Aid for deep breathing

Deep breathing, inhaling and exhaling is being taught by yoga teachers in India for the past 5000 years . Still young generation have difficulty to calm down.
They can now buy an electronic gadget to practice these breathing excercises.
Check the innovation at
http://www.pranayamwatch.com/default2.htm

Bangalore's Innovation Brigade

NASSCOM's first Innovation shortlist includes SMEs from Bangalore that have distinguished themselves as imaginative thinkers, product developers and service providers. The honours goes to:
1.Subex Systems Limited,
Set up in 1992, this software products company is actively addressing the fraud management market within the telecom vertical. Subex's flagship product, Ranger, detects fraud-related revenue leakages in a communication service provider's network. Ranger, has over 75 customers and 118 global installations.
2.Bangalore Softsell Ltd.
A leading technology and solutions provider in migrating legacy applications to new technology, Bangalore Softsell is helping customers take the risk-averse approach and move into enterprisearchitected, scalable applications to control TCO. The company's solution, LeMiT offers organisations a way to move forward, protecting their legacy applications, yet future-proofing their business.
3.CG-Smith Software Private Limited
CGS has developed ‘Network Operating System’ (NOS) components that are being used by 24 major Tier I suppliers, providing 27 ECUs to four leading automotive OEMs worldwide. In 2003-2004, CGS was selected by a leading group of carmakers as a supplier of reusable NOS components. CGS is the only company from India to have developed products for the automotive industry worldwide.
4.Skelta Software
The company, a Microsoft Gold Partner, launched its Skelta Workflow .Net product in October 2004. Today, the company boasts a prestigious, 200 plus customer base which includes names such as Motorola, Siemens, Deloitte, Infosys and i-flex, among others.
5.Encore Software Limited
The company delivered the first prototypes of SATHI to the Indian Army in April 2003 before a similar product was introduced anywhere in the world. SATHI was first used in military operations May 2004.
(source: http://www.nasscom.org/newsline/issue50/innovation.asp)

India develops as hotbed for semiconductors

TI—the first multinational tech company to set up an R&D center in India, in 1984.
"TIwill continue to commit resources to technology innovation from India", said Rich Templeton, TI’s president and chief executive officer. “New ideas from India are helping shape the direction of technology,” Templeton said. “With its wealth of development expertise and a huge, growing market, India is well-positioned to be a leading player in this new era of communication and entertainment. It's an exciting time to be working in India, and TI is committed to building strong relationships with our customers here and helping them to be successful.”
(source : K.C. Krishnadas, EE Times 03/28/2006 10:21 AM EST)

Indian toy industry fights back Chinese invasion

After having been swamped by a virtual Chinese invasion, Indian toy makers are beginning to fight back to regain the domestic market they lost to the dragon kingdom. And this year's Holi turned out to be the first battleground.The battle has just begun, industry leaders say, adding it would take up to three years to overcome the Chinese challenge that at one time led to panic and closures of Indian factories.For the first time in years, Indian manufacturers regained their market share of pichkaris, or water guns, before Holi with better products and pricing. " It will take another two to three years to compete effectively," V.S. Agarwal, former president of Toy Association of India and a major distributor, told IANS.Under a $2.2 million joint project by the National Programme of Development of Toy Industry, the ministry of small-scale industries, the Toy Association of India and the UN Industrial Development Organisation, there has been some improvement in the quality and design of product helping Indian industry to increase exports, said Agarwal.India's toy exports at around Rs.1.3 billion ($29.2 million) were, however, a far cry from the Chinese dominance globally. As Finance Minister P. Chidambaram remarked in his budget speech last month, every second toy and every third shoe sold globally is made in China."With conducive policies Indian manufacturers should be in a better position to recapture the market," said an industry source.Industry bigwigs are, meanwhile, gearing up to take on the challenge from imported products. They pointed out that even small toy manufacturers who had shut shop a couple of years ago were reviving their units to give competition to Chinese products to have a bigger share of the domestic market.
(source:Lola Nayar, Indo-Asian News Service,New Delhi, March 15)

NASI awards

National Academy of Sciences invites proposals for young scientists awards for the year 2006.

Interested ?

Checkdetails at www.nasi.org.in

Countries with the most inventive activity

Patent documents published worldwide last year (i.e. all those with a publication year of 2005 appearing in Derwent World Patents Index® up to and including update 200579) when analyzed for priority applications by country (treating the original country of application as the priority) illustrate the predominance of Japan. The priority country is usually where the inventor is based, and we can see that for patents published in 2005 Japanese inventors filed more than twice as many as their US counterparts.
Priority Country vs Number of patents applied for:Japan 300,623, US 149,936, Germany 47,651,
China 40,821, South Korea 32,521, Russia 17,384, France 11,394, UK 10,378, Taiwan 4,973, Italy 3,724

Technology areas with the most number of patent applications
Digital Computers 16.87%, Telephone and Data Transmission Systems 6.73%
Computer Peripherals 6.22%, Semiconductor Fabrication 6.18%
Electro(in)organic and Semiconductor Materials 6.07%,
Broadcasting, Radio & Line Transmission Systems 5.88%
Audio/Visual Recording and Systems 5.40%
Automotive Electronics 4.21%
Scientific Instrumentation 4.16%
Memories, Films, Hybrid Circuits, LCDs 3.82%

(source: http://scientific.thomson.com/news/newsletter/2006-01/8304698/#6)

VC investment in India 2005

Private equity and venture capital firms invested about $1.5 billion in 125 Indian companies during 2005, slightly down on the year before, according to an AltAssets report that referenced Venture Intelligence India, as its source. The 2005 Indian VC activity represented a slight decrease from 2004 when 129 companies raised $1.6 billion. A total of 63 out of the 125 companies closed rounds of over $10 million, the report said.
(EE Times 17/2/2006)

Bharat Rao

IIT Madras Alumnus, Dr. R Bharat Rao (1985 BTEE), wins the Siemens 'Inventor of the Year' award. The award has been presented every year (since 1995) to twelve outstanding Siemens employees for outstanding contributions to improving the technical expertise and the economic success of the company (Siemens).
Bharat is the Senior Director, Engineering Research Development, Computer-Aided Diagnosis and Therapy Group, Siemens Medical Solutions.
The award is a recognition of his pioneering work in development of an automated data collection and analysis tool known as REMIND (Reliable Extraction and Meaningful Inference from Nonstructured Data), which enables caregivers to utilize disparate healthcare information to personalize patient care plans and enhance patient outcomes.
Bharat received his B.Tech in Electrical Engg. from IIT Madras in 1985, and his Master's and Doctoral degrees in Electrical Engg. from University of Illinois (UIUC).
http://www.iitmadras.org/news/2006/jan11B/

when to sell your start-up

VC Seth Levine has a nice post on when to sell your startup that jibes with our experience.
click http://sethlevine.typepad.com/vc_adventure/2006/01/when_should_you.html

Engineer Sreedharan

Execution is the bane of Indian projects for long. The one person, who proved that planned execution is possible and is among many other changes sweeping India is engineer Sreedharan. Read his fascinating story at
http://www.muraleedharan.com/legends_sreedharan.html

2000 software applications filed for patents in 2005

The number of applications for patents filed in the software sector has seen a huge increase in the last two years. Recent changes in the patents law have made this possible, as evident in 2,000 applications being filed in the last one year alone. The number of applications was as many between 2000-2003.
The number of patents granted has also shot up from 110 between 2000-03, to about 600 in 2004. In 2005, about 1,100 patent applications are awaiting opposition proceedings.
Recent changes made in the Indian patents law allow patents for computer-related inventions like applied software —software used in cars, washing machines and music systems. Till recently, only embedded software—where software is intrinsically linked with hardware — was allowed patents.
The pace is likely to pick up even more in the coming year with more and more MNCs setting up research labs in India.
(source : Business Standard, January 4, 2006)

Star of Asia award for Dr RA Mashelkar

Every year, Business Week of USA honours 25 eminent Asians, who have been path breakers in their own field. These awards generally go to Businessmen , Politicians etc. For the first time, a scientist was honoured, he was Dr R.A. Mashelkar from India. He received the award from Goerge Bush, former US President on 16th November 2005 in Beijing.

Roche sub-license for Tamiflu

Roche,the mfr of patented drug Oseltamivir, considered effective for treating avian influenza, sub-licensed production to Indian firm Hetero Drugs Limited for supply in India and other developing countries. A wise decision considering the fact that Hetero beagn investing in Oseltaminvir two and half years ago and recd Indian govt approval for production and marketing. Strategic Partnering with fast caching-up Indian firms is a new trend and can be expected to continue in the same way firms partner with competitors in fast moving consumer elctronic products.

terror strikes Bangaluru

The mask of terrorist as freedom fighter & pious religious persons dropped when a terrorist opened fire on the participants of an international seminar in Indian Institute Of Science, Bangalore on 28th December 2005. These academics are experts on operations research and among the most harmless creatures on the earth. The person who died on the spot , Dr Puri , 65 years old, was a retired professor in Mathematics from IIT, Delhi.

Mindless violence or continuation of the strategy to cripple Indian economy by proxy war?
(http://sify.com/news/fullstory.php?id=14085687)

India may become engineering sourcing hub

Global engineering companies such as Siemens, Cummins, ABB, Aker Kværner, Wartsila, Alfa Laval and SKF are planning to increase their sourcing of engineering equipment and services from India three-four times from the current level in the next three years. The companies will eventually make India their components and services sourcing hub for the global markets. The objective is to save costs by transferring operations to countries like India and China without compromising on the quality.
Going by the strategy, ABB plans to source high-voltage circuit breakers, medium-voltage outdoor circuit breakers and magnetic actuators from India in a big way. Meanwhile, SKF's application development centre for two-wheelers and Bangalore's automotive market is being built up as a global hub for providing engineering solutions for two-wheelers.The Indian unit has provided solutions to global two-wheeler majors that include Suzuki, Kawasaki and Honda. SKF is also planning to step up the sourcing of bearings from its Indian subsidiary. Anglo-Norwegian engineering firm Aker Kværner has already set up a team, which will work with the group's Indian subsidiary Aker Kværner Power Gas for selecting and obtaining materials and services from the country, said Stan Bogiel, the Aker Kværner group's senior vice-president for global sourcing. "The focus of our global procurement would shift to India and China from the West. This would help us minimise risks without compromising on quality," said Bogiel. Engine maker Cummins is currently examining the feasibility of outsourcing Cummins Inc's back-end jobs ranging from transaction processing to operations in India. Cummins Research and Technology Institute in Pune will play an important role in the group's future products. The institute will significantly cut down the time spent in prototyping and, thus, reduce the time to market for the group. As for Finland-based Wartsila Corporation's focus on India, Banmali Agarwala, managing director, Wartsila India, said, "Wartsila's sourcing from its Indian subsidiary will rise in multiples over the next couple of years." He added: "Wartsila India will provide its parent with equipment and components such as reduction gear boxes used in ships, castings, forgings, switchgears and electrical cables. Manpower within Wartsila India would help in erection of power plants." On the other hand, Alfa Laval India is planning to double the manufacturing capacity of equipment like heat exchangers, separators and fluid-handling equipment and decanters. The Swedish parent Alfa Laval AB will source about half of its Indian arm's production. On a recent visit to India, Siemens President and CEO Klaus Kleinfeld said Siemens India, with 13 manufacturing facilities in the country, is positioned to play a larger role in its parent's operations.
(source :Business Standard: December 19, 2005)

Jail for high tech transfer

Two American defence firms and their executives were sent to jail by an US court for violating US export law. The offence was supply to India a CONTROL PANEL used in a process to manufacture carbon- carbon, a critical component of Agni missile heat shield.
How can “control panel” export to India is a hole in US national security is a mystery baffling many observers.
( The Times of India, 23/11/2005)

Impact of technology import on R&D

Liberalisation of foreign technology import policy in the 1990s has generated a general concern on how high-technology Indian industries have performed in acquiring and strengthening their technological capabilities during the reform period 1991-2001. Read the draft paper of Authors: Pradhan, J.P.; Puttaswamaiah, S.Produced by: Gujarat Institute of Development Research (GIDR), India (2005) Available online at: http://www.eldis.org/cf/rdr/rdr.cfm?doc=DOC20027
The research reveals many interesting facts about the nature and character of technology accumulation in Indian manufacturing of which:
liberalisation of technology import policy does not have any adverse impact on in-house R&D activity in Indian manufacturing vis-a-vis foreign disembodied technology import
the large chunk of technological activity is confined to a small set of industries either in terms of R&D, import of disembodied technology or investment in foreign and domestic capital goods
the investment of Indian manufacturing in accumulating capital goods, foreign as well as domestic, has seen dramatic decline in the 1990s.
Any comments?

India- Hungary R&D partnership

Universities of Hungary , Russia were long recognized for their academic excellence. Their inability to convert research results into billions of dollars , like their counterparts in USA was also well known. A strategic partnering between these universities and Indian IT firms reputed for their global delivery systems in on the drawing boards for last few months. The first to take off is partnership between Hungary’s premier science IT institute MTA SZTAKI and Satyam Computer Services ltd of India, in areas such as grid computing , data mining.

OFFSHORE PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT

Emerging sector in Indian IT space is called outsourcing of Offshore Product Development (OPD). The companies engaged in this space not only develop products for biggies like Microsoft, Oracles, IBM, Siemens or Sharp, they also take up the responsibility of all aspects of the software product life cycle starting from research and development, prototyping, testing, maintenance, support and sometimes give valuable suggestions to their overseas clients about what should be the next version of a product and what the market demands by becoming partners in their business discussion. Their strength is the credibility of the Indian OPD companies in delivering high-end products while at the same time maintaining the safety and security of the Independent Software Vendors (ISVs) overseas. Indian players in the OPD space are Symphony Services, Persistent Systems, Aditi Technologies, Aspire Systems, Aztec and BrickRed.
(newindpress.com, November 7, 2005)

R&D awards

The Department of Scientific and Industrial Research (DSIR) announced winners of the National Awards for outstanding In-house R&D achievements for the year 2005. The winners are(1)Gujsynth, Vapi for development of process for manufacture of 3,5 Dichloro Aniline, (2) IPCL, Vadodara  for development of zeolite based super selective catalyst and process for manufacture of paradiethylbenzene(3) Matrix Laboratories, Secunderabad, for dev of Citalopram & others (4) Sri Biotech, Hyderabad, for dev of new protocol and delivery system for control of diseases and pests in agriculture (5) Transasia Biomedicals Ltd, Mumbai, for dev of fully automatic random access bio-chemistry analyzer XL-600 (6) Maharashtra Stae Seeds corporation ltd, Akola, for dev of pollution free cotton seed delinting plant  (7) SAIL, Ranchi, for dev of low carbon EDD steel (8) Praj Industries ltd, Pune, fro dev of multi-feed ethanol production process (9) Relaince Industries, Surat, for absorption of NG3 technology imported from E.I.Dupont (10) BEL, Bangalore fro dev of battle field survelliellance radar and (11) Rasi seeds, Attur.for dev of transgenic Bt cotton hybrids. See:  http://www.dsir.gov.in