Avishkara Launched To Accelerate Science & Innovation in Karnataka

 Intel India in association with the Department of Public Instruction, Govt. of Karnataka^* and Agastya Foundation today launched “Avishkara - Karnataka Student Innovation Program” at the Visvesvaraya Industrial and Technological Museum^*, Bangalore. Aimed at fostering the next generation of innovators by accelerating science & innovation in Karnataka, the Program will promote ‘STEM’ (Science Technology Engineering and Math) initiatives in the State, and drive greater collaboration to promote research and innovation. 

Present at the event was S R Patil, Minister for IT, BT and ST, Government of Karnataka along with Mohammed Mohsin, IAS, Commissioner for Public Instruction, Department of Public Instruction, Govt. of Karnataka, and Jitendra Chaddah, Director, Strategic Relations and Operations, Intel India. Also present were KG Kumar, Director, Visvesvaraya Industrial and Technological Museum, Bangalore, and Ramji Raghavan, Founder, Agastya Foundation.

S R Patil inaugurated the ‘Intel  Galileo Corner’, a hub to provide hands-on experience and inculcate a Do It Yourself (DIY) culture amongst students while popularizing design and innovation at the Visvesvaraya Industrial and Technological Museum, Bangalore. He also flagged off of the iMobile Program, an initiative of Agastya Foundation supported by Intel to provide science, innovation and digital literacy skills to the rural community at their doorstep. Several students from Karnataka, who were IRIS National Fair Winners and have represented India at the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair, the world's largest international pre-college science competition, were also felicitated at the event. 

On the occasion, Jitendra Chaddah, Director, Strategic Relations and Operations, Intel India said, “Intel believes that young minds are the key to taking on big ideas, and a strong STEM foundation is crucial for their success. We are happy to work with the Government of Karnataka, Agastya Foundation and the Visvesvaraya Industrial and Technological Museum, Bangalore on a wide array of STEM-centred initiatives and   resources, designed to inspire innovative spirit among students and result in better learning and great discovery.”

S R Patil, Honorable Minister for IT, BT and ST, Govt. of Karnataka said, “Education is the key to the country’s economic future. We need to encourage students to pursue education that focuses on exploration, discovery & innovation.  We need talent to compete globally, and we will need even more in the future. It is not a matter of choice- For India to remain the global innovation leader; we must make the most of all of the potential talent this country has to offer. We are fortunate to have technology giant like Intel being pioneers to provide such opportunity to the educators and students in the state of Karnataka. The Innovation program launched in the state is laudable and will inspire the young generation in the right direction.” 

“This is a decade of innovation and today’s workforce involves acquisition of multiple skills.  Therefore education has become vital and what better way to encourage teachers & students participate in innovation related programs.  We are very fortunate to have Intel leading the way and launching its program focusing on Innovation in the state of Karnataka.  It gives me great pleasure to see students from our state stand up to the International Competition and winning laurels for our country.  I am sure such initiatives will go a long way and build a smart track of young talent in India,” said Mohammed Mohsin., I.A.S., Commissioner for Public Instruction, Department of Public Instruction, Govt. of Karnataka.

“If we allow our imaginations to fly and sour high, creativity develops. All of us are creative by nature; as man has always been an explorer. But children are more creative because most of the things they do or see is happening for the first time in their life. It is at this juncture that they should be caught and trained. Science museums are the best place to start with, where creativity and innovative thoughts can move without hindrance by way of exhibits and activities to develop such attitude in them. We are happy to be associated with Intel in this journey to nurture creativity and innovation among children,” said K G Kumar, Director, Visvesvaraya Industrial and Technological Museum, Bangalore.

Avishkara is a joint initiative by Intel Education and the Department of Education, Karnataka to accelerate STEM-based governmental and non-governmental programs like Inspire and Initiative for Research and Innovation in Science (IRIS) which encourage student interest and participation in STEM related subjects. Earlier this year, Intel India and National Council of Science Museums^* collaborated to set-up an ‘Intel  Galileo Corner’ at select NCSM^* centres starting with New Delhi. This ‘Intel  Galileo Corner’ will give students’ access to the Intel Galileo Development Board  to help them build prototypes for their ideas of smart devices.This learning and discovery process would be helped by relevant technologists who will be on-hand to guide on potential usage capabilities of the platform. 

New Commerce Platform With Retail Analytics At Forum

Openbravo, a complete commerce solution for agile retailers and a solid horizontal ERP solution for any industry, will showcase its latest Commerce platform at the India Retail Forum, Renaissance Hotel, Mumbai on September 17-18, 2014. At booth C8, Openbravo will exhibit its Commerce Platform embedded with Retail Analytics for the first time.

India Retail Forum (IRF) is the premier knowledge and networking platform for India’s burgeoning retail and shopping center industries. In its 11th year, the annual congregation with the participation of the most esteemed visionaries, retail experts and influential decision makers charts a brand new course every year for the retail and shopping center fraternities. The Forum acts as a bridge between Indian and International players providing a holistic picture of the latest scenarios and opportunities.

 The technologies on display at IRF 2014 will allow the visitors to experience the true game-changing potential that retail technology can offer in the coming future.  The Openbravo team at India Retail Forum will provide a demo of their latest solutions and discuss with visitors on their various business needs, challenges faced by retailers and how a commerce solution can help tackle this. 

“We view India as an important market with unlimited opportunities for growth, especially in the retail segment which was projected to grow to $792.84 billion by the end of 2017. India is the fifth largest retail destination globally. We are excited to offer our complete commerce solution, which enables our customers to maintain their competitiveness in this retail wave.  Our breakthrough solutions will enable their business to be truly agile. It will help our customers effectively adapt to rapidly changing business challenges”, said Sunando Banerjee, Channel Business Manager for Asia Pacific & Middle East, Openbravo.

The Openbravo Commerce Platform with its embedded Retail Analytics provides retailers with the best solution to stay agile in today’s new consumer age. Web and mobile point of sale, integration with e-commerce, flexible merchandise management capabilities and a comprehensive supply chain management help retailers to allow physical stores to play their new role, to progress in cross-channel and be more engaging with customers, employees and partners. And now with a strong set of specific retail reports build on top of the Openbravo Analytics solution retailers can be more responsive to customer behavior or market changes thanks to actionable insights about business performance across all channels. 

World Vision India Launches Blog-a-thon Hunger Contest

In an effort to raise awareness on the extent of malnutrition among children below the age of 5, World Vision India, in association with Youth Ki Awaaz, announced the launch of a blog-a-thon contest on hunger today.

Hunger is an endemic issue across the nation, with India being home to a quarter of the world’s underweight children under the age of 5. To this day, 40% of the population is malnourished – a decrease of only 10% in the last three decades. Every year, around 6.6 million children die of preventable diseases in the world, 60% of which is due to hunger and malnutrition. From stunted children to undernourished farmers who go hungry every night, hunger remains a menace for which a solution is urgently called for.

The one-of-a-kind blog-a-thon launched today aims at stirring up a conversation around hunger by harnessing the power of blogs. Participants can stage a post, a video, an article, a poem, a doodle or even a photo story on the theme of “Hunger is…”  They can also use personal narratives of how they have seen hunger around them or build an entirely new story. 

“Hunger is a structural issue that needs active attention and we need to refocus the nation on this very intrinsic problem,” said Dr Jayakumar Christian, CEO, World Vision India. “With the blog-a-thon, we hope to use social media, and blogs specifically, to spread awareness among the large number of socially conscious youth in the country. These are highly active, very creative people who are starting to drive the call for change in our country and their participation, be it through fictional accounts or fact-based articles, can help bring hunger back into the spotlight and move our society closer to a better understanding of its causes and possible solutions.”

The blog-a-thon is the latest step taken by World Vision India as part of its 24 Hour Famine, a campaign targeted at addressing issues of hunger and malnutrition that severely impact the lives of children, especially those under the age of 5. 

“Untimely deaths, chronic diseases and a massive loss in the nation’s productivity should not be reduced to mere statistics worthy only for repetition in political narratives, but needs to become an integral topic of thought” said Dr Jayakumar. “It is high time we discuss hunger as not just an economic but a social problem, which spreads due to the callous attitude meted out to it. The way to end hunger lies with spreading awareness and campaigns such as the 24 Hour Famine is designed to kick start such conversations and drive home to the nation the fact that for a wide majority of Indians, sleeping after a filling meal is but a dream.”

The World Vision India blog-a-thon on Youth Ki Awaaz is now officially open and will run till 20^th September. Participants can submit their entries at http://www.youthkiawaaz.com/hungeris/ . The best blog entry will receive a MOTO E mobile phone as a token of appreciation.

Conducted in 7 cities across the nation – Chennai, Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Kolkata and Guwahati – the 24 Hour Famine consists of events from art exhibitions to literary and cultural competitions driven by local communities, school children as well as civil and public officials to drive home the message. It hopes to engage the public and youth from ages of 13–30 on the problems faced by children due to malnourishment. 

More information on the 24 Hour Famine campaign can be found at http://www.24hourfamine.in/.   

Leading Taiwanese Exhibitors Participate In EMMA Expo India 2014 In Bangalore

The 8th edition of EMMA Expo India 2014, bringing to India leading manufacturers of Electronics, Machinery & Moulds, Auto & Motorcycle parts & Accessories, was today inaugurated at the Bangalore International Exhibition Centre (BIEC) by Ananth Kumar, Hon’ble Union Minister for Chemicals and Fertilizers, Yagnanarayan Kammaje, Chairman, Organizing Committee – IMS 2014, Walter Yeh, Executive Vice President, Taipei World Trade Center Co. Ltd, and Ambassador Chung- Kwang Tien, Representative, Taipei Economic and Cultural Center in India. Present on the occasion were a number of dignitaries from the Government, industry, associations and other institutions from India and abroad.

 The prestigious EMMA Expo India 2014 - running in conjunction with the India Manufacturing Show (IMS) for the second time - will bring together 205 leading Taiwanese exhibitors using 154 booths dealing with electronics, machinery, auto parts and trend setters to explore business opportunities in the growing Indian market.

The Expo will be on at Hall 2 of BIEC, on 11 and 12 September from 10 am to 6 pm, and 13 September from 10 am to 4 pm. Free admission will be offered to business professionals with 2 business cards.

 Taiwan’s latest concept exhibition coupled with IMS will draw more than 7,000 business professionals from India, Bangladesh, United States and other neighboring countries. On-site and after show business opportunities are expected to surpass US$24 billion. By bringing business opportunities up to US$ 24 million, the show will build upon its last success where it generated US$ 12.4 million.

Among the top players at the show will be Taiwan firms like Hu Lane Associate Inc. (famous automotive connector and terminal manufacture), Tongtai Machine & Tool Co. Ltd (renowned provider of equipment, instruments and tools), CoreTech System Co. Ltd. (provider of the Moldex injection molding series with the best yet molding simulation solutions), CUB ELECPARTS Inc. (Core manufacturer of Electrical & Electronic Auto Parts), Litemax Electronics Inc. (innovative Very high brightness (VHB) LCD products with mass-production capability), Rhymebus Corp. (Frequency Inverter Manufacturer), Karma Medical Products Co. Ltd. (customized maker of wheelchairs, standing chairs, general purpose chairs and maker of scores of mobility aid devices) and many more.

 Speaking at the EMMA EXPO INDIA 2014 Opening Ceremony, Walter Yeh, Executive Vice President, Taipei World Trade Center Co. Ltd, said, “It gives me pleasure to welcome you on behalf of the Taipei World Trade Center to the opening ceremony of 2014 EMMA Expo India. Beginning in 2007, EMMA has grown through the years to become a comprehensive platform for commercial exchanges between Taiwan and India. With each year, a growing number of Taiwan firms join the Expo to explore business opportunities in the Indian market. We are grateful to the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Govt. of India and to our strategic partner, the India Manufacturing Show and our co-organizers, the Taiwan Electrical and Electronic Manufacturers’ Association, the Taiwan Association of Machinery Industry and the Taiwan Transportation Vehicle Manufacturers Association for making the 8th edition possible.”

 Ananth Kumar, Hon’ble Union Minister for Chemicals and Fertilizers, Tien, Representative of Taipei Ecnomic and Cultural Centre in India, Ms. Amelia Day, Director of First Bilateral Trade Division from Bureau of Foreign Trade, and Bollywood Star Siddharth Malhotra also spoke at the ceremony.

Taiwan Trio THEME PAVILIONS will include the: Taiwan Excellence Pavilion: spotlights excellence in innovation and offers businesses an opportunity to get inspired by heading to the Pavilion that showcases 160-plus top-of-the-line products from 47 leading Taiwan brands including ASUS, Acer, BenQ, D-link, Gigabyte, Silicon Power and Transcend. Taiwantrade Pavilion: Taiwantrade is also the official trade portal of Taiwan with added services that include online marketing, trade matching, search engine, value-added information and customized sourcing. Taiwan Higher Education Exposition: Taiwan and India are two hubs of learning. Both nations cherish education, which backs innovation that generates business, industry, and wealth. To underscore bilateral ties EMMA Expo India features the Taiwan Higher Education Exposition that will feature nine leading educational institutions including Academia Sinica, the Taiwan Education Center India, National Tsing Hua University, Kaohsiung Medical University and more.

 The EMMA Stage Shows will share more industrial insights with businessmen. For the first time ever, the EMMA Stage Shows will showcase exclusive products from companies such as CUB Elecparts Inc., Karmal Medical, Togntai Machine & Tool Co. Ltd, Moldex3D, Wen’s Phoenix Corporation, Luckyear Microelectronics Crop and Hu Lane Associate Inc., these primes companies will demonstrate most innovative products in Live at the stage show.

Visitors can benefit by benchmarking product features of different makes, interacting about their requirements with technical heads, and negotiating deals with chief executives. Moreover, two seminars hosted by FICCI (Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry) on Sept 12 at 11 am and ELCINA (Electronic Industries Association of India) will give visitors a fresh insight into the latest incentives on investment in India the same day(Sep 12) at 2:50 pm.