Category Archives: Business & Economy

B’lore lab helping develop first TB vaccine in 100 years

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

Scientists at Max Planck Institute of Infection Biology, Germany, are trying to develop a tuberculosis vaccine for adu-lts which will be the first in nearly hundred years since the Bacille Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccine for children was developed. Lending a helping hand in this is a clinical lab at St John’s Research Institute (SJRI) in Bangalore.

The SJRI has been commissioned to come up with biomarkers to test the efficacy of the new vaccine, which is set to go into phase three trials.

The vaccine being developed by Max director Stefan H E Kaufmann is considered the most promising among a clutch of other candidates that have appeared following a renewed interest on account of the emergence of drug-resistant varieties of the disease.

Kaufmann, who was in Bangalore last week, has tied up with John Kenneth, head of the infectious disease unit and molecular diagnostics at SJRI, to locate biomarkers that will establish the efficacy of any tuberculosis vaccine administered to patients.

“All current vaccine candidates are relatively low on ambition. They all attempt to contain mycobacterium tuberculosis. We do not have a candidate that claims to prevent infection or eradicates the pathogens,” Kaufmann said.

Max has created a vaccine against adult TB of the lungs by working with a recombinant version of the BCG vaccine that prevents TB in children.

The vaccine had been sub-licensed to Serum Research Institute of India that wants to test it, Kaufmann said.

“When you put the vaccine candidate into the trial cycle you need an end point measure of the efficacy of the vaccine to indicate that antibodies have been produced to provide immunity. We don’t have that marker at present,” Kenneth of SJRI said. The presence of a biological databank and a TB patients to carry out tests for biomarkers is key to the tie-up between Max and SJRI.

“Biomarkers are critical factors for the future research on TB. They are critical factors for better vaccines, better drug design and better diagnosis,” Kaufmann said. One of the questions that the researchers are trying to answer in the quest for biomarkers for TB is, what distinguishes patients with active TB and those who remain healthy.

source: http://www.indianexpress.com / The Indian Express / Home / Bangalore, Saturday – December 14th, 2013

Yoga tourism in Mysore can be a big money-spinner

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Business & Economy, Travel, World Opinion

by N.K.A. Ballal, Retd. Sr. Vice-President, ITDC

BallalBF18dec2013How many of you are aware of the fact that Mysore is the yoga capital of India? About 4 to 5000 students stay in the city for a period of three months throughout the year getting training in about 10 centres spread across the city. It is also a well-known fact that several Hollywood stars and celebrities have got their yoga training from masters teaching at these very centres. Think of the economic benefit of this form of tourism to this great city if the number of students double.

But as usual, our officials of Department of Tourism are laid back and are not taking advantage of this phenomena to bring in more yoga tourists to Mysore. The fact that Mysore is an important destination for yoga is not at all publicised and even our own people are not aware of this. It is not necessary that we depend on only foreign tourists but well-heeled gentry from our own country can come here for training. Yoga tourism can be a big money-spinner and since it involves local talent, it will ensure the overall benefit for the city.

But where is the festival of yoga being held in India? Surprised ? It is not in Mysore but in “Goa.” Ironical but true. We have a pro-active tourism officials of that State who capitalised on this idea and are holding a festival of yoga in their State in the month of December 2013. Better late than never, let us at least try to recreate these festivals which are called “Life spirit festivals” next year in our city to capitalise on the advantage of being the yoga capital of India.

There are 5 yoga festivals planned currently all over the world and I would like to enumerate them for the benefit of readers for them to get an idea of the variety on offer.

1. Zambhala in Goa, December 2013: This festival planned on December 21 and 22 is supposed to be the biggest yoga festival in India. The two-day event promises to bring in 70 of the best yoga teachers, spiritual teachers, practitioners and healers from all over the world. That is not all; the festival also has special sessions on sufi-whirling and special workshops on new and different meditation techniques, crystal healing, chanting and also star-gazing.

2. Bali Spirit Festival in Ubud, March 2014: This festival started in 2008 and now has become a hot tourist spot for practitioners of various forms of yoga, meditation and other spiritual healing. The festival has about 150 day-time workshops by top instructors and special “bhakthi” series of devotional music. This festival has some special classes for children also.

3. Berlin Yoga Festival, June 2014: One of the largest 4-day festivals of Europe, the festival presents health related, philosophical and special emphasis on sports aspects of yoga therapy. Yoga experts from all over the world share their experience in the interactive sessions.

4. Wanderlust Festival at Oahu, Hawaii: This fest brings together Chefs, DJ and other forms of music therapy and also combines music and meditation along with hiking, all-night chakra-spinning sessions and tasting of farm to table dinners.

5. Caribbean Yoga Conference at Jamaica, Jan. 2014: This four-day festival is hosted at Jamaica. One learns the core spiritual values of ayurveda practice, that is sahana, seva and sangha. This festival has a nice circus yoga programme, an enjoyable event for children.

I have a suggestion. The Department of Tourism officials can go on a jaunt to at least two of these festivals to find out as to how these international events are planned and executed.

We have three revered Godmen — Sri Ravishankar Guruji, Sri Ganapathy Sachchidananda Swamiji and Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev — who would go out of the way to help develop Mysore. They have a huge following and any festival held with their blessings would automatically become a success.

Mysore has only one activity, that is Dasara and one more big event in the form of yoga festival can be a big money-spinner for the city. A vibrant yoga festival, world class, held year after year means tremendous economic benefit for the local population. But this event need not be a government-sponsored one. It can be a private enterprise also. All the ten centres of yoga training can come together, hire an event manager and do this, with active support from the Seers. There is no use waiting for our government which is in a hibernation mode to get up and act. They will wake up only by next June or July for next year’s Dasara.

We have a huge agarbathi industry, which can also sponsor this event with professional help to ensure that this event can be a profitable venture. A win-win venture. Think of the TV coverages and advertisements; both national and international. I sincerely appeal R. Guru, Chairman, Rangarao & Sons, to give active support for such an event. Sir, once you give the green signal, other like-minded Mysoreans will follow. Let us not wait for this government to wake up. Let me at least dream of an international yoga festival for next year at Mysore and hope it comes true.

[e-mail: ananthballal@ yahoo.com]

source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> Feature Articles / December 12th, 2013

Stage set for animation festival in Mysore

Business & Economy, Science & Technology, World Opinion

The event will feature some of the best names in animation industry such as DreamWorks Animation.

The Association of Bangalore Animation Industry will stage ABAI 2013, India’s first exclusive film and digital arts festival for animation, VFX and gaming on December 6 and 7. The event will unfold at three venues in the Manasagangotri campus of University of Mysore — Senate hall, humanities auditorium and the open air theatre — on both days from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

The event will feature some of the best names in animation industry such as DreamWorks Animation. Feature films, short films, game cinematics and visual effects will be featured. Raman International Institute of Information Technology (RiiiT), an IT finishing school here, has given local support to the event.

Addressing presspersons here, ABAI convener and executive committee member Archana Krishnamurthy said the animation industry in India is growing and needs talent to keep it going. There are plenty of employment opportunities in the field. Mysore can become the animation hub over the years. The combination of art, culture, technology and heritage works well for this industry. For this reason, ABAI has been brought to Mysore.

Animation is used in the fields of education, medicine, defence etc. It is used by the corporate world for training and assessment. But, there is not much awareness about animation and this needs to be addressed seriously,” Ms. Krishnamurthy said.

Stan Lee, the co-creator of Spiderman, Hulk, X-Men, Fantastic Four, Iron Man and the Avengers, along with Sharad Devarajan of Graphic India, will showcase Indian superhero Chakra.

Ron Diamond, member of the Academy of Motion Pictures will present ‘The Giants’ First Steps’ and the ABAI special edition of ‘Show of Shows’. Shelley Page of DreamWorks Animation will present her ‘Eye Candy Show’.

There will be a screening of Shilpa Ranade’s ‘World of Goopi and Bagha’, a film based on Satyajit Ray’s Goopy Gayne Bagha Bayne. The 3D animation film ‘The Croods’ will also be screened. Animation artistes from the State have contributed significantly to making the film.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> National> Karnataka / by Special Correspondent / Mysore – December 05th, 2013

Delivery by cycle saar, at your doorstep

Business & Economy

Cycling enthusiast initiates bike messenger service that can pick up stuff you forgot and deliver it to you at the office

India’s first biker-messenger service will be launched in the city on Monday. ‘Cyclercity’, a venture by Rajiv Singh will have anything delivered to you. This eco-friendly service, apart from functioning as a courier service, will also deliver a bouquet of flowers, forgotten cell phones, chocolates, car keys, forgotten files and pays your bills. It’s eco-friendly, fast, cheap and has a pick-up service that no other courier service has.

Speaking of the venture Bangalore-based Singh said, “The service is quite popular in the West, but this is the first of its kind in India. We are only a phone call away. Anybody who wants a service can call us or fill an online order form and we will direct our nearest bike messenger to the pick-up location. The package will be delivered on priority.”

Singh, a cycle enthusiast, said the idea came when he was stuck in a traffic jam. After his MBA, he had a seven-year stint in a corporate after which he came up with this idea. The office is situated at R T Nagar. As of now, the area around 10 km from MG Road will be covered. Based on the success of the initiative, Singh has plans of expanding it to other areas as well.

When asked about the manpower, Singh explained, “We have hired people from an NGO called Unnati that is located in K R Puram which has people from villages across Karnataka. They have been given training on how to cycle on busy roads and manage traffic.”

Managing time would not be much of a challenge, Singh said. “Cycling is actually the fastest mode of transport as far as reaching your destination is concerned. You can cycle amidst heavy traffic jams, through narrow roads and shortcuts and reach the destination in the shortest time. We have customised cycles to suit the needs of the particular employee and they have all been coloured green to look environment friendly.”

Right now, the firm has seven cycles and the service will be between 9 am and 9 pm. The service men have been given their own uniforms and would work every day apart from Sundays and public holidays.

Singh claims that the cost is also much lower than that of any courier service. It starts at Rs 25 to cover a distance up to 5 km for a package that weighs up to 100 gms. The price varies based on the distance and the weight of the package.

Service men will sit at retail shops, parks and bus stands in and around the area and would undertake any delivery given to them, Singh said.

source: http://www.bangaloremirror.com / Bangalore Mirror / Home> Bangalore> Others / by Vandana Kamath / Bangalore Mirror Bureau / December 02nd, 2013

Facebook to make first Indian acquisition with Bangalore-based Little Eye Labs

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

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Facebook is reportedly all set to make its first ever Indian acquisition soon. Talks are apparently on for Facebook to acquire Little Eye Labs, a Bangalore-based startup.

According to a report by the Business Standard , the deal is being facilitated by Indian Software Products Industry Roundtable (iSpirt). The Indian software product think-tank tries to help Indian companies find global buyers. As far as Little Eye Labs goes, the startup builds performance analysis and monitoring tools that identify and fix issues faced by Android app developers.

The company was founded by Bangalore-based programme analysis enthusiasts, Giridhar Murthy, a former Apple employee; Kumar Rangarajan who has worked with IBM and HP; Satyam Kandula, an IIT Kharagpur alumnus and Lakshman Kakkirala, also a former IBM and Yahoo! employee. CrunchBase shows Little Eye Labs currently has seven employees. The company had earlier received between $100,000 and $200,000 from GSF Accelerator, a start-up incubator.

The deal is being struck as part of the M&A connect programme by iSpirt. The firm had launched the programme’s hot-line for product companies to help them be acquired or raise funds. iSprit was kicked off in February this year after it broke out of Nasscom. The talks were reportedly conducted in Palo Alto, US, back in May. Besides Facebook, IBM, Cisco and VMware participated too.

If Facebook ends up purchasing Little Eye Labs, it will be a big push for not just iSpirt, but other startups in India, aiming to be noticed globally. Besides trying to get Facebook to see Little Eye Labs’ potential, iSpirt is reportedly working on match-making three more deals on similar lines currently.

source: http://www.tech2india.in.com / Tech 2 / Home> News> General / by Nishta Kanal / December 02nd, 2013

First consignment of fish from Mangalore Airport exported to Kuwait

Business & Economy, Nature, World Opinion

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Mangalore :

For the first time since the official announcement of air cargo facility at Mangalore International Airport, 0.600 ton of pomfret fish (maanji in Tulu) was exported to Kuwait recently.

According to J T Radhakrishnan, Mangalore Airport Director, 12 packets of approximately weighing 45 kg each were shipped through Air India Express flight.

This could be encouraging news for fishermen in the coastal district, and also to farmers who grow various fruits and vegetables.

The quantity and frequency is expected to increase in the coming days, especially in fish export.

source: http://www.daijiworld.com / DaijiWorld.com / Home> Top Stories / DaijiWorld Media Network / Thursday – September 05th, 2013

2nd edition of Doctors Directory launched

Business & Economy, Science & Technology
Mysore University VC Prof. K.S. Rangappa (centre) who released the directory is seen with (from left) Dr. C.D. Sreenivasa Murthy, Dr. C.G. Narasimhan, Dr. C. Sharath Kumar and Dr. Shashidhar.
Mysore University VC Prof. K.S. Rangappa (centre) who released the directory is seen with (from left) Dr. C.D. Sreenivasa Murthy, Dr. C.G. Narasimhan, Dr. C. Sharath Kumar and Dr. Shashidhar.

Mysore :

The second edition of Doctors Directory was released at a function held at Hotel Dasaprakash Paradise in city recently.

The Directory was released by Prof. K.S. Rangappa, Vice-Chancellor, University of Mysore.

Prof. Rangappa, speaking on the occasion, said that the directory had all the information about doctors, hospitals, diagnostic centres which would serve as a guide for the general public of Mysore, Kodagu, Mandya and Chamarajanagar.

Dr. C.D. Sreenivasa Murthy, senior Physician & Cardiologist and Dr. C.G. Narasimhan, senior surgeon, were felicitated on the occasion.

The directory and the website has been published by Team Beeline, Mysore and contains the names and contact numbers of doctors, hospitals, diagnostic centres of all the four districts.

Dr. C. Sharath Kumar, Director, Mediwave Fertility Research Hospital, Mysore, presided.

Dr. Shashidhar, senior Ayurveda practitioner, compered the programme.

Harish of Team Beeline was present. The directory can be accessed online on www.doctorsdirectory4u.com.

source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> General News / December 08th, 2013

A S N Hebbar, City’s Veteran Lawyer of 50 Years Felicitated

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

Kundapur :

A S N Hebbar, the city’s veteran lawyer of 50 years was felicitated by his interns and social welfare organizations at Government Pre-University College, here on Saturday November 30 evening.

The former Rotary governor Dr H Shantaram presided the function.

The former MLA A G Kodgi delivered the felicitation address.

The additional district and sessions judge G S Revankar, Udupi district journalists’ Assocition president Kiran Manjabail and others were present.

HebbarBF11dec2013

The journalist Chakravarti Soolibele delivered lecture on professional ethics and India.

The prizes were distributed to the winners of inter-district badminton and tennis tourney on the same occasion.

An exhibition of rare birds was held on the occasion.

Sugam Sangeet musical extravaganza and Yakshagana play was staged as part of entertainment programme.

About Hebbar

Seventy-three-year-old Airody Shankaranarayana Hebbar, popularly known as A S N Hebbar is active lawyer who attends court proceedings in Bhatkal, Honnavar and Udupi by driving his own car even now.  His father the late Airody Venkatanarayana Hebbar was also a lawyer who mentored his son Shankaranarayana in professional ethics, in-depth study, humorous advocacy etc.  The budding interns practiced with Sankaranarayan who has a great number of followers.

Besides, being busy at legal practice, Shankaranarayana was engaged in contributing his articles, poetry, humorous columns etc.  He was the chairman of Udupi district seventh Kannada Sahitya Sammelan.  He was the founder chairman of Jaycees Club International – Kundapur.  He served as chairman of local school governing council and also bagged several awards for his philanthropic contributions.

He had participated in Akka Sammelan held in Chicago, USA.  He was the founder president of Kundapur taluk journalists’ Association and founder vice president of Udupi district journalists’ Association. He has married to Sudha, daughter of Kasargod’s popular lawyer B S Kakkillaya.  They have three children and many grand children.

source: http://www.bellevison.com / Belle Vision.com / Home> News / by Bernard J D’Costa, Bellevision Media Network / Kundapur – December 01st, 2013

‘Integrity, Ethics Crucial for Media’

Business & Economy, Education

Controversies related to malpractice in media and misuse of social networking sites were central to the the discussions at a conference organised by the Department of Communication at St Joseph’s College of Arts and Science here on Friday.

Speaking on the occasion, B G Verghese, a veteran journalist, said, “It is important to look at the dark side of the media to get to the better side of it. Portraying the Press Council as a weak institution, he highlighted the absence of a Statutory Complaints Commission for the electronic media, though tribunals had been set up with a limited reach. Hence, some measure of regulation is needed to ensure accountability, he added. “Ethics and social responsibility should be the watchword of every journalist. That is why integrity and truthfulness become crucial in maintaining the profession of journalism,” Verghese explained.

He said the misinterpretation and one-sided perspective of the media were challenges that needed to be overcome through unbiased reporting. He said any story should always be reported taking into consideration all viewpoints.

The media has a duty to provide a background for better understanding of issues relating to society. This may not be possible at one go, but objectivity can be maintained through careful investigation and follow up.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Bangalore / by Express News Service – Bangalore / November 30th, 2013

Ascent Capital-backed Skanray acquires healthcare business of Pricol

Business & Economy, Science & Technology

Last year, the company acquired the medical equipment business of L&T.

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Mysore-based medical device company Skanray Technologies Pvt Ltd has acquired healthcare business of Coimbatore-based auto component maker Pricol Ltd for an undisclosed amount.

“This is strategically a very important transaction for us, as it increases our strength in the respiratory segment, with the addition of Ventilators to our portfolio,” Vishwaprasad Alva, managing director of Skanray, said.

According to the company, respiratory ailments are on the rise and some of the biggest pandemic outbreaks in the recent past like avian flu have seen hospitals fall short of ventilators.

The company sees business from government epidemic and disaster management departments in several developed countries which are planning to buy large volumes of ventilators in case any pandemic outbreaks.

“With this addition, we will be able to offer complete ICU packages for hospitals and be a single point contact for supply, custom solutions and life cycle management of all equipment in the ICU,” Alva said.

This is the second acquisition of the company in as many years. Last year it acquired medical equipment business of Larsen & Toubro (L&T) through its fully owned subsidiary Skanray Healthcare.

Between Skanray Healthcare and Skanray Technologies, the group has 12 USFDA approved products in segments such as X Ray imaging, vital sign monitoring and surgery devices. The company plans to launch more products in the US and European markets.

“We started the healthcare business to use the synergy of the core technology that Pricol has in embedded hardware and software, mechanical subsystems, engineering plastics and systems integration. We are happy to transfer the healthcare business to Skanray who are growing aggressively in the primary healthcare segment,” said Vikram Mohan, MD of Pricol.

Skanray Technologies, which was set up in 2007, specialises in high frequency X-Ray imaging systems, critical care devices and primary healthcare & telemedicine-compatible devices.

The company recently raised $14.7 million from Ascent Capital. It has also raised an undisclosed amount from Arun Kumar, promoter of public listed pharmaceutical company Strides Arcolab.

(Edited by Joby Puthuparampil Johnson)

source: http://www.vccircle.com / VC Circle / Home> M & A / by Lohit Jagwani / Tuesday – November 26th, 2013