Invention of an Organoleptic Analyzer for General Mills

Mr. King was a 17-year-old high school student when he developed a deep desire to be an inventor.
In creating and observing three-dimensional objects, Mr. King said he realized that he had a different kind of memory. “Any mechanical thing that I have ever seen, I remember,” he said. “And I can take an idea and add something that I had seen before, like five years ago. I can add something to it, subtract something, flatten it out, expand a part and then add something else on, and I can do it in a second.

So Mr. King was thrilled when he found G-WIN, or the General Mills Worldwide Innovation Network page, in 2011. It was on that website that he read of a need for “a quantitative method of analyzing the texture of a chewy granola bar to assess differences in bar texture.” The precise design of Mr. King’s breakthrough is now a trade secret. General Mills is pursuing a patent.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/23/business/a-young-inventor-finding-the-crunch-factor.html

WIEF promotes Indian Entrepreneurship

At a time when the startup ecosystem in India is in an overdrive, the Wharton India Economic Forum (WIEF), which kicks off in Philadelphia on February 22, is creating a platform for Indian entrepreneurs to help make their ideas flourish and get funded. What's more, for the first time this year it will also hold a competition that will feature innovative India-focused startups.


The startup competition at this year's WIEF intends to promote Indian entrepreneurship by building a robust platform that encourages ideas exchange and collaboration across to schools and alumni networks in the US and India. The startup competition comprises two separate innovation tournaments for early-stage ideas and post-proof of concept startups, which was launched on November 24 last year. Ten finalists across the post-proof of concept and idea categories were chosen on January 30, 2014. Winning entrepreneurs will have the opportunity to pitch to a panel of venture capital investors and established entrepreneurs on the day of the conference and will compete for prize money of up to $10,000. 

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/Platform-for-desi-startups-to-compete-for-funds/articleshow/30699365.cms

Online delivery food services for train travellers

Some of the online delivery food services that deliver food to your berth are:  Travel Khana, Mera Food Choice, Comesum , Idlyvada.
http://in.lifestyle.yahoo.com/chugging-along--online-pizzas-and-fries-delivered-to-your-beth-051011049.html

Good Luck Iron Fish for curing Anaemia :)

Charles, a Canadian epidemiologist, knew that iron-rich foods and supplements were too expensive for most rural Cambodians. Even cast-iron pots, which safely transmit iron to food as it cooks, were out of reach.

When he handed out smiling iron replicas of try kantrop fish which the locals considered a symbol of good luck, women started cooking with them and anaemia in the villages eventually disappeared.

http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2014/01/an-iron-fish-in-every-pot/355742/

Just another Valentine’s Day love story by Bijoy Venugopal

It's too good for all ages :)

http://in.lifestyle.yahoo.com/blogs/itsaparentthing/just-another-valentine-s-day-love-story-045556635.html?page=1

Morarji Desai: Finance Minister who cared more for India than his constituency

It was Desai who first reformed the tax system in the budget he presented in 1967 to apply such levies prospectively, rather than retrospectively which was the practice till then.

Another reform, which manufacturing industries must thank him for, is the change in the excise duty regime, from physical supervision of goods by inspectors before leaving the factory, which promoted corruption, to a system of self-assessment.

Desai, in his 1969 budget speech, proposed an agriculture tax for the first time, only to be asked to withdraw it by then prime minister Indira Gandhi. Even though the proposal could never be carried through, Desai perhaps remains the only finance minister till date who dared to propose such a tax.

He was also among the first leaders of consequence to realise that economic ties were key to improving relations in the immediate neighbourhood of South Asia.

http://in.finance.yahoo.com/news/historys-unkind-man-most-budgets-093403414.html

Diet App for Personalized Diet Plan and Coaching

Rise, a new mobile app for dieting and health, aims to connect users with their own personalized diet plans and daily feedback from nutrition coaches for a fraction of the usual cost.

The dashboard is the key to the efficiency that Rise provides, enabling coaches to work with many more clients than they would connect with through weekly meetings. And because feedback happens more quickly — generally within a day — users are able to begin changing their habits more quickly.

http://techcrunch.com/2014/02/12/rise/

Cold and snow can have strange effects on people.

Economic research looking at weather shows that extreme cold can increase mortality, reduce spending on food among the poor, increase spending on food among the rich and boost sales of sport-utility vehicles.

Schools appear to be prepared to deal with coordinated disruptions like snow days. Problems arise when bad weather hits and schools don’t cancel classes. When schools are closed, all the students are off. But when some students are in classrooms and others are at home, teachers have to take more time getting everyone on the same page.

http://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2014/02/13/cold-calculations-the-economics-of-snow/

Belgium’s child euthanasia law

Belgium will not hold children responsible when they hurt others, but gives them free license to hurt themselves.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/volokh-conspiracy/wp/2014/02/13/belgiums-kiddie-euthansia-law-and-roper-v-simmons/?tid=pm_pop

RBI gives in-principle approval to facilitate fund transfers to those without bank accounts through ATMs

“Essentially, the sender can have the money withdrawn from his account through an ATM transaction. The intermediary processes the payment, and sends a code to the recipient on his mobile that allows him to withdraw the money from any nearby bank’s ATM,” said RBI governor Raghuram Rajan on Wednesday at the Nasscom summit, and highlighted how technologies can be used to deepen financial inclusion.

“All would be better off if the MSME could sell its claim on the large buyer in the market. The MSME would get its money quickly, while the market would get a claim on the better rated large buyer instead of holding a claim on the MSME. The large buyer could get a better price for his purchases.”

 http://www.financialexpress.com/news/soon-you-can-withdraw-cash-from-atm-even-without-bank-account-raghuram-rajan/1225515

Depicting Sexual Violence on Stage: An awesome read

An interesting narration of the theatrical depiction of sexual violence at Sixth International Theatre Festival of Kerala in Thrissur

http://in.news.yahoo.com/how-do-you-stage-a-rape-055303751.html

Wearable technology enables surgeons to visualize cancer cells

The glasses are designed to make it easier for surgeons to pick up on these hard-to-see cells and tumours as small as 1mm in diameter to ensure nothing is left behind during procedures and also cut down on time under the knife.

http://www.news.com.au/technology/science/hightech-wearable-technology-enables-surgeons-to-see-cancer/story-fn5fsgyc-1226824797785?from=public_rss

Indian Flag returns to Olympic after missing the Opening Ceremony.

India has returned to the Olympic fold after the IOC lifted a ban on the country's Olympic Association on Tuesday, and its athletes will now be able to march behind the Indian flag at the Sochi Games closing ceremony.

http://in.news.yahoo.com/india-returns-ioc-lifts-ban-source-065556033--oly.html

UPSC aspirants now get two more attempts

'The central government has approved two additional attempts to all categories of candidates with effect from Civil Services Examination 2014, with consequential age relaxation of maximum age for all categories of candidates, if required.'

http://in.news.yahoo.com/upsc-aspirants-get-two-more-attempts-074308985.html

Lijjat Papad - An Exemplary Tale of Entrepreneurship and Mutual Co-operation

Started in the year 1959 with a seed capital of Rs. 80, Lijjat has an annual turnover of around Rs. 6.50 billion (over 100 million USD) in 2010, with Rs. 290 million in exports. It provides employment to around 42,000 people. Lijjat is headquartered in Mumbai and has 67 branches and 35 divisions all over India.

Lijjat was the brain child of seven Gujarati women from Bombay (now Mumbai). They wanted to start a venture to create a sustainable livelihood using the only skill they had i.e. cooking.

The women borrowed Rs 80 and took over a loss-making papad making venture and bought the necessary ingredients and the basic infrastructure required to manufacture papads.

It accepts all its working members as the owners and an equal partaker in both profit and loss. The members are co-owners and fondly referred to as "sisters". All the decisions are based on consensus and any member-sister has the right to veto a decision. Men can only be salaried employees (accountants, drivers or security guards), and not the members of the organisation (i.e. they are not the owners).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shri_Mahila_Griha_Udyog_Lijjat_Papad

Author Rashmi Bansal launches Bloody Good Book for Budding Authors

The best-selling author of Connect The Dots, Stay Hungry Stay Foolish and many more, Rashmi Bansal invites first-time authors to be a part of Bloody Good Book project on her blog.

http://youthcurry.blogspot.in/2013/12/do-you-have-bloody-good-book-in-you.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+youthcurryblogspotcom+(Youth+Curry++-++Insight+on+Indian+Youth)

If there is a writer in you, awaiting a break, this could be your jackpot chance to break the barriers.

The Making of Sulemani Keeda

Four Bollywood scriptwriters, two novelists, a filmmaker, a film critic and an anthropologist walk into a movie about Bollywood scriptwriters.

http://in.news.yahoo.com/i-will-tell-you-how-good-scripts-fall-out-of-the-sky-075555485.html

No Tricolor at Olympics this year :(

It has come to this awful pass because of an ongoing tussle from over a year ago between the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) over governance, regulations and accountability. India has been suspended from the Olympic movement since December 2012 due to its failure to comply with the Olympic charter.

When it became known that Indian athletes would walk out in Sochi under the Olympic flag, a newspaper described it as a  “Walk of Shame.” The real shame, though, we must always remember and remind ourselves, must never lie with the athletes in Sochi. It must always be attached to the names of the men who will gather for their second (and second-grade) election on Feb. 9.

http://qz.com/174701/sochi-will-ruin-indias-international-reputation-and-rightfully-so/

Workers with kids are just as productive as those without, according to a new study.

“We often see women returning from maternity leave who are given less work or dead end assignments,” Dina Bakst, head of the advocacy group A Better Balance, told NPR. “And this type of discrimination really drags down wages for women because they get off track, and even worse off and pushed out of the workforce.”

Using a sample size of more than 10,000 economists, researchers Matthias Krapf at the University of Zurich, Heinrich W. Ursprung at the University of Konstanz, and Christian Zimmermann at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis found that those with children aren’t any less productive than those without. In fact, economists who are parents are slightly more productive than their childless peers, though the difference isn’t statistically significant.

http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2014/02/the-mommy-track-myth/283557/

Children offer innovative solutions to India’s energy woes at the 101st Indian Science Congress in Jammu.

Just walk for a kilometre and you can produce enough power to charge your mobile or laptop!
Concept is based on usage of piezo cell. This cell has to be fitted in a shoe’s sole and is connected with a battery. Whenever a person will walk, this cell will produce power which will be stored in the battery

http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report-101st-indian-science-congress-just-walk-a-kilometre-and-charge-your-smartphone-1959404