monitor, analyse and manage social media and the realtime web. “We are excited to be a part of Mu Sigma,” said Setlur, the 33-year-old chief executive officer of Webfluenz.

The firm has helped customers such as toy retailer Hamleys, Publicis Omnicom Group and Japanese advertising  firm Dentsu to track and analyse social media conversations on topics or brands . The platform includes technology such as natural language processing, multi lingual text analytics and advanced algorithms for sentiment mining, according to the company.

Experts said the acquisition comes during a time when Mu Sigma, which is services firm, is trying hard to make its mark in the big data products space dominated by global players such as Palantir Cloudera and Splunk. The demand for big data analytics product companies has increased rapidly because of their ability to draw sophisticated insights from large volumes of information.

For example, US-based Palantir helped intelligence agencies eliminate terrorist financing networks and find trends in roadside bomb attacks. Its technology was also used in tracking down Osama bin Laden. This year the market for big data will reach $16.1 billion (Rs 96,000 crore), growing six times faster than the overall IT market, according to research firm IDC .

There have been 159 merger and acquisition transactions worth $1.78 billion (Rs 10,000 crore) involving Indian technology product companies since 2010, according to software product think-tank iSpirt and advisory firm  Signal Hill .

source: http://www.articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com / The Economic Times / Home> News> Emerging Businesses> Startups / by Peerzada Abrar, ET Bureau / July 01st, 2014

Mysore students to take part in ‘Global Young Leaders’ Conference at USA

Education, Records, All, World Opinion

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Mysore :

Two PU students from city have been invited to participate in the Global Young Leaders Conference to be held at Washington DC and New York from July 2 to 19.

The students who have been invited are; Anahata Harikumar, a 1st PU Commerce student at MICA Mahesh PU College and Madhumitha B. Kumar, a 1st PU Science student at Mahesh PU College. They are the former students of Manasarowar Pushkarini Vidyashrama School in city.

Anahata is the daughter of B. Harikumar, General Manager, Radisson Blu Hotel in city and Harshida, Principal, Manasarowar Pushkarini Vidyashrama School in city, while Madhumitha is the daughter of Baby Kumar, proprietor of Ramu Steels and Aruna Kumar, a home maker.

As part of the conference, Anahata and Madhumitha will visit international embassies, participate in Global Issues Workshops and will interact with key leaders.

The activities will culminate at the Global Summit Simulation, challenging students to debate, negotiate and build coalitions to resolve emerging global challenges.

The purpose of the Global Young Leaders Conference (GYLC) is to distinguish a select group of exceptional high school students from around the world for their scholastic merit and demonstrated leadership ability and to provide them with the opportunity to gain more global perspective through interaction with students from around the world; who are actively involved in the decision-making processes in both government and private sector; and to immerse them in a challenging curriculum that will further develop their leadership skills.

source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> General News  / Friday – June 27th, 2014

Initiative to Develop Tools for Healthcare

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Science & Technology, World Opinion

Bangalore :

CAMTech India, a public-private health partnership funded by the United States Agency for International Development, will hold its first medical technology ‘Jugaad-a-thon’ in Bangalore from July 18 to 20.

The Jugaad-a-thon will tap into the know-how of local experts in engineering, public health and business to develop new tools to improve healthcare, Elizabeth Bailey, director, Consortium for Affordable Medical Technologies (CAMTech) at Massachusetts General Hospital’s Center for Global Health, said in a release.

CAMTech India is working towards finding innovative ways to provide healthcare to women and children in India, Bailey said.

The Jugaad-a-thon (derived from the Hindi word jugaad meaning an innovative fix or work-around) will be a 48-hour event where 250 clinicians, engineers and entrepreneurs collaborate on new solutions for unsolved clinical problems.

Cross-disciplinary teams will work on developing functional prototypes and commercialising their innovations. At the end of the event, the teams will be awarded a variety of prizes to help take their innovations forward. The event is being organised in partnership with Glocal Healthcare and will be hosted at GE’s John F Welch Technology Centre in Bangalore. Applications can be sent by July 7. For more information visit: www.jugaadathon.com.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Bangalore / by Express News Service / June 25th, 2014

 

Ann Sarah Koshy, a Bangalore doctor is Obama-Singh fellow

Records, All, Science & Technology, World Opinion

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Bangalore :

Ann Sarah Koshy is happiest pulling out sticky, wailing babies into the world. For her, delivering the bundles of poor women and sharing their joys matters most. Now, the young intern with a rural hospital off Sarjapur Road is off to Harvard University to research how Vitamin B12 helps in neonatal growth.

Ann, 22, who completed MBBS at St John’s Hospital, Bangalore, is the recipient of the Obama-Singh 21st-Century Knowledge Initiative. This fellowship was planned as a part of US aid in Indian education when President Barack Obama came to India in 2010. Ann was one among 10 students selected for the research mentorship.

“It hasn’t sunk in yet. I can’t believe they would approve my research and allow me to do a course in global nutrition,” she told TOI.

Ann, though, never wanted to be a doctor. She recalls, “When I was selected to give a farewell day speech in school, I saw my mother walk out to attend a surgery while other parents listened to me in rapt attention. I told myself I’d never become a doctor. I haven’t got enough of my parents because both are doctors. But I don’t know why I gave up maths and studied MBBS, though I scored 99 in mathematics and 95 in biology. I wanted to be an astronaut but they broke my heart when they said I was short.”

It was in 2008 that St John’s Research Institute was chosen under this initiative, and tied up with National Institute of Health, USA.

Ann’s mother Dr Annamma Thomas is professor of obstetrics and gynaecology, and father Dr Reji Koshy Thomas is professor of ophthalmology at St John’s Hospital. She owes her leadership skills and go-getter attitude to her father. “I was the first woman general secretary of the students’ association in St John’s College. I knew I had to break the glass ceiling. I like my job in hospital as I’m the resident doctor and have to take my own decisions,” she added.
At Harvard, Ann will research how vitamin B12 can boost neurological development in a foetus. As a prelude, she’s begun research on 300 pregnant women in Bangalore, across economic strata, and treated 150 of them with vitamin B12 supplements. She plans to compile the research at Harvard in the next six weeks. She also applied for a course in clinical epidemiology and audit course on global nutrition which the US varsity has accepted.
Missed by nurses, patients

Karunapalyam, the rural hospital off Sarjapur Road where Ann Sarah Koshy works, is going to miss their only resident doctor. “Nurses say they’re sad as they won’t have a doctor for the next six weeks. But I’ve promised to come back and complete my internship. My patients also look on me to bring them better service,” says Ann.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> India / TNN / June 28th, 2014

Bangalore overtakes Silicon Valley in attracting tech talent: LinkedIn

Business & Economy, Science & Technology, World Opinion

SUMMARY

LinkedIn found that all the top four cities globally were Indian.

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Bangalore attracted more tech talent than Silicon Valley in the US in last one year, says LinkedIn. According to a study by the world’s largest professional network, over 44% of Bangalore’s new residents registered on LinkedIn had tech talent while that of San Francisco stood at 31%.

In absolute terms, about 26,453 people with tech skills moved to Bangalore while 28,513 people with tech knowledge moved to Silicon Valley in November 2012 to November 2013 period.

After analysing its 300 million member profiles across the world to find the economies that are attracting technology talent, LinkedIn found that all the top four cities globally were Indian with 43% of new residents of Pune and Hyderabad and 38% of Chennai (38%) having tech talent.

LinkedIn, which looked at information from 52 cities, found that globally, only 16% of the new residents had tech skills, but several Indian cities clocked more than double, indicating that the Indian technology sector is experiencing explosive growth, the report said.

source: http://www.financialexpress.com / The Financial Express / Home> Jobs / by fe Bureau / Bangalore – June 27th, 2014

UK Marks Centenary of Indian-Origin WW II Spy Noor Inayat Khan

Amazing Feats, Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Historical Links, Pre-Independence, Inspiration/ Positive News and Features, Leaders, Nri's / Pio's, Records, All, World Opinion

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London: 

The birth centenary year of Noor Inayat Khan, the famous Indian-origin World War II spy, was observed in the UK this week.

Popular English novelist and political commentator Frederick Forsyth was among the key guests at a special memorial event in London to celebrate the life of Noor, the great-great-great-grand-daughter of Tipu Sultan, who became the first female radio operator to be sent from Britain into occupied France.

“What is so remarkable about Noor Inayat Khan is that she owed us nothing; she didn’t have to go,” said Forsyth, the well-known thriller writer behind books such as ‘The Day of the Jackal’ and ‘The Odessa File’ who compared her to the 18th century ruler, Tipu Sultan, known as the ‘Tiger of Mysore’.

“When it came to being recruited for the SOE (Special Operations Executive), she could have said ‘thank you but no’…but she volunteered. There must be something of the old tiger in her genes. It is recorded that she fought like a tigress…Noor absolutely did not die for nothing.

“She is an amazement, a remarkable and extraordinarily brave woman who did what she did for a country to which she owed nothing,” Forsyth said.

The memorial event was organised by the Noor Inayat Khan Memorial Trust set up by Shrabani Basu – author of the World War II heroine’s biography ‘Spy Princess’.

It coincided with the dates of June 16-17, 1943, when Noor – under her codename Madeleine – was flown to the landing ground in Northern France.

“She combined the rational side of her personality with her hatred of injustice and became one of our greatest heroines. My hope is that she would have gone back to that inner life that sustained her,” said Christine Crawley, a Labour party politician who has campaigned for the contribution of women agents in the war to be commemorated.

The SOE was an underground force established in Britain in 1940 by war-time Prime Minister Winston Churchill to “set Europe ablaze”.

It recruited men and women to launch a guerilla war against Hitler’s forces.

Noor, born in September 1914 to an Indian Muslim father and an American mother, grew up in Britain and France.

Despite her pacifist views, she decided to join the war effort to defeat the Nazis and was eventually captured.

In spite of being repeatedly tortured and interrogated, she revealed nothing and was executed by an SS officer on September 13, 1944, at Dachau concentration camp at the age of 30.

She was later awarded the George Cross, the highest civilian decoration in the UK, in recognition of her bravery.

A bust in Noor’s memory now stands at Gordon Square in central London, a stone’s throw from the home she briefly lived in.

source: http://www.ndtv.com / NDTV / Home> Diaspora / Press Trust of India / June 19th, 2014

Country’s first government Liver Clinic brings hope

Records, All, Science & Technology, World Opinion

Bangalore :

Chethana (name changed), 10, had a virtual rebirth on Friday when she underwent a bile duct enlargement correction surgery at the newly-launched Liver Clinic here.
The nation’s first government-owned liver clinic offers a glimmer of hope for thousands of chronic liver disorder patients. The north Karnataka girl was among six persons who underwent surgeries at a surgical gastro8enterology workshop. The operations, which were done at the Victoria Hospital premises, were beamed live to the inauguration venue.
The Liver Clinic, run by the department of gastroenterology, Bangalore Medical College and Research Institute (BMCRI), offers to %conduct liver transplants on poor patients for Rs 5 lakh as against Rs 40 lakh charged by corporate hospitals. The state government has %sanctioned Rs 7.5 crore for the clinic.
As many as 150 patients with various liver disorders have been awaiting transplant and have registered with the Zonal Coordination Committee for Organ Transplants in Karnataka (ZCCK). Thirty other patients have been screened for transplant. The Liver Clinic is likely to conduct transplants in a couple of months.

Launching the clinic, medical education minister Sharan Prakash Patil said: “There are 20,000 patients waiting for liver transplants in India and only 1,000 of them have the access and financial capability to undergo it. Through this initiative, we want to encourage our surgeons to help poor patients. There is need to establish an autonomous gastroenterology institute.”
“We have a highly trained team of transplant surgeons, anaesthetists as well as nurses ,” said Dr Nagesh NS, %transplant surgeon and %clinic chief.

Dr K V Ashok Kumar  , retired head of the department of gastroenterology at BMCRI, and one of the brains behind the clinic, said: “After I retired, I came back to work for Rs 20,000 only to make this dream come true. We believe the poorest patient sho8uld get treated with the best of facilities.”

According to WHO data, there are annually over 2 lakh deaths due to liver disorders in India accounting for 2.31% of total deaths in the country.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> India / TNN / June 14th, 2014

City lad Sagar to officiate in Wimbeldon championships

Records, All, Sports, World Opinion

Mysore :

City lad Sagar G. Kashyap, has done every Mysorean proud with his feat of being selected to officiate in the Wimbeldon Grand Slam tennis championships 2014.

Sagar, a resident at Gokulam in Mysore, will be officiating in the qualifying rounds of the championships which begin from June 16th 2014. A former tennis player from Mysore Tennis Club, Mysore and B.E. graduate from Vidya Vikas College of Engineering, Sagar took up to officiating and has been an ITF referee and has officiated in ITF tournaments World over.

He will also be officiating in the main draw which will begin from June 23rd and he will officiate till the finals. This is the sixth consecutive time he will be officiating in the Wimbledon championships and he is the only Karnataka referee to be selected to represent the country in the championships.

source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> Sports  News / June 16th, 2014

Elected as Chairman of South Asia

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, World Opinion

Mysore :

MShabeerMPOs21jun2014Mohammed Shabeer Ahmed, Advocate, Mysore and International Council Member of International Association for Religious Freedom (IARF), Osaka (Japan) and London (UK) has been elected as the Chairman of South Asia Co-ordinating Council (SACC) of IARF during the SACC Board Meeting held on June 7 at Mysore.

India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Nepal come under SACC. The term of the office of SACC is four years.

The objects of SACC-IARF is to promote international freedom, organise socio-economic, spiritual and cultural activities, promote inter-faith, work for religious, communal harmony and peace among the people.

Mohammed Shabeer Ahmed is also serving as Member of Vidyavardhaka Sangha, Mysore and Chairman of Youth Hostels Association of India, Mysore Unit.

He will be attending International Council Meeting IARF on Aug. 23, 24 and 25, to be held at Birmingham, UK.

source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> General News / June 16th, 2014

Former Acting Director of CFTRI Dr. G. Venkateswara Rao passes away

Business & Economy, Leaders, Science & Technology, World Opinion

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Mysore :

Dr. G. Venkateswara Rao (63), former Acting Director of CFTRI, passed away on June 11 at JSS Hospital in city following a cardiac arrest. A resident of CFTRI Layout in Bogadi, he leaves behind his wife and two sons.

Born on Feb. 19, 1951, Dr. Rao obtained his M.Sc in Chemistry from Andhra University in 1973 and Ph. D in Food Science from University of Mysore in 1983.

Dr. Rao joined Flour Milling Baking and Confectionery Technology, CSIR-Central Food Technological Research Institute (CFTRI) in 1974. He pursued research in the area of wheat science and technology for over 39 years.

He superannuated on February 2013 after holding the position of Acting Director, CFTRI for one-and-half years.

Dr. Venkateswara is a recipient of German Academic Exchange Service Fellowship during 1978 to 1980 and worked at Federal Research Institute for Cereal and Potato Processing, Detmold, Germany. He has visited Sultanate of Oman on the invitation of the Government to conduct study on Food Processing in that country.

source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> General  News / June 14th, 2014