On the Path of Making Digital India through Technology and Innovation

Dream of #Digital India is something that can be accomplished only if technology can shake hands with the lower and middle class people. We all know that today almost 50% of people don’t have access to internet. And many of those don’t even have skills to work on it. Skill development is no doubt the one big target for the digital India campaign but we need to work on the many other aspects as well. Like using technology for economic development and growth.

Providing funds for research and development can help India grow. There is not much scope in career if someone wants to take research as a career option. We need to build that career domain to generate better and innovative ideas.

What we lack is the knowledge of how the digitalized things work. Need to empower students with a subject of latest digital knowledge as a no credit course where the only objective would be to make them aware of what can they do with the knowledge of digital systems. Awareness about latest technical advancements and their future of growth and development as a consumer product is also very important. India is lacking behind other countries in technology by a period of more than 2 years and this gap needs to be filled.

digital India moment

Ways are many such as “if we can setup industries so that the Gadgets that we operate can actually be made in India” will help make India independent. Cheaper electronics like laptops, computers, and tablets will help India grow in digital manner.

E-governance is of great value to the system as it provides an open and transparent window to all the Indians citizens. But we need to provide access to these portals to the lower middle class and middle class people because they constitute the major population in India.

Free courses for the graduates in the field of research can help India grow and stand out as a powerful economy.

India needs a fabrication lab to be established to enable more digital power to flow and generate better products and gadgets within India.

Innovation and creativity are the backbone of the idea of digital India. No doubt India has lots of talent and innovative people but what is stopping them from taking it from innovation to a full fleshed product is the lack of guidance and funding. Proper guidance and funding can help people come forward with new creative thoughts and ideas.

People like Pranav Mistry are making India proud and there are many others like him who need a platform to showcase their creativity and innovative idea.

Technology is something that will bring many other problems related to environment with it as well, so we need to work in the direction of green technology and clean digital India.

Skill development is one of the important factor that will drive the digital India moment forward. Providing job opportunities to as many people as possible will help in building a nation that will create benchmark for development and stability.

Technology and digital information in E-governance can be of help in many sectors. Some of them are:-

“Digital Traffic control”

Having an automated digital speed recorder and cameras to keep an eye on highways can help reduce road rage and accidents.

Having a digital “challen machine” in the hands of the traffic police will avoid the flow of corruption.

“Digital Education”

Providing video-audio tutorials for the skill development in many domains can boost the literacy rate of India and help people learn without any financial constraints.

“High speed data”

Fiber optics promise the consumer with high speed internet data. Need to switch from the conventional Broadband to FTTH technology is required to get the cutting edge speed.

“Digital ticketing system in Public transport”

Ticketing system in India is still of the backward type that consumes lot of time. The ticketing on the paper tickets is also a waste of natural resources. Similar to the IRCTC webportal, if some mobile messaging service can be implemented for the ticketing of the on road public transport, it can be really a big step in the path of digital India.

India has the potential to be what it wants to be and with Intel coming up for help in the realization of the dream to Digital India with initiatives like “Digital Skills for India” and “Innovate for India” , it shows that the dream is not big and we can achieve it.

Intel has joined hands with BSNL as well to share the efforts of making India Digital. And not only this, Intel is continuously coming up with great ideas for making Digital Information accessible to the Indian people easily.

Your turn to tell us what can be the next step in the efforts to make Digital India and as we discussed many ways by which we can realize the dreams, what do you think about them. Do you have any other idea or thoughts that can be a part of Digital Nation? Share with us your viewpoints.

Reference:http://www.quikrpost.com/5096/on-the-path-of-making-digital-india-through-technology-and-innovation/#.VqGogJp97IU

Simple Methods to Sharpen your Memory, Improve Retaining Power and Increase IQ level

There are a number of artificial products available in market that advertise the guarantee of Increasing your Memory Power and making you smart. However the reality is different. They give poor results and just cut your pockets. Effects are short term and also affects the human health.

Then how can you improve your memory?

Almonds are the natural elements that have the potential to improve your memory Power.

Almonds contain the mineral zinc that is known to keep up the functioning of your immune system. Zinc is also an antioxidant that fights the free radicals in your bloodstream. These free radicals are responsible for attacking and breaking down brain cells.

In addition to that, almonds are also loaded with nutrients like vitamin B6 which promotes brain health and vitamin E that slows down the ageing of brain cells that impact memory.

The omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids in almonds help increase intellectual levels and the magnesium in them help strengthen the nerves in the brain.

IQ is the measure of your memory power

According to HighIQPro, the average IQ is between 90 and 109, with 50 percent of the population falling into this range. The low average is between 85 and 89 (23 percent fall into this range). The high average is between 110 and 115 (25 percent fall into this range).

IQs ranging from 115 to 129 are considered high IQs, with approximately 15 percent of the population falling into this range. An IQ of 124 or higher is required in order to join the International High IQ Society. Someone with a “gifted” IQ has a score of 130 or higher (2 percent of people fall into this category). A gifted IQ is required in order to join Mensa. An IQ of 140 or higher is considered highly gifted, but only 0.4 percent of the population test in this range, according to HighIQPro.

Try to improve this score.

High IQ is possible for everyone. Improve Brain power

Meditation

One of the best methods that have been proven by science and technology to be the source of High IQ and Excellent Mental Health. It helps is improving both the sides of your brain i.e. right brain and left brain. The right brain is very much responsible for …… and left brain is more of the ….

Meditation improves your concentration power and hence you are more focused on your job. Whenever you come across any thing in life and you have full concentration on that then that thing or knowledge gained gets stored in your back brain which is the ROM part of your brain.

Home remedies

Drinking water kept in a bronze/bronze/copper coated glass or vessel helps in improving memory.

It stimulates your brain: Our brain works by transmitting impulses (or orders) from one neuron to another through an area known as the synapses. These neurons are covered by a sheath called the myelin sheath that acts like a sort of conductive agent – helping the flow of impulses. How does copper figure here you ask? Well, copper actually helps in the synthesis of phospholipids that are essential for the formation of these myelin sheaths. Thereby, making your brain work much faster and more efficiently. Apart from that copper is known to have brain stimulant and anti-convulsive properties (prevents seizures), that do a world of good for your brain.

As you probably know, most of your body is water. It is very easy to not consume enough water and become dehydrated. Being even slightly dehydrated decreases your mental energy and can impair your memory.

Sleeping Habits

Sleeping for more than 7 hours a day makes your body and mind lazy which reduces your retaining power. According to various surveys and researches it is found that people who sleep for more than 8 to 9 hours are more creative but have weak memory.

Overburden

A normal human being can concentrate for not more than 6 to 7 min continuously. So never overburden your brain with forced concentration. Try to take small break and then again concentrate on work. This will help you in memorizing things in a more better way. For example if you are trying to study for more than 1 hour continuously then don’t do that. It is not advisable since you won’t be remembering everything for longer. It will last for very small duration. To retain what you study, it is advisable to study with small breaks in between.

How to learn and remember things

Try to learn anything by writing it and speaking it at the same time. Yes it is true that this practice helps you remember that thing for longer periods. Your brain captures the sounds from your vocal cord as well as the picture from your eyes. When these two things are matched in your brain your brain feels more connected to that and hence you remember that thing very easily.

Antioxidants – Shield for Brain

As we age, substances in our bloodstream known as “free radicals” attack and break down our brain cells. If you don’t fight this, you are likely to experience age-related memory loss when you get older.

Fortunately, there are a lot of foods that contain a helpful substance called antioxidants. These antioxidants merge with the free radicals in your blood and make them harmless. So it pays to eat lots of antioxidant foods every day.

Good sources of antioxidants for your brain include tea (especially green tea), blueberries and other berries, red grapes, tomatoes, broccoli, garlic, spinach, carrots, whole grains, and soy. Asparagus is one of the best sources of glutathione, the “superhero of antioxidants”.

Many of the high-fiber brain foods are also high in magnesium. A diet lacking adequate magnesium puts you at increased risk of age-related memory loss.

So there you have it. To keep your brain healthy and your memory at its best, simply start eating foods from all of these groups on a regular basis.

Slowly replace the high-sugar, high-fat foods in your diet with these healthy brain foods. Not only will your brain and memory benefit, but your body will, too. I guarantee you will notice a difference!

Reference:http://www.quikrpost.com/3741/simple-methods-to-sharpen-your-memory-improve-retaining-power-and-increase-iq-level/#.VqBYPJp97IU

Discover Drones Capturing our Bright Future

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVS), also known as drones, are aircraft either controlled by ‘pilots’ from the ground or increasingly, autonomously following a pre-programmed mission. While there are dozens of different types of drones, they basically fall into two categories: those that are used for reconnaissance and surveillance purposes and those that are armed with missiles and bombs.

The future of drones is very attractive and we cannot deny from the fact that soon we will be using them for many purpose like transporting medication to areas not reachable via road, to do investigation or keep an eye on anyone in particular. Many SCI-FI movies have actually used drones but not the real ones.

But this may soon be a reality. We may be able to actually purchase one for our personal use. One such new drone design is such that it can be easily wear on wrist and used to take selfie.

drone on your wrist to take selfie

The miniature drone is worn like a regular watch, wearable Gadget style. Wrapped around your wrist the device can be called upon to do a few small tasks. With an accompanied mini-cam the quickest idea that comes to mind is a mini-drone for super selfies.

This concept of Wearable quadcopter that can follow you to take selfies and return to your wrist has won $500,000 prize in the INTEL “make it wearable contest”. The design is named as “The Nixie”. The wearable drone was created by researchers at Stanford University and a working prototype of the same was displayed.

Nixie is a drone, worn on the wrist and expands at the touch of a button. It flies off, filming its owner using a camera, and tracking their movements.

Nixie drone on wrist for capturing pictures in air

Called Nixie, the drone folds up and attaches to a wrist strap, and is the world’s first wearable drone. When the wearer wants it to start filming, they press a button and the drone unfolds and flies overhead, tracking their movements using motion sensors. The drone then returns to the wearer’s wrist, which could be controlled using a timer, or summoned using gestures.

They said that they have all the core functionality of the drone and they have solved all of the hardest challenges and have stable wristbands that can unfold and are stable in flight, and the toughest part which is navigation is solved.

They say that having half a million dollars in hand now we are working to make it real and cost effective. They say that the final product will be ‘safe, beautiful and intuitive’.

‘Nixie is in development. Stay tuned!’

We all know drones can deliver death on the battlefield, but might they also soon be delivering presents to your door? Amazon.com is counting on it, thanks to the online retail giant’s no-longer-secret “Octocopter” package delivery project.

This is not the only drone that is creating buzz around. After amazon.com announced that soon they will be delivering products around the city with the help of drones, many other have started focusing on drone robotics work and have come up with some great ideas from all around the world. There are now drones that can fire some shocking wires to capture a running thief or burglar.

Drones that can actually look after your house when you are away are also in development phase. Soon we might find ourselves surrounded by different types of drones and we may be controlling one for some purpose as well.

Drones can charge into the heart of a storm without risking human life and limb. That’s one reason NASA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and Northrop Grumman teamed up on a three-year, $30-million experiment to use long-range Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) to spy on storms as they evolve.

Military drone manufacturers are looking for civilian uses for remote sensing drones to expand their markets and this includes the use of drones for domestic surveillance. Drones will no doubt make possible the dramatic expansion of the surveillance state. With the convergence of other technologies it may even make possible machine recognition of faces, behaviours, and the monitoring of individual conversations. The sky, so to speak, is the limit.

Search and Rescue operations via drone 

Search and Rescue

SAR missions are time-consuming, expensive, and often dangerous for the people involved. The use of well-equipped drones is increasing for SAR and could soon become a standard way to cover large areas of inaccessible terrain, even at night.

The use of drones has grown quickly in recent years because of various advantages it offers to us.

1. Unlike manned aircraft they can stay aloft for many hours (Zephyr a British drone under development has just broken the world record by flying for over 82 hours nonstop)

2. They are much cheaper than military aircraft.

3. They are flown remotely so there is no danger to the flight crew.

4. They can be easily programmed to do any particular task and follow any particular person.

5. A single Drone can be used for multiple purposes and can act as a spy as well.

6. There small size and capable of caring advanced technology.

Reference:http://www.quikrpost.com/3756/discover-drones-capturing-our-bright-future/#.Vp8NBpp97IU

Meet the 22-Year-Old Woman Auto Driver in Bengaluru Who Is Studying for the IAS Exam

Here’s a story to remind us that, slowly but surely, our society is moving towards a more equal world for men and women (mostly because of individual efforts).

22-year-old Yellamma earns her living from driving an autorickshaw. And she isn’t one to let her strenuous job get in the way of her dreams — she is also preparing for the Indian Administrative
Service (IAS) examinations.

At the age of 18, Yellamma was forced to marry a flower decorator. Today, her husband is no longer with her — she is a single mother. She chose not depend on relatives for financial support for her and her young child, and decided she would earn her money herself.

She rented an auto rickshaw and learnt to drive it with help from her brother-in-law. She faced trouble when looking for an auto; most owners refused to rent her a vehicle, citing her gender as reason. One mechanic finally agreed to rent her an auto for Rs. 130 per day.

She now drives from 6 AM to 8 PM every day. In the time she has between rides, she devours newspapers and magazines. She is currently preparing for her PUC (pre-university course, or 10+2). Her ultimate goal, however, is to clear the IAS exam. She hopes that being a part of the bureaucratic machinery that runs the country will enable her to help many more women like her.

She also says that while male autorickshaw drivers are less than kind towards her (they say that she’s “snatching their customers away”), passengers have only reacted with curiosity and goodwill. They encourage her to continue her studies, and sometimes even pay her a little extra over the meter charge.

Yellamma earns anywhere between Rs. 700–800 on an average working day; after paying rent and fuel, she is left with less than half of that amount.

Reference:http://www.thebetterindia.com/40678/raksha-safedrive-accident-management-system/

How One Entrepreneur is Applying The Bhutanese Principles of Happiness in Business and Creating Livelihoods

Image: Rushabh with Hans, a specially abled individual who also works at the workshop

A term coined in 1972 by Bhutan’s fourth Dragon King, Jigme Singye Wangchuck .The phrase was coined as a signal of commitment to building an economy that would work on increasing the country’s Gross National Happiness(GNH) instead of the western material development that was represented by gross domestic product (GDP). Could that same philosophy be applied to an organisation? Where happiness was the goal?

Meet Rushabh Gandhi, founder of Handmade Hope. A social entrepreneurship venture which nourishes individuals and organizations who are highly skilled craftsmen at creating artistic souvenirs. Then it bridges the gap between the market and the artisans increasing their sales and helping them achieve self sustainability.

A 16 day road-trip to Bhutan changed his perspective about a lot of things about his life, says Rushabh. He observed that the Bhutanese do not subscribe to the concept of accumulating wealth.

What strikes me is that Rushabh uses words like contentment, transformation , happiness – words which are not very commonly found in the vocabulary of entrepreneurs of today. You would mostly hear businessmen talk about investment, funding, gross sales, Facebook advertising and product updates. But Rushabh is not the ordinary entrepreneur.

Starting since the time he was a high school student Rushabh has worked in the social sector for more than 10 years. It is evident from the number of organizations he is still associated with. He is guided by his mentors like Nipun Mehta – founder of Service Space, Srijan Pal Singh- Adviser to Late Dr. A.P.J Abdul Kalam, Jayesh Patel – founder of Manav Sadhana and Amitabh Shah – founder of Yuva Unstoppable.

But what does this young and focused entrepreneur have to teach us about building a sustainable social enterprise?

I tried to understand his approach with a visit to his very lovingly created workshop – The Paper Ashram in Vadodara.

I had first met Rushabh when he visited my college as the media team member of the What Can I Give Mission – a mission undertaken by Late Dr APJ Abdul Kalam.

Image : Rushabh Gandhi when he was working with Dr Kalam’s team.

His simple goals and efforts to make a sustainable and socially responsible business is what motivated me to take a short trip to Vadodara to visit his workshop.

How did it all start?

I met a young boy called Rahul at Fatehsingh Ashram, Vadodara, an orphanage. Rahul was a creative young spirit. A few Sundays later, I found Rahul missing from the Ashram. I met him a few days later to find that he had been selling cigarettes and tobacco products to pan shops to earn a living.

A dilemma faced me, as I wanted him to leave selling cigarettes but I also understood his need to earn money. Rahul promised me to never tread path of cigarette selling again, if provided with an income source. After putting in a lot of thought, an alternative solution began taking shape in my mind.

We met after a week and asked if he could make greeting cards. Always eager for new things, Rahul expressed his wish to learn making greeting cards. He was taught by a friend, who was an expert at arts and craft.

5000 greeting cards were created and were sold within a span of two months. During this phase, Handmade Hope was born to plug the lack of proper space and a channel to fulfill their need of self sustenance. A well planned, organized, set up that helped people to achieve economic independence.

“Wherever I have been, people ask me this question about the challenges that I faced. I believe one faces challenges when one is going beyond his/her capacity of growth.

Can you tell us about the products?

We started with Paper bags made of used newspaper. We have close to 50 different sizes and types of brown paper bags today. The second category is stationery of different types like diaries, notebooks.

In the process of community building, we come across as many individuals and organizations who are highly skilled craftsmen at creating artistic souvenirs. We are currently working with Manav Sadhana Foundation, the only organization operating out of the Gandhi Ashram to bring out their hand embroidered diaries.

Can you tell us a bit about the business model of handmade hope?

We work on an order based system. Every month we try to tap in new retailers who would make the shift from plastics bags to paper bags.

Then the production responsibilities are distributed amongst the artisans at the Paper Ashram. From the very beginning I have tried to make this a sustainable model. So that even if I am not here to handle the operations the team should continue growing. Right now we have trained our first level of members who are either families or individuals who make the paper bags and stationery. They have also been trained to take orders and distribute it in their localities and then collect back the produced items and deliver them.

We pay them a salary decided on the per bag rate. In our organization we also have students from various colleges who regularly work/intern with us.

I am slowly starting to move towards the marketing and partnerships side and let my people handle the operations.

Reference:http://www.zepo.in/blog/2015/09/21/how-one-entrepreneur-is-applying-the-bhutanese-principles-of-happiness-in-business-and-creating-livelihoods/

Blind Indian rejected by IITs will now study at Stanford

Visually impaired Delhi student Kartik Sawhney has repeatedly been denied permission to appear for the IIT-JEE in the past three years because of his disability. However, in March 2013, he was awarded a fully funded scholarship to pursue engineering at Stanford University in the US. This is his story.

On May 27, 2013, when 18-year-old Kartik Sawhney scored 96 per cent in his Class 12 CBSE examination, he became the country's first ever visually impaired student to have achieved the feat in the science stream.

Appearing from Delhi Public School, RK Puram, he scored 99 in computer science (his favourite subject) and 95 each in English, mathematics, physics and chemistry; his total is 479 out of 500.

Recalling some of the challenges, he says, "Studying with normal students wasn't easy, and neither was choosing a stream of my choice."

Determination and perseverance are the key factors to his success -- he simply would not take no for an answer.

"A lot of people think that disabilities limits you from doing certain things. But I think success comes to those who believe in their strengths," he states.

Sawhney, who comes from a middle class family -- his father Ravinder Sawhney is a businessman and mother Indu Sawhney a homemaker -- confesses that aiming high and making tough decisions at every stage was still easier than executing them.

For three years in a row, he has been denied permission to appear for the IIT-JEE; he was told that there is no provision for blind students to take the competitive exam. But he did not lose hope and applied to universities abroad.

And in March 2013, Sawhney received a fully funded scholarship to pursue a five-year engineering programme at Stanford University. Once armed with this degree, he intends to "improve the condition of visually impaired back in India".

In this interview, the inspiring young man discusses the many challenges he's faced to come this far, what miffs him about the Indian administration and tells us what keeps him going.

Reference: http://www.rediff.com/getahead/slide-show/slide-show-1-achievers-kartik-sawhney-rejected-by-iits-opts-for-stanford/20130606.htm

Success Story of an Indian College Drop Out

Senthil Nayagam, co-founder of RailsFactory, a premier Ruby on Rails application development company, is the epitome of the new 21st century Indian entrepreneur – a college drop out. In 1999, having started his first business, an Internet center, to mediocre success, Senthil taught himself an assortment of other skills such as troubleshooting, Linux and eventually Perl, php, python and mysql, to help supplement his income and support his family.

Senthil Nayagam

Co-Founder & CEO of Railsfactory 

Not disheartened by his first relatively failed business attempt, Senthil moved to Bangalore in 2004 to try his hand at a software career. It was then that he discovered the potential of Ruby and Ruby on Rails to explode onto the software scene. It was also here that Senthil met Dinesh Kumar, who shared Senthil’s passion for business. Two years later and with the help of his newfound friend and co-founder, Dinesh, RailsFactory was born.

Think of RailsFactory as your extended team, or in the spirit of NBA playoff season, your 6th man on the court, designated to accelerate your current development by hiring additional developers to meet your company’s tight deadlines.

RailsFactory focuses on consulting and delivering cutting edge Ruby flavored solutions to its global customers. In the last seven years they have gained over 150 employees, completed over 200 projects and over the past five years they have maintained an enviable 100% year-over-year growth.

And RailsFactory can deliver these solutions without putting a hole in your pocket, too. While big tech companies in the Silicon Valley are “acqhiring” most large US Ruby consulting firms (i.e. Groupon acqhiring Obtiva), which keeps rates high for their services, RailsFactory remains a volume player with the freedom to work with both small startups and enterprise businesses.

RailsFactory does this by utilizing two different billing options; fixed price and the elastic staffing model, both designed to provide the most bang for your buck. The fixed price option is geared toward start ups and small companies that need additional short term help developing a specific product, whereas elastic staffing gives businesses the opportunity to hire their own team of Ruby developers to work side by side with their staff for as long as they are needed.

Whether a company needs iPhone or Android apps, complete eCommerce solutions, or even long term partnership for IT projects, RailsFactory can deliver quality, cost-efficient services with minimal turnaround time. Their expertise in Ruby on Rails and adoption of strictly agile development principles makes RailsFactory one of the premier end-to-end RoR (Ruby on Rails) solutions development companies.

Although RoR was practically unknown in 2006, now all major companies in India, such as TCS, Infy and HCL, as well as companies around the world like Amazon, Cisco, NASA, BBC have dedicated teams to work on their RoR. With the RoR demand dramatically increasing and the availability of RoR resources much slimmer than the resources for, say, Java, or .net, RailsFactory has an unparalleled advantage in the market.

In fact, the Ruby programming language is now being used in more ways than ever before. Whereas Ruby is gaining in popularity with companies such as global code sharing fulcrum, github, which is built on it, a language like Java is now only more useful as the JVM than the language itself. Plus, there is Jruby, a Ruby implementation in Java, which allows for the combination of Java’s good parts with the greatness of Ruby. Software synthesis at its finest.

So how did RailsFactory, originating in the humble region of Chennai, India, grow to become a global player in RoR solutions? With determination, creative problem solving and the desire for solidarity amongst fellow Chennai based software techies.

Chennai is a close knit region that has received major visibility and funding over the last two years, but back in 2006, when RailsFactory began, there were no role models or mentors to turn to for guidance. So Senthil took it upon himself to create his own network within Chennai’s software ecosystem so that he could ask crucial questions regarding RailsFactory’s growth spurts.

Transforming from a self proclaimed “lone wolf” to an inspiring leader in software services was no easy feat for Senthil, but with power comes great responsibility and he hasn’t shied away from moving his company forward with authority.

Senthil’s keen eye for identifying and capitalizing on growing industry trends has helped RailsFactory stay afloat during this age of ever evolving technological capabilities, one trend of which is particularly important; polyglot programming.

Polyglot programming allows for developers to combine the most advantageous aspects of any programming language so that they can use the best tool for the technology being produced. For example, end users on a mobile phone or browser don’t give a hoot what technologies are used in the server; they just want a fast, responsive service, am I right?

And although RailsFactory prefers Ruby, what is best for the customer comes first. RailsFactory uses other languages and components built on these other languages all the time, ensuring customer satisfaction regardless of programming language prejudices.

Gee, if only every company had our best interests in mind instead of forcibly trying to sell a label to us lowly consumers.

But the reality is this; with more companies turning to polyglot programming, as well as the addition of yearly UI paradigm changes causing many startups to desire mobile play along with their web app rewrites, and on top of THAT start ups are exploring new ways to monetize using big data, a software service and consulting specialist like Senthil must keep pace in order to continue enjoying success and growth.

And this is where Senthil’s inherent curiosity, passion for all things software and desire to transcend conventional industry limitations separates him from the pack.

Senthil and Dinesh have made RailsFactory a prototype for what they call “Centers of Excellence.” They have started developing new business units in the form of independent COE’s for various technologies and they operate under the umbrella firm, Sedin Technologies, Pvt. Ltd.

As of now, Sedin Technologies has RailsFactory, MobileTechFactory andPHPFactory, each dedicated exclusively to help clients manage the global convergence of software, mobile applications, Web applications, big data and cloud services.

So what’s next for RailsFactory? Naturally, they want to be the world’s largest RoR development company in the world.

With over 150 developers growing and counting, an office in Chennai and the Silicon Valley, RailsFactory is determined to set up operations in every global region that brings in more than ten percent revenue. That leaves Senthil contemplating a physical presence in Australia, the UK, as well as other additional locations in India for starters.

Not too shabby for a guy who dropped out of college, flopped on his first start up venture and got fired from his job in Bangalore in 2004.

Moral of the story: India needs to start thinking outside of the box and let its youth take more chances, fail more often and chart their own courses.

Reference:http://smallbiztrends.com/2013/06/startup-success-story-college-drop-out.html

Meet the world's youngest CEO

When 14-year-old Suhas Gopinath started Globals Inc ten years ago from a cyber cafe in Bengaluru, he didn't know that he had become the youngest CEO in the world.

Today, Globals is a multi-million dollar company with offices in the United States, India, Canada, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom, Spain, Australia, Singapore and the Middle East and has 100 employees in India and 56 abroad.

Among the several honours that have been bestowed upon this young man, the most prestigious is the invitation to be a member of the Board of the ICT Advisory Council of the World Bank..

Suhas Gopinath

In 2007, the European Parliament and International Association for Human Values conferred 'Young Achiever Award' on him. He was also invited to address the European Parliament and other business dignitaries assembled in the EU Parliament. He is also recognised as one of the 'Young Global Leaders' for 2008-2009 by the prestigious World Economic Forum.

Suhas is the youngest member ever in the World Economic Forum's history. The other members include the Louisiana governor Bobby Jindal, Hollywood star Leonardo DiCaprio, musician A R Rahman, Prince of Brunei, etc.

In this interview from his office in Bengaluru, Suhas Gopinath talks about his decade long journey and his dreams for the future.

Reference:http://business.rediff.com/slide-show/2010/oct/12/slide-show-1-meet-the-worlds-youngest-ceo.htm

Yogendra Singh, 'My father was a rickshaw-puller'

"Why would you want to feature me in your magazine?” asks Yogendra Singh incredulously. The 28-year-old IIM Lucknow student has a dilemma: should he continue with his studies or resume working?

“Your story is about people who have succeeded in life, isn't it? But if I quit IIM and go back to my village, that would make me a failure, right? Koi successful person ka story chaapiyega to woh theek rahega,” says the young man from a village near Daltonganj in Jharkhand.

But Yogendra is already a success. He remembers the time he went off with his neighbour to get admitted to the nearest government school in his village. He studied there till class 8 and then moved to a school in a town eight kilometres away. “My father was a rickshaw-puller and my mother a homemaker. But they never had to pay for my education.” The pride in his voice is unmissable.

Being the eldest of seven siblings – four sisters, and three brothers – Yogendra's struggles started early. He would graze cattle and soon after his class 10 Board exams, he started giving tuition to younger students. “I began making enough money to take care of the household expenses.”

That was when he met his future wife. She was one of his students before his prospective father-in-law, a primary school teacher, decided to make him the offer that would change his life forever.

Yogendra was juggling his life as a student and a teacher. But someone suggested that he should take the Polytechnic Diploma exam. He did and was selected too. “Suddenly I was famous in my gaon. That's when my to-be father-in-law proposed to fund my education on the condition that I marry his daughter,” he says. He did.

Yogendra discontinued his coaching classes, but worked for a few years while finishing BTech from BIT Sindri in Dhanbad, to be able to support his family. While his job took care of the household expenses, he took coaching for a few months to crack the CAT exam. “My happiness knew no bounds when I got a call from IIM Lucknow,” remembers Yogendra.

Walking through the gates of one of India's most reputed and toughest B-Schools is a dream come true for any student. But accepting the offer from IIM Lucknow has given Yogendra sleepless nights. He can't stop wondering if he made the right choice. “There is no one to support my family right now. I spent all my savings on my sisters' weddings. My younger brothers are in school. I am contemplating quitting and going back to my village,” says Yogendra.

Reference:http://www.hindustantimes.com/brunch/the-tough-get-going-5-indians-who-studied-their-way-to-success/story-26DafNnyv0ArI5vq9PBkQP.html

8 inspiring lessons I learned from street food vendors

As I travel across Bangalore and other cities attempting to discover interesting street food and local eateries, I am often struck by the creativity, innovation, and business sensibilities that some of the owners exhibit.

From humble tea stalls catering to actors and politicians to trained fine dine chefs, many owners bring extensive knowledge and an inspiring spirit of entrepreneurship to their eateries.

Here are some of these inspiring stories and what they've taught me.

#1. Don't let the world dictate what you can do 

Daniel D'souza, the owner of Sharon Tea Stall in Bangalore, didn't want to run just another tea stall. 

So he decided that there was no reason why the more exotic teas should be available only in fancy tea parlours and out of the reach of an everyday person on the road. 

Sharon Tea Stall in Indira Nagar is a full-fledged tea parlour in the garb of a small street-side shack that serves a wide variety of interesting teas. No wonder then that his clients include actors and politicians from across the state, something he proudly displays through photographs at the tiny stall. Try stuff that hasn't been done before even if you're unsure of succeeding. 

#2. Do something unexpected.

Then expect it to create stickiness Simple creative differentiators can be used to transform products from also-rans to pack-leaders, and often a small tweak within existing boundaries can result in starkly different products that are bound to attract attention. 

One momo vendor decided that plain white momos are passe. So she transformed them into colourful bites using natural food extracts from beetroots, carrots and spinach. Now that's creative! 

#3. Where there's a will, there's a way 

A vendor selling sundal, the popular South Indian snack made with chickpeas, wanted to ensure that the food is both moist and steaming hot. Not an easy task to achieve, given the push-cart he was selling out of. 

So he built a simple section below the cart to house a pot of water on a stove. The steam from the boiling water comes up through the holes on the cart platform. 

When a customer draws up, he simply spoons the required quantity of sundal onto the holes so that it is infused with steam making it moist and piping hot. 

A similar example is of a chicken seekh kebab stand at 27th Main Road, HSR Layout. 

Here's a photo shot of the crank-shaft-operated open grill that he conceptualised to keep the coals fired. Indian jugaad at its best! 

#4. Limited variety, unbeatable quality 

Just recently, I was introduced to small bhajji or pakora vendor in a popular market in Gandhi Bazaar, Bangalore. 

He sells a simple variety of bhajjis made out of capsicum, raw bananas, potatoes and green peppers. 

At the cost of pricing his bhajjis 50 per cent above market rate, the vendor, Praveen ensures that he only uses the best vegetables. 

Each of the bhajjis is the same size and each vegetable he uses is fresh. 

That's also the case with many other street food vendors -- they do not compromise on quality, which explains why they have stayed popular for decades. 

#5. Service with a smile, always 

With the crowds that Ravi's Gobi van attracts, it could be easy to be a little impatient at times. But the one thing that regular customers love about Ravi (pictured above), apart from the delectable Chinese fare he churns out of his food van at one corner of the Banashankari BDA complex in Bangalore, is his constant smile and polite demeanour even when he is answering irate customers. A perfect example of winning service orientation. 

#6. Apply existing concepts differently 

Who said pizzas are to be eaten only in fancy chains or that soup can be had only at sit-down restaurants? 

Kumar, an erstwhile chef with Little Italy, has designed a pizza van which sees regular crowds relishing pizzas and garlic bread. 

Meanwhile Vallarmati serves three different soups everyday complete with condiments, from her simple soup cart in HSR Layout, Bangalore. 

#7. Choose a niche and be the expert in it 

Revathy, a food and nutrition student, realised that street food hardly catered to people with health issues such as diabetes. 

So she developed special recipes using sprouts, green gram and bitter gourd (pictured left)which she retails from her small eatery in Malleshwaram, Bangalore. 

#8. Build something that customers love.

And then sit back to enjoy it. More is not always better.This was a recurrent theme across Goa where work takes on a different meaning altogether and living a good life is about having the bandwidth to do the things one enjoys and spending time with friends and family. 

Many a popular eatery owner makes a well thought through choice about business hours and expansion keeping this in mind.

Reference:http://www.rediff.com/getahead/report/career-8-start-up-lessons-from-street-food-vendors/20160108.htm?pos=2&src=NL20160109&trackid=aOXQnFSBNyGA0JQy25Bs9DNKHZ4S8ymkD6S8f6vzhK4=&isnlp=0&isnlsp=0