Entrepreneur from Aurangabad - A startup story

Sachin Kate is the founder of Clear Car Rental and I had no clue about the magnitude of impact this 28 year old had created when he walked into our office at YourStory.in. Yes, Clear Car is just another car rental company in India but there are a few points that justify as to why he needs an ovation.

The man has a story to tell

Sachin Kate hails from the small city of Aurangabad in Maharashtra where the concept of starting up is pretty much alien (yes, setting up a shop is also starting up but we’re talking in conventional terms of starting up). The region where Sachin resided doesn’t have schooling available after grade 4 but Sachin’s parents were firm on providing him with all the needed education and hence sent him to a friends place in a nearby region from where a school was more accessible. Sachin started selling newspapers since money was always a challenge and luckily for him, he got a job of an office boy in 11th grade at a computer institute.

Always fascinated by computers, Sachin took advantage of the situation and progressed to become a computer instructor in one year. After 12th, Sachin shifted to Aurangabad for higher studies along with a part time job in a travel agency. “This job gave me my initial exposure in travel business. On a part time salary I started working full time because slowly I started getting access to computer and could show my computer skills,” says Sachin. He was pursuing his BSc. in computers and he had an inclination towards how SEO worked. This came in handy for the travel agency he was working for.

Gaining in confidence, Sachin tried moving out of his zone in terms of location but his family wasn’t very comfortable. He decided to come back and take up web development assignments. He focused on the travel and hotel segment and has developed more than 600 websites till now along with his team. This is how InfoGird and NetMantle had come into existence.

And then came in the big break.

Sachin was always associated with the travel and hospitality industry and was aware of the needs of the industry. “The technology was being developed for airlines, hotels booking etc., but last mile connectivity which is mostly road travel in tourism sector was in a way neglected,” says Sachin. And thus was launched Clear Car Rental in July 2010. This was the time when the Meru Radio cab service and a couple of others had settled in.

Clear Car Rental provides both local (packages for full day, half day and transfer) and outstation travel (packages for round trip, one way drop and multi city travels) solutions. CCR provide car rental services to 150+ cities within India and has a home grown team of about 100 that manages the operations.

And all this without a penny of funding

We’ve seen the car rental companies getting funded at will and the justification for the need of huge funds for a business like this. Surprisingly enough, Sachin has been able to scale the company to 150+ cities without raising a single penny of institutional funding. CCR holds inventory of 14000+ cars with a 1000+ vendors on board. Apart from the domestic, foreign tourists and corporates, OTAs like Makemytrip, Cox & Kings and Thomas Cook have also partnered with CCR. “We’ve focused a lot on Tier 2/3 cities. The average purchasing power has gone up and even people from smaller cities are hiring cabs now,” says Sachin. They have a strong share in the metros as well but they’re banking on the smaller cities for growth.

And building a company from Aurangabad

We’ve seen companies being built from small towns and this is yet another success story from a place you’d not expect a startup to scale from- Aurangabad. As always there are pros and cons,

Sachin believed in what he was doing and his grit to be successful opened up doors for him. Local newspapers have written about it and a blog post he wrote- “Aurangabad Calling” encouraged many youngsters who were studying outside to come back home and find employment.

A local hero in Aurangabad, Sachin Kate has been hidden from the bigger picture and we hope this post gives the man his due.

Website: Clear Car Rental

Global Entrepreneurship & Development Institute (GEDI)

GEDI INDEX

Enterprise is a crucial engine of economic growth. Without enterprise and entrepreneurs, there would be all little innovation, productivity growth and new jobs.

Entrepreneurial success does not take place in a vacuum. Entrepreneurs exist in the context of their particular geography – be that their local, national, or even supranational economy and society.

This mix of attitudes, resources, and infrastructure is known as the entrepreneurship ‘ecosystem’. The Global Entrepreneurship Index is an annual index that measures the health of the entrepreneurship ecosystems in each of 120 countries. It then ranks the performance of these against each other. This provides a picture of how each country performs in both the domestic and international context.

Entrepreneurship With Better Benefits

Institute 

The Global Entrepreneurship and Development Institute (GEDI) is a research organisation that advances knowledge on links between entrepreneurship, economic development and prosperity. The institute was founded by world-leading entrepreneurship scholars from the LSE, George Mason University, University of Pécs and Imperial College London.

The main contribution of The GEDI Institute is the GEI index, a breakthrough advance in measuring the quality and dynamics of entrepreneurship ecosystems at a national, regional and local level. The GEI index methodology, has been validated in rigorous academic peer reviews and has been widely reported in media, including in The Economist, The Wall Street Journal, Financial Times and Forbes (see media tab).

Methodology

The methodology has also been endorsed by the European Commission and has been used to inform the allocation of EU Structural and Cohesion Funds. The theoretical approach of The GEDI Institute has also influenced entrepreneurship policy thinking in trans-national organisations such as United Nations Conference on Trade and Development. Further details can be found in the research tab.

The GEDI methodology collects data on the entrepreneurial attitudes, abilities and aspirations of the local population and then weights these against the prevailing social and economic ‘infrastructure’ – this includes aspects such as broadband connectivity and the transport links to external markets. This process creates 14 ‘pillars’ which GEDI uses to measure the health of the regional ecosystem.

Disclaimer : The following article come from this websites GEDI
Email : ainsley@thegedi.org 

Former Microsoft exec engineers merger of two fast-growing social startups

A Canadian social analytics company led by a former Microsoft bigwig has made its first notable acquisition.

The deal brings together Toronto-based Sysomos, which sells social media monitoring and analytics services, andExpion of Raleigh, North Carolina, which specializes in campaign and content management technology. Their combined account list boasts well north of 1,400 brands including Boeing, Coca-Cola, Marriott and Mondelez.

Ultimately, the companies’ respective applications will be combined into a comprehensive digital marketing platform, said Sysomos CEO Lindsay Sparks. “We have acquired a platform that is complementary to our data science initiative. This is like peanut butter across all marketing functions,” he said. “We surface insights. That science is what makes Unilever, Coke or others take actions on the data they see.”

For perspective, what Sysomos aims to pull off is akin to platforms sold by Sprinklr or what Salesforce and Adobe are building with their marketing clouds. This acquisition also sets it up to compete with Percolate, which plays up its role in orchestration or pretty much every task in marketing.

Sysomos was spun out of Marketwired, the press release distribution service, back in February, thanks to funding from OMERS Private Equity. That’s when Sparks, a Microsoft corporate vice president who pioneered its managed services business, joined as CEO.

Terms of the acquisition weren’t announced, but Sparks said Sysomos will spend $100 million over an 18-month period building out an end-to-end platform capable of ingesting virtually any type of data feed. It’s still one of the “select” companies with access to the Twitter firehose, as well as Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Chinese platforms WeChat and Weibo, and other services.

When it comes to analytics, Sparks prefers the term “preemptive” to “predictive.” His goal is to help businesses anticipate a situation before it happens and take corrective active. An example: an airline could follow passengers’ sentiments during travel delays and then deploy more personnel to gates proactively as negative comments escalate. Later, they could communicate proactively and directly with affected customers.

“Structured data is hindsight. Unstructured data is ‘current sight’ with foresight potential,” Sparks said.

Together, the companies will have a combined headcount of 500 by the end of the year, more than double the current workforce. Sysomos will also have a global footprint in 10 cities, expanding into places like Singapore and Shanghai.

Citation from Fortune : http://goo.gl/u0fpdN

HOW TO FUND YOUR STARTUP

Find out the best ways to source money for your venture as per its growth stage This deluge has lasted several years, but no one's complaining. It has been raining start ups in India for the past 3-4 years and, in fact, India ranks fifth in the world in terms of startups, with nearly 3,100 currently in operation. In tandem with the surging enterprise, funds are flowing in like never before and the country is buzzing with options--venture capitalists, angel investors, incubators and banks. Currently , the number of active investors in the country include 172 VCs, 43 angel investors and 48 incubators. As much as $4.75 billion of VC funding came through in 2014 and it has already touched $3.18 billion in 2015, according to Venture Intelligence and Tracxn!, two VC tracking firms. So, how do you go about securing the much-needed funds for your starup? We list six options that you can tap.

Incubators 

These set-ups precede the seed funding stage and help the entrepreneur develop a business idea or make a prototype by providing resources and services in exchange for an equity stake ranging from 2-10%. Incubators offer office space, administrative support, legal compliances, management training, mentoring and access to industry experts as well as to funding through angel investors or VCs. "Most don't offer funding, but make up for it by providing logistics and external support so that the entrepreneur can focus on work without worrying about the nittygritty," says Devashish Chakravarty , an IIM-Ahmedabad alumnus, and Director, Executive Search, QuezX.com, which provides recruitment for startups. 

These are usually government-supported institutes like the IIMs or IITs, technical institutes or private business incubators run by industry veterans or companies. The incubation period can be 2-3 years and admission is rigorous.One has to provide an application to such programmes and is accepted depending on the quality of idea or other conditions specific to the institute.Some of the top options in India include IIM-Bangalore NSRCEL, Microsoft Accelerator and IIT-Kanpur SIIC. ANGEL INVESTORS The first stage of actual funding to get your idea off the workshop and into the market is called seed funding. The funds for this stage are usually secured by entrepreneurs from their own savings or loans from family and friends.However, you can also get it from angel investors or crowdfunding since not many investors and VCs are willing to fund a concept that has not acquired critical mass or traction. 

Angel investors are usually individuals or a group of industry professionals who are willing to fund your venture in return for an equity stake.The amounts can range from `5 lakh to `3 crore and are not as high as those provided by VCs since the risk level at this stage is high. "Team, timing and potential market size are the three key things I look at in startups," says Anupam Mittal, among India's top 10 angels. You also need to research and tap the angels who are active in your sector."Some may be active in technology and others in travel or food. You can get in touch through your network for family , friends and colleagues. There are also angel networks across cities and curation platforms like ours," says Amit Banka, founder of Equity Crest, which helps entrepreneurs connect with investors. The top angels in India include Rajan Anandan, Indian Angel Network, K. Ganesh, among others. 

Crowdfunding 

This is another recent way of getting seed funding through small amounts from a large number of people, usually through the Internet. The entrepreneur can get money for his venture by showcasing his idea before the entire world and convincing people of its utility and success. Wishberry.in and Catapooolt are among such forums in India. The entrepreneur needs to put up on a portal his profile and presentation, which should include the business idea, its impact, and the rewards and returns for investors. It should be supported by suitable images and videos of the project. The bottom line is that it should be convincing enough to draw investors. "The biggest problem is that of regulation," says Chakravarty . "If you are a private limited company , the number of members or investors can only go up to 200. If you exceed this number, you turn into a limited company and the compliance and paperwork that this entails can be daunting," he adds. 

Venture capitalists 

After the initial seed-funding stage comes expansion and growth of the venture, which requires big money.This is where VCs come in, offering anywhere from `1-300 crore in exchange for a high equity stake. It is one of the most popular sources of funding for midto late-stage startups and has been in the news after big-ticket deals for Flipkart, Snapdeal and Ola. However, one must make elaborate preparations before approaching the VCs. Says Gopal Modi, President, Investments, Orios Venture Partners: "Entrepreneurs should focus on the right team mix, strong product backed by technology, and proven traction, especially in the case of new ideas where there are no proven models globally ," he adds. 

You can approach a VC by seeking an introduction through fellow entrepreneurs who may have received funding from them. Adds Modi: "Approaching through known networks like exist ing entrepreneurs always works in their favour. VC funds are more receptive to those referred by other successful entrepreneurs." When you finally meet the potential investors, be prepared to answer several questions. CGTMSE LOANS Under the Credit Guarantee Trust for Micro and Small Enterprises scheme, meant to encourage entrepreneurs, one can get loans of up to `1 crore without collateral or surety. Any new and existing micro and small enterprise can take the loan under the scheme from all scheduled commercial banks and specified Regional Rural Banks, NSIC, NEDFi, and SIDBI, which have signed an agreement with the Trust. 

Banks & NBFCs 

Loans from banks and NBFCs help finance the purchase of inventory and equipment, besides securing operating capital and funds for expansion. More importantly, unlike a VC or angel, which have an equity stake, banks do not seek ownership in your venture.However, there are several drawbacks.Not only do you pay interest on loan but it also has to be done on time irrespective of how your business is faring.They require substantial collateral and a good track record, besides the fulfilment of other terms and conditions.They also entail a lot of paperwork. 

Citation from Times Of India : http://goo.gl/83IP5r

WHY RUSSIAN STARTUPS ARE FLOCKING TO SINGAPORE

A spate of Russian startups descended on the Southeast Asian tech hub of Singapore this week in a quest to raise capital and form local partnerships to build a foothold in the region.

"It's not so easy to find investments from European or U.S. companies, perhaps because of the political situation, so we'd like to find investors here in Singapore," Alina Chunaeva, deputy director of financial technology venture Artquant, told CNBC on the sidelines of the tech business conference Echelon on Wednesday.

Moscow-based Artquant, which has developed a stock market analytics tool incorporating artificial intelligence, is currently operating off the $600,000 of funding put up by its Russian founders, according to tech website e27.

Equally high on Chunaeva's agenda during her maiden visit to the city-state is finding a local strategic partner that can help her fledgling company crack the lucrative Asian market.

"Our potential clients are traders, investment banks and different financial institutions so Singapore and Southeast Asia are very interesting for us," she said.

Artquant is one of 10 Russian startups taking part in the Singapore roadshow, organized by the Skolkovo Foundation, a Russian government-backed organization founded in 2010 with the aim of fostering technology innovation and entrepreneurship in the country.

The startups – which are showcasing products ranging from ultra-compact electric vehicles to video surveillance technology - are meeting local venture funds, accelerators and state agencies to explore expanding into the region.

While this is Skolkovo's first roadshow in Singapore, it's not the incubator's first in Asia. Last year, it organized a similar visit to Hong Kong, which resulted in two companies starting production in China and one opening an office in Hong Kong.

Konstantin Artemyev, chief executive of electric vehicle upstart Bravo Motors, is keeping his fingers crossed that he too will strike a partnership that will help him gain access to Asia's burgeoning consumer market.

"We've seen interest from both investors and local partners. Right now, we're talking to a Singaporean company that is involved with car sharing," Artemyev said. "It's a good start for us."

Looking East

While Russia itself is a large market, Igor Bogachev, vice president of the IT Cluster at Skolkovo Foundation, says Asia is a vast business opportunity that can't be missed.

"Asia is a big market for any IT company. The economies are growing pretty fast. That's why we believe the opportunities here," he said.

The question now is whether Asian investors are willing to look past the country's shaky political and economic backdrop.

Bogachev, however, insists that business should be viewed separately from politics.

"These are technology companies. They have nothing to do with sanctions," he said. But as a consolation prize for taking a chance with Russia's politics, the recent slide in the ruble makes investments into the country far cheaper for overseas investors, he noted.

The Russian currency has slumped over 60 percent against the U.S. dollar over the past 12 months.

Citation from CNBC : http://goo.gl/FsLFLh

WORLD BANK GRANTS $55 MILLION FOR PALESTINIAN DEVELOPMENT

The World Bank Board of Governors authorized the transfer of US$55 million to replenish the Trust Fund for Gaza and West Bank from which the World Bank has, since 1993, provided assistance amounting to US$970 million.  

The World Bank has helped strengthen institutions of a future state while also helping build an economy that can create the jobs and opportunities needed by citizens. Forthcoming grants will continue to support investment in municipal services, water and sanitation, energy, as well as social protection, health and education.

“In the highly unpredictable operating environment, institution strengthening to build the foundation of a strong Palestinian administration and to improve service delivery has been central to the Bank's program,” said Steen Lau Steen Lau Jorgensen, World Bank Country Director. “In parallel, the Bank emphasizes private sector development as the key driver for economic and employment opportunities.” 

Development assistance will balance short-term stabilization and reconstruction activities with operations and analysis that promote sustainable growth. The World Bank will maintain dialogue with the Palestinian authority and donors to develop longer-term opportunities to unleash the Palestinian entrepreneurial spirit, engine for growth with social justice.

 Citation from THE WORLD BANK : http://goo.gl/TtmeuD

SME BANK TARGETS 90% ISLAMIC FINANCING PORTFOLIO BY YEAR-END

KUALA LUMPUR: Small Medium Enterprise Development Bank Malaysia Bhd (SME Bank) is getting closer to reaching its target of turning into a full-fledged syariah development finance institution (DFI) with its Islamic financing portfolio now standing at 86.5% amounting to RM4.31bil.

The target is to achieve 90% Islamic financing portfolio by December 2015. When SME Bank was set up in October 2005, the Islamic financing portfolio was only 15%.

In a statement on Thursday, group managing director Datuk Mohd Radzif Mohd Yunus said the bank took a wholesome approach in planning and executing the transformation.

“The key focus areas include ensuring the staff are given sufficient exposure to gain the necessary skills and experience in managing the banks Islamic Finance portfolio,” he said.

Mohd Radzif said convincing customers to switch to Islamic financing was not a major challenge as Islamic finance provided the assurance of fairness for all and that transactions were based on genuine business activity or asset and it prohibited any speculative practices.

“Continuous engagement was done in addition to offering loyal customers no moving cost, unchanged monthly payments as well as unchanged terms. These efforts have translated into high percentage of conversion that the bank has recorded,” he said.

SME Bank, through its unit, Centre for Entrepreneur Research and Development Sdn Bhd, and Islamic Banking and Finance Institute of Malaysia, developed and conducted the Chartered Islamic Development Banker programme.

The programme, which is the first of its kind in the industry, is aimed at producing well-trained, highly competent personnel and executives with the required skills in shariah-based development banking.

A total of 487 SME Bank staff passed the Certified Islamic Development Banker Level 1 and 202 staff have passed the Professional Islamic Development Banker Level 2.

From this number, 296 staff have graduated and became the first batch to complete this programme. - Bernama

Citation from The Star Online – Business News: http://goo.gl/wzHxpS

ANA and United Airlines reward SME business travelers

All Nippon Airways (ANA) and United Airlines recently launched the Asia Joint Venture Simple program, a complimentary corporate travel program to support small- and medium-sized enterprises based in Indonesia, the Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam with discounts when their employees travel on business to destinations in North, Central and South America.

SME businessmen and employees get discounts and other benefits when they fly on business via All Nippon Airways and United Airlines.

The program gives SMEs in the said countries access to a comprehensive trans-Pacific network through United and ANA that connects to over 227 destinations in the US as well as Central and South America – enabling SME employees to enjoy far more convenient travel. Unlike other corporate programs, Asia JV Simple places no limits on a company’s revenue to qualify for the scheme, enabling more SMEs to benefit. Among the additional benefits SME travelers will receive include premier status, lounge access and upgrades and, like other customers, they can earn award miles by joining United’s MileagePlus frequent flyer program.

“SMEs play a vital role in our local and regional economies, comprising 90 percent of businesses in the Asia-Pacific region and accounting for 60-80 percent of jobs and 30 percent of total exports.  We’re delighted to support SMEs with this new program,” said Alison Espley, United’s managing director of Japan and Pacific Sales.

Mitsuo Tomita, ANA’s vice president of Marketing and Sales Asia, believes that “this program will prove highly popular with our current and future SME customers, who represent an important section of the global business community. The Asia JV Simple program supports them by making the comprehensive networks of our two airlines easier than ever for them to access. This will make business travel a breeze for SMEs, and contribute to their growth potential.”

Launched in April 2011, the trans-Pacific joint venture between United and ANA involves both airlines working together to coordinate sales and marketing to improve customer experience with more choices, more convenience and unprecedented flexibility in trans-Pacific travel. The Asia JV Simple program is an extension of this joint venture tailored specifically to support SME business travelers as they grow their businesses.

Citation from : THE STANDARD- Defining the news : http://goo.gl/ZWHu2V

At UNDP, Innovation for Development

On June 19, in a building of the US Senate, our UNDP Washington Representation Office participated in an Innovation Fair organized by the UN Foundation. The event was a timely success as development organizations must seek to innovate to meet stakeholders’ expectations in a fast-changing environment.

Among our partners, for example, USAID runs a Global Development Lab, UNICEF works with Silicon Valley’s technology start-ups and the US Global Development Council recently proposed new social impact funds and cash-on-delivery models.

UNDP has inherited a solid tradition of game-changing ideas such as the Human Development Index and continues to leverage technical, social and managerial innovation throughout its programs and operations.

In Sierra Leone, Yemen and the Democratic Republic of Congo, UNDP employs pioneering biometric voter registration techniques like fingerprint and eye scan, unique and unchangeable traits of a person, to prevent fraud and build trust in fair elections.

Using mobile phone messaging, Tanzanian voters check their electoral registration status and polling station location whilst in Papua New Guinea and the Philippines, text messages provide tsunami and earthquake warning.

On a global level, taking advantage of internet and mobile phone technologies, UNDP is polling people’s opinions (more than 2 million so far) to vote for the “World You Want” in addition to hundreds of community-based consultations. All results and data are shared publicly.

For many organizations, innovation also enables more direct communication and transparent management. Today UNDP leads the way on transparency by releasing all its project data on open.undp.org as well as its audit reports. By leveraging technology, UNDP can better monitor and evaluate its own programs and ensure greater citizen engagement through simpler reporting, mobile data collection or participatory statistics.

Social innovators such as A.H Khan (Khan Academy) or Mohamed Yunus (Grameen) work across sectors to propose new business models for a sustainable economy, such as distance learning and social entrepreneurship.  In 2014, UNDP launched the Social Innovation Initiative to combat corruption in Asia-Pacific, which funded theThai Youth Anti-Corruption Network’s "Refuse To Be Corrupt” cafés in universities, giving students a place to discuss and tackle corruption in their schools and communities.

Recently, our Innovation Board launched the UNDP Innovation Facility, with Denmark stepping forward as the founding donor.  This flexible mechanism will seek to offer technical and financial support, so that UNDP and its partners may propose new solutions to increasingly complex development challenges.

Innovation implies thinking outside of the box and taking risks, often a challenge for large organizations! Yet, UNDP is learning every day to harness innovation and stay a global leader.

Citation from UNDP : http://goo.gl/yEgY97

Several renewable energy power plants in Oman under construction

STAY FOCUSED WITH VENTURE ART

A number of solar power projects are in various stages of construction in Oman. Following the success of solar energy projects in Petroleum Development Oman ( PDO ), Rural Areas Electricity Co (RAECO) and Knowledge Oasis Oman (KOM), now the Public Authority for Electricity and Water (PAEW) is all set to use renewable energy (RE) for various purposes. The solar energy holds the potential to provide sufficient electricity to meet all of Oman's domestic electricity requirements and provide some electricity for export. PAEW, in conjunction with the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), is considering what policy instruments would best help accelerate and support the economic and efficient deployment of RE technologies in the Sultanate. 

According to Dr Mustapha Taoumi, a representative of International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), "This region has the world's greatest technical potential for solar power generation." The RE industry could drive economic diversification and create jobs thereby help create wealth and added value to local economies. In order to facilitate the transition to a RE systems, IRENA has been working closely with Oman on a range of projects. RAECO proposes to set up four solar power plants -- in Ibri, Sharqiyah, Mudhaibi and Dhofar -- as pilot projects with a view to efficiently utilise renewable energy and thus reduce use of fossil fuels. Except for the Dhofar plant (500 kilowatts), other will be of 2,000 kilowatts each, according to Khaleel al Mandhari, who heads RAECO Renewable Energy Department. 

Similarly, a solar power project with a maximum authorised capacity of 303 kilowatts, is coming up at Al Mazyunah in the Dhofar Governorate. The PDO is already using solar energy to produce a daily average of over 50 tonnes of emission-free steam that feeds directly into existing thermal Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) operations at its Amal West field. There are several plans by PAEW and other organisations to capitalise on the abundance of sunshine. According to the recent '7-Year Statement (2015-2021)' of Oman Power and Water Procurement Company (OPWP), work on one or more solar-based power plants with an aggregate capacity of up to 200 megawatts (MW), may be initiated this year. 

Oman holds a huge potential for harnessing renewable energy and is keen to benefit from its several advantages such as reduction in use of fossil fuel, enhanced energy supply security and reduction in pollution. IRENA is extending cooperation in developing a business model to introduce Renewable Energy in all the sectors of the Omani economy particularly in the electricity sector, manufacturing sector and SMEs to accelerate jobs creation and added value to the local economy; desalination through Renewables (remote areas); and capacity building programme. Dr Mustapha says all GCC countries are embarking on a transformation, by turning to renewable energy for it can help meet rising domestic demand, economically and sustainably. 

Four years of successful real time continuous technical monitoring of the 6MW/year concentrator photo voltaic (CPV) demonstrator at KOM has given positive results such as cost-effectiveness, high yield energy production, and minimal water and maintenance requirements. Since May 2010, when the PEIE initiated this pilot project for R&D to test the validity of the CPV solar technology, the project has generated important data which has been assembled and integrated to create valuable knowledge about this application, a PEIE expert affirms. PEIE has also performed financial studies for CPV and PV applications on larger scales and the price has been between 70-80 baisa per kWh which is highly feasible and competitive and can even be lower than the cost of fossil fuel specifically for remote and rural areas when the subsidies are included in cost calculation. 

At a workshop involving several stakeholders from ministries, SQU, PEIE, and electricity distribution companies, it was revealed that the real price of electricity production per kWh and distribution to the customer, excluding subsidies, would be between 80 and 120 baisa per kWh for gas-based plants in Muscat governorate, and that for remote rural areas the cost of electricity production from diesel can exceed 150 baisa per kWh. "If the calculations generated from the workshop are appropriate the cost of utilising solar energy will be equal or even cheaper than gas-based plants and for sure much cheaper for remote and rural areas", said a PEIE official.

Citation - Taken From ZAWYA :  https://goo.gl/wdDvsf

Blogging Idea of Future

How four avid bloggers from Chennai made fortune by blogging

For most people, blogging serves as a good pastime, a forum to air or read views and opinions. However, for four yuppies from Chennai, harnessing the power of blogs has proved to be a money-minting venture million dollar business, to be precise.

Launched in August 2007, IndiBlogger.in started as a free blogging platform for Indians. However, the founders—Renie Ravin, Karthik DR, Vineet Rajan and Anoop Johnson—had a bigger game plan: to mobilize the blogosphere, a nascent field at the time, so that companies and brands could engage with their customers. The idea was conceptualized by the founders (barring Rajan), all in their 20s, at a party in early August 2007. Convinced that they were on to a good thing, the trio quit their respective jobs shortly afterwards and focused on their start-up. Rajan left his account manager's job with Hewlett Packard, Hyderabad, to join IndiBlogger after a bloggers' meet in Pune, in March 2008.

Luckily for the founders, they found an angel investor who chipped in with the seed capital. The money was spent on building infrastructure and marketing.

Here's how IndiBlogger works: Registering one's blog is free of charge, but members must publish at least five blog posts to continue to be a part of the community. The company's eight-strong team handles support and moderation from Chennai and Bangalore. The revenue comes from connecting brands and bloggers via unique blogging contests and meets, which are organized periodically across the country. The idea stems from the fact that brands see value in connecting with bloggers, who can influence the purchase decisions of their peer groups. In fact, a Neilsen report, Global Trust in Advertising Survey 2011, shows that less than a third of Netizens trust advertisements, while 92% have faith in peer and word-of-mouth recommendations.