Category: World Opinion

IKEA to open flagship store in India at Nagasandra today

June 22nd, 2022

The 4,60,000 sqft store that will sell over 7,500 products is expected to attract close to 5 million visitors this year

IKEA, the Swedish home furnishing brand, will open its largest store in India at Nagasandra, next to the metro station, on June 22, said the company on Tuesday.

The store that would display over 7,500 items would employ over 1,000 people to start with and is expected to attract close to 5 million visitors this year.

The company also said it would invest ₹3,000 crore in Karnataka and a part of it has already been deployed in setting up a 4,60,000 sqft store, it said.

Speaking at a media conference, former IKEA India CEO Peter Betzel said that at the time of the groundbreaking ceremony four years ago, the then Chief Minister himself was keen to see the store up and running at the earliest if possible in a few months. Although the pandemic had delayed it a bit, the outlet was worth the wait as it was IKEA’s flagship store in the country, he added.

Addressing the media, current CEO Susanne Pulverer said India was an omni-channel country for Ikea like no other.

IKEA Nagasandra, set up on a patch of 12.2 acres of land, is the brand’s third large store in the country after Hyderabad and Mumbai. The fourth store, in Delhi-NCR, is currently under construction. The store also features a 1,000-seater restaurant that serves both Indian and Swedish cuisines.

Bengaluru ranks 5th on global stage for tech venture capital investment

Tech firms have attracted VC funds worth $7.5 billion in the first half of 2022

Bengaluru has emerged as the top fifth city on the global stage for venture capital investment in tech startups in 2022, behind Bay Area (San Francisco), New York, London and Greater Boston, as per Global Startup Genome Report.

Tech firms in Bengaluru have attracted VC funds worth $7.5 billion in the first half of 2022, considerably higher than the previous record of$5.2 billion in the corresponding period last year, the report said.

C.N. Ashwath Narayan, Minister for IT/BT, told The Hindu that “Our city is a hub of the world’s top talent and our startups are very promising and growth-centric. This gives global investors confidence to invest in our companies in Bengaluru. Therefore VC and PE investment to city ventures are on the rise.’’

“Silicon Valley of India now attracts more investment than other global hubs like Singapore, Paris and Berlin and is trailing closer behind Greater Boston and New York,’‘ the report further said.

The Bay Area attracted $44.5 billion, New York $15.4 billion, London $ 11.3 billion and Greater Boston $8.9 billion.

The report highlighted Bengaluru’s formidable status with an ecosystem value of $105 billion, higher than Singapore ($89 billion) and Tokyo ($62 billion). Bengaluru’s massive growth in 2022 was largely attributed to greater access to funding with major funding rounds in 2022 forscale-up tech companies, including $55.7 million Series D for Ather Energy and Swiggy’s $700 million round in January.

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‘080 Lounges’ to bring luxury back to flying at Bengaluru airport

Domestic and international flyers at the Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) can now relax at the luxurious ‘080 Lounges’, recently unveiled by Bengaluru International Airport Limited (BIAL).

All the aspects in the domestic and the international lounges, including art, artisans, and heritage, revolve around Bengaluru and even the name, 080 is attributed to the city’s trunk dial code.

While the first phase of the project is now open, once the second phase is also inaugurated, each lounge will occupy a space of over 2,000 square feet. 

Video | The new 080 Lounges at Bengaluru airport in June 2022

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** Mangaluru girl among winners of Ms Uthhan Global 2022

Ms Uthhan Global 2022 is a virtual event organised by Rego Events Pvt Ltd., in collaboration with Uthhan- Empowering Artisans (A social initiative of Golden Era Royal Group). Rego Events is organizing this contest to identify and promote new faces who can be brand ambassadors of Indian handicraft products worldwide through Uthhan Global, an international e-commerce platform of Uthhan. The contest was aiming for candidates who are not only talented and self-confident but also willing to work for socially responsible projects and causes.

The following contestants emerged as winners from Top 5 on June 3 based on social cause commitments, judges score and votes.

The winners of Ms Uthhan Global 2022 were:

Melodee Austin – Bengaluru (Winner)
Josmitha D’Souza – Mangaluru (First Runner Up)
Dalvinder Kour – UAE (Second Runner Up)

The winners will be the brand ambassadors of Uthhan for promoting Indian handicraft products in India and across the world.

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Kasturba Hospital blood center bags Int’l society of blood transfusion award for developing country

Kasturba Hospital Blood Center has been conferred with ISBT Award for Developing Country at the opening ceremony of the 37th International Congress of the International Society of Blood Transfusion.

This international award is another feather on the cap for our Institution stated Dr Sharath Kumar Rao, the Dean of Kasturba Medical College, Manipal.

Dr Avinash Shetty, the Medical Superintendent of Kasturba Hospital Manipal appreciated the team behind this and said that the award is given in recognition of the significant contribution of Kasturba Hospital Blood Center in strengthening the Blood Transfusion Practices within the Country.

Accepting the prestigious international award, Dr Shamee Shastry, director of the blood centre conveyed that the blood collection, processing, testing practices and the quality system of the centre were considered for assessment. She added that the education, training activities, publications, presentations, regional and global collaborations and research activities of the department were also taken into account.

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Smadja & Smadja launches first of its kind “India Global Innovation Connect (IGIC)” in Karnataka (June 02, 03)

  • Dr. Ashwath Narayan, Minister for Higher Education, IT & BT, Science & Technology, Skill Development, Govt of Karnataka, Mr N.R. Narayana Murthy to attend the inaugural meeting of the India Global Innovation Connect
  • The annual international event to showcase Bengaluru’s growth as the new global innovation hub

Bangalore : In a bid to promote India’s start-up ecosystem, Smadja & Smadja, a strategic advisory firm founded by the former Managing Director of the World Economic Forum, is organising the inaugural edition of the India Global Innovation Connect (IGIC) in a strategic partnership with Karnataka Digital Economy Mission (KDEM) and the support of founding sponsors Catamaran Ventures and Tata Digital, in Bengaluru at Hotel Conrad on June 2 and 3, 2022.

As a unique global annual event deemed as the first of its kind in India, IGIC is emblematic of India’s emergence as a global innovation and entrepreneurial hub. The inaugural meeting will host more than 80 speakers from India and countries like Singapore, Israel, Switzerland, the US, Japan, Korea, and Germany. A by-invitation-only event, the two day conference will have 22 sessions with more than 40 international speakers deliberating over themes relevant to entrepreneurs, innovators, and top venture capitalists.

apnnews.com /first

US IT firm Pure Storage opens new India R&D centre

 US-based IT firm Pure Storage on Thursday inaugurated its new Research and Development Centre in Bengaluru that will focus on innovations that transform storage and data management.

State Minister of IT and Skill Development, Dr CN Ashwath Narayan, said that Pure Storage is providing an opportunity for Indian talent to contribute to technologies that are in demand around the world.

“With data continuing to grow in volume and complexity, the skills to manage, protect and move it around in hybrid and multi-cloud environments, will become even more in demand and it’s important for Karnataka to be involved in this movement,” he said during the inauguration of the R&D centre.

A recent study by Pure Storage with management consulting firm Zinnov indicated that there are over 700,000 professionals in India with the relevant data management skills.

This is around 14 per cent of the total technology workforce in the country and is poised to grow further.

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Ananth Technologies opens spacecraft manufacturing unit at Aerospace Park in City

Ananth Technologies which designs and produces systems for Indian aerospace has set up a 15,000 square metre spacecraft manufacturing unit at KIADB Aerospace Park, Bengaluru, said to be the country’s first such facility in the private sector.

The manufacturing unit would be able to conduct assembly, integration and testing of four large spacecraft simultaneously, the company said in a statement.

Speaking on the occasion, Dr. Subba Rao Pavuluri, Chairman & Managing Director, Ananth Technologies, said, “India is on the cusp of revolutionising the spacecraft industry. As a nation, we are capable of manufacturing world-class spacecrafts.’‘

“Over the years, Ananth Technologies has successfully contributed to major launches of ISRO. Our technology acumen is such that none of the sub-systems supplied by Ananth Technologies has ever failed in orbit,’‘ he claimed.

Since its inception in 1992, Ananth Technologies has contributed to the manufacturing of 89 satellites and 69 launch vehicles built/launched by ISRO, including two satellites for European customers that ISRO had built in collaboration with Airbus, France.

source/content: thehindu.com (edited)

** Mangaluru: CA S V Acharya honoured with A Shama Rao Memorial Outstanding Achievers Award

A Shama Rao Memorial Outstanding Achievers Award 2022 was presented to USA SNOM Trust president emeritus CA Sagri Vasudeva Acharya on Friday May 27 at Srinivas University Mukka campus.

After receiving the award, Acharya said, “Three things should have more emphasize in life. Time, help and wealth. Give time for yourself and help who are yours when they need, earn and use your wealth to communicate on a large scale.”

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** Prabhakar Kore receives honorary degree of PhD from USA’s Thomas Jefferson University

Philadelphia, USA-based Thomas Jefferson University (TJU) conferred an honorary degree of Doctor of Science to Prabhakar Kore, KLE society chairman.

Richard Haverstick Jr. Interim President and CEO, Thomas Jefferson University and Mark L. Tykocinski, Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs Vice Chancellor gave the honorary degree at the University Convocation held on May 25.

It is a matter of pride for India as such an award is the first for any Indian, said a release by KLE society.

KLE has multiple academic collaborations with international institutes like Thomas Jefferson University, University of North Carolina, Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health, Kings college and others.

The key focus of the TJU collaboration has been on reduction in the burden of mortality/morbidity during pregnancy, childbirth and early childhood development. The TJU-JNMC Research Unit funded by NICHD Global Network, has led community-based, multi-centre, multi-country trials for prevention of pre-term birth and mortality during childbirth. The results have had far reaching impact at the grassroot levels and have been incorporated in the guidelines by the Ministry of Health, Govt of India and the World Health Organization. Furthermore it is now a “WHO Collaborating Centre for Research in Maternal and Perinatal Health”.

The Academic and Research collaboration between KAHER and TJU in the areas of Public Health, Urology and Integrative Medicine commenced in July 2017 and has been expanded to include specialties of Neurology, Radiology, Neonatology, Psychiatry, Nursing and Physiotherapy. The Faculty and student exchange, research grants as well as the upcoming establishment of the India Centre at Thomas Jefferson University on 26th May 2022 is a testimony of the strong academic bond between KLE and TJU, said the release.

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