Technology + R&D News from Bangalore

[engineer.akash]

Foreigners look to city for a quick holiday, and some major surgery

Feb. 18: A few decades ago who would’ve thought surgery could be coupled with international travel, under the label ‘medical tourism. But here we are today, living in a city that saw a 50 per cent growth in this very form of tourism, last year.
Though Bengaluru is no stranger to medical tourism, the question is why the sudden upswing. The answer has its roots in the global recession. During the bleak days of 2008-2009 a number of Indian doctors working abroad sought to ride out the global recession by returning to the country to practice, and in many cases, their patients followed.
City doctors believe that it was this ‘reverse brain drain’ that helped the medical tourism industry burgeon into a viable micro-economy for the industry. “In the field of cancer care we have seen a tremendous increase in the year 2010 as compared to 2009,” said Dr B. S. Ajaikumar, founder and chairman of HCG. It was the realisation that, cost-wise, the city was a favoured destination as opposed to cities in Europe and the US.
“We have started receiving a lot of specialised cases coming to us from as far as the US and UK because here you get all the medical technology, only cheaper. Moreover, a lot of new regions have also started looking at Bengaluru as the preferred destination for standardised super-specialised healthcare at an affordable price,” said Dr. Ajaikumar.
“Reverse brain drain is definitely one of the key factors in the rise of medical tourism. The global recession has also contributed to this as the income of those living in the West, has not increased at the pace with which medical expenses have risen, so they were bound to look for the same standard of treatment at affordable rates,” said Ramesh Krishnan, V.P. Strategy, Fortis Hospitals.
Along with these factors, there’s also Bangalore’s clement climate that provides a lure. “We have the advantage of climate, infrastructure and affordability and those are major medical tourism draws. A lot of new markets are opening up in Africa and West Asia as they are seeing this city as the medical tourism destination, and that would explain the 50 per cent leap in one year,” said Ravindra Pai, General Manager, marketing, Apollo Hospital.
The new airport has also improved the city’s global connectivity. “The fact that direct connectivity has gradually been established with a lot of countries also served as an added advantage, resulting in a major leap in the number of international patients coming to Bengaluru,” said Dr. Vishal Goyal, Chief Operating Officer, BGS Global Hospitals.

DC


SONOWAND FACILITY AT VIKRAM HOSPITAL-BANGALORE

A boon to patients with brain tumours

Bangalore, Feb. 19-The newly- opened and functional Vikram Hospital on Millers Road, Bangalore, has the distinction of being the first Hospital in Asia to have acquired the new Sonowand— the world’s first real time navi-gatable 3D intra operative imaging system. Sono-wand allows the neuro-surgeon to use the safest path for removal of any brain tumour, as the real-time navigation feature helps to avoid all the important nerve tissue and blood vessels surrounding the tumour to remove the tumor in totality as well.

Studies have shown that in more than 50% of operations, where it was presumed that the tumour was entirely removed, in the final 3D ultrasound scan, remnants of the tumour as found. This implies that the chances of recurrence are high in these cases. This is where Sonowand brings the difference since chances of leaving small portions of tumour are minimal.

Totally removing the tumour is possible because of the 3 dimensional imaging even as the surgeon is operating, a feature hitherto impossible in any other modality, ensures that the patients get a full cure if in Grade 1 stage. Patients with Grade 4 stage tumours get the advantage of having extended their life span by a few months at least.

Many a time, the pre-op MRI position of the tumour is not valid as when the skull is opened, due to atmospheric pressure, gravity and fluid loss, the soft brain tissue ‘shifts’ and this causes the tumour to shift as well, creating a challenge to the operating surgeon. Sonowand solves this problem by being able to visualise the tumour with the skull opened even as surgery is being done.

Sonowand, as a navigational tool, enables marking the tumour location preoperatively, helps to identify the blood vessels in relation to the tumour and perform biopsy of deep seated tumours with accuracy, amongst others. Sonowand is also useful in all forms of skull base and vascular surgery.

Thanks to this advanced technology, many patients who are otherwise thought to be inoperable, can now be treated.

At the recently held press conference in Banga-lore, the Team of Neuro-surgeons of lead by Dr. Chandramouli (formerly HoD Neurosurgery NIMHANS), Dr. Ravi Mohan Rao and Dr. Sudhir Pai demonstrated how the surgery benefited patients who have had previously failed surgery due to difficulty to locate tumours and also the ability to clear the tumour in totality.

While the earlier generation intra-op imaging systems are available in Delhi and Mumbai, the one at Vikram Hospital scores over them as this is the only one which offers Real-Time viewing on demand, meaning, the surgeon can get to see the tumour even as he is operating as and when he needs to see it.

According to the management of the hospital, with the installation of this equipment, the time duration of surgery will reduce, the accuracy increases considerably, and length of patient stay in hospital reduces, enabling them to perform more surgeries in the same time allowing for the cost to be absorbed.

For details call Dr. Sudhir Pai on 45004500/ +919844060946. Patients from Mysore can contact Dr. Maqsood, Neurosurgeon at Vikram Jeev, according to a press release.

SOM

[sunilkumar]

MUMBAI: India has emerged as the most preferred destination for global enterprises to set up their back-end information technology units or captive units in 2010, consultancy firm Everest Group said in a report.

"India witnessed the maximum activity, followed by other regions in Asia and the Philippines," a release issued by the consultancy said.

Unlike the practice of outsourced work wherein an Indian company erects a facility and employs professionals, captive unit involves a multinational corporation setting up its own unit in a country, attracted usually by the talent pool of that country.

Among those who set up facilities in India in 2010 include Microsoft which set up a development centre in Bangalore, audit firm PricewaterhouseCoopers' centre in Kolkata and Credit Suisse's facility in Mumbai, a spokesperson for Everest said.

Globally, 2010 observed a positive surge with the number of captive set-ups exceeding the divestures, the report added.

The year also saw India continuing to lead in the offshore market activity, Everest said, adding the country reported the setting-up of 39 delivery centres followed by Phillipines' 25 and China's 16, the release said.

Not sure when this happened.

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/...ow/7447120.cms

[sunilkumar]

Mumbai, Feb 21 (PTI) University of Southern California (USC), one of the world''s leading private research universities, has decided to set up university offices in Bangalore and Mumbai in 2011.
USC''s President C L Max Nikias and university leaders, who are on a visit to India, have sought to strengthen relationships with civic, academic and corporate leaders.
USC has decided to set up university offices in Bangalore and Mumbai in 2011.
The varsity enrols more international students than any other US university, including more than 1,600 from India in the past academic year, USC''s President C L Max Nikias said at a function here.
USC has no plans to set up campus in India but setting up of local offices will benefit it as USC has more Indian students than any other university in the US. Nearly 1,000 USC alumni call India their home, Nikias said.
Industrialist Ratan Tata, Chairman, Tata Sons and a trustee of USC since August 2005 also called for greater cooperation.
After Mumbai, the delegation will visit New Delhi on February 24 and Bangalore on February 25.
The visit - the first to India by a USC president leading an official delegation - will highlight the university''s commitment to global cooperation in the pursuit of excellence, celebrate USC''s research strengths with leaders in Indian society, and enhance academic and research ties with select Indian institutions.

http://news.in.msn.com/business/arti...mentid=4945917

[engineer.akash]

Enteg to hire over 300; to invest in a new delivery facility in Bangalore

Enteg, a SAP services partner will hire over 300 software professionals to build up its SAP service offerings.
Online PR News – 22-February-2011 –February22, 2011 - Bangalore, Karnataka - Enteg, among India’s leading SAP services partner providing niche technology services and solutions will hire over 300 software professionals to strengthen its SAP service offerings including ERP, Business Analytics among others. The company has increased its headcount from 175 last year to 300 this year in its first phase of expansion and will add 300 more by mid next year taking the total headcount to over 600. The increase in resources along with investments in a new delivery facility in Bangalore will help Enteg consolidate its position as a leading IT services provider.

Enteg provides technology consulting, development and maintenance services to leading companies in India, Singapore and Africa. As a part of the current expansion, Enteg will hire both professionals specializing in SAP consulting and Implementation as well as functional and business consultants in the utilities, retail, professional services areas.
Speaking on the company’s expansion plans, Rajagopalan Babu, CEO, Enteg said, “Enteg has maintained its growth despite the downturn in the market and we are well positioned today as a leading provider of SAP services. The expansion is strategically planned to enhance and sustain this growth further and to support our growth plans in emerging markets such as East Africa and the Middle East, where we are strengthening our presence.”
About Enteg
Enteg is IT Services Company focused on implementing SAP solutions. These enterprise solutions are software applications that allow people to access and manage real time information and transact processes across the entire organization. Enteg’s solutions have a strong domain focus that helps clients in different industries maximize the value of their IT spend.

Source

[engineer.akash]

Construction Starts on Toyota Parts Plant in India

Engines, Transmissions to Increase Local Content of 'Etios' Compact

Bangalore, Feb 24, 2011 - (ACN Newswire) - Toyota Motor Corporation (TMC) held a groundbreaking ceremony here today to mark the beginning of construction of a new plant of Toyota Kirloskar Auto Parts Pvt Ltd (TKAP), TMC's joint venture auto-parts manufacturing company in India.

At the plant, TKAP plans to produce approximately 100,000 engines per year starting in the autumn of 2012 and approximately 240,000 transmissions per year starting in early 2013, increasing local content of the made-in-India "Etios" compact car. Production represents an investment of approximately 9 billion yen and approximately 500 new jobs.

The production of engines and transmissions for the Etios will enhance the production and supply base position of TKAP, which currently produces manual transmissions for the Innovative International Multi-purpose Vehicle (IMV) Project*.

As a part of its sustainable growth strategy, TMC intends to increase local production in line with expansion in emerging markets. TMC, based on its founding philosophy of contributing to society through the manufacture of automobiles, is committed to providing vehicles in India that meet consumer expectations in terms of being both reasonably priced and suited to local conditions. TMC also aims to contribute to the development of the automotive industry in India through the employment of additional personnel in conjunction with the start-up of the new plant.
Toyota Kirloskar Auto Parts Pvt Ltd (as of February 1, 2011)

*Aimed at creating an optimal production and supply network on a global scale; consists of three pickup trucks, a minivan and an SUV.

Source

[sunilkumar]

According to a report in daily Sabah, Arcelik will establish a production plant in Bangalore, India with its Indian partner. Details about the investment are not stated in the report.

We welcome the news as the possible investment in India would increase the company's emerging market exposure (currently 73%). Currently, Arcelik has production facilities in Romania, Russia and China as well as in Turkey. We know the company's intention to expand its exposure to high growth markets in order to increase sales volume and profitability

http://www.balkans.com/open-news.php?uniquenumber=94903

[sunilkumar]

Philips Innovation Campus (PIC) in Bangalore, a division of Philips Electronics India Ltd, is establishing a centre dedicated to creating mobile applications spanning lighting, healthcare and consumer lifestyle products, leading the company’s global efforts.

From applications that would enable mobile phones to double up as remote controls for television sets or to control lighting, to giving crucial diagnostic and patient monitoring data to doctors on the move, Philips wants to ride what PIC chief executive Wido Menhardt calls the “second wave of mobile apps”.

A major hiring and training effort is being initiated, with PIC looking to recruit around 500 people this year. The seven-year-old PIC now employs about 1,700 people.

“We will start with small teams of a dozen or two for application development, but I expect the training to cover batches of hundreds. Overtime, everything will have to be on mobile anyway,” Menhardt said in an interview.

While Philips centres in other global locations will also develop mobile applications, the Bangalore centre will lead the effort, he said. “I have been asked by the board to periodically report on the status of the programme,” said Menhardt, who took over as CEO in April.

Ganesh Ramamoorthy, principal research analyst with technology research firm Gartner Inc., said mobile apps are a huge and growing market, given that product manufacturers are no longer able to differentiate their offerings at the hardware, chip level.

“It is all about software differentiation, with software that talks to the underlying hardware to provide differentiation in terms of features and functionality. I am not surprised by Philips’ initiative in this space.”

PIC’s training programmes for its engineers will cover all the major phone operating systems—Android, Windows Phone 7, BlackBerry OS and Apple’s iOS. “We need them to be trained on all OS platforms,” said Menhardt.

He sees the Nokia-Windows Phone 7 tie-up as a positive development for Philips as many of its products use the Windows system.

“If you look at many apps today, they are replicating what is available on your PC—a calendar or a YouTube. These are not your typical Philips products. Today, we see that everything that we do at Philips, in lighting, entertainment or personal care, has to be for the mobile as well. The mobile becomes an extension of our product lines,” the CEO said.

Menhardt said Philips’ mobile applications would allow users to control lighting in their homes either from a mood and ambience perspective, or remotely for security purposes.

Doctors will be able to access images and vital signs of their patients on the go. “This may be not always for diagnostic purposes, but enough to give inputs for treatment,” he said.

There is an “in-India-for-India” focus to the project, given the high mobile penetration in the country combined with the shortage of doctors, especially in rural areas, Menhardt said.

The Bangalore centre is unique in that it has divisions in lighting, healthcare and consumer lifestyle, throwing up possibilities for effective synergies in both product improvement and new product development, he said. “The shared theme is that of healthcare and well-being. Healthcare is the biggest group. But as an expert advised us, we look at the white spaces between products and markets,” he said. “For example, lighting has an effect on how quickly patients get well.”

source @ http://www.livemint.com/2011/02/1801....html?atype=tp

[engineer.akash]

K''taka govt allots land for aeronautical test range project

Bangalore, Feb 27 (PTI) The Karnataka government has alloted 4,290 acres of land to Aeronautical Development Establishment (ADE) for aeronautical test range project at Chitradurga district, the DRDO said here today.
Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa has officially handed over the land documents to ADE yesterday, a DRDO statement said.
The objective of the Rs 1,300 crore project is to build necessary infrastructure for testing and evaluating unmanned and manned aircraft being undertaken by aeronautic cluster labs in DRDO, it said.
The project has been planned and conceived by ADE, Bangalore in collaboration with other DRDO labs.

msn

[reswaran]

New Delhi, March 2:

Seven out of every 10 engineering students in India prefer Bangalore as their ‘first job’ city, ahead of the capital Delhi, reveals a survey.

According to employability measurement and recruitment firm Aspiring Minds Research Cell, about 72 per cent of the engineering students surveyed voted for Bangalore as the most preferred destination to work in.

“In India, Bangalore is the engineers’ Mecca. It offers growth, options and a community of like-minded people.

Bangalore has undoubtedly the largest base in terms of IT companies, opportunities and an existing engineering population,” the Aspiring Minds Founder and Director, Mr Himanshu Aggarwal, said.

Bangalore was followed by Delhi, which was preferred by 32 per cent of the respondents, while Hyderabad was the favourite among 30 per cent of the students surveyed.

At the fourth place is Pune, with 30 per cent of the respondents voting for the city, followed by Chennai, which was favoured by 23 per cent of students. Mumbai was sixth in the list of preferred cities for engineers.

Regional preferences emerge strongly, as students from the South, West and North of the country voted for Bangalore, Pune and Delhi, respectively, as their favourite city. For easterners, Bangalore was the favourable option. Chandigarh and Mysore also emerged as preferred destinations for engineering students in the survey.

The survey took into account the views of 19,000 engineering students across India. It was undertaken to determine the city preferences of students and allowed the respondents to specify up to three cities.

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/...cle1503208.ece

[nandan_ks]

I can guess, what the replies to this post would be like

[Indian Sun]

Hm ?

Interestingly, I feel, if the same survey is carried out in a small sample space, the results will be more or less the same. Most people in my college prefer Bangalore, followed by Hyd, Chennai, Delhi NCR and Pune. Personally my order would be Chennai,Bangalore,Hyderabad,Mumbai (Pune and NCR wouldn't be my options).

I have listed Bangalore and Hyderabad (Noida was the third option which I left blank) for my job preference, when I was placed in January. Maybe I shall come back to Bangalore

[sunilkumar]

Bangalore, Mar 2: The computer giant Microsoft may launch the final version of Internet Explorer 9 during the Tech.Ed in Bangalore, which is scheduled for Mar 23-25. The browser market has been engaged in rumors of Internet Explorer 9 launch after a mistaken Tweet by MSDN India.

The official MSDN India Twitter account had Tweet saying that, "Launch of Internet Explorer 9 on 24th March at Tech.Ed India 2011." Later this Tweet has been deleted from the Twitter account.

Interestingly, we can expect the launch of IE9 as Brian Hall, GM of Internet Explorer And Windows Live, will be giving a keynote speech on the 24th at the Tech.Ed event. Earlier in Feb 2011, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said that Internet Explorer is expected to release on Mar 2011.

Microsoft launched the final public release candidate version of IE9 on Feb 10, 2011. The new version of Internet Explorer supports several CSS 3 properties, improved JavaScript performance, and embedded ICC v2 or v4 color profiles support via Windows Color System.

Other features on IE9 include Tracking Protection, hardware-accelerated graphics rendering using Direct2D, ActiveX filter, hardware-accelerated text rendering using DirectWrite, hardware-accelerated video rendering using Media Foundation, imaging support provided by Windows Imaging Component, and high fidelity printing powered by the XPS print pipeline.

Internet Explorer 9 also supports the HTML5 video and audio tags and the Web Open Font Format. This web browser will be available in both 32-bit and 64-bit versions.

Microsoft Internet Explorer is the most widely used browser in the world. But in recent times, Microsoft IE has been facing high competition from other browsers like Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox and Safari. With the launch of IE9, Microsoft aims to regain its lost market shares.

Another big pain for web developer unless released with bug-free.

http://news.oneindia.in/2011/03/02/t...d-aid0102.html

[sunilkumar]

NEW DELHI: IEEE, an association of global technical professionals, today said it will set up an office at Bangalore as it looks to expand its presence in Asia.

"A significant percentage of IEEE's members reside in India, and we have an extremely active volunteer base in this region," IEEE Executive Director E James Prendergast said in a statement.

The association currently has 23,000 member base in the country. The new office will enable IEEE to further support engineering and technical professionals in India through a variety of educational and certification programmes, it said.

The Indian office in Bangalore will be the fourth in Asia after Singapore, China and Japan .

"Having a local presence will enable us to not only expand the various professional development opportunities we offer but also cultivate relationships with local government and industry," Prendergast said.

The India office will enable IEEE to continue its outreach efforts to local representatives from academia, government and the industry and explore additional business opportunities in the region, the association said.

IEEE has around 4 lakh members across the globe and works for advancing technology for the benefit of humanity.

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/...ow/7611554.cms

[sunilkumar]

The Bangalore based electric vehicle manufacturer, Mahindra Reva, is planning on introducing a lithium ion battery version of its REVA EV in Europe by 2011.

It truly looks like India is shining, for in an interesting twist to the tale on going green in Europe is a solution from India! Mahindra Reva is planning on introducing a lithium ion powered Reva EV for the European market. Unlike other rather expensive electric vehicles, the Reva EV for Europe promises to be keenly priced.


In order to capitalize on this, Mahindra Reva is working hard at expanding its distribution channels across Europe. Apart from the Reva EV, Mahindra Reva intends on introducing a slew of new models in the coming years which promise more features, better comfort and also an enhanced driving range. The Lithium ion battery powered Reva EV is basically going to pave the way forward until the new models begin to arrive in 2012.

Currently Mahindra Reva is working on completing the state of the art manufacturing facility in Bangalore. The facility is set to commence production by December this year and vehicles such as the REVA NXR are set to roll out from this plant. The company has also recently taken a loan of USD 11 million from EXIM Bank towards the development and research of new models.

In Europe, Mahindra Reva has already tasted a bit of the EV pie with the REVAi model which sells as the G-Wiz through a UK distributor. It's popularity has been growing and with the new models, Mahindra Reva are sure to make further inroads in the EV market.

http://www.zigwheels.com/news-featur...by-2011/7657/1

[sunilkumar]

The department of Biotechnology has chipped in Rs.200 crore to establish a the ‘iStem’ at the Bangalore campus of National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS) which will focus on training and basic research.

The first dedicated institute for stem cell forms a part of the national ‘bio-cluster’ or an industry interaction platform of which NCBS and the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Platforms (C-CAMP) are part. It will work in co-ordination with the NCBS and C-CAMP to form the Bangalore bio cluster where it will develop technology and enable entrepreneurship initiatives. The effort would also be to comprehend the mechanism of stem cells and its potential to treat degenerative diseases.

Stem cell therapy holds considerable promise as an adjuvant if not as an alternate therapy. But the medical fraternity needs to offer therapy backed by scientific data proving its safety and efficacy. Therefore setting up of ‘iStem’ will give a boost to research and training, according to experts

The research and application of therapies using adult bone marrow autologous and allogneic cell transplant has been in vogue for the last five yeaRs.Now the government of India through the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and the Department of Biotechnology (DBT) had laid down guidelines for stem cell research and therapy in 2007 but now the guidelines which have been further modified after industry input are in the final phase of approval.

Globally, Osaris Inc. is well on schedule with stem cell products in place to go for Phase II b and phase III trials. In India, it is Stempeutics which is part of the Manipal Group received the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) clearance for its Investigational Medicinal Product “Stempeucel” to conduct phase II clinical trials. The human studies are for patients suffering from osteoarthritis, diabetes mellitus – type2, liver cirrhosis and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

In the last few years, there has been considerable growth in the stem cell therapies with leading hospitals using stem cells to adopt treatment adhering to patient consent and highest quality practices. These include International Stemcell Services Limited, Manipal Hospital, Narayana Hrudayalaya, Jain Institute of Vascular Sciences (JIVAS), BGS Global Hospital in Bangalore, Medanta Medicity in Delhi, Sion Hospital in Mumbai PGI Chandigarh among otheRs.There are extensive research efforts on at the CMC Vellore, LV Prasad Eye Institute at Hyderabad National Centre for Biological Sciences, Bangalore, All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), at New Delhi and Centre for Cell and Molecular Biology (CCMB) at Hyderabad.

Industry estimates that the global stem cell market in 2010 was around Rs.900 crore ($20 billion). It is the adult stem cell therapy which accounts for over 60 per cent of this market. In India the market is valued at around Rs.500 crore

http://www.pharmabiz.com/NewsDetails...id=61713&sid=1

[engineer.akash]

Tulip Telecom to power world’s third largest datacenter in Bengaluru

* The proposed facility to be India’s largest and world’s third largest eco-friendly datacenter – spread across 9 lac sq. ft. With an investment of Rs. 900 crore
* Company’s fifth datacenter (after one each in Delhi and Bengaluru and two in Mumbai) providing a combined space of approximately 10 lac sq. ft. across all data centres
* Telecom Limited has acquired a datacenter facility in Bengaluru by acquiring 100% shares of SADA IT Parks Private Limited (SADA) for Rs. 230 crore. This is the Tulip’s fifth datacenter and will have the total datacenter space of approximately 10 lakh sq. ft. The Bengaluru facility will be owned and operated through a wholly owned subsidiary of Tulip Telecom named ‘Tulip datacenter Private Ltd.

Spread across an area of 9 lakh sq. ft, the tier 4 datacenter will be set up in Bengaluru (Karnataka) with a total investment of Rs 900 crore spread over a period of 3 years.

Commenting on the acquisition, Sanjay Jain, CEO, Tulip Telecom Ltd. said, “Our new datacenter will help meet the rising customer requirements for co-location, managed hosting and data storage and a suite of other complementary services including managed security services and storage requirements of our customers from across the globe. This, we believe will provide further impetus towards strengthening our foothold in the Enterprise Data Services market place.”

According to Lt. Col. HS Bedi, VSM, Chairman and Managing Director, Tulip Telecom Ltd., “This acquisition provides us with the opportunity to garner a higher market share given our end-to-end product and service offerings whilst enabling customer stickiness. It will provide us a platform to roll out numerous other services including Cloud computing, SaaS and managed applications.”

The new eco-friendly datacenter will have state- of-the-art infrastructure and can house up to 16,000 racks, backed by upto 100 MW power supply. This facility will further be able to host 2,000 technical and managerial workforces. The entire building has a floor load bearing capacity of 1500 kgs per sq. meter. The civil structure of this facility is ready and the Company would make phased investments in power equipments, HVAC, fire detection and extinguishing systems, physical and data security systems, network equipment, WAN, LAN and storage, systems and software for datacenter operations depending on the demand. Given the robust demand, the company expects that this facility would be ready to be utilized in less than 6 months.

The Bengaluru datacenter will serve the hosting, co-location, storage and connectivity needs of large enterprises and small and medium businesses in the region, while also serving as a disaster recovery facility for enterprises that are present in other key business centers across India or nearby countries. Further, it allows the Company to expand its market offering by addressing new customer requirements in fast growing industry verticals viz. banking and financial services, manufacturing, IT and ITeS. The datacenter will be carrier neutral facility.

This state-of-the-art datacenter is planned to be ISO 20000-1 & 27001 certified and will be designed as per Seismic Zone 4 specifications with raised floors, precision air-conditioning with accurate temperature and humidity control systems with separate cooling zones. The completed facility will aim to offer the widest range of physical security features, including state-of-the-art smoke detection and fire suppression systems, motion sensors, and 24x7 secured access with biometric & proximity card readers, as well as video camera surveillance and security breach alarms.

The company already has four operational datacenters with two in Mumbai, and one each in Delhi and Bengaluru.

Source

[engineer.akash]

Nuclear Forensics Lab Proposed in India

Monday, March 7, 2011

Indian government scientists have drafted a proposal to construct a national nuclear forensic laboratory as part of international efforts to reduce the threat of nuclear terrorism, DNA India reported on Sunday (see GSN, Nov. 8, 2010).
The Directorate of Forensic Science Laboratories proposal still would require approval from the Indian government, which has yet to take up consideration of the issue.
The plan calls for the nuclear forensic center to be built at Karnataka in southwest India no later than 2018 or 2019, and it seeks approximately $4.7 million to support the laboratory's establishment and the acquisition of internationally developed sequencing technology.
The DFSL plan highlights a July 2010 U.S. National Research Council report's conclusion that the U.S. ability to pinpoint the origin of atomic matter was in decline (see GSN, Aug. 10, 2010).
The ability to analyze nuclear materials, atomic detonations and debris from a radiological event could aid efforts to identify and potentially retaliate against any party that provides nuclear substances to terrorists. Nonproliferation specialists hope a robust nuclear forensic capability would deter potential suppliers from selling atomic material to extremists, according to earlier reports.
Karnataka's considerable science and technology growth possibilities make it suitable for hosting nuclear forensic projects, according to India's Home Ministry (M.K. Madhusoodan, DNA India, March 6).

Source

Nuclear enrichment plant in India is in Mysore and similar special material enrichment plant is coming up in Challakere,Chitradurga- East Karnataka.

[engineer.akash]

Dynamatic to invest US $110 mn in new Aerospace Manufacturing Facility

Written by James
Tuesday, 08 March 2011
Bangalore: Dynamatic Technologies Limited plans to invest US$110 mn (approx Rs. 495.49 crore) over a period of six years to establish it's new aerospace manufacturing facility in Bangalore.

In the first phase of the project, which is expected to commence soon, a Modern Sheet Metal Shop, a Center of Excellence for Complex Machining and Surface Treatment Facility for large assemblies will be set up. Nearly 25 percent of the US$110 mn will be invested during the first 12 months of project implementation.
With this facility, Dynamatic Technologies Ltd will build capabilities in large aero-structure assemblies, composites and complex engineering. The company aims to emerge as a preferred strategic supplier to global aerospace Tier-Ones & Primes.

The company recently conducted the Ground Breaking Ceremony at its 35 acres site located in KIADB's (Karnataka Industrial Area Development Board) Aerospace Park near the International Airport in Bangalore. Dynamatic Technologies was one of the first few companies to enter into a Memorandum of Agreement with the Government of Karnataka for the establishment of an Aerospace Facility.

S.V. Ranganath, Chief Secretary to the Government of Karnataka, Klaus Richter, Executive Vice President & Head of EADS/Airbus Procurement, V.P Baligar, Principal Secretary, Industries Department, Government of Karnataka and Philippe Advani, Vice President, Head of EADS/Airbus Global Sourcing Network were present during the function.

"Bangalore has led the way in India’s Aerospace Industry, being home to leading Indian Aerospace organizations like HAL, DRDO and ISRO. The Government of Karnataka is leaving no stone unturned to ensure that Bangalore retains its preeminent position as the preferred business destination during the next decade. As the Indian economy grows and globalises, we are fully supportive of pioneering private sector companies like Dynamatic Technologies that have made Karnataka their home base. Going forward the Government will expand opportunities in the Aerospace Industry to other parts of the State keeping Bangalore as the hub," said S V Ranganath, Chief Secretary to the Government of Karnataka.

"The Aerospace Park in Devanahalli offers us the opportunity to reiterate our commitment to investing in Bangalore, where Dynamatic is headquartered. The unique ecosystem present in Bangalore - educational infrastructure, laboratories, Hindustan Aeronautics Limited and Indian Space Research Organisation – has contributed greatly to Dynamatic's growth and success in the Aerospace business and we are highly appreciative of the proactive role played by the Government of Karnataka in nurturing this sunrise industry," said Udayant Malhoutra, CEO & Managing Director, Dynamatic Technologies.

Source

[engineer.akash]

Volvo Buses aims at $1 bn revenues by 2015

BS Reporter / Chennai/ Hyderabad March 10, 2011, 0:31 IST
Volvo Buses India Private Limited, a subsidiary of Swedish vehicle market Volvo Corporation, is aiming to create an opportunity to sell 5,000 buses in India and be a $1-billion company, said managing director Akash Passey.

Speaking to mediapersons at the Bus and Special Vehicles Expo (BSVE) 2011 here on Wednesday, he said, “The dream is to achieve our goals by 2015. Towards this, we will be investing between Rs 200 crore and Rs 300 crore to ramp up our production capacity to 5,000 buses at our Hosakote facility (near Bangalore) from the present 1,000 units per year.”

The Hosakote facility will thus expand almost 100 per cent and will also result in a 30 per cent increase in manpower (currently 1,100) in the coming two years, Passey added.
Stating that the future of Volvo Buses in India was backed by a strong Indian footprint, he said the company today had almost 80 per cent share in the luxury inter-city A-C coach segment and over 50 per cent market share in the A-C diesel low-floor city buses, which are present across 12 cities in the country.

On whether the company would roll out low-cost models for the domestic market, Passey said, “We are not in the volume game. We will go with the segment where we can create value.”

The company sold 560 units in the last calendar and was expecting a 25-30 per cent growth in volumes in 2011, he said. It clocked revenues of Rs 600 crore last year and was hopeful of witnessing a 30 per cent growth this year.

Explaining the features of Volvo’s new I-Shift technology, he said the technology was an automated gear-changing mechanism and driver-friendly. With this new transmission, the best driving practices are secured irrespective of the driver.

BS

[sunilkumar]

BANGALORE, INDIA: Zynga Inc the creators of popular FarmVille game is looking at India to develop new games and features.

On Thursday, the company announced the Zynga Studio-I in Bangalore, its second biggest development centre outside United States and said it is looking to double the India head-count in 2011, from the present 100.

Shan Kadavil, Country Manager, Zynga India said that as the largest Zynga studio outside of the US, Studio-I will focus on innovative game development to create new features that will delight players. Additionally, the studio will be engaged in full life-cycle game development the same as other already existing studios.

The new centre will be focusing on new game titles like Fishville, You Ville and Vampire Wars, Kadavil added

According to the India country manager Zynga has grown as one of the fastest growing gaming companies with about 250 million users. He added that to aid this growth, Zynga India will continue to recruit engineers, product managers, game designers, artists and senior management to strategically grow operations. "These professionals are expected to have an eye for gaming and experience of handling large volume environments, graphics, networking, cloud computing and security among other expertise."

Kadavil said that “In only one year, India has made exciting advancements in technology that have truly improved efficiency for the entire company. With the launch of Studio-I, we are expanding our capabilities to leverage the amount of creative talent based in India for new features within Zynga’s popular games. We are looking for more people with an entrepreneurial drive combined with engineering and artistic skills to join our exciting and growing team.”

The expansion of Studio-I comes on the heels of the recent launch of Zynga Game Cards in India, which provide an easy way for players to purchase virtual goods within games. These user-focused initiatives will continue along with activities such as fan and community events.

http://www.ciol.com/Developer/Develo...ntre/147594/0/