Pitch your biotechnology business idea

There are several platforms to pitch in your idea in IT sector but few in BT. One such opportunity is here.
Gujarat State Biotechnology Mission (GSBTM), Gujarat Venture Finance Limited (GVFL) & Foundation for MSME Clusters (FMC) along with SkyQuest Technology Consulting Pvt. Ltd are organising `Biotechnopreenur camps' in different parts of Gujarat- Ahmedabad , Mehsana, Rajkot,| Surat,| Vadodara and innovators get an opportunity to present their ideas in these camps. contact:. Neha Jhala on neha.jhala@skyquestt.com

last date:  10th January 2012.

WHERE GOOD IDEAS COME FROM by Steven Johnson

Next Wave of Technology Partnering

India has not adopted the import-innovate-export paradigm of ASEAN countries, yet the
gains in absorption capacity of Indian firms seem impressive. As India has not followed the
trajectory of ASEAN neighbors, it is interesting to examine the future scenarios of technology
partnering. 


Would large Indian firms form strategic alliances or scale-up sponsored research
projects? 
Will there be more joint ventures with European SMEs? 


This paper looks at the work of several authors on Indian technological capabilities and state of university Technology Transfer Offices (TTOs). Taking into account the move away from joint ventures to specialists for disembodied knowledge and need for TTOs to capitalize long tail of low revenue technologies, a scenario is projected for next wave of technology partnering. 
Scenario:
It is envisaged there would be a pipe, choke full of technologies, connecting knowledge clusters with production clusters, cutting across nations. IT tools reducing transaction costs and national
measures enforcing IP rights could be the key enablers.


Read the paper at: ASCI Journal of Management 41(1): 46–52
or write for complementary copy.

Opportunity for professionals to work on world bank funded Technology Commercialization Project in Kazakahstan

A global consortium led Skyquest has been shortlisted in phase-1 of  this TCO project (RFP № KZ/TCP/QCBS-01) and is in the process of identifying professionals.
For professionals willing to spend 3 years (2012-2015) in beautiful Kazakhstan, here is the opportunity to join the team at this bidding stage. Check your suitability for the following positions:
1.IP Analyst: Minimum 5 years experience in a TTO of university or corporation.
2.Business Information Officer: MBA with 5 years experience working in an incubator or investors.
3.Licensing officer: MBA or PhD with 5 years experience in negotiating licensing and skilled in using technology transfer software.
4.Business Development Officer: MBA or PhD with 5 years experience in business development projects in university like entrepreneurship, mentoring.
5.Marketing .& Industry partnership officer: MBA or PhD with experience in licensing to large commercial firms locally and globally.


Interested- send your brief resume to Neha Jhala, neha.jhala@skyquestt.com
Last date: 12/11/2011

Lab for Assistive Technologies at BVRIT

Dr.B.V.Raju hails from an agricultural family of Kumudavalli Village near Bhimavaram, West Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh. He graduated in Chemical Engineering from Benaras Hindu University.Started in Cement industry, rose to become CMD of Cement Corporation of India. He became entrepreneur after retirement, promoted Raasi Cement in 1978. It soon emerged as low cost producer with capacity of 1.60mptpa and sold its 32% stake to Indian Cement Ltd in a negotiated deal in 1998.An ailing company Shez  cement was taken over in 1999 and renamed as Anjani Portland cement,followed by Powder Research Centre and BV Raju Institute of Cement Technology.


The entrepreneurial journey changed track with focus on education, several educational institutes were founded in Bheemavaram, Hyderabad. A lab for assistive technologies is in operation in the BV Raju Institute of Technology supported by Prof Alan Rux of UMASS Assistive Technology team. Visited this center on 3rd and the was impressed with zeal and energy of students working on various projects.

WIPO Re:Search database on Intellectual property

 WIPO Re:Search, is a new consortium where public and private sector organizations share valuable intellectual property and expertise with the global health research community to promote development of new drugs, vaccines, and diagnostics to treat neglected tropical diseases, malaria, and tuberculosis. Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, AstraZeneca, Eisai, GlaxoSmithKline, MSD1, Novartis, Pfizer, and Sanofi are collaborating with WIPO, BVGH, the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH), and multiple non-profit research organizations. These include the California Institute of Technology, the Center for World Health & Medicine, the Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz (Fiocruz), Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Medicines for Malaria Venture, PATH, the South African Medical Research Council, the Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, the University of California, Berkeley, and the University of Dundee (UK).

Ant Ceramics: start-up in advanced materials

Ant Ceramics is a start-up in manufacturing with several unique elements:

• a research based start-up, continuously drawing on research done at IIT Kharagpur,
• co-incubated at two places, IIT Kharagpur and CIIE-IIMA,
• started with ceramic products for lab ware but continuously expanded products and global reach,
• technological innovation and business innovation carried out in parallel, 
• raised initial capital from family, friends and government grants.

iPhone 4S - Siri -DARPA - IIT Kanpur-Acharya Girish

The great innovation eco-system of US is evident again.One of the most talked about innovation in  iPhone 4S is voice controlled personal assistant application Siri, which was funded by Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) under its Perceptive Assistant that Learns (PAL) program involving . And this sponsored project brought together leading computer scientists and researchers in artificial intelligence, machine learning, natural language processing, knowledge representation, human-computer interaction, flexible planning, and behavioral studies at 22 organizations. A happy Indian connection is Engineering Director Acharya Girish a product of IIT Kanpur.

Vote for the greatest innovator of the past decade

As part of their “A Decade of Celebrating World-Changing Innovation”, The Economist is showcasing the past winners within seven categories and asking people to vote for their favorite. Business Process is dominated by Indians- Ratan Tata, Narayana Murthy and Sam Pitroda. Vote for the best of the decade.Voting closes on October 14th. 

10 Life-Altering Inventions We Now Take for Granted

Reader Jennifer Lynch shared links to this interesting post:
http://www.toponlinecolleges.com/blog/2011/10-life-altering-inventions-we-now-take-for-granted/
Thank U Jennifer.

i2i Challenge Request for Proposals

The Graduate Management Admission Council MET Fund Ideas to Innovation (i2i) Challenge is looking for thought leaders who are ready to become true agents of change by submitting a proposal to implement one or more of the 20 great ideas selected earlier this year to improve graduate management education. The ideas were chosen from entries submitted by more than 650 individuals from 60 countries in four categories — strategy, curriculum, technology, and entrepreneurship.
Your school could win a grant to put your own implementation plan into action and up to US$8 million in funds is available. Last date: December 16, 2011
Contact: Allen Brandt , Director, GMAC MET Fund ,  Graduate Management Admission Council 
Ideas to Innovation (i2i) Challenge , metfund@gmac.com

'TATA First Dot'- a platform for student start-ups

Apart from student start-ups, students with ideas yet not started a company can also apply. Mentoring support is provided by NEN network.

Ensuring Safe Transitions from Hospital to Home Challenge

Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC)  is challenging software developers to improve care transitions and build upon these tools by generating an intuitive and easy-to-use application to empower patients and caregivers that fits into existing ways that providers communicate. 

The ideal application will:

• Incorporate the content of the CMS Discharge Checklist
• Help patients and caregivers access the information and materials needed to answer the checklist’s questions about their condition, their medications and medical equipment, and their post-discharge plans
• Share this information with doctors, pharmacists, nurses and other professionals in their next care setting.

• Total Prizes: $40,000 Deadline: November 16,2011.   

Boot Camp and Entrepreneurship Competition for life science start-ups

The 2012 Bio-Business Plan Competition is now open. 

The six best competing teams will receive BioCity Nottingham’s Bio-Entrepreneurship and Business development training (Bootcamp) at C-CAMP, NCBS, Bangalore. Successful finalists will also receive team-mentoring and support from professional business advisors who can further help them in the development of a full business plan, before pitching their business to an influential panel of judges from the bio-business industry. The winner will be chosen at a Grand Finale, during the UK-India Innovation and Leadership Meeting, scheduled on 5-6th March 2012, in Bangalore. The winner will receive a package of benefits worth over Rs 15 Lakhs.

The closing deadline for applications is 15th October 2011.

Cleaning lakes of water hyacinth- Innovation from Hyderabad

Growth of water hyacinth has been prolific in many lakes resulting in breeding of vectors and consequently causing endemic diseases.  De-weeding/hyacinth control or removal is practiced with biological, chemical, mechanical and manual measures. Imported harvesters are used for cleaning Dal Lake. Most others either try manual methods but regeneration being faster than removal, lakes sooner than later get covered with water hyacinth. Residents at most locations gave up hope of seeing clean water or fish. 

This problem is addressed in Hyderabad by developing a mobile cutter, which can be brought upto the lake front. I had an opportunity to see this clearing during my visit to Hyderabad on 30th September. See the photographs. 

Want to clear your lake- write to Creative Minds-Innovators cooperative,    Creative Minds, 1-1-336/64, vivek nagar colony, Chikkadapally, Hyderabad 500 002, creativemindsap@gmail.com

Innovating for every women, every child

The report, 'Innovating for Every Woman, Every Child', published  by The Lancet, highlights business models that could harness new infrastructure to improve the health of women, children and infants in low-income countries. Examples include LifeSpring Hospitals in India, a chain of low-cost hospitals that provide healthcare to urban women who earn roughly US$3–$6 a day; text message printers that connect African laboratories to community clinics via mobile phone networks; D-Tree International in Zanzibar, which provides health workers with easy-to-use mobile phones that guide them through the screening, examination, counselling and treatment of patients; and a safe, affordable and long-lasting meningitis vaccine called MenAfriVac, designed specifically for Africa.

Eureka! 2011

The Entrepreneurship Cell, IIT Bombay presents Eureka! 2011- an International Business Plan Competition. With prizes in excess of INR 2.4 million (USD 52000).The participating teams get a chance to receive intensive mentoring, along with content-rich feedback from leading corporates & entrepreneurs, legal & financial consultancy, and extensive networking opportunities.
Major Incentives:

• Winners to get cash prize of INR 5,00,000 and Runner- Up of INR 3,00,000.
• Angel Funding: Chance to pitch in front of a panel of Angel Investors and Venture Capitalists.
• Consultancy opportunities: Seminars on Legal and Financial issues from the field experts like Nishith Desai and Associates.
• Flamingo Ventures:Chance to be a part of "Inception" program which provides start-up investment before the start. The teams will be provided with mentoring, seed funding and incubation opportunities if selected.
• Startup Paathshaala: A 12-hour extensive startup training program inclusive of a startup kit and certificates,

SANKHYA EMBEDDED SYSTEMS ARCHITECTURE CONTEST 2011

The competition is open to all students doing their PG, PhD or Research Assistants in the following discipline:

• Computer Science
• Electronics
• Electrical
• Students of Physics, Mathematics or Statistics.

CHALLENGE: Design an (original) processor ISA that can solve a problem (kernel code) for a particular application category using either the most compact code or the least number of cycles or both. Grab the chance to architect a processor ISA that may power millions of embedded devices!

Categories

• a) Super Computing
• b) Audio / Video Processing
• c) Networking - Traffic Cryptography; Network Traffic Packet Inspection; Wireless(LTE)CODECs

Winner Awards

• First winners entries in each category will receive a cash prize of Rs.50,000 and a certificate.
• All winners and runners-up will receive pre-incubation support at SANKHYA Rishikonda Development Center in Vishakhapatnam (Vizag Bay), AP for 6 months.
• All teams submitting a completed project will receive a certificate of participation.
• Sponsors may offer necessary tools for design support during the pre-incubation stage at no cost or on a deferred cost model.
• Pre-incubatees will also receive guidance and mentoring during the pre-incubation stage as well as receive introductions to investors.

Shree Cement in WEF New Sustainability Champions

With the aim to identify, understand and relay unconventional sustainability business practices, in May 2010 the World Economic Forum’s Centre for Global Growth Companies initiated the “Sustainability through Innovation” project.This report presents the project’s key findings from the in-depth research and interviews conducted with experts and chief executive officers of emerging market corporations. It showcases 16 companies designated “New Sustainability Champions” and highlights their unique practices that offer new approaches, not only for doing business in resource-constrained and population-stressed environments but, more importantly, for shaping a positive vision for future growth.

Shree Cement, established in 1985, is today among the five largest cement manufacturers in 

India, with a capacity of 14 million tons in eight plants and four grinding units. Revenues reached US$ 800 million in 2009.When it comes to energy use, the company has introduced an intelligent system that not only protects its operations against the power interruptions that are common in areas of operation, but also ensures a higher level of energy efficiency. It was the first cement company in the world to be certified EN 16001, which is designed to continuously monitor and document energy use, identify action targets, and provide the necessary resources and employee training. The company uses biomass in captive power plants. It also reuses bed ash waste, which contains unburned particles of carbon, as a fuel in the production of the clinker material for Portland cement.It became the first company in the cement industry worldwide to register “Optimal Utilization of Clinker” by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), resulting in 0.45 million certified emission reduction units.

Jain Irrigation and Suzler are other Indian firms in the list.

The Tech Awards 2011 Laureates

Since the inception of The Tech Awards program in 2000, 245 laureates around the world have been recognized for their work to change lives for the better .The Tech Awards, presented by Applied Materials in association with the Center for Science, Technology, and Society at Santa Clara University, is a signature program of The Tech Museum. The international program recognizes laureates in five categories: Environment, Economic Development, Education, Equality, and Health.
The Tech Awards laureates 2011 represent regions as diverse as India, South Africa, Philippines, Honduras and the United States. Their work impacts people in many more countries worldwide. The projects represented this year include innovations to procure safe drinking water, the development of socially conscious digital games to engage young people in social issues and civic participation and an innovative solution to the inaccessibility of financial services in India.
winners from India: Awaaz.De 
[Hindi: “give your voice”], E Healthpoint
, Sarvajal, Eko India Financial Services,  Nano Ganesh, Rickshaw Bank Project

NIH Office of Technology Transfer (OTT)

Several technologies in Medical Devices are on offer for license from NIH.

Some of them can be manufactured by SME units.

One example is Hand Puncture Protector for Nurses.

NIH Office of Technology Transfer (OTT) Abstract Search

PDMA-NATIONAL LEVEL ENGINEERING STUDENTS DESIGN CONTEST: 2011 - 2012.

To encourage creativity and to show-case innovative ideas among under-graduate students in Engineering the PDMA India organizes a national level design contest. The competition is open to all students currently pursuing their B.E/B.Tech. programmes in any branch of engineering and technology in approved engineering institutions in the country. The contest requires the students to conceptualize innovative solutions to any engineering problem of interest to the industries or R&D organizations or those that demonstrate some technological advancement. They should develop such concepts into working prototypes and demonstrate their applications.


Top  3 winners will be reimbursed prototyping costs to the extent of Rs 25,000/-. In addition first one gets Lukas TVS  Innovation award @30,000/- while 2 73 rd gets RMK Engineering College award @20,000/ and @15,000/-
Last date: 22/10/2011.

Conference on “Agglomeration, Technology Clusters and Networks”. Goa

Sixth Annual Conference of the Knowledge Forum will be held on November 25-26 (Friday and Saturday) 2011 at the University of Goa. The theme of the conference will be “Agglomeration, Technology Clusters and Networks”. 
My paper `White spaces in building innovation clusters' and other papers are available for download at FGKS.

INTELLI-IDEAS : Open innovation platform of Johnson & Johnson

Johnson & Johnson Consumer & Personal Products Worldwide,  invites innovators to submit their  patented/patent pending ideas on INTELLI-IDEAS .  Some suggested areas:

GENERAL TARGETS

• Biodegradable "green" materials
• Plant-derived ingredients
• Taste masking ingredients
• Aqueous based bitter taste modifiers
• Mucoadhesive formulations
• Ingredients with pleasant/ highly perceptible sensations on skin and/or mucosa
• Consumer friendly fine mist delivery devices
• Consumer friendly routes of administration (other than oral)
• Unit-dose packaging
• One-handed dispensing
• Easy open child-resistant closures

SKINCARE

• Immediate wrinkle removal by topical products
• Oral compounds for acne rosacea
• Skin cancer (actinic keratosis)
• Skin lightening (fairness)

DENTAL

• Novel oral rinses
• Periodontal disease treatments
• Products for treatment and prevention of plaque and gingivitis

PAIN AND ITCH RELIEF

• Consumer-friendly devices for pain relief
• Products for itch relief

NUTRITIONAL

• Nutritional ingredients/products for glucose, fat control and lactose intolerance

UPPER RESPIRATORY

• Sore throat symptom relief
• Common cold prevention
• Allergy management

TECHNOLOGY SALE: Ganapati brand patented Seed cum Fertiliser Drill innovated by Gopal Dave

A Seed cum Fertiliser Drill innovated by Gopal Dave based near Jodhpur (Rajasthan) which has been supported by the Incubator at Banaras Hindu University; Varanasi has an innovative metering system whereby the implement is able to handle seeds of any size and type. The tractor implement has sold more than 500 units and has a waiting period of upto 3 months.


Gopal Dave who is a Grass Root Innovator has a vision whereby every Farmer should start using Seed Drill across the length & breadth of India for which he is looking to get into a business partnership with like minded people to realise the full potential of the product.


Sales Price of Seed cum Fertiliser implement with Cultivator: Rs 31,000/-

Sales Price of Seed cum Fertiliser implement without Cultivator: Rs 17,000/-
Demo & User feedback available on: www.youtube.com/bencilideas
Business partnership Options: Technology Sale (One time) or Technology Licensing (On going)
Deal timeline: 30-Nov-2011
Contact details: Rajeev Surana, M: 91-9819660525, E: Rajeev@scinnovation.in

Mahindra Rise contest generates many sparks

The first round is now open for voting and I can see many sparks flying around. Money matters - as the saying goes , you through peanuts and you attract only monkeys. This contest   gives away Rs 292 lakhs as awards, the lowest is Rs 4 lakhs and highest Rs 40 lakhs. 


We can say innovation competitions in India have come of age. Ignite your spark at :http://www.sparktherise.com/

ISA Technovation Awards 2012

Nominations are open, closing date October 15, 2011. Categories:

• Intellectual Property Awards
• Eco System Awards
• Individual Awards
• Technovisionary Award
• Sarbhai Award

Details : http://isaonline.org/Technovation_december_2011/Technovation.pdf

MakerBot TV Launch Episode!

Ennovent-Sustainable Enterprise Fund

Ennovent offers complementary solutions to advance for-profit innovations in energy, water, food, health and education that have a sustainable impact at the BoP in India. They assist clients to:

• Spot the best innovations globally,
• Invest financial capital in innovations,
• Support innovations to maximize impact.

Contact: Digbijoy Shukla, Director Services, +91- 9818422682| digbijoy.shukla@ennovent.com

I'm a VC

Sahajanand Laser Technology SUSHRUTA Innovation Award (SIA) 2012

The Sahajanand Laser Technology SUSHRUTA Innovation Award (SIA) is a nationwide competition in India  for the most innovative Medical Device Idea / Prototype. The competition is open for groups of students  pursuing degree (Bachelors / Master Level / Ph.D) under Biomedical Engineering, Medical Technology or related subjects from a recognized Indian University / Institution. The project / idea should be related to Medical Devices / Technology. 

The unique feature of the competition is that students need not come out with new ideas, they can build on the prior work done in the institute. 14 teams get 3 months time and grant of Rs 40,000/-  for each team to improve the existing and all invited to participate in an international exhibition on Medical Technology and Equipment.

Last date 15th October. Contact:  DL Pandya, dlpandya@gmail.com

Overseas Research Advancement Programme for India (ORAP-IN)

The objective of this programme is to create an opportunity for graduate students in India to receive funding in the form of fellowship towards partial fulfillment of the students' graduate program. The mentee, if selected would travel overseas and join a scientific research group in a reputed academic or research institution under the mentorship for a period ranging from four months to twelve months, to gain experience and exposure to bioinformatics research, and then to return to India to initiate research collaboration amongst his/her mentors at the host and the school the student has come from India.
Last date : 9th October 2011

National Mega Meet on Technology Commercialization, Hyderabad, Sept 29

The National Mega Meet on Technology Commercialization is a unique meet crafted by 
GISPL along with leading Technology Commercialization Specialists in India. The meet is 
inviting 100 patent holders and another 100 captains of industry, investors & technology 
commercialization experts to review all the 100 patents and choose 5 most promising technologies for commercialization. The subsidized fee for the 3 Days National Mega Meet (Sept 29th to 1st October 2011) inclusive of Kit, Boarding & Lodging for Outstation Participants with stay in NAARM Guest Houses is fixed at Rs.13,000/.
Contact:  Ms. K.Archana, Phone: +91-40-24581380, Email: archana@gyantechinfo.com

NASSCOM Social Innovation Honours 2012

The awards aim to showcase projects that demonstrate best practices in using Information and Communication Technology (ICT) for social transformation. Organizations/ Departments of Government / Individuals/ Students applying for the NASSCOM Social Innovation Honours should satisfy the following basic criteria:

• They should be registered Indian entities, or foreign entities with a registered presence in India. The innovation must benefit India, or a community in India
• The organization should be in existence in India for a minimum of one year
• The Project / Initiative should have been in existence at least for one year
• Students can apply as a concept or an idea 

The application form can be filled online on the Honours website: www.nsih.in

Last Date 12/9/2011

Contact: Sneha on sneha@nasscomfoundation.org or call on 022 28328518/19

The story behind Solyndra’s rise and fall

The National Solar Mission is a major initiative of Government of India. Are we ready to face the rough and tumble of solar market? This story of Solyndra  by Ucilia Wang  is a must read.

CKIE -crowd funding of design projects

CKIE was founded in 2010 by the creators of Yanko Design, it was named after the formula for creativity, C=f(K,I,E), which holds that creativity is function of knowledge (K), imagination (I), and evaluation (E). Designer can create a project, post it on web and consumers are invited to fund, in return the investor consumers get attractive bargains from the design creators. An interesting model- see the success stories.

Grand Challenges in Global Health 2011

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation announced Round 8 of its Grand Challenges Explorations, a $100 million grant initiative to encourage innovation in global health and development research. Proposals are being accepted through November 17, 2011 at 11:30 am Pacific Daylight Time. The initiative offers scientists, inventors, and entrepreneurs from around the world the opportunity to win $100,000 grants to pursue unconventional ideas that could transform health and agricultural development in the world’s poorest countries. The topics in this round are:

• Protect Crop Plants from Biotic Stresses From Field to Market
• Explore Nutrition for Healthy Growth of Infants and Children
• Apply Synthetic Biology to Global Health Challenges
• Design New Approaches to Optimize Immunization Systems
• Explore New Solutions in Global Health Priority Areas

The proposal process makes it easy to apply. The initiative uses a streamlined, straightforward, online grant-making process. Applications are two pages, and preliminary data about the proposed research are not required. Proposals are being accepted online at www.grandchallenges.org/explorations.

The Gates Foundation and an independent group of reviewers will select the most innovative proposals, and grants will be awarded within approximately four months from the proposal submission deadline. Initial grants will be $100,000 USD each. Projects showing success will have the opportunity to receive additional funding up to $1 million USD over two years.

Steve Jobs' 2005 Stanford Commencement Address

Boliven

Boliven is an online information portal for IP and  R&D professions providing access to scientific literature, patents and analystics. Boliven was acquired in May by Cambridge IP.
Take a shot: http://www.boliven.com/public/about_us

Innovation awards in Hyderabad pharma cluster

The Commissionerate of Industries, Government of Andhra Pradesh, Foundation for MSME Clusters (FMC), Bulk Drug Manufacturers Association of India [BDMA(I)], and Pharmaceuticals Export Promotion Council (Pharmexcil) launched Innovation Awards for MSMEs.The Award program is intended to acknowledge, reward, and celebrate the spirit of innovation among Andhra Pradesh based micro, small, and medium enterprises operate in drugs, pharmaceuticals and bio-pharmaceuticals spaces. The State level Award Program is envisaged to help innovative enterprises to get recognition among industry, peers, customers, consumers, government, and support-institutions. Unlike other innovation award programs that are shadowed by big-ticket innovations and large players, Innovation Awards for MSMEs acknowledges and rewards small-ticket but critically important incremental innovations.

Last  date: 10th October 2011. Contact: sourabh.gargav@msmefoundation.org

Innovating for More Affordable Health Care

This sponsored supplements is offered as free to download e book  by Stanford Social Innovation Review. Contains articles on scaling up remote patient monitoring, views of doctors, innovators, investors etc. 
URL;  http://stanford.ebookhost.net/ssir/digital/12/

Genetic and chemical fingerprinting of medicinal plants

 Characteristics, quantitative and qualitative traits and physical features in the organism are determined by DNA which regulates the production of specific proteins and enzymes through the central dogma of molecular biology, viz. DNA transcripts mRNA translates protein.


Young researcher Prashanth Suravajhala, founded Bioclues.org started a Biowiki project , identified till date 1400 medicinal plants and invites researchers to contribute , edit the content and mentor the students.
 

Indian Fund for Sustainable Energy (INFUSE)

The new fund, for supporting energy ventures, with BP , MNRE, TDB as partners and  managed by CIIE will be launched on 25th August 2011 at IIMA.

Lafarge Invention Awards 2011

The Lafarge Invention Awards aim to encourage and reward innovative projects related to

building materials and contributing to sustainable construction. Projects submitted should be

based on an invention less than 5 years old. They should involve a new product, industrial

process, construction method or service and should have reached at least the  prototype 

phase,ideally demonstrated in a real construction project. 

Projects will be judged on:

• their innovative nature
• their viability and economic impact
• their technical feasibility (with an existing prototype),
• and their contribution to sustainable construction.

Project submission will be via an on-line entry form, which will be available from September 1st.

URL: http://www.lafarge-inventionawards.com/index_en.html

contact:Zainab Kakal on zainab@niiticonsulting.com. 

Social Business Plan Competition -Wantrapreneur 2011

Wantrapreneur is the annual social business plan competition organized as a part of Unconvention to identify enterprises with market ready solutions in the start-up and early growth categories across agriculture & other sectors that can impact rural lives.Last date 30th September 2011. 


Track record: Skymet, a company incubated by Villgro, has successfully raised investment from Omnivore Capital for 33% of it's equity. Jatin Singh founded and promotes Skymet (http://www.skymet.net). Skymet works on weather forecasting in the subcontinent; they cater to the weather information needs of farmers, energy providers, print and visual media platforms. Skymet's partnerships with leading mobile data providers have resulted in millions of farmers now having on-demand access to real-time weather forecasts that are both highly accurate and localized.

India Resource Centre for Vision Impaired

India Resource Center Vision Impaired , promoted by TePP innovator MS Raju will be inaugurated  at Visakhapatnam on 23-08-2011. Resource Center is a permanent open-access exhibition/demo/training/ guidance facility to give advice, encouragement and technological help to vision impaired persons, students, parents and teachers. It provides guidance to students as well as parents on educational choices, on Integrated/Inclusive schools, and how to upgrade skills. It will provide sourcing information and recommendation on devices that help Vision Impaired. The centre will provide cybercafe facility for the Vision impaired with expert attendant guidance for browsing and emailing. 

Vision Impairment (Low Vision or Blindness) is not a disease but is a condition. It cannot be cured but has to be managed. This resource center which will showcase and guide on all techniques and devices that help Vision Impaired lead productive lives.

Some exhibits: 

A. For Low Vision- Near viewing devices- Bar Magnifiers, Handheld Magnifiers, Folding / Pocket Magnifiers, Illuminated Magnifiers, Stand Magnifiers, Stand Magnifiers with cut out for writing, Dome Magnifiers,Spectacle Magnifiers, Base-in Spectacles, Reading Stand, Table Lamp, Fresnel Magnifiers , CCTV (Camera Mouse) Camera Mouse Scan/Stand options

B. For Low Vision - Distance viewing devices-Handheld Telescope, Bio Optic Telescope Telescope , Spectacle Optima Distance Viewer, Pinhole Spectacles

C. For Low Vision- Living aids and household aid- Needle Threder Notex (Currency guide), Typoscope (Line writing guide), Signature Guide, Large font Calculator, Peack cap Spectacles & Colour filters, Amsler Chart

D. Devices for the Blind

E. Educational Devices and Information (for LV and Blind students, teachers & training institutions)

F. Knowhow for institutions desiring to serve Vision Impaired

G. Books and Documents 

H. Charts and Literature

J. Live Training Classes (-3 days a week)

K. Live Cybercafe for vision Impaired (Subject to Cybercafe regulations)

L. Certificate Courses

Contact:

Vision Aid Charitable Services Society

16-2-19, Official Colony, Vizag-2

Ph: 91 984949880, 91 9441968176

E-mail: vizag@visionaid.org