Zicom has created an alert that the user can press, generating real time location info and photos that will be immediately analysed.
by The Editors | editor@themetrognome.in
Women journalists face many threats in the line of duty. Added to the list of late nights, rounds of courts and police stations, going to unsafe places to report a news item is the threat of predators. In the recent past, there have been incidents of women journalists in Mumbai being targeted and attacked while on duty.
The electronics security company Zicom has now launched a security alert system, Ziman, that acts like a ‘personal bodyguard’. The device was launched at the hands of Mumbai Police chief Javed Ahmed in the city yesterday.
Explaining the need for the device, Zicom’s Managing Director Pramoud Rao said, “The job of a journalist is really commendable. They accept great risk to unravel the truth and get the story for people. But they need to travel at odd hours and go to unsafe places to cover a story, which puts their life at risk. There have been several unfortunate incidents of attacks on in the recent past. The device gets to work when there is a risk. All the journalist needs to do is trigger the alert installed in her mobile phone and our response team gets in action.”
When the trigger is activated, the mobile phone starts sending pictures and videos to the Zicom Command Centre which is immediately analysed. “We alert the family at once and even contact the authorities and the emergency services if needed,” Rao adds.
Javed Ahmedadded, “On several occasions, even if we catch the culprits, there is no proof against them. With this device, the pictures and videos of the attack taking place are immediately captured. Not only can the attack be prevented but immediate action can also be taken.
Mumbai artistes Harshada Tondwalkar and Mithu Biswas present solo painting shows in the city. Do not miss either of them.
by The Editors | editor@themetrognome.in
The exhibition and painting scene is hotting up in Mumbai, and there are many shows to attend this season. Two Mumbai-based women, both of them painters, have set up solo shows in the city.
Artist Harshada Tondwalkar’s much awaited solo show ‘Krishnamay Radha’ opens today at The Leela, showcasing 12 of her artworks. An alumnus of the JJ School of Art, Harshada has been building a steady repertoire of acclaimed work over the years. She has participated in several group exhibitions with contemporary artistes, but this is her second solo showing. “The artworks are based on the mythological theme of Krishna’s escapades with his beloved Radha,” she explains.
“All of them are oil paint on canvas. The love between Radha and Krishna fascinated me and spoke to me. They were not married, they were lovers, sharing a kind of love that cannot be seen anywhere else,” she adds. Harshada has used a colourful palette, with meticulous detailing and a different story in each painting.
Meanwhile, artiste Mithu Biswas’ solo showing ‘Chasing the time’ stems from her parents admonishing her in her childhood. “They would keep saying, ‘Don’t waste time!’ but I never understood the idea of time then. I later realised how important time is in our lives. Time doesn’t wait for you, it is the most valuable resource in our lives. Through my series, I wanted to show this concept through a horse, drawing imagery of speed that cannot be reined in.”
Mithu is an alumnus of Government College of Art and Craft, Kolkata and set up a permanent studio in Mumbai in 2009. Her solo show is up at Kamalnayan Bajaj Gallery, Bajaj Bhavan, Nariman Point.
Study reveals shocking levels of malnutrition, lack of optimum weight and low access to nutrition among city’s slum dwelling children.
by Child Relief and You (CRY)
As many as 41 per cent of children below the age of six years in the slums of Mumbai are underweight, according to a study conducted by volunteers of CRY- Child Rights and You (CRY) for children below the age of 6 years. The children do not fare any better with respect to the other indicators of malnutrition. The percentage of children found to be suffering from stunting stands at 71 per cent and is significantly higher than what has been found in the NFHS figure of 47 per cent in 2005-06.
Nutrition and immunisation are most critical for a child’s survival in the first six years of his or her life. Shockingly, even the immunization coverage in the slums in Mumbai is much worse than expected. Only half of the children, 49 per cent under the age of three years, have received any vaccination at all (at least one vaccine).
These children dwelling in the most underprivileged sections of the city, most of them belonging to migrant families bear the maximum impact of urban poverty; especially in the absence of caregivers, who are mostly engaged in informal economic roles.
This household survey on early childhood was conducted in slums across five major metropolitans in India namely Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Bangalore and Kolkata. The slums in the five metros do not show a positive trend with respect to child nutrition. Chennai has the most number of children battling malnutrition in its slums, with 62.2 per cent being underweight; Kolkata and Delhi slums have 49 and 50 per cent underweight children, according to this study. Bangalore fares slightly better, with 33 per cent children found to be underweight.
Even as Aanganwadi Centres (AWCs) remain one of the most important institutions for ensuring nutrition, health and early education of children below 6 years, only 46 per cent children dwelling in slums are enrolled. In Mumbai, the enrollment in AWCs in slum children stood at a despondent figure of 62 per cent.
Only 36 per cent of parents whose children were enrolled in AWCs reported that the growth monitoring was happening on a monthly basis.
The ICDS scheme also provides for health services including de-worming, IFA (Iron tablets) and Vitamin A dosage. More than a third of the children in the 5 cities surveyed had not been de-wormed. In Mumbai, 19% children did not receive the Vitamin A, 40% do not receive IFA supplement and about 27 % had not been de-wormed.
A significant proportion of parents whose children are going to private pre-schools and other institutions do not believe that their children are receiving essential services for their health and survival. So far you can infer that, while the Aanganwadi worker is providing the services within the institution, provisioning services through community outreach continues to remain a challenge. An indicator that substantiates the gap between the service and the community is the fact that though growth monitoring was done for 70 per cent of children, only 48 per cent of parents were informed. In Mumbai, for instance, 62 per cent of parents were not informed that their child is malnourished.
While there is an evident need for improvement, the study shows significant positive perception of parents towards Aanganwadi centres. 89 percent of parents feel safe in sending their child to AWCs and 98 percent perceive the Aanganwadi to be child friendly.
(Picture courtesy www.wsj.com. Image is used for representational purpose only)
Less than good performance and a few design stutters mar what could have been a really good smartphone by Oppo.
by Manik Kakra | @Manik_K on Twitter
Oppo has been in the Indian market for a bit now, and while it hasn’t been a smash hit among customers, it has usually done well on design and features. Let’s see if the new R7 Lite is worth your Rs. 17,900 or not.
The looks. The Oppo R7 Lite (R7kf) has an all-around metal body with Gorilla Glass 3 on the front that curves around edges to give a nice feel when swiping near edges. The front has a small LED notification, an 8 MP camera, ear-speaker grille and sensors above the 5-inch HD AMOLED, and three capacitive keys — Options/Menu, Home and Back — that aren’t backlit. The Silver metal structure follows from the back and sides — with separate volume buttons and SIM and microSD card slots (micro + nano or microSD) on right, and Power/Lock key on the left side. On the back, you have the protruding 13 MP camera with an LED flash.
At 147 grams, it isn’t a heavy phone and is pretty thin, too. It has a familiar angular look that we have seen with previous Oppo phones and that means uncomfortable pocket baggage for some.
Screen. The device has a 5-inch (1280 x 720) AMOLED that has Gorilla Glass 3 on top. The screen is certainly not very high resolution compared to most smartphones in this price range today, but it does perform well when it comes to rich colours for images, videos and even text. The display does a decent job under sunlight, but many people may find its resolution to not be at par.
The device has a protruding camera at the back
Camera. On the back, there is a 13 MP (f/2.2) camera. Here are a few sample images.
I thought the camera app had plenty of modes to choose from. You get options like RAW mode, expert mode for more control, among the usual HDR, Oppo’s Ultra HD, etc. To try. As you can see, the camera performs well enough in daylight and can give good detailed shots, but struggles in macro and sharpness under low-light conditions. It isn’t the best smartphone camera under Rs. 20,000 today, but is surely a capable one for most use cases.
Sound. The loudspeaker on the back does a good job of giving punchy, clear sound for videos and games, but its placement (lower back) isn’t ideal for daily use. Basics like call quality, network reception and Bluetooth or WiFi connectivity worked fine, though for some absurd reason the phone doesn’t have a WPS option under WiFi, which is a basic thing for smartphones these days.
Battery life. The phone is equipped with a 2,320 mAh battery unit. The phone struggled to last a day (single SIM card) on moderate to heavy usage, but did show good standby time. It’s quite clear the battery really struggles when the screen is on for a longer time even with brightness level under 30%. Though the last firmware update did make the phone a bit more battery optimised, don’t expect much more from it. But the Power-saving mode might come in handy if you aren’t playing games of watching HD videos.
Software and performance. The R7 Lite is powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 615 chipset Snapdragon 615 SoC (1.5 GHz quad core + 1 GHz quad core processor, Adreno 405 GPU), along with 2 GB of RAM. It runs on Oppo’s ColorOS 2.1.0i that’s based on Android 5.1.1. It’s good to see the company being serious about the base Android version and not shipping new phones that are running something far from latest. The look and feel of ColorOS is unchanged except for the notification bar, which now also gives you actions right under notifications just like other smartphones today.
The whole OS seems quite consistent, while much different from stock Android, its big bold icons, fonts are not really bad and kind of fit in well most of the times. The phone really loses out on everyday usage. It is fine for a few apps, but it struggles to keep up when you play a game. Frame rates drop and the phone really heats up. At this price point, it is disappointing to have this experience, and I am sure the 615 chipset (as with other phones having one of these) should be given some blame, and I would have really liked had Oppo gone with a better chipset even if it was last generation’s high-end one.
To sum up, the Oppo R7 Lite seems like a nice phone in terms of design and build quality. While it has average battery life, good screen, and a capable camera, its performance issues make it hard to recommend with the given price tag considering the likes of the Xiaomi Mi4, OnePlus One and Nexus 5 are priced similarly these days.
The wedding season is upon us. Senior citizens, too, will get a shot at wedded bliss in a December event.
by The Editors | editor@themetrognome.in
It is every person’s dream to find the right partner and settle down in matrimonial bliss. If we cannot find true love, our parents do the job for us! But what happens to those who are in the autumn of their lives? If they are alone and in need of a companion, where can they go find one?
Sailesh Mishra
This is where excellent events such as an upcoming ‘wedding and companionship mela’ for seniors comes in. Hosted by Rotary Club of Mumbai, Nariman Point and The Metrognome’s content partners Silver Inning Foundation, the ‘Jeevan Saathi Sammelan’ is being held to encourage single seniors to find a partner for marriage or for a live-in relationship.
Singles will be encouraged to find a suitable partner and initiate a relationship on the spot. “They can meet at the venue, exchange contact details if they think they want to take things forward. It is up to them to get married in the future, or have a live-in relationship. We are also encouraging people to come find a companion at the Sammelan. Many people come seeking constant companions, not a romantic relationship,” explains Silver Inning founder Sailesh Mishra.
Silver Innings had hosted a similar event in 2013, to stupendous success. “We had people coming from interior parts of Maharashtra, and there was a huge crowd at the gates. We insist on a proper registration process and the application form is pretty detailed. Applicants must also give supporting documents when they mention their status: divorcees must submit a copy of the divorce certificate, for example,” Sailesh says.
His learning from the previous event was that women participants are more careful about choosing their prospective partner, and that they look for financial security. “The women mostly wanted marriage, while the men wanted live-in relationships,” Sailesh says.
The Sammelan will be held on December 13, 2015 at Dadar. Watch this space for more details on how to register.
(Picture courtesy www.mid-day.com. Image is used for representational purpose only)
Start ups should not be too ambitious in scope, despite regular funding. Keep your goal large but your scope small.
by Reyna Mathur
Jignesh Parikh runs a web solutions company in Mumbai with his college friend and partner, Ketan Joshi. The duo currently caters to about 20 national clients, and is in talks to increase their office space and staff strength this fiscal. “We have been in business for 10 years now, and it is this year that we are going to increase our office size for the first time. Till now we have been operating from a 10×20 space, which has a low rent and maintenance costs. We have been fortunate to receive so much business despite only five staff members for so long,” Jignesh says.
Despite the modest nature of their office, their business is experiencing a turnover of Rs 6 crore for the last two years. “We realised early on that we were in the digital business, which does not require a posh office. It requires a robust computer and Internet setup, so we invested our initial money in them.” Low overheads and only a minimal staff – all of them web developers, two of them freelance staffers – ensured that of the hefty profits made, only a small portion went towards payments every month. Eventually, the duo has now made enough money to move into a bigger office and hire two more full-time staff.
It is quite easy to run your own start-up provided you are clear in your mind about not wasting your resources for any reason, and are prepared to not even have the money to afford the rent on an office in the initial period. If you get a few basics right and change your approach, you can start small but have big returns on your initial investment.
You are there to do business, not to impress others. No business person in the world, unless backed by a strong funding model, has the means to have a huge staff and a posh office on ownership basis. When you start your enterprise, realise that you are starting it to realise a personal goal, and not to impress people with how big and well-equipped your office is. Many start-ups insist on putting in all their money to keep up appearances, which ultimately leads to huge losses (especially if the expected turnover doesn’t happen). For example, if you have just opened a café, don’t invest in too much imported equipment and staff. As more and more customers begin to trickle in, you can look at investing more money.
Don’t take an office if you don’t need one. Some businesses, especially freelance ones, don’t need an office set up at all. If your work requires you to travel often and take in business via meetings, you might not need a permanent office but a space to keep your computers, phones, printers etc. For a few days, try operating from your home or take up a storage space for rent. In case you need to conduct meetings, you can call them to a café. The overheads you save will help you invest in an office in the future.
Use communal office spaces. Many cities in the country are now offering start-ups and new businesses the use of ‘communal working spaces’, where a lot of entrepreneurs converge at one spot to carry out their daily work and even conduct meetings with clients. The working spaces offer a fixed spot with a computer and Internet connection for a month or longer, depending on the payment plan you select, apart from free use of the facility’s conference rooms and tea/coffee dispensers. Certain places also offer a courier service for your packages at a separate charge. At a monthly rental of not more than Rs 2,000, you get a complete office set up without any overheads.
Replicate, replicate. It is a good idea to maintain a team of experienced freelancers to do all the tasks that a full time staff can do. You will save the money you would spend on their salaries, plus they will each have their own set-up for completing the tasks. You might only have to pay for transporting certain paperwork and equipment, based on your businesses, to and from the freelancers’ postal address. If your work entails the same set of tasks to be done repeatedly (like editing technical papers), pay five freelancers to do it. The work will be replicated five times over at lower costs to you.
(Picture courtesy knowstartup.com. Image is used for representational purpose only)
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