Monthly Archives: September 2018

Thinking caps on, students present out-of-the-box ideas

Young innovators share 175 ideas at Startup India boot camp

There has been overwhelming response to the Startup India Telangana Yatra with students sharing 175 ideas at the boot camp organised at the Jyothismathi Institute of Technology and Sciences (JITS) on Monday.

To promote entrepreneurship in Tier-II and Tier-III cities, Telangana State Innovation Cell launched the Startup India Telangana Yatra to bring budding entrepreneurs together to brainstorm and present their ideas. JITS was selected as the nodal centre for the programme.

The boot camp witnessed the participation of over 400 students from various engineering colleges such as JNTU Kondagattu and Manthani, NIT-Warangal, SR Engineering College and KITS-Huzurabad, apart from schools like Sidhartha High School in Karimnagar town. Among them, 175 students shared their ideas and innovations.

Of those, the best ideas would make it to the grand finale at JNTU-Hyderabad. The winners would be attached to seven incubators in the State and provided all assistance to start their business. On this occasion, the students of JITS have exhibited their innovations and won accolades.

A working model on prevention of accidents on ghat roads in the wake of Kondagattu bus mishap was appreciated by visitors. Third year civil engineering students S. Ashritha, E. Sucharitha and A. Laxmi Prasanna designed the model by erecting roller barricades, which would prevent vehicles from plunging into the gorge.

Startup India Telangana representatives Radhika Meenakshi Shankar, Nikitha Rupasri, Amith Sharanya, Spoorthi, Major Sunil Shetty, Tarun, Raj Janagam and Swetha clarified doubts raised by the students about startup ideas and innovations. JITS chairman J. Sagar Rao, director K. Venkat Rao and principal G. Laxminarayana were also present.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> States> Telangana / by Special Correspondent / Karimnagar – September 25th, 2018

Women’s cricket | Hyderabad’s Arundhati Reddy beaming with pride

Cricketer Arundhati Reddy is hopeful of winning T-20 Women’s World Cup to be held in West Indies this November.

On being selected to represent India in T-20 Women’s World Cup

M.S. Dhoni’s team winning the T-20 World Cup in 2007 was the inspiration for Arundhati Reddy to take up the sport and dream big.

Eleven years later, the 20-year-old cricketer is beaming with pride on being selected to represent India in the T-20 Women’s World Cup to be held in West Indies this November.

Huge opportunity
“I was expecting this to happen after my decent performances in the five T-20Is in Sri Lanka. I am thrilled at getting this huge opportunity,” said Arundhati, a junior clerk in South Central Railway.

Looking back at her debut series in Sri Lanka, Arundhati said getting the India cap from Mithali was the best part of her debut.

Interestingly, India captain in Tests Mithali Raj, who is also from SCR, and Arundhati are under the mentorship of coach R.V.S.S.R. Murthy.

“I feel it’s a great honour to play alongside such a great player and I hope to live upto the expectations,” said the all-rounder, who bowls medium-pace.

Learning experience
“In the days to come, I will be a more confident bowler having had the experience of playing for the country against Sri Lanka. In domestic cricket, you don’t really plan to sort out a batter, but at the international level, it was a different learning experience for me,” said the cricketer, who trains at St. John’s Sports Coaching Foundation.

And Arundhati watches the videos of India bowler Jaspreet Bumrah and hopes to master some of the tricks of the trade as she feels he is the best T-20 bowler, especially in death overs.

“The atmosphere in the dressing room was terrific as everyone in the team ensured that I was in a comfort zone. They just told me to go out and enjoy every moment,” she recalled.

What’s the next big dream? To win the World Cup, comes the instant reply from Arundhati, who credits her success to her mother Bhagya Reddy and brother Rohti Reddy, besides her coach.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Sport> Cricket / by V.V. Subrahmanyam / Hyderabad – September 29th, 2018

Anthem to set up operations in city

Healthcare services provider to have a 2.5 lakh sq ft facility, employ 2,000 employees

Leading healthcare services provider globally, Anthem has chosen Hyderabad to set up its operations, a release from the office of Industries and IT Minister K.T. Rama Rao said on Thursday.

The company has announced a major presence in the city with 250,000 sq ft of space in an SEZ. The proposed facility will employ about 2,000 employees. Founded in the 1940s and headquartered in Indianapolis, US, the company had revenues of $ 90 billion in 2017.

The release said United Healthcare Group (UHG), the largest firm in the healthcare services sector, has the biggest Indian presence in Hyderabad. It has expanded significantly over the last four years consuming over 830,000 sq ft in the city.

On the Innovation front, tech start-up incubator T-Hub — HealthTech which is one of its seven thrust areas — has recently partnered with Australian MedTech entrepreneurs for cross border growth with the government of Victoria providing a grant of AUS $ 80,000, the release said.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Hyderabad / by Special Correspondent / Hyderabad – September 28th, 2018

Dubai firm acquires Hyderabad-based bus-shuttle app Commut

Commut was the brainchild of six IIIT-H alumni

Hyderabad-based bus-shuttle app Commut has been acquired by Dubai-based ride-hailing app Careem Networks FZ. The value of the deal has not been disclosed. Commut was started by six alumni of IIIT-Hyderabad about three years ago.

“As per our deal with Careem, we are supposed to shut down the local operations and launch Careem Bus in MENAP (Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan, and Pakistan) region,” said a spokesperson of Commut. “The Indian operations have been handed over to Shuttl in a separate deal,” said the spokesperson, when asked about continuing operations of the service in Hyderabad. Cummut currently services 50 routes using 70 buses.

Started in November 2015 by IIIT-H students Hemanth Jonnalagadda, Prashanth Garapati, Charan Thota, Sandeep Kachavarapu, Akshay Chennupati and Srujai Varikuti, Commut has been a successful startup, which transitioned from idea to reality. Last year, Commut was selected for MAN Accelerator Programme. “Joining Careem and building the mass transportation vertical will help us fulfil our mission at a much larger scale,” said Prashanth Garapati, one of the founding members of the startup.

“Mass transportation is one of the biggest issues facing many fast-growing cities in our region. Commut has a successful track record in mass transportation, and we are excited to bring their expertise into the Careem family,” said Magnus Olsson of Careem.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> States> Telangana / by Special Correspondent / Hyderabad – September 25th, 2018

Hyderabad Metro Rail is now second largest metro network in country

An image of the Hyderabad metro rail in the L.B Nagar-Ameerpet Metro stretch. | Photo Credit: Photo: G. Ramakrishna

Governor E.S.L. Narasimhan flagged off the metro train from the Ameerpet metro interchange station towards L.B.Nagar in the city suburb just after noon on Monday.

With the opening of this 16 km stretch, the entire Corridor One of Hyderabad Metro Rail (HMR) project of 29 km from Miyapur to L.B.Nagar has been completed.

It will be the first corridor to be completed in all respects and has been opened to general public by evening. Construction is underway in two other routes: Corridor Two – Jubilee Bus Station to Mahatma Gandhi Bus Station (Imlibun)/Falaknuma – 15 km and Corridor Three – Nagole to HiTec City/Raidurg – 28 km. Altogether 72 km of elevated metro line is being built in three dense traffic corridors of the capital.

Last November, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had opened the inaugural 30 km metro line of Nagole-Ameerpet-Miyapur in the presence of Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao and others. It covered parts of Corridor Three – Nagole to Ameerpet (17 km) and Corridor One – Miyapur to Ameerpet (13 km).

More than a lakh passengers have been riding on the trains and it is expected to double now.

With Monday’s opening of another metro stretch, the Hyderabad Metro Rail will be covering 46 km and has become the second largest metro rail network in the country after New Delhi, announced Minister for Municipal Administration K.T. Rama Rao during a presentation made to the Governor at the terminal station of L.B. Nagar.

It is also the world’s largest public-private partnership project. The Government spent close to ₹3,000 crore for land acquisition, road widening and shift of utilities, while L&T Metro Rail Hyderabad (L&TMRH) invested more than ₹12,000 crore. The Central Government too chipped in with Viability Gap Funding (VGF) of ₹1,458 crore. The entire work has been estimated to cost up to ₹14,132 crore.

The Minister said HMR was also taking care of improving ground level infrastructure all along the metro corridors like designer footpaths, drains and signages while barricading is being taken up underneath stations to prevent spillover of passengers onto the main road. Skywalks are in the offing and all metro stations could be used as road crossovers. Frequency of trains is about 7-8 minutes and first train chugs in at 6.30 a.m. and last train 10.30 p.m.

First and last mile connectivity is being provided through bicycles, bikes and taxis. Soon electric charging points will be provided for bringing in electric vehicles into its fold, he added. The Governor commended the project and requested the citizens to make use of the facility for the sake of personal health and environment. He called for speedy induction of smart card/smart phone ticket facility and opening of HiTec City line by Dec.15.

Mr. Narasimhan after travelling from Ameerpet to L.B.Nagar, got down at Khairatabad and cycled towards Raj Bhavan along with other senior officials. Mayor B. Rammohan, Chief Secretary S.K. Joshi, HMR MD N.V.S. Reddy, L&TMRH CEO & MD K.V.B. Reddy and others were present.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Hyderabad / by V. Geetanath / Hyderabad – September 24th, 2018

China firm opens software development centre in city

Thundersoft Global CEO Larry Geng with IT Secretary Jayesh Ranjan at the centre’s opening in the city on Monday.By arrangement

Keen on acquisitions, having own campus and hiring 1,000 engineers

Smart device operating system and platform technology provider Thunder Software Technology Co. Ltd. of China has made a foray into India by establishing an IT development centre in Hyderabad.

A company that counts US chipmaker Qualcomm as an investor and key customer, Thundersoft has hired 25 engineers for the facility. Their numbers are expected to go up to 80-100 by December, Global CEO Larry Geng and Thundersoft India vice-president Sudharani Pillai said on Monday.

In an interaction, after the centre was formally opened by IT Secretary Jayesh Ranjan, they said the company planned to have on board 1,000 engineers in India in the next 3-5 years. While Hyderabad would remain the India headquarters, it was considering setting up software development facilities in Bengaluru and Pune as well. In about two years, the company would also take a decision on having a campus of its own.

Thundersoft was set up 10 years ago and has 20 research and development centres globally, including the Hyderabad facility. The company’s global headcount is 3,400 and in 2017, it had revenues of $200 million.

Seeking to highlight the role India could play in as the company looks to grow its global presence, Mr. Geng estimated Thundersoft to invest $10 million in the country over the next two years. It could be higher if the Beijing-headquartered firm is able to give shape to plans of acquiring firms in India.

In India, the company would be looking at firms developing technologies in its focus areas of smart phones, IoTs and automotive solutions.

The Hyderabad centre, he replied to query, would be an Intelligent software technology development facility and would work closely with Qualcomm.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Hyderabad / by Special Correspondent / Hyderabad – September 25th, 2018