Latest technologies for Al Hammadi hospitals

Business & Economy, Science & Technology, World Opinion

Cisco, a leader in networking and Wipro has signed a deal with Saudi-based Al Hammadi Development and Investment Company to launch three smart and connected hospitals with latest technologies in the medical grade infrastructure.

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Al Hammadi has partnered with Cisco and Wipro to deliver capabilities such as private health cloud, optimised clinical workflow solutions and solutions that will increase the quality of care while transforming the experience of patients and medical staff, said a statement.

The solutions include Cisco’s latest end-to-end networking and security solutions, its Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) and Wipro’s Hospital Information System (HIS) Cloud-enabled Application to be installed in three of its hospitals in the kingdom as part of a SR90 million ($23.9 million) contract.

Mohammed Al Hammadi, CEO, said: “Cisco’s and Wipro’s technology solutions will help us deliver a state-of-the-art network infrastructure to enable us to offer the very best in healthcare. We are confident the our 90 Million SAR investment will enable us to stay ahead of the game by helping is create and deliver three outstanding healthcare facilities to cater of the health needs of our citizens.”

Subramanian Krishnan, sales head, Saudi Arabia, Wipro Arabia, said: “Healthcare business models are constantly evolving with health IT as the industry expands. Our HIS solution will help Al Hammadi Hospitals to control various processes that govern this sector and as well as escalating costs while also leveraging existing infrastructure.

“HIS has advanced intelligence tools that enable the management of the healthcare facilities to take informed real-time decisions. It supports workflows, alerts and notifications which help keep critical business as well as clinical parameters in control.” – TradeArabia News Service

source: http://www.tradearabia.com / Trade Arabia / Home> Health & Environment> Story / Trade Arabia News Service / Dubai – January 31st, 2014

Guiding lights

Sports

Karnataka had multiple heroes in its successful Ranji Trophy campaign but two men in the background also deserve equal credit. Coaches J. Arun Kumar and Mansur Ali Khan provided perfect support for R. Vinay Kumar’s men to win Indian domestic cricket’s number one title

Behind the scenesBowling coach Mansur Ali Khan and batting coach Arun Kumar / Photo: K. Bhagya Prakash / The Hindu
Behind the scenesBowling coach Mansur Ali Khan and batting coach Arun Kumar / Photo: K. Bhagya Prakash / The Hindu

They are men of extreme contrasts. J. Arun Kumar has tattoos, rides a Harley Davidson besides his other cars, is outspoken and during his playing days was a flamboyant opener. On the other end is Mansur Ali Khan, who is soft-spoken, an anachronism considering he was a medium pacer in his heydays.

But together, they have struck a wonderful tandem as coaches with the Karnataka cricket team that reaped the benefits of their expertise and won the Ranji Trophy defeating Maharashtra in the final at Hyderabad, last week.

Arun, ‘JAK’ to his friends, and Mansur, ‘MAK’ being his nickname, have had an association even during their days as key players for Karnataka. The duo shared rooms and now as coaches – Arunhandles ‘batting’ and Mansur supervises ‘bowling’ – their old rapport is very much intact while they also consciously avoid treading on each other’s toes.

The State had many heroes in batting led by K.L. Rahul (1033 runs) while Karun Nair, Robin Uthappa, Manish Pandey, Amit Verma and Ganesh Satish, all played their relevant parts. Similiarly, the bowlers too prospered and if Karnataka registered seven outright victories, it is thanks to the effort of speedster Abhimanyu Mithun (41 wickets), H.S. Sharath, skipper R. Vinay Kumar, S. Arvind and Shreyas Gopal. It would be prudent to hear from Arun and Mansur about the manner in which they extracted the best out of the team.

Jak’s prescription

Confidence the key

“At the start of the season, while we were looking at under-25 players I did look at talent, but I also wanted these players to have the necessary confidence.

I didn’t want players to step in and while facing Harbhajan Singh, think, ‘oh my god, I am playing against Harbhajan.’ I wanted the players to play their natural styles without getting overwhelmed.”

An arm around the shoulder

“The players are already under tremendous pressure and as a coach you are expected to reduce that and make them feel at ease. You cannot tell them, ‘you better get runs or get wickets’ and make them struggle even more. As a coach I had many one-on-one sessions with the players before the season and got to understand them better. I encouraged them a lot.”

A matter of trust

“When MAK and I took over last year there wasn’t much time to work on the players but this year we had time. I felt that among the players the trust-factor was not much and we worked on that, I made them enjoy each other’s success. Dropping a player is the hardest thing but we made sure that we explained to the player concerned about why he was dropped because we believed in ‘horses for courses’ and thatdetermined our team composition. Once that was made clear even the dropped players were cheering the squad from the outside and that camaraderie within the team is the biggest take-away I cherish.”

Mak’s measured words

Practice makes perfect

“Initially the bowlers were not clear in their minds and I worked on that. In the pre-season training, I made them aware of their strengths and at practise I told them to pitch it 10 feet from the batting crease and make the batsman play. I told them that if they could get it consistently there, they have more chances of getting wickets.

Mithun is an in-swing bowler and I told him to bowl four deliveries of in-swing and do a variation for the fifth – it could be a yorker, a bouncer, an away-swinger. Told him and the other fast bowlers to use the bouncer as a surprise weapon, like once in three overs and all that helped. I also used a speed-gun at training and that added more value as there was competition between the fast bowlers.”

Spinning some wickets

“The usual role of spinners is to keep it tight but I had chats with Anil Kumble and he said: ‘Even if they go for runs its okay as long as they get wickets.’ When we had sessions in the nets I made the spinners bowl 120 deliveries because in match situations they are expected to bowl 20 overs and if they could do that at training then they are well prepared and can cope with the pressure. I worked on these aspects with bowlers like Shreyas Gopal and Abrar Kazi. For instance with Shreyas, I focussed on his leg-spin and told him to give four deliveries of leg-spin per over and then work on a variation like googly in the other deliveries.”

Jak the friend

“JAK and I go a long way back. We kept it simple, he would watch the batsmen and also conduct close-in catching practice while I monitored the bowlers and also gave high-catches to fielders in the deep. I look forward to working with JAK in the coming years too.”

K.C. VIJAYA KUMAR

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Features> MetroPlus / by K. C. Vijaya Kumar / Mondyay – February 10th, 2014

Attur-Karkala: Bishop of Mangalore solemnizes the Annual Feast of St. Lawrence Shrine

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Historical Links, Pre-Independence, Leaders, Records, All, Travel

Karkala:

Bishop of Mangalore, Most Rev. Dr. Aloysius P. D’Souza as the chief celebrant solemnized the annual feast of St. Lawrence on Wednesday, 29 January 2014 at 10.30 am. He was joined by Most Rev. Dr. Gerald Isaac Lobo, Bishop of Udupi Diocese, Rev. Dr. Baptist Menezes, Vicar General of Udupi, Rev. Fr. Denis D’Sa, PRO of the Udupi Diocese, Rev. Fr. George D’Souza, Rector of St. Lawrence Shrine and a number of other priests from Udupi and Mangalore Dioceses. Unprecedented crowd participated in the feast mass.

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In his homily on the theme of the annual feast “Christian Families-Cradle of Faith”, Bishop Aloysius D’Souza  specially mentioned the three basic principles of a good Christian family that were put forward by the present Pope, Francis  addressing families from 95 countries of the world when they had gone to Vatican on a pilgrimage. These three basic principles are: Prayer, Faith in family and Happiness in the family.

Elaborating these three basic principles, Bishop Aloysius D’Souza said that  family prayer especially reciting Rosary by all the members of the family together fosters the sense of unity in the family. Faith is the important factor in family life. Further he said that the faith should be like the faith that was expressed by St. Paul and Christians should bear witness to the faith that they profess. Regarding the happiness in family, Bishop said that modern gadgets would not provide lasting happiness to the family members. People should find happiness through unity and togetherness where God finds a place within the family. The Bishop further said that correcting mistakes of children is an obligation of the parents. Giving the example of the Holy Family of Jesus, Joseph and Mary, Bishop Aloysius D’Souza said that Jesus should be the model for the 3 children whereas Joseph and Mary should be models for parents.

 

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At the end of the Feast Mass, one book in Konkani titled “Sant Loresachim Dhirvim” (Treasures of St. Lawrence) and informative pamphlet on the history of the Shrine of St. Lawrence written by George Castelino, recipient of National Award for Best Teacher were released by Bishop Aloysius P. D’Souza along with the Bishop of Udupi, and Vicar General. Bishop of Mangalore also honoured George Castelino with a shawl and bouquet of flowers. Steven and Florine Mendis, proprietors of the Divine Channel and producers of the film on the life of St. Lawrence were also felicitated by the Bishop of Mangalore.

Most Rev. Dr. Gerald Isaac Lobo honoured Most Rev. Dr. Aloysius P. D’Souza by offering him shawl and Rev. Fr. George D’Souza offered him a bouquet of flowers as a sign of respect to the Bishop of Mangalore who obliged the diocese as the chief celebrant of the solemn annual feast mass.
Earlier in the morning at 8.30 am, most Rev. Dr. Lawrence Makkuzzi, Bishop of Belthangady offered Holy Mass in Malayalam language. The Bishop of Udupi Gerald Lobo accompanied the Bishop of Belthangady to the altar. Rev. Fr. George D’Souza, Rector of the shrine welcomed the Bishop of Beltahngady and offered him a bouquet of flowers. This was the first time that a Bishop offered mass in the Malayalam language in the Shrine of St. Lawrence. Quite a large number of people attended the mass. The choir and the faithful participated in the singing.

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There has been continuous flow of pilgrims to the shrine throughout the day. Masses for the benefit of the pilgrims have been arranged right from 12.30 pm till 11.30 pm including one at 5 pm in English and another at 8.30 pm in Kannada.

source: http://www.bellevision.com / Bellevision.com / Home> News / by Dr. Eugene DSouza, Moodubelle / Bellevision Media Network / Karkala – January 29th, 2014

Dr. Nithyanand Rao assumes charge as President of KOA

Leaders, Records, All, Science & Technology

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Bangalore:

Dr. N. Nithyanand Rao, renowned Orthopaedic Surgeon of Mysore, took over as the President of Karnataka Orthopaedics Association (KOA) here this morning at the 38th Annual Conference of the Association held at NIMHANS Centenary Hall in Bangalore.

Speaking after assuming charge, Dr. Rao made a vision statement in which he said, “As a practising consultant, I will strive to make learning of contemporary practices and science a distinct and regular feature; will strive to make the industry collaborate with young surgeons by supporting fellowships across the best institutions in India and overseas; will introduce voting for future KOA elections online; will bring in technology for administrative support; will work towards empowering district bodies to reach out to issues to ensure that practising surgeons anywhere are connected.”

source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> General News / February 02nd, 2014

Return of the native

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Green Initiatives / Environment, Nature, Travel
They make their nests in avenue trees./ Photo: Saandip Nandagudi / The Hindu
They make their nests in avenue trees./ Photo: Saandip Nandagudi / The Hindu

Recent sightings of the Indian Grey Hornbill in city limits is cause for much cheer

There was a loud and heavy flapping near an old and thick Banyan (Ficus benghalensis) tree growing in a village in Hoskote, just off Old Madras Road, where we had recently gone bird watching. We peered up at a large hole high up in the trunk of the tree, where an Indian Grey Hornbill (Ocyceros birostris) had nested. Looking up at the hollow we noticed that the entrance had been sealed, through which the male bird was feeding the female, who was obviously incubating her eggs. We crept away so as not to disturb them and watched through binoculars from a safe distance.

Similar sightings have been voiced by other bird lovers across the city. With great excitement, Deepa Mohan, a bird lover, who organises children’s nature walks, revealed, “I went to Puttenahalli Lake yesterday with a friend to try out my new binoculars, and to do a recce for a children’s nature walk I am doing there. We saw an Indian Grey Hornbill fly across the lake and go and settle in the foliage of an African Tulip near the western end of the lake.  The closest I have seen these birds before is in the Valley School area.”

The birds are not commonly found within the city limits, but with Bangalore’s boundaries expanding by leaps and bounds they have been sighted in the quieter areas, which still boast of a few large and old trees, much to the delight of bird lovers.

“There are a couple of Indian Grey Horn bills at Hulimangala…. usually seen near a lonely big old tree next to the lake,” says Swaroop Bharadwaj another birder from the city.

With its abundance of trees, Bangalore University is another great spot to see the magnificent birds. “I have seen a pair in Bangalore University Mysore Road side. And have frequently seen several in Kukrahalli Kere which is in Mysore,” says Saandip Nandagudi.

The birds are arboreal, hardly ever alighting on the ground and most often are seen in pairs. Grey in colour the Indian Grey Hornbill has a black or dark grey curved and prominent beak. They are one of the few hornbill species found within urban areas in many cities, where they are able to make their nests in the trunks of large avenue trees.

Indian Grey Hornbill sightings seem to be excitingly on the rise for bird lovers. In the past they were found only from Valley School in the South and from Hessarghatta in the north but there have been recent reports on a birding fora that the birds have been spotted in Lalbagh and also in Sahakarnagar.

They require large and old trees to nest in which Bangalore has lost over the years with uncontrolled felling of all our avenue trees. But the fact that they are making a come back into our city, is exciting and holds the promise of hope for all avid bird lovers.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Features> MetroPlus> Travel / by Marianne De Nazareth / Bangalore – January 30th, 2014

City industry scene …: Sweet Spot

Business & Economy

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by S. Kenneth Shishir

Mysore :

Sweets and Toffees may be items of impulse-purchase, competing with other categories like soft drinks, snacks and beverages for a share of the consumer’s wallet, but modern trade and other factors have had a positive impact on consumer spending.

VINAY PRODUCTS, manufacturers of sugar boiled confectioneries in city have struggled hard to make a name in the field of candy, toffee and sugar boiled sweets manufacturing.

This confectionery industry indulges consumers’ desire for sweets in various flavours such as Mango, Cookies, Paan, Orange and Strawberry among others.

A. Sunil Kumar, one of the partners, speaking to Star of Mysore, said that the industry has four partners including him and before they ventured into manufacturing of sweets, they were the distributors for companies like Mangharam & Sons and The Ravalgaon Sugar Farm Ltd., to understand the working conditions of the market.

He said that during that time, they felt that there was a gap in the market and felt that an industry to manufacture the same was needed in Mysore. So he, along with his two brothers A. Anil Kumar and A. Rajesh and their uncle K. Susheel Babu (First generation entrepreneurs) ventured into manufacturing and established Vinay Products at Hebbal Industrial Area in 1994 to give quality sweets to people.

Sunil said that prior experience in the field of manufacturing confectioneries helped them establish the industry.

Though initially they faced many hurdles and hiccups, they overcame the hurdles to establish a name in the market.

Some of the varieties manufactured by them are fruit flavours, milk based candies, lollipops and toffees, Eclairs and Pan coated sweets (Sugar coated on Nuts, Jeera & saunf).

When asked Sunil about the types of confectionery products, he said that confections are typically classified by the basic ingredients of chocolate, sugar or flour. Within these categories are a wide variety of products, including hard candies, gums, toffees, cakes, pastries and truffles which are offered in a vast range of flavours, including chocolate, vanilla, peanut butter, peppermint, cinnamon and many fruit flavours.

Not only children, adult consumption of chocolates and candies is also growing at the fastest pace in the country, said Sunil.

Sunil said that confectioneries manufactured by them are in the standards prescribed by Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI). The raw materials which are purchased for manufacturing are bought only after the supplier gives them a QC (Quality Check) certificate and the materials are once again tested in their laboratory at the factory before being sent for manufacturing. Their commitment to hygiene is given more prominence which I saw during my visit to this industry.

Earlier, this industry manufactured sweets for Campco, Kwality Biscuits, Cavin Kare for mouth fresheners and the company was briefly associated with Dabur for manufacturing digestives. Presently, they are manufacturing mints for Cafe Coffee Day.

Sunil further said that they are in talks with Lotte, a Korean company based in Chennai for manufacturing Eclairs & toffees.

With the next generation (the children of the partners — Vinay, Mohit, Rahul and Rohit) entering into the business, the company is planning to come out with sugar free products in future. R&D is on to come out with toffee bars & cocoa based products which are quite popular in the market.

The sweets manufactured by Vinay Products are being sold in Tamil Nadu and Kerala apart from the State of Karnataka.

Speaking about taxes levied on such industries, Sunil said that the taxes levied on Confectionery in Karnataka are very high, that is the tax in Karnataka is 14.5% whereas other States charge 5.5% for local industries and an appeal in this regard has been submitted to the Chief Minister Siddharamaiah to consider reduction in taxes. If the taxes are reduced more industries can come up in Karnataka which will increase the job opportunities for the locals.

Vinay Products has its own retail point at Mannars Market, Shivarampet under the name of Universal Agencies.

Over the years the company has ventured into the manufacturing of packing materials in the name of Universal Products catering to the packaging materials requirement of the industries in South India.

The industry, through its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) supports Old Age Homes, Orphanages and is also involved in many programmes in bringing the downtrodden into the mainstream society.

source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> Feature Articles / February 01st, 2014

Excellence award to CFTRI Scientist

Records, All, Science & Technology

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Mysore :

Dr.G. Muralikrishna, Chief Scientist, CSIR-Central Food Technological Research Institute (CFTRI), Mysore, has been awarded the prestigious “Carbohydrate Excellence Award for the year 2013”.

The award, instituted by the Association of Carbohydrate Chemists and Technologists, India, was given away at the International Conference on Challenges in Chemistry and Biology f Carbohydrates” – Carbo – XXVIII held recently at Dehradun.

Dr. Muralikrishna, a carbohydrate chemist of repute, has delineated the structure-function relationship of many dietary fibre components and non-digestible oligosaccharides derived from cereal brans and pulse husks.

He has more than 60 Peer-reviewed publications and several patents to his credit and is the recipient of prestigious awards such as Laljee-Godhoo Smarak Nidhi (2002) and AFST(I) Fellow (2008) by the Association of Food scientists and Technologists (India) for his outstanding work on carbohydrates and their degrading enzymes.

He has guided 8 Ph.D and given several lectures in National and International Symposia. He is an Advisory Board Member for the E-Journal entitled “Trends in Carbohydrate Research and peer reviewer for more than 12 International journals.

source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> General News / February 01st, 2014

President’s medal for SP K.R. Venkatesh

Inspiration/ Positive News and Features, Leaders, Records, All

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Mysore :

K.R. Venkatesh, Superintendent of Police (sp), Finger Print Bureau, Bangalore, was conferred with the President’s Medal for his meritorious service in Police Department. The award was conferred by the President of India on the occasion of Republic Day celebrations.

Venkatesh, a Mysorean, also served as Sub-Inspector and Inspector in Mysore city between 1995-2002. He pursued his education at Marimallappa and Sarada Vilas institutions. His wife, S. Rajalakshmi, is a Veena artiste at the Akashavani, Mysore.

source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> General News / January 31st, 2014

Three-Day workshop on Sanjhi Mask Art from tomorrow

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Education, Travel

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Mysore :

Mysore Art Gallery and Saanjhi Kala Loka have jointly organised a three-day workshop and exhibition on ‘Sanjhi Mask Art’ by artist S.F. Huseni (Mysore Huseini) at Mysore Art Gallery premises on Ramanuja road in city from tomorrow.

The programme will be inaugurated tomorrow by D. Mahadevappa, Chief Editor of ‘Prajanudi’ at 11 am.

Nirmala Matapati, Assistant Director, Dept. of Kannada and Culture and Littereteur P.M. Subramanya will be the chief guests.

A workshop and training programme on Sanjhi art will be held on Feb. 2 and those interested may register their names through Mob: 98451-53277.

The exhibition and the workshop will conclude on Feb. 3.

Artist’s Profile

S.F. Huseni (Syed Fakruddin Huseni), was born on April 15, 1976 to Syed Peer and Zeenatunnisa Bi at Shivana Samudram (Bluff) in Mandya district.

He completed his Diploma in Fine Arts, Art Master (A.M) and BFA in painting at K.P.J. Prabhu Artisan’s Training Centre (Canara Bank PRJD Trust).

Huseni, who is gifted with this art, received encouragement from his parents right from his study time. The present theme of paintings created by the artist mainly depict the theme “Home in every Heart.”

Huseni has participated in many solo exhibitions and group exhibitions besides conducting camps and is a recipient of various State Awards and scholarships. For details, log on to mysorehuseini.blogspot.com or call Mob: 98451-53277.

source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> General News / January 31st, 2014

New heights for Bangalore Lad

Records, All, Sports, World Opinion
Kush Maini with F1 driver Jean Alesi after receiving his trophies
Kush Maini with F1 driver Jean Alesi after receiving his trophies

City boy Kush Maini became the first Indian to receive the prestigious World Series Karting (WSK) Championship awards at the WSK Gran Gala held at the Adria International Track on January 18.

The go-karting champion and his brother Arjun have been making waves on all tracks and with this win he felt on top of the world.

Kush came second in the Overall Championship in the WSK Euro series in the 60 mini category for races held at two different tracks in Italy. Competing with over 50 drivers was not easy. Kush also came third in the Overall Championship in the WSK Master series which was held across four different tracks in Italy, once again with over 50 participants from all over the world.

The Gran Gala awards were bagged by the drivers, who finished first in the top three overall Championships from all over the world in the 60 Mini, KF, KFJ, KZ2 and KZ1 series. The event was held at the Adria International Raceway in North Eastern Italy in the province of Rovigo, where several renowned people in the field of racing and karting had come together.

Jean Alesi the Formula 1 driver for Ferrari attended the ceremony and was a great motivation for all the young drivers who are making their way forward with Formula 1 as their main goal.

Kush was ecstatic on receiving both his awards and said, “I have worked very hard for many years as I started karting at the age of five and started racing the year I turned eight. After receiving several podium finishes in 2012 in Europe, I started understanding European racing and competitions and wanted to focus on the Championships in the year 2013.”

“To be at the Gran Gala was a big motivation.

I was able to pull off the win at the right time, and even though I was going through ups and downs during the season, I never lost focus. In the end, it felt great that I was the only Indian driver to have been invited to the Gran Gala function. Receiving these Championship awards has really motivated me and now that I have moved up the category to race in the KFJ this year, I will be giving it my best shot to be back at the Gran Gala this year as well,” Kush added.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Bangalore / by S S Shreekumar – Bangalore / January 23rd, 2014