Madan Krishnan Named VP for Meditronic India Sub-Continent

Medtronic plc, the global leader in medical technology, today announced the appointment of Madan Krishnan as vice president, Indian Sub-continent (ISC). In this role, Krishnan will lead the Medtronic ISC business, which includes India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Nepal, as the company further demonstrates its commitment to meaningful innovation, global access, aligning value, and partnerships.

“Madan’s demonstrated leadership and roots in this market enable us to take healthcare further, together. He will shape our business and take it into the future by cutting through complexity, building trust and credibility, championing innovation, and setting high standards. We see tremendous growth potential in ISC and I have full confidence in Madan’s ability to be an engaged and collaborative industry leader while caring for our employees,” said Bob White, president, Asia Pacific at Medtronic.

Krishnan brings outstanding leadership credentials to the role, with nearly 20 years of healthcare experience. He has a deep understanding of the healthcare industry with experience in emerging markets, mergers and acquisitions, corporate finance, and sales and marketing excellence. He also led the post-acquisition integration of Medtronic and Covidien across Asia Pacific.

Krishnan joined Medtronic in 2011. Prior to this appointment, Krishnan was vice president of finance, Asia Pacific (APAC). A key part of the market leader role will be to develop strategic partnerships with hospitals, payers, and government to help establish aligned, value-based healthcare models that can deliver better patient outcomes.

Krishnan earned an MBA from the Sloan School of Management as a Sloan Fellow and was an elected member of the MIT Senate. He also holds a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Calicut. Krishnan is a qualified Chartered Accountant, and is fluent in English, Turkish, Hindi, Tamil, and Malayalam and has basic competency in Spanish and Korean. 

Medtronic began its operations in India in 1979. Headquartered at Solitaire Corporate Park in Mumbai, it has offices at Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Cochin, Dhaka, Gurgaon, Hyderabad, Kolkata, New Delhi, Pune and Vadodara.

Over 1 Million Travel Tickets Booked on Paytm’s Marketplace in Aug ‘16

Paytm, India’s largest mobile payment and commerce platform, has registered over 1 million flight and bus ticket bookings on its Travel Marketplace in August. The company expects 2x growth in the travel business over the next 6 months. 

Paytm’s bus tickets business recently turned break-even. The Hotels category is expected to turn break even very soon and the Flights bookings has been organically scaling at a 4x month-on-month growth since its launch in May. In its drive towards creating the country’s best cashless travel ecosystem, Paytm will soon launch new categories and ancillaries. To fuel this growth, the company will further invest Rs 300Cr on its travel business.

Being modeled as a marketplace, Paytm has multiple sellers providing various travel services to customers. This allows the platform to offer a diverse selection at the most competitive prices. Paytm offers a unique opportunity for travel service providers to gain access to its 130 million strong and growing user base.

Abhishek Rajan, Vice President, Paytm, said, “At Paytm, we are building India’s largest travel marketplace with the mission to solve every need of a traveller – be it transport, accommodation, activities or ancillaries. We have seen exponential growth in all categories and will soon offer new services to our customers. Leveraging Paytm’s significant market penetration and strong brand proposition, we hope to grow India’s online travel booking pie by introducing new customers from tier II, III towns and cities to this category.”

The company has set up a 100+ member team in its Bengaluru office to drive innovation in the category. This move is an important step in the vision of making cashless transactions a way of life across all consumer segments and demographic profiles in India.

UL & NDTV Partner for Annual National Safety Science Quiz 2016

UL, the global safety science organization is back with its annual National Safety Science Quiz (NSSQ) that aims to inspire school students to be ‘safety aware’ and learn how the youth can contribute towards a safer India. With the theme of “Safety Science in Everyday Life”, the national level quiz competition offers a platform for young minds to challenge themselves while showcasing their ideas to prove that they are ‘Safety Smart’. Produced and telecast by NDTV, the program will be organized by Xpress Minds Edutainment, a part of the NDTV media group.

Students from Class IX - Class XII from five metro zones across India - Mumbai, New Delhi, Bangalore, Chennai and Kolkata - will be eligible to participate in the quiz. The preliminary or the ‘Qualifier’ Rounds will be conducted in the form of an online test between August 15-25,  2016. Top two students from each school will then go on to participate in a ‘City Finale’ between the last week of September and first week of October 2016. Two winners from each City Finale will then qualify for the ‘Grand Finale’ to be held at the NDTV Studio in New Delhi in October 2016.

As a part of the NSSQ, UL will simultaneously hold a Safety Parliament in which the winners of the City Finale will represent themselves as the Members of the Safety Parliament and interact with a panel of Experts on safety concerns. On conclusion, recommendations/ resolutions will be passed and they in turn will be brought to the notice of the concerned authorities for possible implementation. The participants will be declared as Safety Ambassadors and are expected to act as ‘change agents’, bringing awareness on safety issues in their cities and surroundings.

R.A. Venkitachalam Vice President – Public Safety Mission, UL said, “Awareness about Public Safety in everyday life is essential in making our lives healthy and safe in any society – and the involvement and engagement of the youth is of utmost importance.  For over a century now, we at UL have been committed to a safe living and working environment for people by the application of safety science and hazard-based safety engineering. As India grows economically and technologically, we have the responsibility to help ensure a ‘Safe Society’, safe for its children, safe for its citizens in their daily lives, safe while consuming products and services available in the market. This comes from use of Safety Science at all levels and in ensuring Education and Awareness, especially with children, the future of every society. We at UL believe that the NSSQ will be an important step towards generating interest in Safety Science with children, parents and families, schools and the government. We are delighted to be joining hands with NDTV in this effort.”

Commenting on their association with UL and NSSQ,  Pankaj Chandra, Sr. Vice President, NDTV Limited said, “Any occurrence in incidents and fatalities is largely because safety is compromised and this issue needs immediate attention. At NDTV, we have always encouraged the need to address safety-related issues in public life and find suitable solutions. With our association with UL, we aim to sensitize the youth and the public at large and hope to create a safer living environment for all.” 

NSSQ is an educational platform on safety practices while spreading the message of safety science through safety education across the country. Winners of the Quiz will be entitled to exclusive prizes. The winning team of two students + one guardian will have the opportunity to visit the Safety Labs of UL in Taiwan.

Accenture & READ India Partner to Empower Women in Rural Karnataka

To improve the employability and livelihood of more than 150 underprivileged women and young girls, Accenture and READ India are launching a rural community development center in Bagepalli in Karnataka. The initiative will provide life and work-skills training in areas such as self-confidence, gender sensitization, sewing and stitching, computer skills, local crafts and reading and writing.

The new center will include a multimedia and communications room, an IT area for ICT-based learning, a library and places where women can attend classes, participate in trainings and receive medical examinations.  Sarva Dharma Samanvaya Trust, which has been running a school for children at Bagepalli since 2001, is providing the space for the center.  More than 850 village households lie within a five kilometer radius of it; several of the villages offer limited professional and vocational options, and they lack basic healthcare, sanitation and education facilities.

“The rural development center is an extension of our collaborative work to bring systematic change within a community,” said Rekha M. Menon, chairman and managing director, Accenture in India. “The overarching goal is to encourage other non-profit and co-funding partners to work together to build an initiative that has far reaching impact and is based on a scalable model with sustainable outcomes. A rural community thrives when the engagement and programs are multi-faceted and address various needs together in a holistic manner.”

The launch of the center reflects Accenture’s global corporate citizenship initiative, Skills to Succeed, which is equipping more than 3 million people around the world by 2020 with the skills to get a job or build a business. The new effort extends the company’s commitment in Bagepalli, where, with RuralShores, it has been providing training and employment opportunities since 2013.

According to Geeta Malhotra, Director, READ India, “Combination of regular workshops on confidence building, personality development and life skills made women realize their potential. Adding income to the family helps them to create a position for themselves and also take decisions about their children’s future. Being in the environment of education and peer learning at READ Centres helps them resolve many common personal and societal issues.”

“As part of our Skills to Succeed initiative, we now have two full time programs running in Bagepalli apart from the Impact Sourcing initiative with RuralShores,” said Kshitija Krishnaswamy, director of corporate citizenship – Accenture in India.  “At our skilling center in Bagepalli, through our partnership with DB Tech and Quest alliance, we have trained over 108 individuals and placed 87 of them in gainful employment. The rural community centre is another prong in our development efforts to raise the standard of living and employability in Bagepalli and surrounding villages.”  

Odisha State Eyes Top Five Slots for Technology Start-Up Hubs in India

 The state government has decided to formulate a policy in a bid to put Odisha among top three start-up hubs in the country by 2020. The Odisha government recently held a Invest in Odisha in Bengaluru to attract new investments into the state. The team led by the Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik among other senior ministers were present at the event.

The draft policy, which has been put in the public domain, maintains that the State Government will create enabling environment and supporting eco-system to facilitate at least 1000 start ups during next five years. The policy will be notified after getting approval of the cabinet.

The state government will establish one or more start ups/innovation parks in Odisha as one-stop destination for start-ups, either on its own or in partnership with private sector.

The policy will encourage incubators including sector-specific ones aligning with the state’s strengths and requirements. The government will take steps to provide skill-based training to encourage youths to take up start-ups.

Besides, the policy will encourage all major companies operating out of Odisha to include skill and infrastructure development for start-ups as an integral component of their CSR activities. The CSR funds of state public sector undertakings (PSUs) will be channelised and utilised for development of start-ups/innovation parks in compliance with the Companies Act, 2013. The policy will remain in operation for five years from the date of its notification or until substituted by another policy, whichever is earlier. Official sources maintained that the policy will provide incentives and exemptions above the start-up policy of the Centre and any other existing policy in the state.

Realising the importance of quality infrastructure required for creating successful start-ups, the government will encourage creation of world-class incubators in universities/institutions, research and development and industry.

The government will encourage universities and educational institutions, which are in existence for at least five years and approved by state level implementation committee, to support and mentor innovators. Such approved institutions will be eligible for a one-time grants towards capital items upto `50 lakh to set up incubator facility.

The approved incubators will also be eligible for performance capital grant of `5 lakh for each successful start-up they incubate. Besides, approved industrial houses will be eligible for a performance capital grant of `5 lakh for each successful start-up they create.

The policy will be implemented by a two-tier government structure, a start-up council/State level implementation committee to headed by Chief Secretary and a task force-based review mechanism headed by the Secretary in Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise (MSME) Department.

Uma Thana Balasingam Appointed as Vice President of Channels for Asia Pacific Japan

Riverbed Technology, the leader in application performance infrastructure, has appointed Uma Thana Balasingam as Vice President, Channels for Riverbed Asia Pacific and Japan (APJ). Balasingam, who will be based in Riverbed’s APJ headquarters in Singapore, will be responsible for defining the region’s go-to-market strategies including channel, service providers and alliances. As a key member of the leadership team, she will play an active role in shaping the company’s growth strategy in the region.

“Uma is coming onboard at a pivotal time in the growth of Riverbed’s business in APJ. We’ve made a rapid, significant shift to a platform-centric company, and our success in driving our total portfolio to the market relies so much on the channel. Helping our partners understand the benefits of building their own services on Riverbed solutions and ensuring they feel supported by our programs is critical to our business,” said Bjorn Engelhardt, Senior Vice President, Asia Pacific and Japan, Riverbed Technology. “Uma’s proven business and channel leadership, together with her deep understanding of the regional dynamics, will be a tremendous asset.”

Balasingam brings to Riverbed 15 years of business and strategic channels development experience in the Asia Pacific and Japan region. She joins Riverbed from EMC, where she served for more than seven years in various senior leadership roles focus on business development and channels development, most recently as Senior Director, Channel Sales Development for Asia Pacific and Japan. Previously Balasingam held roles in management at Brocade and field sales at IBM.

A champion of personal development, Uma is also the founder of Lean In Women in Technology Asia, a nonprofit organization and online community dedicated to helping all women achieve their ambitions.

“It's an exciting time to be joining Riverbed with emerging technologies disrupting the status quo, new ways to engage and connect with customers, and entirely new routes to market changing the business landscape,” said Uma Thana Balasingam, Vice President, Channels, Asia Pacific and Japan at Riverbed. “I’m pleased to have the opportunity to help our partners make this shift through differentiated embedded solutions and services as well as new revenue and services opportunities. Riverbed’s disruptive SD-WAN, visibility and software-defined edge platforms, along with its continued leadership in WAN optimization, make it the ideal go-to-market partner in this dynamic market.”

Riverbed serves more than 27,000 customers globally, including 97% of the Fortune 100 and 98% of the Forbes Global 100. Its footprint in APJ covers the six markets of ASEAN, Australia & New Zealand, Greater China, India, Japan and Korea with a presence in 15 countries and a global network of 3,000 partners including technology partners, resellers, distributors, service providers, and integrators. 

Bala Girisaballa Takes Charge as New CEO-in-Residence, Microsoft Accelerator in India

Microsoft announced that Bala Girisaballa will be leading Microsoft Accelerator in India as CEO-in-Residence. He took charge of the Accelerator’s India operations, with effect from August 1, 2016. Microsoft also announced that Ravi Narayan, Director, will now assume the role of Global Director at Microsoft Accelerator.

Bala will lead the Accelerator’s efforts to help market-ready startups and entrepreneurs to scale up and become successful businesses through the technology enablement, global go-to-market efforts and deep business advisory in the form of Hi-Po and Scale-Up programs. Prior to this, Bala was with Zinnov as Partner and Practice Head helping MNC RnD companies.

Ravi Narayan, in his new role as Global Director, will help Microsoft Accelerator in eight locations around the world to become market-ready, focused and accelerate these startups that have or will raise institutional funding from VCs. He will also focus on scaling the startup acceleration model through global partners.

Early last year, Microsoft Accelerator in India redesigned their programs to cater to market-ready startups. Since then, it has graduated three cohorts which include startups like iBot, CustomerXPs, Altizon, CloudCherry and Reverie Technologies. It has also formed partnerships with Temasek, TCS, Citi, Reliance Industries and other Multinational Corporates under its corporate engagement program #CoInnovate, to help the startups in their go-to-market efforts and global expansion.