News_StepOne launches National COVID Telemed Helpline

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News_StepOne launches National COVID Telemed Helpline

Aug 7, 2020 by Gouri Achary 0 Comments #+91-9745697456, #24x7 access to Healthcare experts to citizens of India, #Dr. Shuchin Bajaj, #Founder, #helpline, #National COVID Telemed Helpline, #Raghavendra Prasad T S, #StepOne

New Delhi, August 7, 2020: StepOne, a non-profit volunteer-driven collective of 7000 doctors, has announced a National COVID Telemed Helpline, offering inclusive and 24×7 access to Healthcare experts to citizens of India, free of cost.  The helpline, +91-9745697456, is now live for citizens across the country living in the shadow of the rising pandemic. The helpline will provide TeleMed services under COVID related, mental help and video consultation for non-COVID related cases.

Citizens can call the helpline number anytime from anywhere without any charge and will get a call back from a healthcare expert within minutes to understand the needs of the caller. Callers can share the basis of their symptoms which, if required, a doctor would call back and guide them on the next steps. StepOne has also come up with a web-based tele-screening bot that interacts with citizens who wish to share their symptoms and passes the information to a doctor based on the symptoms. It has also come up with a mental health helpline providing counselling to citizens for expressing their issues for appropriate resolutions.

Announcing the National COVID Telemed Helpline, Raghavendra Prasad T S, Founder, StepOne, said, “As India battles the spread of COVID-19, there are many questions and fears people across the country have. With a mission to help state governments identify, locate and treat COVID-19 suspects, StepOne aims at serving people with their COVID, non-COVID and Mental Health queries. Through a collective effort of 4000+ verified doctors, technologists, entrepreneurs & operators, we aspire to reach every nook and corner of the country and extend our support to the ones in need. Our volunteer doctors are working round the clock and have been able to identify over 40,000 high-risk COVID-19 suspects and also managed to prevent about 3.2 lakh people from getting infected and we wish to continue our efforts in this direction.”

Working very closely with StepOne, Dr. Shuchin Bajaj, said, “COVID-19 has been one of the biggest challenges humanity has faced in the recent times and it is heartening to see that volunteers have risen from the ranks of all industries including doctors and techies to help reach out to patients and provide them succour. The fact that 7000 plus doctor volunteers are working day and night without any money or recognition, just to provide help to patients, rekindles our faith in humanity. StepOne is committed to providing high-quality healthcare to all communities in the long run and we see ourselves as a charitable online hospital which will ensure healthcare access to all regardless of their financial or social status.”

For the next phase of expanding its services, StepOne plans to launch a mobile app for citizens of the country to share their symptoms with a doctor remotely for e-consultation and free of charge. It has introduced and launched “Isolation Monitoring” services across 4 states to monitor citizens who have been recommended quarantine and if they are following the given protocols.

Business World

Franklin Templeton: Letter to investors by Sanjay Sapre

Aug 7, 2020 by Gouri Achary 0 Comments #Franklin Templeton, #Letter to investors by Sanjay Sapre

Dear Investor,
I hope you continue to stay safe and healthy. I am writing to update you on the latest developments on the six fixed income schemes under winding-up.

Schemes continue to receive cash flows:

• From April 24 till July 31, 2020, the schemes have received INR 4,280 crore from maturities, pre-payments, and coupons.
• From July 1 till July 31, 2020, the schemes have received cash flows of Rs 1,005 crore from various issuers.
• As on July 31, 2020, while two schemes were already cash positive, the borrowing levels in the other schemes continue to come down steadily. Franklin India Low Duration Fund (FILDF) and Franklin India Credit Risk Fund (FICRF) now have an outstanding borrowing of only 1% and 4% of their AUM respectively.
• These cash flows have been received without the ability to efficiently monetize assets. The schemes will endeavour to accelerate monetization post the successful completion of the e-voting exercise and the Unitholder meet, which can only take place after the completion of the legal process.

As you can see from the above, we continue to make good progress in terms of receiving cash flows and bringing borrowing levels down in these schemes.

Many of you have asked why borrowings should be paid before paying investors. Regulation 41 of SEBI (Mutual Funds) Regulations, 1996 lays out the procedure and manner of winding up of a mutual fund scheme. The regulations require that the proceeds realized, shall be first utilized towards discharge of due liabilities (including borrowings) of the scheme. I would also like to clarify, that AUM of the scheme is shown net of borrowings by the scheme. Repaying the borrowings neither impacts the AUM nor the NAV of the schemes. NAV or AUM represents the net assets of the scheme after reducing liabilities and expenses. Therefore, repayment of borrowings does not impact AUM or the NAV.

Update on the Future Group:

On July 31, 2020 coupon/part maturity payments were due to be paid by 3 issuers belonging to the Future group, viz., Rivaaz Trade Ventures Pvt Ltd (RTVPL), Nufuture Digital (India) Ltd (NDIL), and Future Ideas Co Ltd (FICL) on various Non-Convertible Debentures (NCDs) issued by them. RTVPL met its payment obligations but FICL and NDIL were unable to meet their payment obligations. Due to default in payment, the securities of FICL and NDIL have been valued at zero, basis AMFI prescribed standard hair cut matrix and interest accrued and due has been fully provided. Securities of RTVPL will continue to be valued at 75%, basis recommended valuation. We wish to reiterate that these valuations only reflect the realizable value and do not indicate any reduction or write-off of the amount repayable by these companies. The impacted schemes include Franklin India Short Term Income Plan, Franklin India Dynamic Accrual Fund, Franklin India Income Opportunities Fund and Franklin India Credit Risk Fund.

It has been reported in certain sections of media that Reliance Industries Ltd. is in the final stages of negotiations to buy a controlling stake in Future Group’s retail business. It was also mentioned that both companies have supposedly agreed on certain terms and conditions and a deal could be announced shortly. Such a deal could potentially benefit all the above issuers held in the scheme portfolios.

Update on Reliance Broadcast:

Franklin India Short Term Income Plan and Franklin India Corporate Debt Fund are invested in ‘Reliance Broadcast 9.50% (Series C) 20-Jul-2020’ secured NCDs issued by Reliance Broadcast Network Limited (RBNL) having a put option on Reliance Capital. On maturity, the issuer was unable to meet the maturity obligations (including interest). We are in the process of initiating appropriate enforcement action to recover dues from the issuer and other connected parties. The schemes will continuously monitor the developments in RBNL.

Update on cases filed against Franklin Templeton:

I understand that the delay due to various legal cases continues to add to your disappointment and inconvenience and I am truly sorry about this delay. The Hon’ble Karnataka High Court has scheduled the next hearing of cases on the winding up of debt schemes of Franklin Templeton on August 7, 2020.
The e-voting and the unitholders meet to continue to remain suspended till we get further directions from the Hon’ble Karnataka High Court and efficient monetization of assets of the schemes and distribution of investment proceeds to the unitholders will be possible only after successful e-voting.

Update on SEBI’s audit:

We continue to fully cooperate with and provide all assistance to the auditors. Some of you may have seen certain unsubstantiated rumours and insinuations around the audit completion and findings in the media. I would urge you not to be swayed by such reports which often lack a basis in fact.

As I end this message, I want to re-affirm our commitment to India and our investors. The decision on winding up of the six schemes was taken with the sole objective of safeguarding the interest of our investors. Our focus is to return the maximum possible value to all investors in the shortest possible time in these unprecedented times, and we continue to make progress in this regard.

We will continue to share progress and updates on matters that are important to you. Thank you once again for your continued patience and co-operation.

In case of any further queries, please feel free to call our dedicated helpline at 1-800-258-4255 or 1-800-425-4255 from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m., Monday to Saturday. Alternatively, you can also e-mail us at service@franklintempleton.com.

Yours sincerely,
Sanjay Sapre
President, Franklin Templeton Asset Management (India) Pvt. Ltd.
Mutual Fund investments are subject to market risks, read all scheme related documents carefully.

Business World

Thai Vietjet commences its 10th domestic service in Thailand, linking Bangkok and Nakhon Si Thammarat

Aug 7, 2020 by Gouri Achary 0 Comments #from August 6, #Governor of Nakhon Si Thammarat, #maiden flight VZ330 from the capital city of Bangkok (Suvarnabhumi Airport) to Nakhon Si Thammarat, #Mr Siripat Phatthakun, #Thai singer “GunGun”, #Thai Vietjet, #www.vietjetair.com and “Vietjet Air” mobile app

(New Delhi, August 7, 2020) – Thai Vietjet has inaugurated its maiden flight VZ330 from the capital city of Bangkok (Suvarnabhumi Airport) to Nakhon Si Thammarat, an administrative centre of southern Thailand and one of the most ancient cities of the country. The debut flight took off with guests of honour onboard – Mr Siripat Phatthakun, Governor of Nakhon Si Thammarat and safely landed with lively greetings by water salute and flowers to passengers from Nakhon Si Thammarat Airport and Tourism Authority of Thailand Nakhon Si Thammarat Office.

Celebrating the inaugural flight, Thai Vietjet delivered an enjoyable experience surprised with an in-flight entertainment performed by Thai singer “GunGun”, along with corporate souvenirs gifted to all passengers.

Thai Vietjet’s latest service operates from August 6 with one return flight daily and increases to four flights daily within October, with a flight duration of around 1 hour 15 minutes. Having received excellent response from the market for this new route to Nakhon Si Thammarat, the airline has also completed its operational readiness for up to five flights daily by end of the year.

The new route’s tickets are available for booking on website www.vietjetair.com and “Vietjet Air” mobile app, starting from INR 480 (excluding tax and fees) for a one-way fare.

Online check-in service for domestic passengers travelling out of Suvarnabhumi airport is now available for more convenience. All Vietjet flights are in alignment with all global standards and guidelines from the local authorities, including aircraft disinfection.

Flight No.Departure from BangkokArrival at Nakhon Si ThammaratFlight No.Departure from Nakhon Si ThammaratArrival at Bangkok
(GMT +7)(GMT +7)
VZ336*05.5007.05VZ337*07.3509.05
VZ33011.0512.20VZ33112.5014.20
VZ338*13.1514.30VZ339*15.0016.30
VZ334 *18.4520.00VZ335*20.3022.00

(*) VZ334, VZ335 starting from 1 September, 2020 and VZ336, VZ337, VZ338, VZ339 starting from 1 October, 2020

Business World

Indian Companies from different sectors helping Startups to grow in this pandemic

Aug 7, 2020 by Gouri Achary 0 Comments #COVID-19 pandemic, #Startups

At this time when the entire world is slumped by a COVID-19 pandemic, safety measures are taken worldwide and social distancing are hampering businesses. Startups have experienced huge impacts no matter how established they are. This is prompting them to re-look at their business strategies and different ways to maintain the steady growth of their Business.

While everyone is talking about the economic slowdown and financial setbacks, there are startups who have seen a surge in numbers with the by changing their business and marketing strategies and with the help of associating with different brands.

AdTech Marketing strategy – Promodome

Promodome is a full-service Advertising Agency based in Delhi. driven by two principal strengths: Creative and Media. Promodome helped startups to change their marketing strategy and grow their business even at the times of COVID-19. Promodome Communications is driven by a team of highly dedicated professionals with years of experience behind them in growing and nurturing brands.

Contactless Payment – DOTpe

A technology startup, DotPe provides neo digital transformation and commerce solutions to restaurants and F&B brands. By offering its QR code & WhatsApp based SCAN-ORDER-PAY solution, direct communication & digital ordering management technology to them, it can assist food courts to ensure streamlined business operations while following the social distancing norms and make customers feel safe through minimal human touch while ordering and settling the bill. Dotpe enables offline merchants/retailers to digitise their store in a matter of a few minutes and start accepting contactless orders.

C2B Data Marketplace – Aiisma

Aiisma, India’s first C2B data marketplace, rewards the users for exchanging anonymous data. In sync with the government’s mission of #AatmaNirbharBharat, AIISMA as a startup, is enabling 50 start-ups & SMEs to revive and stay relevant. C2B data marketplace is working towards reviving the local start-ups and SMEs hit by Covid-19. It is offering tech support, access to AiiAds&Aiisma Marketplace.

Conversational AI – Chatbot – Ori

Ori is a start-up that makes multilingual conversational chatbots. Covid19 has completely changed the working model of the businesses, now people can only connect virtually for sales and customer support which is the key for growth in business as it develops user’s trust toward the brand. Ori’s platform uses real-time insights and cues to help users improve their experience across calls, Emails, Conversations Over Chat. Several MSMEs were badly affected and in need of a quick, cheap solution. ORI created a simple solution, on Whatsapp, without any upfront charges to increase adoption and let MSMEs leverage the power of automation

Business World

Ways To Increase Breast Milk Supply By Dr Suresh Birajdar, Consultant Paediatrician & Neonatologist, Motherhood Hospital, Kharghar

Aug 7, 2020 by Gouri Achary 0 Comments #Breast Milk, #Dr Suresh Birajdar

During those early days of breastfeeding your baby, you may be stressed and face challenges if you are not producing adequate breast milk. Every cry, hiccup or burp coming for your newborn may hint that he/she isn’t getting sufficient milk. This can surely make you anxious and rob your peace of mind. Set your worries free as we are going to give some tips regarding how to boost the milk supply and make sure that your baby is breastfed properly.

Breastfeeding is beneficial for both, the baby and mother. For some women, breastfeeding is an intimate time with a baby. But, do you know that the benefits of breastfeeding tend to go beyond forming an emotional connection. Yes, you have heard it right! Breastfeeding is crucial as it helps your child build the immune system and prevents him/her from allergies, infections at bay. But, what if your child is not getting enough breast milk? Moreover, if you are a new mom, you will be tensed when it comes to making enough breast milk for your baby even after those first few weeks of breastfeeding. And this is a common fear that may be encountered by many new moms. If your breast milk supply is low then follow these vital tricks to boost it.

This is how you can increase the breast milk supply

Stick to a well-balanced diet: If you are a breastfeeding mom then you will need more healthy calories. Opt for foods that energize you. Including flaxseed, yogurt, eggs, fresh fruits, and vegetables in your diet can do the trick. Along with proteins also see to it that you go for enough vitamins. Calcium, vitamin D, iron, folic Acid as important vitamins and minerals for breastfeeding moms. Healthy fats (unsaturated fats) can be helpful in the development and growth of your baby. Include olive and peanut oil, avocados, and salmon in your diet. Also, avoid smoking and alcohol.

Opt for a breast pump: This can be helpful in boosting your milk supply quickly. You will have to pump for about 2-3 days in a row after every breastfeeding session. Doing so will allow you to fully empty your breasts and may give a sign to your body to produce more milk. Hence, consult your doctor about using a breast pump and start accordingly.

See to it that you get enough rest: Are you aware? Getting enough sleep can help you boost your milk production. You will feel fatigued after breastfeeding your baby. But getting enough rest can be helpful for your body to work at its best and enhance breast milk production.

Drink enough water: Hydration is the key. Around 8 glasses of water per day can be beneficial for the mothers in improving the breast milk supply.

Try to breastfeed longer: Breastfeed your baby on each side. If your baby falls asleep while nursing then wake him/her gently. The stimulation will be more if your baby spends more time at the breast.
Breast massage or compression while nursing your little one can also be beneficial. These techniques can help push more milk out. So, speak to your paediatrician or lactation consultant regarding the correct technique that you need to follow.

Breast massage or compression while nursing your little one can also be beneficial. These techniques can help push more milk out. So, speak to your paediatrician or lactation consultant regarding the correct technique that you need to follow.

Business World

Quote from Pritam Bisht, Director – Strategy & Business Development

Aug 7, 2020 by Gouri Achary 0 Comments #Director - Strategy & Business Development, #Pritam Bisht

“Very proactive on the part of the government, the much-needed lubricant is here.
What has hurt humanity and the world economy in recent times is not just the virus, but really the unpredictability it brought along and the resultant uncertainty that shrouds our future. Speaking of uncertainty, the entire RE sector was reeling under wide-spread and protracted liquidity crunch, which over the last 3 years cast a shadow upon under-construction projects.

Only such definitive moves from the government will bring back the missing mojo into our economy. Not just liquidity, this also brings back hope to all market participants. And we will soon see this trickling into greater consumer confidence and hopefully uptick in purchases in the near future.

While we await the specific guidelines for Real Estate, I will not comment upon the sufficiency of 5,000 cr., as it still is a great supply-side measure at absolutely the right time and we sense the direction in which the government is thinking as well as acting. Kudos!”

Business World

NEW ONE-STOP RESOURCE CENTER GIVES DEVELOPERS A ROBUST ARRAY OF TOOLS TO EASILY MANAGE, MONITOR AND INTEGRATE LIMELIGHT SERVICES

Aug 7, 2020 by Gouri Achary 0 Comments #Developer Central., #Inc. (Nasdaq: LLNW), #Limelight Networks, #Nigel Burmeister, #VP of Product at Limelight.

As demand for streaming video grows, the pressure is on content providers to deliver, protect, innovate and improve efficiency. To support developers in accomplishing these goals, Limelight Networks, Inc. (Nasdaq: LLNW), a leading provider of edge cloud services, today introduced Developer Central. This one-stop resource centre puts Limelight’s innovation in developers’ hands offering unique and evolving content, training, and a library of tools to manage customers’ service environments today and into the future.

“Limelight is relentlessly focused on customer delivery toward our strategic areas in 2020 including expanding capacity, expanding on proactive management of the network, placing more control in the hands of our customers and driving innovation. Today, we’re pleased to announce Limelight Developer Central, a robust resource and a big advancement toward giving customers more control and driving innovation. It addresses the need for rapid prototyping, testing, and deployment in today’s changing business environment. Our customers now have the tools to manage and monitor Limelight services while also improving quality and reducing development time,” said Nigel Burmeister, VP of Product at Limelight.

A few of the many features and functions developers can use Limelight Developer Central to support their applications and workflows include:

· OpenAPI Documentation: Provides consistency and access to endpoint links and syntax example. Automatically generated so developers always have the most current documentation.

· API Explorer: Enhanced interactive tool for developers that provides tutorials, sample code and the ability to try Limelight APIs in a realtime test environment before going into production.

· Software Development Kits (SDKs): Provide pre-packaged code with multiple operations to monitor, configure and manage Limelight services, including necessary authentication steps, that developers can copy and paste.

· Q&A Community Forum: The community’s open forum encourages developers to share ideas, technology and passion with peers and get expert answers to questions.

“With the range of new tools and resources in Limelight Developer Central, it’s easier than ever to configure, manage and monitor your streaming video and other Content Delivery Network workflows. Limelight also offers a range of edge compute options, both CDN-integrated and general-purpose, letting you run your own code in locations around the world. It’s all part of our expanded commitment to developer empowerment,” said Eveline Carr, Developer Community Manager at Limelight.

Developer Central is Limelight’s latest example of driving and developing innovation that delivers the highest performing content delivery and edge services solutions for customers worldwide. To learn more, visit https://www.limelight.com/developers/

News

Shapoorji Pallonji Group commemorates 60 glorious years of Mughal-e-Azam

Aug 7, 2020 by Gouri Achary 0 Comments #60 glorious years of Mughal-e-Azam, #directed by talented filmmaker K. Asif and produced by Shapoorji Pallonji Group.

Chennai, India, August 7, 2020: Mughal-e-Azam, an iconic Indian period film, commemorates 60 momentous years since its release on the 5th August 1960. The multiple award-winning historical saga, celebrated for one of the finest performances in Indian cinema, was directed by talented filmmaker K. Asif and produced by Shapoorji Pallonji Group.

The project faced multiple hurdles during its making, forcing its temporary abandonment. The political tensions and communal rioting surrounding India’s partition in 1947 stalled the film’s first version. Shiraz Ali, the producer, migrated to Pakistan. In the 1950s, Mr Shapoorji Pallonji Mistry salvaged the film and came on board to produce the film, despite no knowledge about film production. Mr. Shapoorji Pallonji had an inclination towards history and hence wanted to create a landmark historical film. The film cost Rs. 1.5 crores in 1960, ten times the cost of an average film in those days. The shoot commenced in the early 50s with the production canvas involving war scenes with 2,000 camels, 4,000 horses and 8,000 Indian military men.

Mughal-e-Azam was the first black-and-white Hindi film to be digitally coloured and the first to be given a theatrical re-release. Shapoorji Pallonji’s grandson, Mr. Shapoor Pallonji Mistry, the present Chairman of the group, undertook the restoration and colourization of Mughal-e-Azam, originally only 15% shot in colour. Original music composer Naushad Ali recreated the six-track surround sound version for the colour release. In 2004, the colour version of the film was re-released and it was also a complete commercial success.

On this occasion, Mr. Deepesh Salgia, creative visionary of Mughal-e-Azam who also holds a position as the CEO and Director at Grandview Estates Pvt. Ltd. (A part of Shapoorji Pallonji Group) states, “We are proud to continue the legacy of the group by commemorating the movie’s 60 years. Mughal-E-Azam is India’s finest artwork and has created new benchmarks in cinema as well as in theatre production. The Shapoorji Pallonji Group takes this opportunity to thank Director K. Asif, and legendary actors Prithviraj Kapoor, Dilip Kumar, Madhubala and the Creative & Technical teams of the original version, the colour version and the musical play. Their immense contribution makes this work of art relevant even today, after 60 years of its release. The Shapoorji Pallonji Group is proud of the love and appreciation the movie has received.”

In 2016, Shapoorji Pallonji Group produced the theatrical version of the film, Mughal-e-Azam; the Play directed by Feroz Abbas Khan. The musical play has also run to packed houses across Asia. Till date, the musical play has had 180 performances across eight Asian cities. It has won seven Broadway India world awards.

The Mughal-e-Azam film was itself a remake of the theatrical play ‘Anarkali’, written by Imtiaz Ali Taj. The popular epic love saga is remembered for its tragic love story between the Mughal prince Salim and court dancer Anarkali.

News

India-UK team tackles antimicrobial resistance spread in waterways

Aug 7, 2020 by Gouri Achary 0 Comments #AMRflows, #IIT Gandhinagar and IIT Madras., #Newcastle University, #UK’s Natural Environment Research Council and India’s Department of Biotechnology

An estimated 58,000 babies die in India every year from superbug infections passed on from their mothers, whilst drug-resistant pathogens cause between 28,000 to 38,000 extra deaths in the European Union every year.

A research project called AMRflows, which involves experts from Newcastle University, has received £1.2 million of UK and Indian funding to explore the role played by India’s rivers in increasing antimicrobial resistance (AMR).

Supported by the UK’s Natural Environment Research Council and India’s Department of Biotechnology, the cross-disciplinary team also includes researchers from Newcastle University, the James Hutton Institute in Scotland, IIT Gandhinagar and IIT Madras. Experts will sample and model two contrasting river networks in India – the Musi river in Hyderabad, which has high concentrations of antibiotics released from production facilities, and the less polluted Adyar river in Chennai.

The project – which is supported by UK Research and Innovation’s Fund for International Collaboration – aims to learn how far resistant bacteria travel before they die or are eaten by other organisms in a unique combination of experiments, field sampling and mathematical modelling of resistance dynamics and water flows.

The team from Newcastle will be led by Professor David Graham, an environmental engineer who has spent almost 20 years studying the environmental transmission of antibiotic resistance around the world.

Work in recent years, often led by Professor Graham and international colleagues, has shown that antibiotic-resistant genes are readily exchanged between microbes and move through many pathways, even to places where antibiotics functionally are not present.

Commenting on this new UK-India project, Professor Graham said: “This project has huge potential because it will study AMR spread in a more quantitative and predictive manner, which is urgently needed for assessing environmental exposure risk.

“Additionally, it combines studies at various scales, ranging from the genetics of resistance gene exchange to metagenomics to micro- and macro-scale numerical modelling, which to our knowledge, has never been done before.”

Professor Graham recently contributed to new recommendations for tackling the spread of antibiotic resistance, published in June by the World Health Organisation (WHO). The new guidance aims to provide a framework for countries to create their own locally-driven national action plans that suit their own particular regional setting. It considers growing evidence, including research by Professor Graham, which suggests that the “superbug problem” will not be solved by prudent antibiotic use alone and that environmental factors may be of equal or greater importance, which this new project aspires to quantify.

UK project lead Dr. Jan Kreft, from the University of Birmingham, commented: “We don’t know how quickly antibiotics are degraded in the environment and how much they are diluted by rainfall and by entering larger rivers.”

“In our AMRflows project, we will learn how antibiotics from manufacturing and the resistant bacteria they select will flow through river networks and how far they can be transported in rivers, from where they can spread onto fields and into communities during floods – allowing us to make a quantitative risk assessment to help create environmental standards for safe concentrations of antibiotics in water bodies.”

Indian project leads Professor Shashidhar Thatikonda, from the Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad commented: “We know from previous research that the River Musi is now a factory of superbugs. Modelling water flows will be crucial in predicting the fate of resistant bacteria in the environment and we aim to create models that will be applicable in other rivers and countries.”

The scientific advances will also allow the team to compare the effectiveness of different interventions such as separate treatment of waste streams from the manufacturing of antibiotics, decentralized sewage treatment or containment reservoirs.

“The recommendations we will produce will help bring down the levels of resistance in the environment. This will contribute to reducing the abundance of resistant pathogens that make infections untreatable,” added Professor Shashidhar.

In his ‘Insights’ article published earlier this year by The Conversation UK, Professor Graham – who is also a member of the Transmission in Wider Environment Group (TWEG) providing guidance to UK Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE) in relation to the current COVID-19 pandemic – described how resistance to existing antibiotics continues to increase, particularly impacting places with poor water quality and inadequate sanitation.

In the article, Professor Graham and co-author Peter Collignon, Professor of Infectious Diseases and Microbiology, Australian National University, also talk about the diverse possible pathways or drivers of antibiotic resistance and discuss how it can be tackled.

“Local conditions are key to reducing the spread of antibiotic resistance,” they say in the article. “Governments throughout the world must work together, and actions against resistance should focus on local needs and plans because each country is different.”

“The spread of antibiotic resistance knows no boundaries, so it is everyone’s problem and all countries have a role in solving the problem,” Professor Graham adds.

AMRflows is part of an £8 million package of UK-India Government-backed research aimed deepening existing scientific research collaborations with five new programmes to tackle antimicrobial resistance that could lead to important advances in the global fight against antibiotic-resistant bacteria and genes.

Business World

Dassault Systèmes’ Virtual Conference “The World After – Sustainable and Resilient Urban Future” Showcases New Innovation Paradigms for Urban Planning and Infrastructure

Aug 7, 2020 by Gouri Achary 0 Comments #“Creative Building Design” and “Design for Fabrication”, #Dassault Systèmes (Euronext Paris: #13065, #DSY.PA)

Dassault Systèmes (Euronext Paris: #13065, DSY.PA) hosted “The World After Sustainable and Resilient Urban Future,” a virtual conference that provided insights on technology trends accelerating smart cities, infrastructure and building construction projects in India. Dassault Systèmes also showcased the “Inclusive Urban Future”, “Integrated Built Environment”, “Civil Infrastructure Engineering”, “Creative Building Design” and “Design for Fabrication” industry solution experiences based on the 3DEXPERIENCE platform for driving the digital transformation of cities, infrastructure and building construction projects in India. During the event, Dassault Systèmes showcased how the 3DEXPERIENCE platform can contribute to pandemic emergency planning by city administrators.

“The infrastructure sector is of strategic importance to the economy to create growth and employment in the country. Technology can play a major role to support infrastructure development through design, simulation and predictive analysis to help urban planners build smart cities involving the construction of roads, bridges, tunnels, airports, railways, dams, optimizing solar energy, waste management, healthcare infrastructure to pandemic planning,” said Deepak NG, Managing Director, India, Dassault Systemes. “The virtual twin experience on the 3DEXPERIENCE platform can enable stakeholders to visualize, manage and execute infrastructure projects in a collaborative environment with reduced costs, time and resource planning.”

Dassault Systemes showcased a “Planning Pandemic Emergencies” solution that can enable public authorities and city administrators with thorough preparedness and response planning for a large-scale healthcare crisis. It offers a single window for “Area Referential for Pandemic Emergency Planning”, “Citizen Sentiment Analysis for Improving the Services Rendered” and “Mass X-ray Analytics for Testing and Segregation of COVID-19 positive Patients”. The 3DEXPEREINCE Platform enables digital referential for the city, planning the hotspot clusters and containment zones in 3D context, planning the access to essential services, generation of heat maps based on data sets and analytics.

The virtual conference “The World After – Sustainable and Resilient Urban Future” had a great line of speakers from global technology experts in infrastructure, to Indian policymakers, to users of technology in the enterprise, public sector, to global consultants and architects and to skill development authorities. The keynote in the plenary session was delivered by Sylvain Laurent, Executive Vice President and Chairman, Infrastructure & Cities, Dassault Systèmes. Eminent and notable speakers included Mr. Rajeshwara Rao, Additional Secretary of Niti Aayog, Jayant Damodar Patil, Whole Time Director and Senior Executive Vice President (Defence and Smart Technologies), Larsen & Toubro, Akhilesh Shrivastava, CGM-Technical, NHAI, Dr S Selva Kumar IAS Skill Secretary to Government of Karnataka. The event also had two tracks on Infrastructure & Cities and Buildings & Facilities.