• Moon mission in 3rd quarter of '08: ISRO
• 'India to become major collaborative space power'
• Pumping Life Into Biotech
• India most energy efficient among emerging economies: Report
• Navy conquers North Pole
• NIIT, CII join hands to help build Africa's IT capacity
• 3,500km range Agni-III to be testfired this month

• ISRO's nano satellites impress global clients
• ISRO sets world record with 10 launches
• Indian IT spend to surpass Asean's in 2011
• Asia's first artificial heart transplant in Bangalore
• The top 'network ready' nations
• India a Popular Destination for Clinical Research

Indian space scientists are aiming to launch their ambitious Moon-mission Chandrayaan-I in the third quarter of this year. It will launch a 500 kg satellite that will orbit Earth's only natural satellite for two years for terrain mapping and lunar surface mapping. "It is too early to attempt a human-landing mission on Moon. We will be sending a 500 kg satellite for terrain mapping and lunar surface mapping. The satellite will survey the lunar surface to produce a complete map of its chemical characteristics and 3-dimensional topography," ISRO chairman G Madhavan Nair told a press conference at Sriharikota on Monday after India successfully placed a record 10 satellites into 'precise' orbit. "All the instruments for Chandrayaan-I are ready. A few tests have to be conducted, following which we will be ready for the launch in the third quarter of this year. A special vehicle of the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) called the PSLV-XL is being prepared for it. The weight of the strap-on thrust will increase from nine to 12 tonnes. All the six motors are ready," he said. Nair also said India's first manned space flight can be expected in seven years, after three unmanned flights with the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) Mk-III configuration. "We will be able to put two persons on a lower earth orbit," he said. "We have submitted our project proposal to the government and the Centre has already released Rs 95 crore for the project. We are awaiting the approval for the project in another six months."

Courtesy: www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com, April 29, 2008

Back to Index

Out of the 10 satellites that ISRO successfully launched on Monday, eight are nano satellites designed by students in foreign universities. ISRO's gesture to piggyback has won the hearts of the student community in many western countries. Eight of their nano satellites launched by ISRO are functioning well. These are low-priced satellites designed by university students in Canada, Japan, Germany, Holland and Denmark. They say India's space capability impressed them and ISRO took only five hours to sign the deal. ''We have been waiting for quite sometime for this moment in all our countries,'' said Freddy M Pranajaya, University of Toronto. ''With this spacecraft we will be able to search and rescue ships in distress and also alert ships around to help them,'' said George Best, Com Dev Ltd, Canada. The launch has come as a big relief for this team from Japan. Two years ago, their dream was shattered when the Russian rocket carrying their satellite to space failed in its mission. ''Today, we are very happy. We appreciate ISRO's support,'' said Yasuyuki Miyazaki, Nihon University. India's launch of ten satellites in one go was keenly watched by customers in five countries and they are happy that they made the right choice.

Courtesy: www.ndtv.com, April 29, 2008

Back to Index

According to a study on international space competitiveness index, India which is already a leader in the remote sensing data domain, is poised to become a major collaborative space power. The study, conducted by the US-based Futron Corporation, estimates that the space race as a USD 100 billion-plus industry. Today, space industry consists of satellite manufacturers, launch service providers and downstream industries like imaging solutions and navigational services. According to the study, the US ranks at the top of the 2008 Space Competitiveness Index followed by Russia, Europe, China and India in terms of the government's ability to provide structure and funds, human capital, ability of the manpower to develop space technologies and the ability of the industry to deliver space products and service. India ranks fourth in respect of the government's ability to provide structure and funds and its industry's ability to deliver space related products and services ahead of China, but trailing the US, Europe and Russia. In respect of human capital, India ranks sixth after the US, Europe, Russia, Canada and China. The Futron report stated that India enjoys two per cent market share in the orbital launch and satellite manufacturing sector with 11 launches and making 22 satellites during 1998-2007.

Courtesy: www.headlinesindia.com, April 28, 2008

Back to Index

India's PSLV-C9 has successfully injected ten satellites into orbit.
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), set up 35 years ago, may be a baby among the world's space faring nations. But, it is competing with the other biggies to set world records. And the mission, which has given ISRO an edge over other competitors, is the launch of India's latest Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV). The launch vehicle took off from Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh and has launched 10 satellites - a feat which has created a world record. PSLV weighs 230 tons - the weight of almost 50 elephants - and is as high as a 12-storey building. The launch vehicle has put two Indian and eight foreign satellites into orbit, it has beaten the current world record of hoisting eight satellites at one go accomplished by Russia almost a year ago. At lift-off, the first stage of the rocket ignited. Three minutes after the flight, the massive heat shield peeled off. And then, one after the other, the third and fourth stages ignited taking the rocket higher. Almost 15 minutes after the flight, India's mapping satellite called CARTOSAT 2-A was the first one to be put into orbit and 45 seconds later, the experimental remote sensing satellite, called the Indian Mini Satellite, was put into orbit. After a gap of 100 seconds, all the babies on board were sequentially dropped off one by one, with a gap of 20 seconds each with the mission ending almost 20 minutes after lift-off. The first foreign satellite to be dropped off was CUTE from Japan and the last to be ejected was RUBIN from Germany. The high-resolution mapping satellite CARTOSAT 2-A, which, while placed at a height of over 600 kilometres, can identify objects as small as a car.

Courtesy: www.ndtv.com, April 28, 2008

Back to Index

When the information technology industry does something, can the biotech industry be far behind? For several years, many Indian observers had been waiting for India's biotech industry to follow in the footsteps of its more famous brethren. However, the biotech industry is now preparing to follow the IT industry to the most innovative area in the world: Silicon Valley. Within a few months, the Valley-based Burril and Company will launch in India a life sciences fund sized between $150 million and $250 million (Rs 600 and 1,000 crore). Burril and Company is a conglomerate with interests in venture funds, merchant banking, and media. This is the first time a large overseas venture firm is forming an India fund for life sciences. The Indian biotech industry has not had the benefit of too many specialised venture funds. Six years ago, APIDC-VCL had started the first pure biotech venture fund in India. Two years ago, Nadathur Holdings and Investments and Kotak Private Equity Group formed their own pure life sciences funds. In the 1990s, ICICI Venture had invested in some life sciences companies, a list that included Biocon. However, all these funds put together are not enough for a rapidly expanding biotech industry. "There is still shortage of capital in India's biotech industry, especially for deals larger than $10 million," says Sarath Naru, managing director of APIDC-VCL. The Indian funds were small compared to international funds. APIDC-VCL's fund is worth Rs 150 crore. Kotak's fund is worth $68 million (Rs 260 crore). None of these venture funds brought in international biotech experience; they are all headed by VC industry veterans and not biotech industry experts. Indian biotech entrepreneurs probably lacked business experience, but since the biotech industry is still at a nascent stage, it needed technical expertise as well. Burril has this expertise. Its Managing Director, Ganesh Kishore, was the former head of R&D at Monsanto, and is well known in the biotech industry for leading the R&D that led to the transgenic Bt cotton. Burril has other technical experts as well, many of them having spent decades in the academia and the biotech industry. Burril now has more than $500 million in investments in four different funds. It has invested in around 40 companies worldwide. Burril had last year started a Malaysia Life Sciences Fund. By Indian biotech standards, $150 million is a big fund. But it is the network and expertise that Burrill's Indian portfolio companies would find most useful.

Courtesy: Business World, April 15-21 2008

Back to Index

India's domestic IT spend could overtake that of the six major economies in Southeast Asia in 2011, according to research analyst IDC. Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam together registered US$25.1 billion in IT spending last year, 43 percent higher than India's US$17.5 billion, IDC's managing director Selinna Chin noted in a release earlier this week. Chin oversees the markets of Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Thailand. The Asean region's IT spend, noted Chin, reflects its investment worth. She said: "It has been a widely held notion that India has greater IT investment potential. But, a closer look at IDC data shows that the Asean domestic IT consumption is collectively bigger, which means that Asean could be a better bet in terms of attractiveness for global IT players." In terms of growth, the Indian economy shows great promise--an increasing number of global companies are investing in India for IT exports, while domestic IT players are expanding overseas. According to IDC, India's domestic IT market will grow at 20 percent in 2009, compared to 6 percent in Asean. In 2011, the Indian IT market will overtake Asean in terms of spend, predicted IDC. For Southeast Asia to remain competitive and attractive to IT investors beyond 2011, local governments and businesses should step up their IT adoption, said Chin.

Impact of U.S. recession
The Asean region's market potential, on the other hand, could be impacted by a slowdown in the U.S. economy, Chin pointed out. Should the United States enter into a technical recession--defined as consecutive quarters of negative GDP growth--IT markets in the region will be substantially affected. "The Asean region's IT market growth rhythm could slow to a mere 2 percent in 2008, which is equivalent to a potential loss of market opportunity worth US$680 million [this year], and US$1 billion in 2009," said Chin. Countries that are expected to be more adversely affected in the region are Vietnam, Malaysia and the Philippines, as they are more dependent on exports to the United States.

Courtesy: www.zdnetasia.com, April 18, 2008

Back to Index

Defying the logic that a growing economy consumes more energy, India has emerged as the most energy efficient country among leading emerging nations including China, Brazil and South Africa. Latest findings from the Emerging Economy Report by research and consulting firm, Center for Knowledge Societies, show emerging economies could play pivotal roles in reducing the growing environmental anxieties worldwide. India's per capita energy consumption of 12.6 million Btu and Indonesia's (21.5) are almost negligible when compared to more economically developed nations like South Korea (170.2 mBtu per capita) and Taiwan (181.5).

Courtesy: www.economictimes.indiatimes.com, April 18, 2008

Back to Index

Get yourself an artificial heart and doctors of Bangalore's Narayana Hrudayalaya will plug it in for you. The life-saving device costs only Rs 34 lakh. On March 20, 54-year-old Venkatakrishnaiah became the first Asian to have an artificial heart implantation. This KPTC employee had a severe heart attack in 2003. Despite a bypass surgery, he was unable to work and took voluntary retirement. "My children were still studying. After the bypass surgery, my condition worsened and I was unable to walk six steps. But after the artificial heart implant, I can walk, climb stairs and am even planning to work again," said a relieved Venkatakrishnaiah. In India, about 20 million patients suffer from heart failure, a number that is increasing by two million annually. About 20% of these patients die each year without aid. Patients with end-stage heart failure have limited options - heart transplant or use of ventricular assist devices (VADs). Heart transplantation is limited by availability of donor organs. At present, donor supply limits heart transplantation to about 3,500 hearts globally every year. A viable alternative is implantation of VAD. A team of doctors from Narayana Hrudayalaya lead by Dr Bagirath R and Dr T R Rajesh, along with a team lead by Dr Lyle Joyce, Surgical Director of the Ventricular Assist Device Program of Minnesota, US, successfully implanted a VAD in Venkatakrishnaiah, in a surgery that took over four hours. Though there have been 220 such implants worldwide, this is Asia's first. The surgery was sponsored by Narayana Hrudayalaya. The total cost, surgery included, is around Rs 40 lakh.

Courtesy: www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com, April 10, 2008

Back to Index

Having conquered the South Pole and Mount Everest, the Indian Navy has scripted history by reaching the North Pole on Wednesday night. The navy has claimed that it is the first organisation in the world to complete the three-pole challenge (mountaineers refer to Everest as the third pole). The 10-member team, headed by Commander Satyabrata Dam, had embarked on its second polar quest on March 24. Talking to journalists over satellite phone from the North Pole, Dam said on Thursday, "It feels as if we are on a different planet. The morale of the team is very high and we are all hale and hearty. We sang the National Anthem upon reaching. We felt proud hoisting the Tricolour and the naval ensign here." The team is expected to return to India on April 24.

Courtesy: www.hindustantimes.com, April 10, 2008

Back to Index

INDIA was ranked 50th among 127 countries which were evaluated by the World Economic Forum for their 'network readiness'. Last year, it was ranked 44 out of 122 countries. Thus, the country has slipped four places in a constant sample from 2006-07. The WEF report states that though India scores well for the sophistication of its business environment, the poor state of its information and communications technology (ICT) infrastructure and the extremely low levels of ICT penetration among individuals are severe obstacles to growth. In terms of availability of qualified labour force and innovation potential, the country scores an impressive fourth place for the availability of scientists and engineers. However, the level of ICT penetration among individuals is extremely poor and ranks India at 109. The WEF's Global Information Technology Report 2007-08 ranks countries based on the 'Networked Readiness Index.'

Courtesy: www.rediff.com, April 10, 2008

Back to Index

NIIT and the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) will join hands to "help develop ICT (information and communication technology) capacity in the African continent", the Mumbai-based technology training and software solutions company has announced on the eve of the India-Africa Forum Summit. NIIT and the CII would share "high quality education resources" from India, the company said. They also plan to involve "other appropriate players" from the Indian industry to specifically help Africa develop human capital for the global IT industry. A cooperation agreement has been signed by CII director and Africa head Shipra Tripathi and NIIT chief operating officer P Rajendran. Several business leaders, government officials and media representatives from African countries are currently in India to attend the first India Africa Summit, being held April 4-9. NIIT said that it would provide "relevant IT curricula in line with international IT trends", and content for IT, soft skills and entrepreneurship for training in universities and colleges in Africa. CII, on the other hand, will facilitate internship with the Indian industry. CII, founded over 112 years ago, has a direct membership of over 7,000 businesses from both private and public sectors, including small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and multinational corporations (MNCs), and an indirect membership of over 90,000 companies from around 362 national and regional associations. NIIT calls itself "Asia's No 1 trainer" and says, it offers learning and knowledge solutions to five million students across 32 countries. NIIT Ltd's Shivanjali Singh said that the company and CII would work together and explore modalities of "embedding" NIIT's industry-endorsed IT training programs in the curriculum of universities and colleges in Africa.

They will also look at the possibilities of establishing "centres of excellence" for talent development in different African countries. The software education major has been running IT training centres in Africa for over a decade. NIIT, which set up its first African IT education centre in Botswana in 1997, claims that it has trained nearly 150,000 students till date. It currently reaches over 20,000 African learners every year, through 36 learning centres in eight African countries - Nigeria, Ghana, Senegal, Libya, Sudan, Botswana, South Africa and Zimbabwe. The government of Botswana has awarded accreditation of Tertiary Education Council (TEC) to NIIT's industry-recognised IT training programs. The company said that its flagship DNIIT programme - focused on Internet and e-commerce technologies - was the most popular training program in many African countries. NIIT offers scholarship programmes, which have gained good responses in countries like Nigeria and Ghana. It says, its innovative learning project Hole in the Wall Education (HiWEL) has been implemented in Rwanda, Namibia, South Africa, Botswana, and Mozambique. NIIT chairman Rajendra S Pawar is a member of Presidential International Advisory Council (PIAC) in South Africa, and has been helping the government develop a growth strategy for its ICT industry, said NIIT. The 1981-founded company, which was formerly known as National Institute of Information Technology, has diversified into software services. In 2004, the firm split into NIIT Ltd and NIIT Technologies Ltd. While NIIT Ltd focuses on training, NIIT Technologies focuses on software development and business process management. It claims to be among the top 20 Indian software exporters, with operations in some 42 countries. It has also tied up with Chinese universities for training engineers from that country. NIIT said that it recently launched the state-of-art training campus in Botswana, which would accommodate 7,000 students in various IT streams by 2010.

Courtesy: www.headlinesindia.com, April 07, 2008

Back to Index

India has emerged as a popular destination for clinical research, overtaking China, and is cheaper too, says a Planning Commission report. The market value of clinical trial research outsourced to India is estimated at around $300 million, with projected revenues of $1.5-2 billion by 2010. Global pharmaceutical companies are outsourcing 139 trials to India, as compared to 98 being undertaken in China, the report released Wednesday by Planning Commission Deputy Chairperson Montek Singh Ahluwalia said. The increased trial flow to India is based on several fundamental strengths like good hospitals, competent medical professionals, diverse genetic pool and large patient pools with diseases ranging from heart diseases, diabetes and psychiatric disorders, which are also prevalent in industrialised countries. The cost of conducting research in India ranges between 20 and 60 percent of the cost in industrialised countries, it said. Clinical researchers, nurses and IT staff can be hired at less than a third of wages in the industrialised countries. However, it said, though the "prospects for outsourcing of clinical research by global pharmaceutical companies look bright, there are a number of problems that need attention". India was hampered by a glaring lack of critical infrastructure like accreditation to international laboratories and shortage of research personnel. It said "there are weaknesses in the regulatory infrastructure and the Office of the Drugs Controller is understaffed and lacking in capacity to deal with such new areas as stem cell research and GM food". The suggestions were made by a high level Planning Commission group, headed by Anwarul Hoda, member (International Economics). The group was set up by the commission to examine the different aspects influencing the performances of the services sector and suggest short- and long-term policies to improve and sustain its competitiveness in the coming years. Noting the lack of a world-class testing laboratory for validation of tests, the report said though the National Accreditation Board for Laboratories provides accreditation to labs, it has no international standing. It said there is a "looming shortage of clinical research personnel, estimated at 30,000 to 50,000". "We need more trial investigators, auditors, personnel to serve on Ethics Committees, Data Safety Management Boards and personnel in other categories," the report said. Considering the shortage of trained personnel as the biggest challenge for improving the country's competitiveness, it recommended that a Clinical and Medical Research Council be established with the help of the private sector to formulate, promote and run training programmes. The report said India's research is relatively small in size compared to the global clinical trial industry estimated at around $30 billion. It said the reasons for India emerging as a popular destination for clinical research is because it has put in position world-class laws on Intellectual Property Rights and the government has established complete framework of rules for conducting clinical trials in the country. Currently, 20 clinical research organisations and 80 government and private hospitals are engaged in clinical trails for global and local clients, the report said.

Courtesy: http://news.boloji.com, April 04, 2008

Back to Index

India plans to test-fire its most ambitious strategic missile Agni-III, which can hit high-value targets deep inside China with a strike range of 3,500-km, towards April-end. Sources said the test-firing is likely to take place in the "window" between April 20 to 30, but the exact launch date will depend on technical, environmental and other parameters. This will be the third test of the rail-mobile Agni-III - which can carry a 1.5 tonne nuclear payload - from the integrated test range on Wheeler Island off the coast of Orissa. While the first test of the two-stage, solid-fuelled Agni-III in July 2006 had flopped, with scientists losing control of the missile over the Bay of Bengal barely 65 seconds into its flight, the second test in April 2007 had proved successful during its entire flight path of 15 minutes. "If the third test is successful, then the ballistic missile will require just one or two more tests before it can go for limited series production and training trials by the armed forces. Its operational deployment should be possible by 2010-2011," said a source. Till now, the armed forces have inducted the 700-km Agni-I and 2,000-km-plus Agni-II missiles, which are primarily meant for Pakistan, apart from different versions of the short-range Prithvi missile. The government, however, is yet to give defence scientists the green signal for an advanced version of Agni-III, with a miniaturised third-stage to increase the strike distance to around 5,000-km. "If the political directive comes, we can test this Agni-III-plus missile in a year or so," the source said. A missile is termed an ICBM (intercontinental ballistic missile) if it can travel distances beyond 5,500-km. ICBMs have largely remained the preserve of the five UNSC permanent members, with US and Russia leading the pack since the 1960s. China, too, has made huge strides by developing new-generation solid-fuelled road-mobile ICBMs like DF-31 (7,250-km-plus) and DF-31A (11,270-km). With China even having SLBMs (submarine-launched ballistic missiles) like JL-1 and the under-development JL-2 (8,000-km range), every major city in India is within the strike envelope of Chinese missiles. But despite the stark asymmetry with China in terms of its huge missile and nuclear arsenal, Agni-III makes it possible to bring even Beijing and Shanghai within India's strike range. The 16.7-metre high Agni-III is a totally new system, with a massive lift-off weight of 48 tonnes, unlike the much lighter Agni-I (12 tonnes) and Agni-II (17 tonnes) missiles. Scientists say Agni-III has many "firsts" to its credit like the "flex nozzle controls of rocket motor during the powered phase" and the "specially designed composite propellant with high specific impulse for the rocket". The mobile land-based Agni missiles constitute a crucial part of India's nuclear deterrent posture. Though India has a declared "no-first use" policy, the nuclear doctrine holds that nuclear retaliation to a first strike by an adversary "will be massive and designed to inflict unacceptable damage".

Courtesy: www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com, April 02, 2008

Back to Index