Startups need support from the government to decrease the failure rate

Startups in India face numerous challenges at different stages in terms of incorporation, fund raising and hiring and they need adequate support to tide over these difficulties and minimise failures, says a report. The government should provide incentives to investors in startups and direct funding on the basis of monitoring and evaluation as India has the potential to become a major hub for startups, industry body Ficci said in the report.

The report on the vibrancy of the startup ecosystem in the UK and its lessons for India’s developing startup scene observes that while in global hubs like London failure for such venture is accepted, entrepreneurs in countries such as India could be seen as braver as they are taking comparatively greater risks in the face of adverse situations. “There are a number of challenges for Indian startups, from the stage of incorporation through the stages of raising capital, hiring resources, scaling up and making an exit.

“There is a need to address such bottlenecks to minimise failures and ensure that the startups graduate to becoming scale ups,” Ficci said. Corporates can act as hotbeds for co-creation with startups, provide market opportunities through procurement and encourage a wider culture of entrepreneurship. The government can promote direct procurement from startups approved on the Startup India website, the report suggested.

Moreover, the government should take technology scale-up focused trade delegations to innovation hubs around the world and seek successful outcomes from such delegations to include MoUs between Indian and foreign incubators and accelerators. Startups that are innovation and technology driven have increasingly become the backbone of a new India and could be key drivers for several of the government’s programmes such as Make In India, Digital India, Startup India as well as employment generation.

The UK could formally work with experts and business organisations to conduct a state-by-state assessment of where the UK could work with Indian state and central governments, as well as existing private incubators and accelerators, said the report.

IANS

Publish date: February 22, 2017 12:39 pm| Modified date: February 22, 2017 12:39 pm

News took from link

Russia in progress of building world’s first “floating” nuclear power plant

Russia is in advanced stages of building the world’s first “floating” nuclear power plant (FNPP) for installation in remote areas and hopes FNPP technology will also interest South Asian countries like India.

Pavel Ipatov, Deputy CEO (Special Projects) in Russia’s state atomic energy corporation Rosatom, told IANS in an e-mail interview from Moscow that an FNPP is basically a mobile, low-capacity reactor unit operable in remote areas isolated from the main power distribution system, or in places hard to access by land.

“FNPPs are designed to maintain both uninterruptible power and plentiful desalinated water supply in remote areas,” he said. The Russian explained that floating units are components constructed for transport by sea or river to areas that are otherwise inaccessible or difficult to reach by land.

“The plant is constructed as a non-self-propelled vessel to be towed by sea or river to the operation site. Its mobility will make it possible to relocate it from one site to another, if necessary,” he said. “The first floating NPP is to operate in Russia’s extreme northeastern region of Chukotka, where there is plenty of oil and gas exploration, gold mining and other mineral resource enterprises,” he added.

According to Ipatov, the vessel’s “construction is at its closing stage. The plant has already been floated out, fitting-out is under way”. It has been undergoing “mooring trials” since last July to test the FNPP’s performance efficiency, which are scheduled to be completed by October.

After the tests, the FNPP, called ‘Academician Lomonosov’, will be transported by Russia’s Northern Sea route to the operation site, where it will be integrated into the coastal network being constructed in the port of the city of Pevek. “The construction of onshore facilities is under way on the FNPP’s future operation site. In 2019, the power unit installation on its proper location is expected to start, and then the FNPP will undergo final trials and be put into operation,” he said.

The FNPP has an electric capacity of 70 MW and is equipped with two reactors of 150 MW thermal capacity each. “A vessel like that can provide electric supply to a city of 200,000 and heat supply to a million-plus city,” Ipatov said. An FNPP’s operational lifespan ranges from 35 to 40 years.

In line with conventional onshore nuclear plants that are often equipped with desalination units for freshwater, the FNPP will have a desalination unit producing up to 240 cubic metres of water per hour. Besides, as regards safety, the Russian said that FNPPs would be governed by the same advanced safety parameters put in place after the Fukushima disaster in Japan in 2011.

He cited the example from Soviet times of the first commercial desalination complex attached to a nuclear power plant that went into operation in 1967, providing freshwater supply to the city of Aktau in Kazakhstan.

“Now this nuclear plant is inoperative, but the desalination plant is still working with alternate heat generation,” Ipatov said of the project that was implemented by Rosatom. According to him, with Russia’s expertise, its FNPPs will be in great demand in the global small nuclear power market. “We see significant potential in Southeast Asia and other regions of the world. Memorandums of cooperation on floating nuclear power plants projects have been signed with China and Indonesia,” he said.

“We hope that FNPP technology will also gain interest in South Asia, including India, not only in terms of new opportunities to provide power supply to remote areas, but in terms of building extra seawater desalination facilities, too,” he added.

Rosatom are the builders, in collaboration with the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL), of the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project (KNPP) in Tamil Nadu, that envisages the construction of six reactors of 1,000 MW capacity each.

While KNPP reactor units 1 and 2 are already connected to the southern power grid, the ground-breaking ceremony for construction of units 3 and 4 was done in February last year. Earlier this month, the Indian cabinet approved the setting up of 10 indigenous Pressurised Heavy Water Reactors (PHWRs) for nuclear power generation of around 7,000 MW power. India currently generates 6,780 MW from nuclear power. Nuclear reactors, which will produce another 6,700 MW, are under implementation and these are expected to be completed by 2021-22.

Publish date: May 30, 2017 6:27 pm| Modified date: May 30, 2017 6:27 pm

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Baby 'Walks' Moments After Birth. 68 Million Views And Counting

A video that appears to show a newborn baby "walking" moments after its birth is currently breaking the Internet. Since being posted on Facebook on May 26, the 41-second clip has been viewed well over 68 million times. It has been shared over 1.5 million times and has collected over 325,000 (mostly incredulous) reactions. The footage shows a newborn, being supported by a nurse, lifting one foot, and then the other, in movements that mimic walking. 

The video was posted on Facebook by Arlete Arantes from Brazil. It's unclear when the video was recorded.
                         


So, what's actually going on in the video?

According to the University of Rochester Medical Center, the "walking" is not so much a miracle but a natural newborn reflex. 

Called the "stepping reflex," this reflex is also referred to as the walking or dance reflex because the baby appears to take steps or dance when held upright with his or her feet touching a solid surface. This reflex lasts until the baby is about two-months-old. It helps babies develop and survive. 

But that information hasn't deterred the Internet from doing what it does best: make jokes.

"Gotta stretch the legs after a 9 month journey," writes one person on Reddit, where a GIF of the video has been posted.

"That baby's name: Usain Bolt," jokes another. 

"That kid is going places," comments a third Redditor.






News taken from link

What To Do With Notes Of Rs. 500 And Rs. 1000

HIGHLIGHTS

1. Exchange Rs. 500, Rs. 1000 notes at banks, post offices till Dec 30
2. Citizens must present Aadhar card and PAN card to exchange old notes
3. After Dec 30, old notes can be exchanged at RBI with a declaration

 NEW DELHI :To stop the spread of counterfeit notes, which is aiding terror activities from across the border, the government has decided to scrap the notes of Rs. 500 and Rs. 1000, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said today. Starting midnight, these notes will only be "worth the paper they are printed on," he said.

A proposal for new Rs. 500 and Rs. 2,000 notes has been cleared by the Reserve Bank of India.

There will be no change in any other form of monetary exchange -- cheque, DD, payment via credit or debit cards, he said.

Here's what you need to do with your Rs. 500 and Rs. 1000 notes.

1. Change them at the bank or post office from November 10 to December 30
2. Take Aadhaar card and Pan Card when you go to exchange these notes
3. After December 30, these can be changed at the Reserve Bank with a declaration
4. Tourists can change the notes at airports

This content took from ndtv.com

PM address LIVE: Whoosh! Modi makes black money disappear; kills Rs 500, Rs 1,000 notes

Here are the steps taken by government to make this transition as smooth as possible, says the prime minister

1. People holding old notes can deposit these notes to bank and post offices from 10 November - 30 December. And there is no limit on the amount that a customer can deposit. 

2. There is a limit imposed on all card withdrawals - Rs 2,000 daily and which will be later increased to Rs 4,000 daily. 

3. Notes of Rs 2000 and Rs 500 will be circulated soon, RBI has decided to limit the notes with higher value

Original post found in firstpost.com

WhatsApp Messenger Stops Working For Selected Smartphones from 1st January

Whatsapp Messenger will quit working for this Selective Smartphones after Dec 31st 

Users who are using WhatsApp on Symbian Operating framework will never again have the capacity to use WhatsApp from 1st January. WhatsApp will pull back its services to the Symbian OS working mobiles. All the Smartphones that keep running on the Symbian OS will be no longer have the entrance to WhatsApp.

December 31st is the due date for all the cell phones that keep running on Symbian OS to get to WhatsApp. There were numerous cell phones that were propelled with Symbian OS like Nokia N8 series.

WhatApp has affirmed this news on its blog entry prior this year. The Symbian upheld telephones, as well as telephones that are running on Android 2.1 and Android 2.2 will be in the rundown of telephones that WhatsApp will have its administrations for. Couple of Windows and BlackBerry mobiles will also witness this.

 Nokia, Windows, Blackberry are on the list of telephones which WhatsApp Messenger will quit loaning its support for It has chosen to end its support for the underneath said telephones beginning January first, 2017. 

WhatsApp Messenger Stops Working For Selected Smartphones from 1st January, 2017 


The List Of Mobiles Whatsapp Will Be Terminating

• Phones using Windows Phone 7.1 
• Phones using Nokia S40 
• Phones using Nokia S60 
• Apple iPhone 3GS and iPhones using iOS 6 
• Phones that run on BlackBerry OS and BlackBerry 10 
• Phones using Android 2.1 and Android 2.2

Nokia has effectively stopped on assembling phones anymore, yet there are few of its Symbian-fueled telephones that are being used like Nokia C5 03, Nokia 5233, Nokia E6, Nokia Asha 306, and Nokia E52.

WhatsApp mentioned in its blog post that ‘While these mobile devices have been an important part of our story, they don’t offer the kind of capabilities we need to expand our app’s features in the future’. “This is a tough decision for us to make, but the right one in order to give people better ways to keep in touch with friends, family, and loved ones using WhatsApp.”

 Whatsapp also recommends its clients who are on the going to-shutdown-its-services phones to move to different mobiles like Android, iPhone, or Windows telephone before the end of the year to keep getting the services of their app.


This content originally appeared on larazonsanluis.com

WhatsApp testing new ‘Status’ tab; lets you share photos like Instagram ‘Stories’ or Snapchat ‘Snaps’

WhatsApp is currently testing new interface with ‘Status’ updates tab to the interface after adding a ‘Camera’ tab to the interface along with Video Calling. ‘Status’ updates is not a new addition to WhatsApp and has long existed with the launch of WhatsApp in 2009. But this new addition will introduce sharing images with your contacts for a limited period, just like ‘Stories’ in Instagram and ‘Snaps’ in Snapchat.

The new hidden WhatsApp ‘Status’ feature in latest Android Beta

On checking the new user interface, the new ‘Status’ tab will co-exist with the old ‘Status’ section in the Settings Menu. Facebook, the owner of WhatsApp, seems to have introduced the ‘Snaps’ like functionality in all its products, right from Facebook Messenger’s ‘Messenger Day‘ to Instagram’s ‘Instagram Stories‘ to the new ‘Status’ tab in WhatsApp. Earlier the company introduced a Camera Tab to click photographs or record videos and send them to multiple people without leaving WhatsApp or going to individual chat and using the camera icon to the ‘Type a message’ area.

Camera Interface to add a new ‘new’ WhatsApp ‘Status’

Currently, the functionality is only available as a hidden feature in the latest WhatsApp public beta for Android and iOS. You will need a rooted Android or a Jailbroken iOS device to enable the hidden functionality. WhatsApp is testing the feature and feedback to implement the UI changes for a wider rollout down the line. One thing to note is that there is no direct way to delete the ‘Status’ images or videos shared in the ‘Status’ tab.

There are no options to set the timing of the image or video except the app asks you to set ‘Status recipients’ at the beginning. After the initial setup, you can change the recipients of the status using the three dot menu on the top right corner of the app when in the ‘Status’ tab. You can add a new status using the add ‘New Status’ tab on the top right options in the ‘Status’ tab. After clicking the photo or recording the video, you will be presented with a preview screen where you can crop the video or add emoji’s, text overlays, and scribble using the pencil tool on the image or video.

WhatsApp New Status section along with the old (existing) status section

Facebook is pushing to counter the popularity of Snapchat by replicating the functionality of ‘Snapchats.’ In the limited testing of Instagram ‘Stories,’ the main issue with the implementation is the number of people that are sharing the images, depending in thousands on the number of people that you are following. There is no easy way to manage the long horizontal scroll list of ‘Stories.’

This content originally appeared on tech.firstpost.com