Thursday, 26 December 2013

The NaMo Store' opens, to sell merchandise inspired by Narendra Modi online

12/26/2013 11:56:00 am TECHNOLOGY No comments

The NaMo Store' opens, to sell merchandise inspired by Narendra Modi online

A new online store dubbed 'The NaMo Store' is now selling merchandise inspired by Narendra Modi, the BJP's prime ministerial candidate.

The NaMo Store includes products like T-shirts; stationary material including desk organisers (paperweight, reminder pad, pen-stand and notebooks), and pen-drives. According to Live Mint, there are plans to launch physical stores in major cities and that the first brick and mortar store would be in Ahmedabad.

Live Mint cites a team member of the online store, who said, "The NaMo Store will also be launching their own retail stores across different cities in India for wider reach in near future. The stores will be opening in major cities in India."

The online store is from Take India Beyond Merchandising Pvt. Ltd. which describes itself as a "merchandising brand that goes beyond mere profits". Notably, the T-shirts available on The NaMo Store sport slogans, logos and images of Narendra Modi.

In November, a Narendra Modi-inspired game, Modi Run was launched on Android for free. The gameplay of Modi Run is based on the classic Mario series, not the Temple Run series as indicated by the name; here Modi's character is seen beating obstacles and collecting diamonds at various stages. Interestingly, the developer has named the stages after Indian states.

We have also seen Narendra Modi-inspired smartphones that were launched in September this year.

On Wednesday, the Congress party announced that it would create a 'cyber-army' to combat BJP's onslaught on social media. Senior Congress leader, Ahmed Patel confirmed the news, saying, "We will be creating our cyber army to counter the BJP's onslaught on social media which has become important in the run-up to the 2014 general elections."

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Samsung SC-03F Tizen smartphone reportedly spotted in FCC listing

12/26/2013 11:54:00 am TECHNOLOGY No comments

Samsung SC-03F Tizen smartphone reportedly spotted in FCC listing

Samsung has been making headlines with rumours of its first Tizen smartphone for a while. Now, a Samsung Tizen smartphone with model number SC-03F has been spotted on a FCC listing, and is believed to be bound for Japanese carrier, NTT DoCoMo.

According to Tizen Indonesia, who first spotted the FCC (Federal Communications Commission) listing of the alleged Samsung SC-03F, the device comes with similar design to the company's 2013 Android flagship, the Samsung Galaxy S4. However, it suggests that the alleged Samsung SC-03F has a sleeker profile, compared to the Galaxy S4. The site also reveals that the rumoured Samsung SC-03F is powered by a Qualcomm MSM8974 Snapdragon chipset clocked at 2.3GHz. Notably, the same chipset powers the Galaxy S4, Galaxy Note 3 and recently unveiled Galaxy J.

The radio frequency bands allegedly supported by the spotted Samsung SC-03F model include 850/1900MHz GSM, WCDMA 850, while connectivity options include Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 4.0 (Low Energy). As of now, not many details about the innards of the device have been revealed.

In addition, Sammobile claims that the Japanese carrier, NTT DoCoMo will be the first mobile carrier to sell a Tizen smartphone and also reveals that Samsung might unveil the yet-to-be-named Tizen smartphone at an event on February 23.

An earlier report suggested that Samsung would showcase its commercial devices based on Tizen OS at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2014.

In November, Samsung's yet-to-be-announced GT-I8800 Redwood Tizen smartphone was spotted in benchmarks. The latest version of Tizen (version 3.0), the Linux-based open source operating system which is backed by Intel and Samsung, was also released at the Tizen developer Summit in November

Five Ways To Become A Better Listener At Workplace

12/26/2013 09:46:00 am EDUCATION, JOBS, TECHNOLOGY No comments

Five Ways To Become A Better Listener At Workplace

Listening is the most abused process in personal and corporate life, says Sameer Dixit, CLO at Allied Blenders and Distillers.

The art of listening is often thought of as one of the most under rated virtues in the corporate world as professionals try to outdo each other and relying on talking more to get ahead. ET shows how one can become a better listener.

Develop Respect and Empathy

Listening is the most abused process in personal and corporate life, says Sameer Dixit, chief learning officer at Allied Blenders and Distillers. He suggests developing and working on behavioral characteristics like treating others with respect and empathising, which can help improve learning habits. “Empathy enables you to listen to others with lot of care, compassion and openness which further engages people mutually,” he says.

Focus on Postures, Make Eye Contact

Dixit says a relaxed demeanour is important in a conversation. “Maintaining eye contact and relaxed postures are important non-verbal cues that will convey that you are interested in hearing the other person,” he says.

Solicit Feedback

Swati Sharma, an IT manager, regularly sought feedback from a colleague on improving her conversation styles and listening habits when she realised she had a tendency to intervene too often in conversations. For her, this was a good cue for self-improvement.

Avoid Immediate Reactions

Dixit says it is important to not react immeadiately or aggressively in the middle of conversations. “It is important to observe and absorb things instead of reacting impulsively which may portray someone as being defensive or judgemental,” he says.

Expand your Network

To overcome her listening deficit, Sharma reached out to a wider group of people than before, and found that it gave her a fresh perspective on how she should listen in more often than she did.

Healthcare Sector To Focus On Retaining Existing Talent In 2014

12/26/2013 09:45:00 am EDUCATION, JOBS, TECHNOLOGY No comments

Healthcare Sector To Focus On Retaining Existing Talent In 2014

Apeksha Kaushik, TimesJobs.com Bureau

Healthcare has been one of the top performing sectors during 2013, in terms of hiring. The sector fared better than other key industries. It reported an average annual growth of 2 per cent during 2013. Experts believe that the industry will continue to be a key employment generator in the future.

In a quick chat with TimesJobs.com Jacob Jacob, chief people officer, Apollo Hospitals Enterprise Limited, shares the key reason behind the growth in demand for talent and future outlook of the Healthcare sector.

Three key recruitment drivers for healthcare sector in 2013

· Trend of quality accreditation: The process has increased the demand for healthcare professionals, preferably with experience in accredited hospitals

· Adoption of new specialties in existing setups: For example, adoption of oncology and cardiology specialties by hospitals to expand clinical offerings

· Growth in business: Due to business expansion of existing players and increasing competition from new entrants into the Indian Healthcare market

Key challenges faced by the sector in 2013

· Availability of key talent

· On-boarding professionals from established sectors such as, manufacturing, IT and FMCG, who carry huge expectations in terms of their role, organisation structure, work environment and compensation

· Retaining talent, especially in the bigger cities

2014 recruitment scenario

With increasing competition from existing and new healthcare players, “prevention is better than cure” will be the mantra for healthcare HR managers next year. Hence, retaining existing talent through innovative engagement programs will be the flavor of 2014.

Profiles that will be in demand in 2014

Profiles such as doctors, staff nurses with cardiothoracic and ICU experience would be in demand in 2014. Technicians/ technologists in cardiac care and nuclear medicine will continue to be in great demand next year.

Rise in demand for other support functions

Joydeep DasGupta, healthcare management consultant and author of ‘Hospital Administration and Management – A Comprehensive Guide’, predicted in the TimesJobs.com bi-annual RecruiteX report that some important employment avenues are expected to be created in non-medical administrative processes. Profiles such as healthcare management analyst, patient care co-coordinator, quality administrator, facility administrator and finance administrator would be in demand in 2014.

In conclusion

Industry experts stated that aging populations will continue to drive demand for Healthcare in times ahead, thus, boosting the demand for talent across various profiles and positions in the sector. Although, finding relevant talent and required skills sets still remains a challenge for the sector and could pose a serious impediment to the overall projected recruitment scenario, fear experts.

Interview Of The Day: ‘Good Corporate Governance Ensures Success Of Business And Its People, In The Long Run’

12/26/2013 09:43:00 am EDUCATION, JOBS No comments

Interview Of The Day: ‘Good Corporate Governance Ensures Success Of Business And Its People, In The Long Run’

Seema Bangia, head-HR, Mahindra Defence Systems Ltd

Why is a culture of corporate governance important?

It is extremely important; as any culture binds people or employees to a common vision and expectations of any organisation. Corporate governance not only guides employees to drive towards that common goal, but also affects all its stakeholders including customers, vendors and society, as a whole. It gives a direction and creates an image about an organisation. A well-crafted framework of roles and responsibilities goes a long way in ensuring growth of the organisation and its people. Clarity about the vision and mission of the company provides unambiguous and clear-cut directions to employees and leaders alike, resulting in a flawless work process system. The system of corporate governance should be such that there are no malpractices and it is obligatory for everyone to abide by the organisational code of conduct.

What are the key challenges associated with instilling an effective corporate governance plan?

The single and foremost challenge is it’s “execution”. It is very simple to craft a policy or a guideline. However, one needs to spend more effort in ensuring that all stakeholders understand that. It needs to be hard-wired into the DNA of organisation’s culture. An organisation needs to create awareness on a day-to-day basis and refresher sessions should be conducted with staff to keep them updated on any change in the company policies. Also, it is primary for the manager and leaders to ‘practice what they preach’. Until and unless this will happen, any sort of governance policy will not have any relevance.

What are the probable solutions to the challenges mentioned above?

A regular awareness, walk the talk by the leadership team, creating a culture by imbibing the true essence of this policy, could be some of the probable solutions. The people in the organisation need to know and understand that there are no shortcuts and one has to follow proper procedures and go through relevant and stipulated channels to get the work done.

Who are the key stakeholders in this? What is the role of business leaders in ensuring transparency in the organisation, across board?

Stakeholders are all the people/organisations who are directly or indirectly associated with it; including employees, shareholders, vendors, customer, society and community. As I mentioned above that “walk the talk” by leadership team can go a long way in ensuring its true sense is achieved.

What is the role of technology in ensuring transparency?

If all the processes are online and visible to everyone concerned, technology can really support this endeavour. ERP modules play a very significant role here. However, technology is only a tool to ensure process execution is transparent. More than that, it’s the attitude and intent that can drive this transparency.

5 Steps to a flat tummy in 7 days

12/26/2013 09:42:00 am HEALTH TIPS No comments

5 Steps to a flat tummy in 7 days

Get a flat tummy in one week (Thinkstock photos/Getty Images)

You've been missing your routine at the gymvery often thanks to your busy schedule (or plain laziness) and suddenly you realize that in one week you have to attend a wedding.

You want to wear your favourite saree or figure-hugging dress but are worried about your flabby stomach bulging out. Well, you still have a last option. While you cannot reduce fat, you can lose belly fat by decreasing your total body fat percentage. And you don't have to completely alter your daily habits to get a flat stomach within 7 days!

Step one:

If you want to build muscle and burn fat at the same time, you have to perform circuit training, three days per week. How can you achieve this? Indulge in full body exercises like lunges, push-ups, and pull-ups, for one set of 15 repetitions. Don't forget to follow every exercise with one minute of jumping rope. You should be able to burn around 500 to 600 calories per workout.

Step two:

You have to work on your abdominal muscles three times in the week. Crunches and leg raises for three sets of 20 repetitions should be done. Also, do planks by holding your body in a push-up position on your elbows for 30 to 60 seconds for four sets.

Step three:

The kind of food you will eat in this period is vital in bringing about any change. Natural foods like fruits, vegetables, whole grain breads and pastas, chicken, beef, fish and low fat dairy should replace processed foods full of sugar.

Step four:

To minimize water retention, lower your sodium intake. This means you need to avoid salt. You can flavour your food with other herbs and spices instead.

Step five:

Stressing and anxiety can cause the over-production of a certain hormone called cortisol, which encourages weight gain about the belly area. So try to keep your cool!

Airtel, Vodafone, others fined Rs 50 lakh for poor service

12/26/2013 09:40:00 am GENERAL, TECHNOLOGY No comments

Airtel, Vodafone, others fined Rs 50 lakh for poor service

Trai has imposed cumulative penalty of Rs 50 lakh on nine mobile operators for failing to meet quality of service benchmarks.

NEW DELH: Telecom regulator Trai has imposed cumulative penalty of Rs 50 lakh on nine mobile operators for failing to meet quality of service benchmarks in the second quarter ended June 2013, official sources said.

The regulator has imposed maximum penalty of Rs 14.5 lakh on state-run telecom companyBSNL for failing to meet 13 quality of service parameters, they said, adding that no penalty was imposed on Videocon, Loop Mobile and state-run MTNL.

TRAI imposed Rs 12.5 lakh penalty on Aircel andReliance Communications (including Reliance Telecom) for failing to meet certain parameters.

The regulator imposed a penalty of Rs 3 lakh on Idea Cellular, Rs 2 lakh each Bharti Airtel and Vodafone, Rs 1.5 lakh each on Uninor and Vodafone, sources said.

A fine of Rs 50,000 was imposed on CDMA operator MTS. Under existing regulations, Trai can impose up to Rs 50,000 penalty on telecom operators for failing to meet any quality of service parameter for mobile services and up to Rs 1 lakh for repeating such failure.

For example, if call drop rate benchmark of (less than) 2% is not met by an operator in the first quarter after coming into force of these regulations, a financial disincentive not exceeding Rs 50,000 would be imposed.

In case, in any of the subsequent quarters the benchmark for the same parameter ie call drop rate benchmark is not met, financial disincentive not exceeding Rs 1,00,000 will be imposed by the authority.

The regulator, however, can impose a penalty of up to Rs 10 lakh if it finds that telecom operators have submitted false compliance report on quality of service benchmark
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Sony launches pen drive for smartphones in India

12/26/2013 09:38:00 am TECHNOLOGY No comments

Sony launches pen drive for smartphones in India

Within a fortnight of global unveiling, Sony has launched the world's first pen drives for smartphones and tablets in India.

NEW DELHI: Within a fortnight of their global unveiling, Sony has launched the world's first range of pen drives for smartphones and tablets in India. The new flash drives are "2-in-1 devices" with both USB 2.0 and microUSB connectors, allowing buyers to use them in laptops and desktops as well as smartphones and tablets.

The 8, 16 and 32GB variants of the new Sony USM-SA1 USB drive have been priced at Rs 746, Rs 1,399 and Rs 2,633 in the country.

The new drives are compatible with Android (Ice Cream Sandwich to Jelly Bean) operating systems and offer USB on-the-go (OTG) functionality. Sony says that it is working on making them compatible with Android 4.4 (KitKat), the latest version of Google's mobile operating system.

Apart from copying data between devices, these flash drives can be used to as additional or temporary storage for smartphones and tablets.

Their locking caps (available in three colours) will protect the connectors from damage, dust and debris, says Sony. The metal body of the flash drives is durable enough to withstand everyday mobile use, it claims.

High-tech Santa Claus visits Indian IT companies

12/26/2013 09:37:00 am TECHNOLOGY No comments

High-tech Santa Claus visits Indian IT companies

Companies are playing Santa and spreading the holiday cheer among their staff and communities.

BANGALORE: Companies are playing Santa and spreading the holiday cheer among their staff and communities.

Google employees get to choose between aNexus 5 phone and a Nexus 7 tablet as a holiday gift this year. "All Googlers on the rolls of the company qualify for the gift. Last year, Google gave Nexus 7 tablets. This year, we are giving the latest version of it, and also giving the option of a phone," said Paroma Roy Chowdhury, head of corporate communications at Google India.

Tech major VMware has given $100 each to every one of its employees to be given to their preferred charity. The employees don't get any money directly, but can redeem it for their charity using a code. Software company Intuit is playing Secret Santa to the Jeevan Jyoti home in Delhi of Missionaries of Charity.

"We are doing a make-a-wish initiative for 73 children who shared their wishes with me when I visited them recently. It was heartwarming to read the wonderful wishes from the children for simple gifts like toys, clothes, books, stationery, cookies, candies, balloons and cakes. Our Gurgaon team will spend a day with the children. Each of us will choose a child and fulfill her wishes. We will place the gifts under a Christmas tree. And, yes, I will dress up as Santa," said Nikhil Arora, MD of Intuit India.

Yahoo held a big year-end party last week that included its over 2,000 employees and their families at the KTPO convention centre in Whitefield. The event, which started at 5 pm and ended with a gala dinner, also had performances by employees, singers Benny Dayal and Shalmali Kholgade, and by the Tarantismo Creative Dance Company.

Santa Claus fever grips corporates
Chennai-based cloud service provider Zoho has gifted windcheaters to its employees. Tech company EMC had cake parties in its Bangalore and Delhi offices and a lunch party at its Mumbai office.

"We decorated our offices. There were fun activities in office, including a dress code of red, white and green, with an award for the best dressed colleague," said EMC India president Rajesh Janey. Google-funded premium cab service Uber has tied up with the NGO Goonj for an on-demand contribution drive across Bangalore.

If you open the Uber app on December 25 and 26 and slide to the UberSleigh vehicle view, you could click on 'Request Pickup'.

"The UberSleigh and our team of elves will land up at your home or office to pick up your donations. We will collect books, clothes, woollens, stationery, sports equipment, old or new; but in good usable condition," said Bhavik Rathod, GM of Uber Bangalore
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No clear and present 'danger' to Nokia India staff

12/26/2013 09:35:00 am TECHNOLOGY No comments

No clear and present 'danger' to Nokia India staff

Nokia has long slipped from its leadership position in the Indian market.

NEW DELHI: Clear and transparent communication from the top levels of both companies, post the September 2 announcement of Microsoft's intent to buy Nokia's handset business, helped allay fears and uncertainty among the Finnish device maker's staff and customers in India.

"(Nokia's) Stephen Elop and (Microsoft's) Steve Ballmer's communication on how it was a win-win deal for both the companies and how we all had to continue focusing on our work was very clear. We were told the exact position in as many words and given a set of dos and don'ts," P Balaji, Nokia's India head told ET.

Breaking his silence on how Nokia's employees and partners took to the $7.2-billion deal news, Balaji said it was a critical moment for the entire team but the anxiety among employees and partners that logically followed the announcement was soon put to rest. "We were told that the likely regulatory approvals would come in the following quarters into 2014, and among the 'don'ts', we had been asked to not start to think too much ahead of the time and to continue working as two separate units until the approvals came in," he said. The companies expect the deal to close in the first quarter of 2014.

"There was no mixing up, and no, thankfully no confusion," Balaji said. The company spent the following days on reaching out to its partners. 'We reached out to our partners — over 400 in distribution and close to 5,000 partners — and explained the details of the deal and how it was only for the better," Balaji said, explaining how the company was able to allay concerns and ensure handset sales weren't hurt by the news.

Himanshu Chakravarti, chief executive of The Mobile Store, India's largest modern trade mobile phone seller, separately said he saw the announcement early morning, and soon after, received a call from the top management of Nokia India to explain to him the contours of the deal and how supply won't be affected at all. "I was satisfied."

Nokia has long slipped from its leadership position in the Indian market, as global rivalsSamsung, Apple and Sony and home grown players such as Micromax sped past it. However, piggybacking on its Lumia range of phones, Nokia's sales have picked up in recent times. It managed to retain its market share in the July-September period after witnessing a sharp fall in the fourth quarter last year, according to IDC.

Vipul Mehrotra, a 16-year veteran at Nokia and currently the company's director and head of smart devices for India, Middle East and Africa, described the Microsoft deal as "an emotional moment".

"I was at Riyadh and a day before the announcement, the news was broken to us. I had to meet a team from Microsoft the next day and my mind was flooded with a number of questions, especially on how I would explain this to my team," Mehrotra said.

"In the next six weeks we were able to ensure that there was no loss of sales," he said. He added that both companies continue to function as two separate independent units until the integration is complete. An impediment to the smooth integration of the two companies in India was removed when the Delhi High Court last week allowed Nokia to sell its Chennai factory to Microsoft, asking income-tax authorities to revoke the freeze on the handset maker's assets
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Thursday, 26 December 2013