Modified Special Incentive Package Scheme to offset disability and attract investments in Electronics Systems Design and Manufacturing Industries (M-SIPS)

The Union Cabinet approved the proposal of Dept of Electronics and Information Technology (DeitY) to provide a special incentive package to promote large-scale manufacturing in the Electronic System Design and Manufacturing (ESDM) sector. The scheme is called the Modified Special Incentive Package Scheme (M-SIPS). The main features of M-SIPS are as follows:

(i)           The scheme provides subsidy for investments in capital expenditure - 20% for investments in SEZs and 25% in non-SEZs. It also provides for reimbursement of CVD/excise for capital equipment for the non-SEZ units. For high technology and high capital investment units, like fabs, reimbursement of central taxes and duties is also provided.

(ii)          The incentives are available for investments made in a project within a period of 10 years from the date of approval.

(iii)       The incentives are available for 29 category of ESDM products including telecom, IT hardware, consumer electronics, medical electronics, automotive electronics, solar photovoltaic, LEDs, LCDs, strategic electronics, avionics, industrial electronics, nano-electronics, semiconductor chips and chip components, other electronic components and EMS. Units across the value chain starting from raw materials including assembly, testing, packaging and accessories of these category of products are included. The scheme also provides incentives for relocation of units from abroad.

(iv)        The scheme is open for three years from notification.

          Approvals for incentives not exceeding Rs. 10,000 crores will  be granted during the XII Plan period. The projects with incentives of Rs 10,000 crores have potential to create employment for nearly 0.5 million persons. The policy is expected to create an indigenous manufacturing eco-system for electronics in the country. It will foster the manufacturing of indigenously designed and manufactured chips creating a more cyber secure ecosystem in the country. It will enable India to tap on the great economic potential that this knowledge sector offers. The increased development and manufacturing in the sector will lead to greater economic growth through more manufacturing and consequently greater employment in the sector.

Innovator Suresh Chawla

Innovator Suresh Chawla is in the news with his floating stone video. See his creative output of 12 technologies at http://www.sureshchawla.com/index.html

Indian government to promote electronic manufacturing clusters with grants of Rs 50 crores

Union cabinet approved proposal of Dept of Electronics and Information Technology to promote Electronic Manufacturin Clusters with grant upto Rs 50 crores.

The proposed EMCs scheme would support setting up of both Greenfield and Brownfield clusters. "These EMCs would aid the growth of the electronics systems design and manufacturing (ESDM) sector, help development of entrepreneurial ecosystem, drive innovation and catalyse the economic growth of the region by increasing employment opportunities and tax revenues," the government stated in its release.

The scheme is also expected to help flow of investment for the development of world-class infrastructure specifically targeted towards attracting investment in the ESDM sector. Under the scheme, the assistance would be provided to a special purpose vehicle (SPV). The SPV may be promoted by private companies, industry associations, financial institutions, R&D institutions, state or local governments or their agencies and units within the EMC. The SPV should consider including an academic/research institution to be part of the proposed SPV for suitable academic-industry linkages.

The financial assistance to the SPV shall be in the form of grant-in-aid only. For Greenfield EMCs the assistance will be restricted to 50 per cent of the project cost subject to a ceiling of Rs.50 crore for every 100 acre of land. For Brownfield EMCs the assistance will be restricted to 75 per cent of the project cost subject to a ceiling of Rs.50 crore.

Conference on Innovation and New Product Development, Mumbai, 5-7 September, 2012

Indian Innovators Association (IIA) is pleased to partner together with Marcus Evans for an event in Mumbai on Innovation and New Product Development.

Date:          5-7 September 2012

Venue:       Novotel Mumbai Juhu Beach, India

Time:          9.00am – 5.30pm

Organiser: Marcus Evans

This interactive conference will offer the latest views and insights by highly rated speakers in the fields of Innovation, R&D and marketing, as well as providing invaluable networking opportunity for professionals and key decision makers from leading organizations.

The event also features key topics on Innovation in Emerging Markets, Frugal Innovation to Mass Market, Open Innovation, Establishing a Proactive and Sustainable Innovation Culture, Disruptive Innovation and afew innovation case studies in demonstrating what and how they have achieved in their product development, lessons learned, and future outlook.

Please click here for event details and list of key speakers. Marcus Evans and IIA are pleased to offer IIA members with 10% discount on the event fees. 

For further inquiries and registration, please email Catherine Foo at catherinef@marcusevanskl.com or call +91-22 4231 7750. 

IvyCap ventures raise Rs 105 crores of funds.

IvyCap Ventures Trust Fund is a SEBI registered fund and has been set up as India's first Venture Capital Fund focused on entrepreneurs with professional backgrounds from premier educational institutions of India such as the IITs and IIMs. It is also the first fund to have a "Give Back" of a share of profits to the Alma Maters of investors on their behalf. The Give Back will come from the Fund Manager’s share of profits, and is aimed at creating an entrepreneurship culture in institutes.

This Fund is anchored by “IIT Alumni Trust” and has a minimum target size of Rs 200 crores with a strategy to prioritize early and growth stage investments in our high growth and core sectors such as Healthcare, Energy, Food/Agriculture based businesses, Technology.

Significant highlights of the Fund are as follows:

    Five financial institutions including three large Nationalized banks, a large Financial institution and a Government department have made a combined commitment of Rs. 65 Cr already in the Fund. IIT Alumni Trust is the anchor investor and has committed Rs. 40 Cr in the Fund. The Fund’s first closing has just been completed in June, 2012 at an aggregate amount of Rs. 105 Cr.

Contact: 

Vikram Gupta

Founder and Managing Partner

IvyCap Ventures

2nd Floor, Wing-B, Supreme Business Park,

Hiranandani Gardens, Powai

Mumbai - 400076

Phone:  +91-22-39530567(B),  +91-22-39379860(D)

Fax: +91-22-39530600

Mobile:  +91-9987060061

Harsh Mariwala starts Ascent to fund enterprises to scale up

ASCENT(Accelerating The SCaling up Of ENTerprises) ia new idea of Harsh Mariwala. Ten entrepreneurs will Form trust groups and support each other as self help groups. Applications are accepted now.http://www.ascentfoundation.in/

Indian innovators association USA charter

We have received useful suggestions on the priority areas for the proposed charter of IIA in USA. The emerging outline is : The local charter will operate as not for profit body. Objective is to support independent innovators in new product development, patent trading and team formation. The body would work in the people to people partnership area. The USA charter would be managed by local members with complete financial autonomy. Welcome More suggestions.

CIIE Present "The Power of Ideas" 2012"

The Economic Times, Department of   Science and  Technology and CIIE have once again partnered to continue   the efforts of  strengthening the Indian start up ecosystem. The  program aspires to identify and support the most innovative idea   and early  stage enterprises and support them through mentoring,   incubation support, cash  awards and seed funding. This year the corpus   of the program has been  increased to a total of INR 6.2 crore with 4   crore marked for seed funding and  INR 2.2 crore to be disbursed as cash  awards.  The program is sector agnostic  and hence wide variety of   start ups (including non tech start ups) can benefit  from it. 

To know more  about the programme: www.ideas.economictimes.com
To  participate in the programme, www.ideas.economictimes.com/participate. 
The deadline for submission of the  Business Summary Format is June 25, 6pm.
To know about  the eligibility requirements to be part of the evaluation or mentoring panel,  please drop a mail to Tinaj@iimahd.ernet.in. , Tina Jobanputra,  Program  Manager, CIIE

Queries:  If you have a specific query/feedback about the programme, share it with : 
Economic Times: etideas@indiatimes.com
CIIE : poi2012@ciieindia.org


   

CSIR plans to set up `Institute of synthetic and systems biology'

As per reports, DG, CSIR informed press of plans to set up a new institute called 'the Institute of synthetic and systems biology" and is looking for a suitable place.It aims to minimize or replace medication with right kind of foods by dipping into the vast traditional Indian knowledge systems. Apart from taking a hard look at regional food consumption patterns, the institute will drive home the importance of micro-nutrients in promoting health. “There is ample bacteria in the gut and the scientists are now trying to understand the foods that will help design bacteria within the human body to control many diseases. There are a number of nutritional pathways. Researchers are viewing the foods specific to each state and their genetic impact on people of those region,” said Prof. Brahmachari and added that this is where Systems Biology comes into the picture where the science of metabolites and haemostatic functions can be modified in the body itself.

Why MNC semiconductor firms cannot compete with Chinese Fabless chip vendors?

Vincent Tai boldly predicts that the days for multinational chip companies are numbered, especially in the Chinese mobile handset and set-top box markets. "It's because the supply chain in China can't allow you to have a 50 per cent gross margin," he explained. When the entire ecosystem of foundries, design houses along with packaging and system OEMs resides here, "You need to be a local to play the game," said Tai. The RDA chief described four rules for surviving in the Chinese market:

Rule #1: The "cycle time" for Chinese handset manufacturers is extremely short. While takes six months (or a year in the case of Nokia) to design a new mobile handset outside China, Chinese cell phone makers are spinning out new models every three months.

Rule #2: Chinese handset vendors provide chip suppliers will little information about market demand. Therefore, chip suppliers need to be "in touch with the market," said Tai, so they can be ready when market demand spikes. Speed is the key. "You need to be able to live with the ups and downs on the China market," he said.

Rule #3: Chip makers must survive on lower gross margins. Many local chip companies can live with a 35 per cent gross margin in order to achieve a 20 per cent operating margin, said Tai. But for most multinational chip companies to achieve the same 20 per cent operating margin, they need a 50 to 55 per cent gross margin. "That's no match with the locals."

Rule #4: System vendors in China are less technical. Hence, they require more hand-holding. The success of Taiwan's MediaTek here can be attributed to the turnkey solutions it offers Chinese system companies.

Tai said multinational companies retain a model that requires100 engineers to develop a new system every six months. "We are seeing Chinese system guys pump out a new product every three months with just five to 10 people." Tai said, "That's very disruptive."

Foreign companies are not only slow to upgrade their products but also are slow to respond to customer complaints. "I can send someone to my customer's site right away and do quick diagnostics," he said. "A multinational's core R&D team is still in the United States, and it takes more than a few e-mails back and forth to solve problems." Many in the West focus on the cost advantages of Chinese companies. Instead, they should be focusing on the agility of Chinese chip vendors and system companies in their domestic market. As Tai noted, "I am local. I have a core R&D team here, and I have field application engineers here. I have a huge advantage" over multinationals.

RDA increased its annual revenue in 2011 by 51.1 per cent to a record Rs.1,512.57 crore ($288.9 million), compared to Rs.1,001.05 crore ($191.2 million) in the previous year. The company's gross margin was 34.5 per cent compared to 29.8 per cent in 2010. In the first quarter in 2012, RDA's revenues totalled Rs.376.96 crore ($72 million), with a gross margin of at 35.9 per cent and a 20 per cent operating margin. The company has Rs.748.69 crore ($143 million) in cash and no debt. It currently employs 320 workers.

Source:  Junko Yoshida,   EE Times

Innovation in Indian Manufacturing- report by Aranca

The report prepared by Aranca for IBEF can be downloaded from IBEF site. 
This report was possibly commissioned to showcase India's innovations to the world. The report cites innovations such as E-Choupal, Ambuja Cements split-plants, Scorpio, TPM award for Brakes India, poly centric innovation model of Bicon, Chotukool, Tata Nano . 
I wonder whether this sort of report would improve perceptions of India's innovation capability! 

India bets big on Rajesh Biniwale' patent WO/2012/014225A2

According to reports, ministry of new and renewable energy ( MNRE) with goal of bringing one million fuel cell powered vehicles on the road by 2020 is supporting National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI) in developing a patented process of safe storage, transport and supply of hydrogen for such vehicles. The patent claim no 1:

An improved process for delivery of hydrogen, the process comprising dehydrogenating hydrogenated liquid organic compounds using catalyst in dehydrogenation reactor, the catalyst being heated at temperature in the range of 120-400°C, followed by separating hydrogen being evolved by cooling to temperature in the range of 2-50°C to obtain hydrogen free from any contaminant, wherein the catalyst are selected from: i. M/support wherein metal M is at least one metal selected from the group consisting of Pt, Pd, Rh, Ru, Ir, Os and said metal dispersed on support, the support is at least one metal oxide selected from the group consisting of Y₂0₃ or V₂0₅ or combinations thereof or ; ii. M-M'/support wherein metal M is at least one metal selected from the group consisting of Cu, Ag, Au; metal M' is at least one metal selected from Pt, Pd, Rh, Ru, Ir, Os, Fe, Ni, Re, Mo, W, V, Cr, Co or combinations thereof and said metals dispersed on support, the support being selected from the group consisting of activated carbon, alumina, alumite, zirconia, silica or combination thereof.

Position of TTO in The Universities for Research and Innovation Bill 2012

US is presently debating on doing away with a mandatory TTO in universities. Prior to Bayh-Dole, the invention rights vested with the federal government. The Bayh-Dole Act, allowed universities and small companies to own and manage inventions they make with federal funds. University Technology Transfer Offices played a pivotal role in commercializing the patents. Now, Kauffman Foundation proposed Start-up Act says TTO had become bottleneck and recommends that decisions  to commercialize technologies should be taken by faculty inventors and not university bureaucracies (TTO).

The bill in parliament is silent on structure of this relationship between faculty innovators- TTO-licensees. Is it left to universities to decide as part of autonomy?

Search for new Standards in The Universities for Research and Innovation Bill 2012

What is needed to be called University for Research and Innovation?

For the purposes of determination of standards in higher education, every University for Research and Innovation shall determine and declare, on its website, the standards of such education sought to be provided in such University in its teaching, learning and research:

Provided that the standards so determined and declared by such University shall be higher than the minimum standards in the relevant field of knowledge as specified by or under any other law:

Provided further that where no standards have been determined by or under any law in the relevant field of knowledge, the standards so determined and declared by the University shall aim to maximize relative global scales in the relevant field of knowledge:

Provided also that where a dispute arises between such University and a regulatory authority constituted by any law to determine and coordinate standards of higher education in any discipline or field of knowledge, such dispute shall be referred to a committee of three persons of international eminence and standing of whom—

(i) one person shall be nominated by the regulatory body impugning the standards;

(ii) one person shall be nominated by such University for Research and Innovation, which has determined the standards so impugned;

(iii) one person shall be nominated by a University for Research and Innovation, chosen in such manner as may be prescribed, other than such University which has determined the standards so impugned:

Is this the best way to set standards for Innovation Universities ???

THE UNIVERSITIES FOR RESEARCH AND INNOVATION BILL, 2012

The bill is tabled in Parliament. Some aspects of the bills are highlighted here:



“public funded intellectual property” means an intellectual property which is the outcome of research and development in a University for Research and Innovation for which the Central Government, or any agency established, by or under any law or otherwise by the Central Government, has provided grants under sub-section (1) of section 20;
Chapter V deals with PROTECTION AND UTILISATION OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY EMERGING FROM PUBLIC FUNDED RESEARCH

Where a University for Research and Innovation creates new knowledge from research which is funded by the Central Government, or by any body under the Central Government and leading to an intellectual property, such University shall as soon as the fact of actual realisation of the public funded intellectual property comes to knowledge, make a disclosure thereof to the Central Government or such authority designated, by notification, by the Central Government.
(2) The University for Research and Innovation shall, within the period required by any law for the time being in force for protection of public funded intellectual property, intimate to the Central Government, its intention to retain the title of the public funded intellectual property and the Central Government shall, subject to such law, allow the title of such public funded intellectual property to vest in such University:

29. (1) The University for Research and Innovation retaining the title to a public funded intellectual property shall protect and utilise it in such manner as it may deem fit:

The income or royalties arising out of the public funded intellectual property shall be shared by the University for Innovation with the intellectual property creator in accordance with the provisions of any agreement which may be entered into in this regard between such intellectual property creator and such University.


IP resulting out of part funding by Government - do they come under this definition of Public Funded IP? Where as Public Funded University is defined as the one whose capital investment is fully funded by Government, same is not clear with respect to IP.


Welcome comments on this?

Innovations and Research by private agribusiness in India: Carl E Pray and Latha Nagarrajan

There has been lot of discussion on need for second green revolution and very little on who will drive it and deliver the results. This paper can lead to informed discussion on this subject. Abstract from the report:

  Agricultural innovations in India have rapidly increased since the 1980s. Government data and surveys of seed firms show that from about 1990 to 2010 the number of new seed cultivars available to farmers in maize, wheat, and rice roughly doubled, while the number of cotton cultivars at least tripled. Biotechnology innovations went from zero in the 1990s to 5 genetically modified (GM) traits in hundreds of GM cotton cultivars by 2008. Pesticide registrations went from 104 in the period 1980–1989 to 228 during the period 2000–2010. Similar growth in innovations also occurred in the agricultural machinery, veterinary medicine, and agricultural processing industries.
These innovations have come from foreign technology transferred into India as well as from in-country public and—increasingly—private research. Based on interviews with firms and data from annual reports, we find that private investment in agricultural research grew from US$54 million in 1994/95 to US$250 million in 2008/09 (in 2005 dollars). Growth in private research and development (R&D) expenditure was particularly rapid in the seed and plant biotechnology industry, which grew by more than 10 times between the mid-1990s and 2009.
Private innovations have contributed to agricultural productivity and incomes. Research and innovation by private industry led to the boom in cotton exports and to rapid increases in exports of generic pesticides and agricultural machinery. Private hybrids of cotton, rice, maize, pearl millet, and sorghum increased yields over public hybrids, varieties, and landraces. Small farmers in some of the poorest regions of India—the semiarid tropics of central India and the rainfed rice regions of eastern India—get higher productivity with private hybrids.


One of  the suggestion for policy reform:
Invest in public research and higher education, and make scientists available to private research. The number of state agricultural universities (SAUs) and the students they produce have increased; however, the number of scientists at SAUs has declined, along with research funding per scientist (Jha and Kumar 2006; Ramaswamy and Selvaraj 2007). Drastic reforms and more resources are needed in graduate education and research at SAUs to train the young scientists that private firms are asking for. These reforms could include expanding government support for graduate education and research beyond Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) institutes and SAUs to nonagricultural institutes that have strong basic science programs. ICARs and SAUs should also re-examine research priorities to avoid duplicating research now conducted in the private sector and to concentrate on research for public goods. Where applied private research is strong, public research centers should shift their research focus to basic research that supports private applied research. At the same time, the private sector should contribute more financial and political support to public strategic research.


Any comments?

The Tech Awards Names N.R. Narayana Murthy Recipient of The James C. Morgan Global Humanitarian Award

Indian philanthropist N.R. Narayana Murthy, who founded tech services giant Infosys along with six colleagues and went on to become one of India's most influential advocates for health care and rural development, has been named the ninth recipient of The James C. Morgan Global Humanitarian Award, 

"This award honors leaders whose vision, passion and dedication are helping to change the world," said Mike Splinter, Chairman and CEO of Applied Materials, Inc. "Narayana Murthy embodies the spirit of the Global Humanitarian Award. Through his leadership in business and philanthropy, he has improved the lives of many in India and beyond."

Murthy joins an impressive roster of recipients of The James C. Morgan Global Humanitarian award that includes internet entrepreneur Jeff Skoll, education and cross-cultural dialogue advocate Queen Rania Al Abdullah of Jordan, Nobel Laureate and former U.S. Vice President Al Gore, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates and Applied Materials' Chairman Emeritus James C. Morgan, who inspired the award.

He will accept the honor in Silicon Valley on Thursday, November 15, 2012 during The Tech Awards gala, presented by Applied Materials, in association with the Center for Science, Technology, and Society at Santa Clara University. The award will be presented at a ceremony that also recognizes 12 innovators from around the world who apply technology in creative and practical ways to improve the human condition in areas such as health, education, environment and economic development.

Diploma in Basic Rural Technology” (Batch 2012-13)

Vigyan ashram announced  opening of admission for “Diploma in Basic Rural Technology” (Batch 2012-13). This course is recognized by National Institute of Open Schooling and useful for students interested to learn by hands. This is a multi-skill program in which training is given in the area of: Engineering- (Fabrication & construction& Basic Carpentry, Engineering Drawing & Costing ),  Energy & Environment - (Electrical, Motor rewinding, survey techniques, solar / biogas etc.),  Home and Health (Sewing, food processing and rural lab), Agriculture and Animal Husbandry (polyhouse, poultry, goat farming, dairy nursery techniques).

Course Duration: 10th July, 2012 – 25th June, 2013, Admission for DBRT will start from 15th April 2012, Minimum qualification: 8th STD pass, willing to work by hand, preferably from rural areas.A] Course Fees: Rs.8000/-B] Hostel & kitchen charges: Rs.12000/-pa (Rs. 1000 per month)  Contact: Vigyan Ashram, At Post- Pabal, District- Pune 412403, Phone: 02138 292326Contact Person for admission: Principle Anand Gosavi: 9960865463, 07276353282, e-mail: vapabal@gmail.com, vapabal.dbrt@gmail.com

Protect your Ideas- book available on Flipkart

The easy to read book on Patents, `Protect your Ideas' authored by Rajeev Surana is available at Flipkart. Price is Rs 295. Rajeev Surana relates patents, designs to innovations with several illustrations. Innovators, entrepreneurs would be able to connect with the content effortlessly.

Green Dragon: 20 signs that 2012 is the year of China

Biofuels Digest published this article, which I want to share with readers of my blog. The reasons cited for this assertion are:  Incubating next generation technologies in China, investment in integrated biorefineries, funding research on Aviation  biofuels, African supply chain etc.

Grand Challenge in Global Health- 9th round closes by 15th May

Topics for Grand Challenges Explorations Round 9 are:

• New Approaches for the Interrogation of Anti-malarial Compounds - new!
• Aid is Working. Tell the World - new!
• Explore New Solutions for Global Health Priority Areas
• Design New Approaches to Optimize Immunization Systems
• Protect Crop Plants from Biotic Stresses From Field to Market

NABARD invites application for Award for Rural Innovations 2012, Mumbai, apply by May 15, 2012

See post by Sucheetra in India Water portal.

Effectron offers technology to African countries to manufacture solar lighting products

Effectron is an independent organization under private sector, having in-house R&D and product design centre for Solar Lighting products. They have licensed designs to an Indian Company to manufacture and market them in India. All products have found acceptance in Indian market. They now offer, to transfer  technology to manufacture Solar Lighting products in African country, using locally available materials and resources. All designed products are meant for people living at the “Bottom of Pyramid” and where grid connectivity is poor. Since these products have been designed and developed from concept in house, the firm  can transfer all the relevant knowledge to produce locally, and train technicians and engineer. 
contact: Gopal Darbari, MD, Gopal Darbari

Address for service in India (patent cases)

Indian Innovators Association (IIA) has received request from innovators , living outside India and with no business address in India, to assist them with temp local address.  IIA is favorably inclined to support such overseas (independent) innovators with the understanding, they would reciprocate and extend similar help to Indian innovators. The provision as per Indian law is reproduced below:
  ADDRESS FOR SERVICE IN INDIA (PATENT CASES)

Sometimes, the Registry receives applications or appeals filed against respondents who do not carry on business in India. The Registry has come across both Applications and Appeals, wherein the Respondent does not carry on business in India. However, the address for service in India in respect of the Respondent as filed before the Patent office in Form 1 is not given. The Registry, therefore, has to effect service on the Respondent directly at the foreign address. Sometimes, the notice is not served for various reasons and those Application / Appeal papers are returned to the Registry. In those circumstances, the Registry is requested by the Postal authorities to collect the returned parcels by paying a specified amount on account of demurrage, etc. There is no provision to collect the returned parcels by the Registry. Further Form 2 of the Patents Appeals & Application to the IPAB Rule 2011 provides for intimation of address for service in India if the applicant has no place of business or of residence in India. The same will be applicable to Respondent also. In view of the above, the Registry may insist on address for service in India, and the applicants / appellants are required to specify the same. If the above is not complied with, the Registry shall issue defect notice.

(By Order)

Deputy Registrar

23rd September 2011

`Inspire to Innovate' contest

In partnership with Indian Innovators Association, SkyQuest launched `Inspire to Innovate' contest on World IP day. Details:

Who Inspired your innovation and how?
It could be a childhood story you read or a conversation in the lab. Share it and inspire the community to innovate.

Eligibility
All innovators (individual or groups) can apply.

Mandate

• The story should be about an innovation either work in progress or a past project. It can be at any stage of development.* The innovation should be beyond just an idea, vision or a dream.
• Story length: One page

For queries write to sheel.damani@skyquestt.com

Contest deadline: 21^st May 2012

Irrway- personal mobility vehicle from Greendzine

Irrway , personal mobility vehicle is one of the products offered by Green Tech start-up Greendzine incubated at IIMB-NSRCL. The core team is made of:

•Anjan: has 12+ yrs of experience in R&D, product Innovation and has multiple patent pending technologies to his credit. He was heading TCS – IISc joint initiative on ‘Frugal Innovation’ at IISc. He was @ TCS earlier.
•Ananth: has 10+ yrs of experience in Product Development, Documentation and Project Management Office. He was @ HAL earlier.
•Guru: has 15+ yrs of experience in Product Design and Manufacturing and has multiple patent pending technologies to his credit. He was with CMTI earlier.
•Karthik: has 5+yrs of experience in Embedded technology and holds a masters degree in Power electronics from Anna University. He was @ TCS earlier.
•Vivek: has 10+yrs of experience in handling turnkey projects and holds a Management degree from IIMB. He was with Saint-Gobain earlier.

Several of its features are patented and full unit of Irrway costs as little as replacement battery cost of Segway.

Auto -distractor innovation: Rice University Vs Prasad Kulakarni

Undergraduate students of Rice university developed Linear Distractor LinDi to automate the process of lengthening children bone. It is an innovation of great importance and the students have done a great job. This takes me back to Prasad Naryan Kulkarni innovation `Auto- Distractor' supported under TePP, the first project to be supported  under both Phase-1 and Phase-II. This innovation was covered widely in Indian press and in my article `The Bottom of Pyramid Innovations' .  Hope the students of Rice university are aware of Indian innovation.

R&D in India conference 2012, Mumbai

Yoogma Business services in association with TRIZ Association of Asia, Indian Innovators Association is organising this conference on R&D in India , 23-24th August 2012. The speakers include, 
KVSP Rao, Adviser & Head (RDI), DSIR, 
Dr T Ashokan, Chief Scientist, GE, 
Shree Padnis, TRIZ expert, SKF India, 
Araving Chinchure, Asst VP, Innovations, Reliance Industries ltd, 
Sujata Paranjape, Head (R&D) Siemens, 
Dr Rajiv Kumar, Chief Scientist, Innovation Center,Tata Chemicals ltd, 
A.S.Rao, 
Dr Sudhakar Mhaskar, Marico and 
Hongsug,Director, POSCO. 
Contact person: Norton Vaz

Dr Hamadoun Toure, Secretary General, ITU, Geneva to attend 6th National Telecom Awards 2012

The National Telecom Awards^TM 2012 would be presented by a galaxy of VIPs including Hon'ble Shri Vir Bhadra Singh, Union Minister for MSME, Honble Dr Farooq Abdullah, Union Minister for New & Renewable Energy, Honble Mr. Jyotiraditya Scindia, Minister of State for Commerce & Industries, Honble Mr. Sachin Pilot, Minister of State for Communications and IT, Honble Sh Millind Deora, Minister of State for Communications and IT,  Honble Sh TKA Nair, Advisor to Honble Prime Minister of India,  Dr JS Sarma, IAS, Chairman, TRAI,  Sh R Chandrashekhar, Secretary Dot, Govt. of India, Prof Dr SS Mantha, Chairman, AICTE etc. Dr Hamadoun Toure, Secretary General ITU Geneva has consented to join (on his maiden visit to India after assuming charge in January, 2007).
 Date : 8th May, 2012 (Date preponed from 11th May), 4.30-7.00PM,Siri Fort Auditorium, New Delhi,
Contact person: NK Goyal, President, CMAI,cmainkgoyals@yahoo.com

Skyquest looking for technologies for incubation in India

Skyquest is scouting late stage technologies in the Agriculture and Allied Sectors including Horticulture, Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Sericulture. The technology can be a Patented or Non-patented; a Product or a Process having low investment bracket.

The technologies shortlisted would be then presented to Agritech Entrepreneurs. 

Contact person: 

Ms. Kathak Mehta | Technology Deal Starter,  kathak.mehta@skyquestventures.com  

India, U.S. Investing Together in Clean Energy Research

The three lead U.S. institutions — the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, the University of Florida and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory — have partnered with three lead Indian institutions: the Indian Institute of Science–Bangalore, the Indian Institute of Chemical Technology–Hyderabad and CEPT University–Ahmedabad

Read more: http://iipdigital.usembassy.gov/st/english/article/2012/04/201204163975.html?distid=ucs#ixzz1sPCL7Rtb

Application process is now open for the 2013 Stanford-India Biodesign (SIB) Fellowship

Application process is now open for the 2013 Stanford-India Biodesign (SIB) Fellowship. The goal of this programme, launched in 2007, is to train the next generation of biomedical technology innovators in India. This highly competitive programme is directed to Indian citizens who have an interest in the invention and early-stage development of new biomedical technologies.  

Fellows receive tuition, stipend support, and international travel arrangements. Over the course of the 1 year fellowship, approximately half of the fellows’ time will be spent at Stanford University and the other half in India. Fellows work on a multidisciplinary team joining other innovators with a combination of engineering, medical and business backgrounds. Preference will be given to applicants with significant work experience.

The fellowship application deadline is May 18th, 2012. Select applicants will be interviewed in Delhi. The fellowship starts at Stanford in January 2013.

A detailed programme description and fellowship application are available at the Stanford Biodesign Programme website: http://biodesign.stanford.edu/bdn/india

For further programme details, please contact info@sibiodesign.org.

Kauffman Sketchbook - "Take the Leap"