Medtronic Shares Ventilation Design Specs to Accelerate Efforts to Increase Ventilator Production

Medtronic plc, the global leader in medical technology, has announced it is publicly sharing the design specifications for the Puritan Bennett 560 (PB 560) to enable participants across industries to evaluate options for rapid ventilator manufacturing to help doctors and patients dealing with COVID-19. This decision is consistent with the recent FDA Guidance and in accordance with the public health and medical response of governmental agencies globally.

Introduced in 2010, the PB 560 is sold in 35 countries around the world. This ventilator’s ability to be used in a range of care settings, as well as its technology and design, make it a solid ventilation solution for manufacturers, inventors, start-ups, and academic institutions seeking to quickly ramp up ventilator design and production. PB 560 product and service manuals, design requirement documents, manufacturing documents, and schematics are now available at Medtronic.com/openventilator. The PB 560 design specifications are available today, software code and other information will follow shortly.

The PB 560 ventilator is a compact, lightweight, and portable ventilator that provides airway support for both adults and children. It can be used in clinical settings and at home and provides mobile respiratory support.

“Medtronic recognizes the acute need for ventilators as life-saving devices in the management of COVID-19 infections. We know this global crisis needs a global response. Over the past few weeks, we have ramped up production of our Puritan Bennett™ 980 ventilators. But we also know we can do more, and we are,” said Bob White, executive vice president and president of the Minimally Invasive Therapies Group at Medtronic. “By openly sharing the PB 560 design information, we hope to increase global production of ventilator solutions for the fight against COVID-19.”

Ventilators play a critical role in the management of patients with severe respiratory illness, such as COVID-19, who require assistance because they cannot breathe effectively. By placing a patient on a ventilator, the patient’s lungs are permitted to rest and recover while the ventilator performs the functions of supplying oxygen and simulating the actions of breathing. Without ventilation support, some patients with severe respiratory disease might not survive.

About Medtronic

Medtronic plc (www.medtronic.com), headquartered in Dublin, Ireland, is among the world's largest medical technology, services and solutions companies – alleviating pain, restoring health and extending life for millions of people around the world. Medtronic employs more than 90,000 people worldwide, serving physicians, hospitals and patients in more than 150 countries. The company is focused on collaborating with stakeholders around the world to take healthcare Further, Together.

Zscaler Appoints Sudip Banerjee as Director of Transformation Strategy for Asia Pacific and Japan

Zscaler, the leader in cloud security has appointed  Sudip Banerjee as the Director of Transformation Strategy Asia Pacific and Japan.  Based in Mumbai, Banerjee joins Zscaler with more than 25 years of experience in the IT industry and will be responsible for supporting customers with transforming their on-premise network and security stack to the cloud.

Most recently, Banerjee was Group Chief Technology Officer at Reliance Capital where he was responsible for implementing Digital transformation and large IT initiatives across diverse businesses spanning Lending, Insurance, and Asset management.  Prior, he spent ten years at Reliance General Insurance in several roles, including Chief Risk & Technology Officer as well as Chief Operating Officer.  He was also previously Vice President – IT at GE Money and SAP Consultant at PwC. He was also previously Vice President – IT at GE Money and SAP Consultant at PwC.

“Sudip brings to the table domain expertise in the financial services industry combined with deep dive experience in driving digital transformation programs, public cloud SaaS adoption and rearchitecting network infrastructure for enhanced user productivity and improved security posture,” said Scott Robertson, Vice President Asia Pacific and Japan, Zscaler.  “As our first ever Director of Transformation Strategy for Asia Pacific, Sudip brings exceptional regional market knowledge to Zscaler as well as experience with cloud IT deployments, both of which make him an ideal executive to support customers.

Sudip Banerjee said, “Zscaler delivers a winning formula for the region with leading cloud-based security solutions, a strong channel structure and proven expertise in helping businesses in Asia Pacific boost their cyber security.  I’m looking forward to working with customers to assist  Zscaler in helping our customers drive competitive advantage at a time when we’ve seen additional risk from cyber criminals in the wake of coronavirus as well as nation state activity and potential vulnerabilities in working from home among employees working for companies who may not  have the IT infrastructure to handle a large remote workforce.”

Paytm Revamps UI with Stay at Home Essential Payments; Launches COVID-19 Information Centre

Highlights

* Streamlines recharge, utility, credit card, insurance premium, groceries & medicines payments
* Launches Information Centre with social media feeds of the government, health authorities and various ministers providing verified information instantly
* Introduces COVID-19 self-assessment scanning in association with Apollo 24/7

In a bid to make consumers life simpler during the lockdown, Paytm, India’s largest digital payments and financial services company have revamped its app UI with a 'Stay at home Essential payments'. The platform has streamlined payments such as mobile & DTH recharge, electricity, water, gas, credit card, insurance premium among others which millions of Indians are now conveniently paying from their home.

Paytm has also introduced an 'Information and Help centre' on its app under its #IndiaFightsCorona section to offer verified information directly from the government bodies and health authorities. It features their twitter feed along with important helpline numbers. This section has a COVID-19 self-assessment scanning powered by Apollo 24/7 developed on the basis of guidelines from the World Health Organisation (WHO) and Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India. While this scan cannot be taken as expert medical advice, it helps people to understand if someone is potentially at risk of suffering from the virus. It asks a set of questions to give a user an idea of how much at risk can they be from the virus.

Amit Veer, Sr. Vice President - Paytm said, "Our team has taken work from home as an opportunity to understand how we can help our fellow countrymen. We have revamped the Paytm app so that people can easily spot the essential payments icon and do not have to step out of home & take a risk of getting infected. We have also introduced an Information & Help Centre on COVID-19 so that people do not fall prey to ‘unsubstantiated information being circulated on social media or chat groups. With the help of our self-assessment tool, users can check their risk factor towards this virus and take the necessary precautions to remain safe.”

The company is also seeking contributions for PM CARES (Prime Minister's Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations Fund) on the Paytm app. It is aiming to contribute Rs. 500 crore to the relief fund. For every contribution or any other payment made on Paytm using the wallet, UPI and Paytm Bank debit card, the company will contribute an extra upto Rs 10. The PM CARES Fund is exempt under the Income Tax Act, 1961 under Section 10 and 139 for return purposes. Contributions towards PM-CARES are notified for 100 percent deduction from taxable income under section 80(G) of the Income Tax Act, 1961.

Airtel and Juggernaut Announce "FREE Access to Thousands of e-Books" on Juggernaut Books

Bharti Airtel (“Airtel”), India’s largest integrated telco enabled FREE access to thousands of titles on its e-books platform – Juggernaut Books (formerly known as Airtel Books) for all its customers.

As India stays at home to support the Government’s efforts to contain the spread of #COVID-19, readers can now access thousands of top books and novels on Juggernaut Books (formerly known as Airtel Books) for FREE by simply downloading the app (Android/iOS) on their smartphones.

Says Adarsh Nair, Chief Product Officer, Bharti Airtel, “In these unprecedented times, Airtel and Juggernaut are trying to make sure that people have more options to stay engaged as they observe social distancing. And what’s better than getting back to reading. At Airtel, we will continue to innovate and bring exciting digital content to customers across our platforms.” 

Adds Chiki Sarkar, Co-Founder, Juggernaut Books said: “We set up juggernaut to find a new kind of reading and a new kind of reader for a changing India. That’s why we felt very strongly about doing something original and imaginative with the coronavirus and the country going in lockdown and people spending more time on their screens.”

Juggernaut Books offers e-books and novels across a wide range of genres – love and romance, business, history and politics, fitness, diet, spirituality and classics.

Top titles on Juggernaut Books include:

    •   The CEO Factory by Sudhir Sitapati
    •   Bottle of Lies by Katherine Eban
    •   Early Indians by Tony Joseph
    •   Mind Without Fear by Rajat Gupta
    •   Pyjamas are Forgiving by Twinkle Khanna
    •   12 Week Fitness Project by Rujuta Diwekar
    •   Kohinoor by William Dalrymple
    •   Century is not Enough by Sourav Ganguly
    •   Good Economics by Abhijit Banerjee and Esther Duflo

Airtel acquired a strategic stake in Juggernaut in 2017 and is committed to expanding the reach of this fast growing digital publishing platform. Juggernaut has recently launched a path breaking campaign #readinstead with the aim to push people into reading. It is also organizing an innovative online literary festival as part of its efforts to promote reading. The online lit fest will see participation from Juggernaut’s top authors.

As part of its content portfolio, Airtel also offers over 10,000 movies and shows plus LIVE TV to its customers on Airtel Xstream app and over 4 million songs and curated music on Wynk Music.

Virtual School Solution Powered by Next Education’s Learning Platform is the Key to Continuous Learning Amid COVID-19

The end-to-end K-12 education solutions provider steps forward to ensure uninterrupted learning and seamless academic operations through Next Learning Platform

With the increase in COVID-19 cases throughout India, the Government has imposed a total lockdown across India. As a result, disruption to the education industry has been unprecedented with school closures, suspended academic operations and inadequacy of platform to conduct online classes. Considering this situation, Next Education India Pvt. Ltd., India’s leading education solutions provider, has stepped forward to help schools with the transition from offline to online academics operations through the 'Next Learning Platform', a school-in-a-box solution/an integrated solution to facilitate remote learning and academic operations without any hindrance.

Next Education strives to make academic operations and the K–12 learning environment more interactive, creative and engaging by offering its integrated learning platform, Next Learning Platform, comprising NextERP, NextLMS including Live Lectures, NextAssessment, content access at home and leading state boards’ content in vernacular and different languages.

In the wake of COVID-19 and to ensure that academic operations don’t get hampered, Next Education is offering a free subscription of Next Learning Platform to its partner schools till April 30, 2020.

With an emphasis on providing continuous learning and seamless academic operations, it is necessary for educational institutions in the country to adopt online learning solutions. Next Learning Platform offers NextERP for managing school operations and communications, NextLMS to empower teachers to create lesson plans, assign and track homework and conduct live lectures. Through live lectures, teachers create a virtual classroom via the internet to facilitate long-distance learning. Students can revisit the recorded sessions as many times they want and also receive real-time notifications about the sessions. Teachers can also conduct live online doubt sessions.

NextAssessment is a powerful tool that allows teachers to create assessments using the automatic assessment generator, assign adaptive tests and give personalised feedback to students. Our award-winning digital content is aligned with NextCurriculum and TeachNext content. The digital content is available across ICSE, CBSE, IGCSE and 29 state boards in 7 different languages.

Speaking on how to overcome the disruption in education, Mr. Beas Dev Ralhan, CEO and Co-Founder, Next Education said, “Through Next Learning Platform, our mission is to enable schools to take a step forward in the right direction so that their academic operations are not hampered amid the COVID-19 outbreak. Our ‘school-in-a-box’ platform allows schools to run a virtual school through various tools like NextERP, NextLMS, live lectures, online classes and more.” Mr. Ralhan further added, “With an emphasis on ensuring providing uninterrupted academic operations, it is all the more necessary for educational institutions in the country to adopt online learning platforms. Live Lecture replicates the actual classroom environment, thereby instilling enthusiasm and interest among students to learn and attend classes regularly.”

Various schools across the country are utilising different tools to ensure continuous academic operations. Dr. Roopa Marwaha Bhalla, Principal, RPS International School, Gurgaon says, “The only medium of conducting classes in this lockdown situation is the Live Lectures. We hope at least 60% of the students start taking advantage of it. If parents take it seriously, we can make it 100% successful. This transition from offline to online learning will help schools to a great extent.”

Schools across India have adopted the Next Learning Platform to ensure the safety of their students as well as educators amid the COVID-19 pandemic, thereby ensuring a seamless transition from offline to online academic operations.

Hero Group Pledges Rs 100 Crore Towards Covid-19 Relief Efforts

Highlights

* OFFERS TO DEPLOY MODIFIED MOTORCYCLES AS TWO-WHEELER AMBULANCE IN RURAL AREAS
* TO DISTRIBUTE MASKS, SANITIZERS, GLOVES, MASKS & 100 VENTILATORS
* DISTRIBUTING MORE THAN 10,000 MEALS EVERYDAY

The Hero Group has pledged Rs 100 Crore as aid for the ongoing COVID-19 relief-efforts in India. Half of this sum, Rs 50 Crore, will be contributed to the PM-Cares Fund and the remaining Rs 50 crore will be spent in other relief efforts.

The Hero Group (BML Munjal family) companies contributing to this fund include Hero MotoCorp, Hero FinCorp, Hero Future Energies, Rockman Industries and Hero Electronix.

Hero Enterprise and AG Industries have also contributed to this fund.

Dr. Pawan Munjal said, “Our country, and indeed the entire world, is currently facing an unprecedented challenge in the form of COVID-19. In such critical times, it is of utmost importance and urgency that we all come together and support the marginalized sections of the society, along with those who are in dire conditions. In the extended Hero family, we are humbled in making this contribution, partially to the PM-Cares Fund and remaining towards relief efforts through other channels. I also urge the citizens of our country to support the Prime Minister and local authorities by staying home and help in stopping the spread of the pandemic coronavirus.”

Milaap Enables Unity to Stay Safe Against Pandemic Covid-19

Covid-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, has infected more than 3.75 lakh people worldwide, killing more than 16,300. In India alone, it has so far caused 10 deaths and infected at least 500 people as of 25th March 2020. In the past week, several states across India have put safety first by closing down schools, colleges, malls, theatres, restaurants, shops and non-essential workplaces, recommending working from home where possible. The nation is now under a lockdown for 21 days.

However, there are many people in our society like doctors, nurses, delivery staff, conservancy workers (garbage/waste segregators) and field volunteers, among others, still working tirelessly to ensure our societal needs are met: often at the risk of their personal safety.  Moreover, with the increasing number of people being tested positive worldwide, it’s also important to remember that not everyone can remain in quarantine without their lives being completely upturned. The financial impact of the pandemic, especially on blue-collar workers and families that survive on a daily wage, is far reaching.

This Sunday, on March 22 2020, Milaap, South Asia’s largest crowdfunding platform, opened itself up for fundraisers around Covid-19. In an attempt to help those whose lives have been worst affected by the pandemic, a separate page, milaap.org/covid19 has been launched. The causes range from providing essentials to nearby slums in bigger cities to equipping doctors/their social initiatives with protective gear, and even ventilators for smaller hospitals without the facility. While renowned people like Luis Miranda and Venkat Iyer have set up fundraisers on one hand, there are many regular individuals who are raising funds to support particular families in distress around them. In the spirit of global solidarity, Milaap has waived off their platform fee completely for all fundraisers under this cause.

Mayukh Choudhury, CEO and co-founder of Milaap said, “This crowdfunding project is to highlight citizen initiatives across India to mitigate the economic crisis faced by vulnerable families, as well as support those who are in the frontlines, with the monetary resources they deserve. Our larger objective is to inspire each one of us to look within our circles, our neighborhoods, and support the vulnerable in this hour of need. While it might take a while to get back to normalcy, even small acts of kindness can make this easier.”

“We have always stood by communities during natural calamities and disasters. This is no different. In this digital era, generosity can flow unhinged even when physical infrastructure crumbles. Many of our donors have reached out to us for verified, credible avenues to express their support for citizen-led fundraising initiatives. Within 2 days, nearly 2000 donors have supported fundraisers under the cause and the number is rising as we speak. Since the only way to fight a crisis at this scale is to do it together, Milaap is doing it’s best so that people can help each other. On our end, we are offering the platform at a 0% fee so that people in need can get all the help coming their way.” he added.

Milaap, a crowdfunding platform primarily for personal medical causes has so far raised nearly 10 Crores from 40,000+ donors for such emergency causes and disaster relief, including the floods in Chennai, Assam and Kerala. While the platform can only extend support for causes in India, fundraisers can accept help from anywhere across the world.

There are 3 ways to participate

Make a donation to any of the campaigns listed at milaap.org/covid19
Start your own fundraiser for someone who’s been affected by the crisis. It could be an individual (eg your household help, an office colleague) or a neighborhood initiative (eg local restaurant, school meals program).  Rally your friends, neighbors and colleagues to contribute. Fundraising is free - there are NO charges on donations received.
Get inspired and do it in your circle (family/neighbors) supporting a vulnerable family directly.