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Management of Opportunistic Infections in HIV Disease in Pune

New NGO by Shell

US $45 million dollar JumpStartUp Fund launched

Cricinfo.com launches India’s first video archives

India’s First Web Enabled Health Service Company Launched 
 
 

China's Capitalism

In 1978, when Deng Xiaoping came to power China was desperately poor.  Sixty percent of its population lived on less than a dollar a day.  Reform launched China on high growth.  Between 1978 and 1995, China's foreign trade increased from $36 billion to $300 billion.  Per capita income doubled between 1978 and 1987 and doubled again between 1987 and 1996 - a rate almost unheard of in modern history.  In instituting reforms, Deng did something that no one else in history has ever accomplished - he lifted upward of 200 million people out of poverty in just two decades. The world has never seen change of that rapidity on that scale.  By some estimates, China is already the second-largest economy in the world and if current trend continue, its economy will rival that of the US in size before the next two decades are out.  Yet China has still to lay the explicit rules of a market system and its economy continues to operate much more by guanxi - connections - than by law and contract.  No matter what the political outcome, China is destined to be the dominating economic and political force in the region in the next century, and of course one of the most important in the global economy.

Deng's successors after 1997 carried the reforms he initiated further by reform of the state-owned sector.  The party congress declared that most of the enterprises - as many as a hundred thousand - would be divorced from the state and operated on the principle of what is sometimes called ming ying - people-owned companies.  This is an ambiguous phrase that could include ownership by shareholders.  The tools for reform would include merger, bankruptcy, and downsizing.

The new relationship between Hong Kong and the rest of the mainland China could well accelerate the process of change throughout China.  That is the core meaning of the piquant question "Will China change Hong Kong or will Hong Kong change china?"

Reforms in India

In India, the consequence of the policies of planning and control was an economic system that had three self-defeating characteristics.  The first was the “Permit Raj” – a complex, irrational, almost incomprehensible system of controls and licenses that held sway over every step in production, investment, and foreign trade.  The second characteristic was a strong bias towards state ownership – stifling private initiative and incentives.  The third self-defeating characteristic was a rejection of international commerce – described as “export pessimism”.  The hostility toward foreign investment, the severe limits on international trade, and the constraints on competition all closed down the avenues by which innovation moves into nations and led to technological obsolescence and stagnation.
The culmination of all these policies was a severe economic crisis in the year 1990-91.  By the end of 1980, the economic situation became highly precarious.  Exchange reserves were at rock bottom, inflation had crossed the double-digit level and was moving higher, and the fiscal deficit was sharply widening.  Added to this, the economy was lurching from one crisis to another: poverty was still massive, pervasive inequalities persist, the quality of public services had deteriorated, and there were significant regional imbalances. In the face of all these maladies, some of the basic and interrelated premises of India’s development planning and policies required re-examination.

The crisis necessitated a two-pronged response from the Indian policy makers: stabilization and structural adjustment programs. The licensing and approvals of the Permit Raj were mostly eliminated.  Foreign trade was opened up.  So was foreign investment.  The two areas that have proved the most difficult to reform in India are public finances and state-owned enterprises.

[..................To be continued..............]

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In developing countries like India, management of HIV infection heavily relies on aggressive treatment and prevention of Opportunstic Infections (OI’s). Systematic studies have demonstrated the positive impact of management of OI’s on quantity and quality of life of HIV infected individuals. With Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy (HAART) being largely unaffordable, it is important for physicians to know the common OI’s and their management in India. This article will cover some of the very practical points involved in management of Oi’s. Many of these interventions are extremely cheap and can significantly improve morbidity and morality amongst HIV infected individuals with OI’s.

management of tuberculosis, the commonest OI in India has some unresolved issues that need to be addressed - number of drugs and the duration of treatment. Ofcourse, prophylaxis is extremely controversial and in the absence of substantial data and fear of development of resistance. We do not offer prophylaxis to HIV infected individuals. In patients with FUO an USG abdomen is absolutely essential and if shows abdominal nodes empirical ATT may be instituted. Most patients with FUO will have dramatic response to this treatment, chronic diarrhea is usually caused by protozoa viz. l.belli, cryptosporidia and cyclospora. A simple modified ZN preparation of stool helps in diagnosis. Empirical therapy with TMP-SMX may be tried in patients whose stool does not show these organisms or when this test is not done. Azithromycin may be tried in patients with cryptosporidiosis. A careful watch on fluid and electrolyte status is absolutely essential while managing these diarrheas.

CSF letting (30 cc/alternate day) can significantly alleviate headache amongst patients with cryptococcal meningitis being treated with anti-fungals. a careful watch on Serum potassium is essential when patient is taking Amphotericin B. Liberal fluid intake is recommended for patients on Amphotericin B to prevent development of renal toxicity. Any focal neurological deficit or seizures with a ring enhancing lesion on CT scan should be an indication to put the patient on empirical anti-toxoplasma treatment. When managing toxoplasmosis with pyrimethamine/sulphadiazine always use folinic acid to prevent development of pyrimethamine induced bone marrow toxicity. Any patinet with breathlessness, dry cough and unremarkable chest Xray should be evaluated for PCP. In management of PCP, steroids are useful when patients’ ABG demonstrates a paO<70. Severe TMP-SMX hypersensitivity can be managed by desensitizing. keeping a high index of suspicion in practice will help in early diagnosis of OI’s amongst HIV infected individuals. Fortunately many Ois can be treated effectively. Important elements of good OI management includes a good clinical examination, judicious use of lab investigations and a through knowledge of medical treatment.

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A new NGO was launched by Royal Dutch/Shell Group of companies during June 2000 with initial funds of $30 million for sustainable energy and other social investment projects worldwide.

The Shell Foundation will, in its principal programme, contribute funds and expertise to projects that particularly tackle social and environmental challenges related to energy access and use. Its work will complement the local social investments of Shell companies around the world. This initiative is a further step in Shell’s work to integrate sustainable development in all its activities.

The Shell Foundation’s Sustainable Energy Programme will support projects that either encourage environmentally cleaner use or help tackle poverty by providing sustainable energy to poor communities in developing countries. The Foundation will devote $ 20 million to a range of such projects over the first three years.

Twenty projects, representing an initial commitment of over $ 7 million, have already been selected for the launch portfolio of the Sustainbale Energy Programme. These include a project to help farmers in a nature reserve in one of the poorest provinces of China  to reduce their usage of firewood, increase their income and grow cash crops in greenhouses by converting animal waste to heat; an initiative to tackle the problem of poor air quality in the mega-cities of Latin America; and a UK project to educate primary school children, governors, teachers and parents about the financial and environmental benefits of energy saving. The Shell Foundation will announce funding for further projects in due course.

The largest project to be supported by the Shell Foundation is the Biodiversity Assessment Programme of the Smithsonian Institution. It will receive $ 2.8 million of funding for a five year project to develop techniques for mapping and monitoring biodiversity, particularly in ecosystems that could be affected by exploration and development. The Smithsonian will also receive logical support from Shell in countries hosting the projects. This project goes well beyond existing norms for biodiversity assessment and should create new understanding and new approaches.

Mark Moody-Stuart, Chairman of the Committee of Managing Directors of the Royal Dutch/Shell Group, said : “Shell companies worldwide have always aimed to be good citizens in their local communities, with social investment totalling some $ 93 million last year. Through the Shell Foundation we will now bring our resources and expertise as an international energy group to help address global issues where we have a particular role to play. This will enable us to support projects, not for commercial return, but to help find long term solutions to global problems about which society cares a great deal. The Shell Foundation will further strengthen our contribution and commitment to sustainable development.”

Commenting on the launch, Nelson Mandela, who has recently visited Shell’s social investment projects in South Africa and takes a close interst in rural poverty, including the role of energy, said: “One of the major issues in South Africa and the developing world generally is access to energy and, in particular, clean, affordable sources of power. I am delighted to see that Shell is setting an example by launching a charity to fund projects which will encourage the use of sustainable energy sources in South Africa and worldwide. I look forward to seeing the results.”

Dr Francisco Dallmeier, Director of the Smithsonian Institution’s Monitoring and Assessment of Biodiversity Programme, said: “The Shell Foundation is an innovative development for a global energy business. The funding we are receiving will enable us to increase biodiversity knowledge, build local capcity in biological assessments and monitoring programmes, and provide scientific information for decision making on conservation and sustainable development issues. The Smithsonian will also forge strategic partnerships with local scientists, communities and institutions to achieve these goals.”

The Shell Foundation will have two other global programmes. The Sustainable Comminities Programme will focus on initiatives that build the social and economic capacity ofg marginalised communities around the world. The third programme will look at the importance of youth enterprise to economic development and will build on Shell’s existing LiveWIRE programme to advise young people setting up in business.

The Foundation has a Board of Trustees that include Sir John Houghton, who co-chairs the UN intergovernmental group looking at the science of climate change, and Professor Jose Goldemberg, a former environment minister of Brazil and an expert on energy, environment and development.

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The launch of the US$ 45 million dollar JumpStartUp Venture Fund Base Station for Entrepreneurial Capital was announced in Bangalore today. The Principals are Kiran Nadkarni, Sanjay Anandaram, and K. Ganapathy Subramanian.

The JumpStartUp Venture Fund is a private, professionally managed VC fund styled along the lines of a Silicon Valley VC firm. It has been initiated to provide smart, high quality early stage capital to new and young companies in the technology and technology enabled sectors, primarily in India.  Hardly any VC firm in India is focused on early stage opportunities. The market for seed and early-stage venture capital is extremely under-serviced, says Kiran Nadkarni, adding “The Fund will bring in an aggressive, innovative, long-term outlook to the seed/early stage sector with each investment being on average no more than a US$ 1 million. JumpStartUp will look for ventures that have superior management talent, can create entry barriers, have a clear exit strategy and are targeting large market opportunities.”

JumpStartUp is backed by an investor team comprising of top professionals from Silicon Valley and top institutions from Asia, Europe and the U.S. The institutional investors in the JumpStartUp Venture Fund include, among others, Singapore based Vertex Group (www.vertexmgt.com), National Science and Technology Board (www.nstb.gov.sg), EDB Investments Pte Ltd. (EDBI) (www.edbi.com), the investment arm of the Economic Development Board of Singapore, and California based Silicon Valley Bank (www.svb.com). In addition, the fund has a number of well known individual investors from companies like Exodus, Cisco, Yahoo, Netscape, Sun, Infospace, vJungle, Nortel, Intel, Junglee/Amazon, apart from partners of U.S. VC firms. Some of these individuals include B V Jagadeesh (Co-founder of Exodus), Jay Sethuram (Founder of Cerent, Siara, StratumOne), Jayshree Ullal (VP & GM Cisco), and Bill Draper (venture capitalist).

Focus Areas

Specifically, JumpStartUp will focus on providing early stage capital to companies in the Internet space, IT Services, Intellectual Property and Click & Mortar businesses.

In Internet Businesses, JumpStartUp will primarily focus on investing in B2B areas such as Supply Chain, Application Service Providers (ASPs), and Infomediation/exchange services and specialized vertical portals. In IT Services, focus will be on business models in professional services in the areas of development, support, and integration services. The fund will back companies in the areas of e-businesses, CRM as well as in the emerging areas like broadband and convergent technologies.

Intellectual property is a rapidly emerging segment in which JumpStartUp will target companies in the areas of semiconductor IP and system level tools, utilities, embedded and higher level applications for appliances. According to Sanjay Anandaram, “The IP segment plays to the strengths of India. These are technology focused operations as opposed to being marketing focused. They are also not capital intensive businesses. This will provide entrepreneurs an opportunity to create technology out of India.”

The Click and Mortar segment is another area of focus of JumpStartUp. These companies will straddle the physical and virtual worlds and will be led by teams with strong understanding of branding, distribution and logistics.

The Real Difference

The Principals bring over 30 years of cumulative experience from the worlds of venture capital, IT and high tech startups in India and the U.S. They have participated in over 100 early stage deals and have been responsible for creating in excess of $ 1 billion in value entirely through early stage investments.  Their solid understanding of the early stage landscape and unique set of complementary skills and experiences will be the real differentiator.

K. Ganapathy Subramanian, says “The Fund will focus on backing professionals who have a deep understanding of the market and/or technology, and the passion, urge, and energy to start, build and grow businesses.” Adds Sanjay Anandaram, “JumpStartUp will work with partners such as incubators, lawyers, accountants, recruiters, marketing and technology experts to identify markets, put together quality teams and create and build start-ups in India.”

Advisors

The Advisors to JumpStartUp consist of seasoned professionals from India and U.S. Some of the Advisors are Mohan Vishwanath, VP Yahoo! Everywhere, B.D. Goel, till recently Executive Vice President of Products and Services of Neoforma, Rajeev Motwani, Associate Professor of Computer Science, Stanford University, Maneesh Dhir, VP & GM Netscape-Sun Alliance, Pradeep Kar, Chairman of Microland Group and Ajit Balakrishnan, Chairman and CEO of Rediff.com.

About the Principals

Kiran Nadkarni: Kiran has been a pioneer in the Indian VC industry and brings over 14 yearsÆ experience in early stage investing. He has managed three funds through their entire life cycles and provided handsome returns to investors. He is on committees of Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), Over The Counter Exchange of India (OTCEI) and Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI). He was also the founding chairman of the Indian Venture Capital Association. Since 1995, Kiran was with Draper International, a San Francisco based venture capital firm which pioneered Silicon Valley style early stage investing in India. At Draper International, Kiran was responsible for initiating deals such as Rediff.com, Geometric Software, Neta and Yantra. Prior to joining Draper International, Kiran was with ICICI Venture (then called TDICI), the venture capital subsidiary of ICICI, which he founded in 1986 and was the President of until 1994. Some of his successful investments include Praj Industries, VXL Instruments, Mastek, Microland, Sun Pharmaceuticals and Hical Magnetics. He also spent over 9 years in ICICI as part of its early team and 4 years with the Kirloskar Group. Kiran is a Chemical Engineer from IIT-Kanpur and also holds a Post-Graduate Diploma in Management Studies from the Bombay University.

Sanjay Anandaram : Sanjay brings over 10 years of international infotech industry experience spanning India, U.S., Far East, the Middle East and Africa. He has strong experience of a range of technology businesses and brings operational experience in corporate business development, OEM partnering, technology project coordination, sales and channel marketing. Prior to JumpStartUp, Sanjay was a Founder and Director of business development of Neta Inc., a venture capital  backed Silicon Valley startup founded in 1997.  Neta developed internet personalization software which was acquired by Infoseek (now Go.com), a leading internet portal.  At Neta, Sanjay researched and wrote the business plan, developed the competitive market positioning, established alliances with companies such as Netscape, coordinated beta customer programs, and was actively involved in venture capital  discussions and in M & A matters. Before Neta, Sanjay spent over 8 years with Wipro, IndiaÆs leading IT company in India and the U.S. While with Wipro, he created several new businesses and business models in areas ranging from system software, turnkey product design, networking to system integration and application software. Sanjay is an Electrical Engineer from Jadavpur University and an MBA from IIM-Bangalore.

K. Ganapathy Subramanian: Ganapathy has over 10 years industry experience including 6 years of life cycle experience in venture capital industry with a specific focus on IT.  Prior to JumpStartUp, Ganapathy served as Group Manager of Private Equity Investments (IT) at ICICI Venture, India's leading venture capital firm. He has handled over 30 technology companies and has actively served on the Boards of several of them. Ganapathy played a lead role in the formulation and implementation of the Software fund, one of the most successful domestic funds in the country. At ICICI Venture his portfolio included several successful companies including Kale Consultants, VXL Instruments, SQL Star, Indigo, RS Software and Planetasia.com. Prior to ICICI Venture he worked for Marico Industries Limited, Mumbai and Southern Petrochemical Industries Corporation Limited, Tuticorin. He brings with him strong technology due diligence skills and a thorough understanding of the global software industry. Ganapathy is a Chemical Engineer from REC Trichy and an MBA from XLRI, Jamshedpur.

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Cricinfo.com, the world’s largest cricket web site, today announced the launch of a unique service, the Cricinfo Audio & Video Archives.  The new service, which has been launched with the currently ongoing Test series between Sri Lanka and South Africa, offers the consumers the choice of live audio & video coverage.  But more significantly the value addition has been extended to the archives that would allow a consumer to access the highlights (or the entire match) in formats that are extremely customisable.

Explained Mr. Murari, Director, Cricinfo India, “We have always been at the forefront of deploying technologies to enhance the overall consumer experience.  With the launch of the new archive feature, consumers can now customise the access parameters so as to get æpersonalised video highlights.  This translates into a convenience for consumer to view, for example, just the fours of a match, or the innings of a favourite batsman etc and that too in video format.  An added benefit is that this digital video information will always be available for access on the site.”

The entire test series between Sri Lanka & South Africa is already being broadcast live on Cricinfo.com.  the visuals for the coverage being sourced from Sony Entertainment Television.  In addition, cricket fans will also be able to listen to a ball-by-ball audio commentary on the site.  Cricinfo’s exclusive commentary team comprises a host of well-known names like Roshan Abeysinghe and Ranjit Fernando alongside Gerald De Cock, Brian Thomas and Neil Manthorpe.

The video and audio coverage will be supported by a host of online features to enhance the enjoyment of cricket followers.  Interviews with prominent cricketeers and cricket administrators.  The cricket fans will be able to delve into the database of statistics offered by Cricinfo to support the live coverage, email the commentary team, as well as being able to chat to other fans or voice their opinions on the message board.

Live audio ball-by-ball commentary of all the international matches taking place in England this summer can also be heard on hyperlink  http://www.ecb.co.uk/live   and www.ecb.co.uk/live  , the official England cricket site powered by CricInfo.  CricInfo’s global network of official websites now comprises of the ten Test Playing countries, including South Africa, as well as the ICC and several other first class teams.

                            Click here to go to http://www.cricinfo.com 

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The promoters of Medybiz.Com today announced the launch of the first web-enabled health services company in India.  Medybiz.Com was today officially inaugurated by Mr. Raghavendra Rao, Managing Director, Orchid Chemicals and Pharmaceuticals Ltd.

Conceived as a one stop shop for e-commerce and information on all matters related to healthcare, Medybiz.Com will enable commerce of medicines, equipment, hospital consumables and services thereby serving the needs of doctors, hospitals, retail chemists, exporters, institutions and consumers.

Mebybiz.com will initially offer five unique services to consumers viz., Medyshop, the online chemist whereby medicines will be delivered to consumers at home within 24- hour with guaranteed supply of prescribed medicines without brand substitution; Medylab, offering diagnostic facilities at home; Medycall, offering 24-hour medical services; Medycab for taxi and ambulance service and Medyappoint, the facility to make appointments with doctors and specialists online.  All the above services will be initially available in Chennai and can be availed either by logging onto Medybiz.Com or by calling the 24-hour Medybiz call center.

In addition, Medybiz.Com will offer consumers in-depth information on all healthcare services and various therapeutic streams.  The Blue Pages section in the site will contain comprehensive listing of doctors, hospitals, nursing homes, blood banks, pathological labs and budget hotels.  In addition, there will be in-depth information on alternate medicine and special sections for children and women.

Medybiz.com is also unique in that it is the first site to offer a restricted access section for doctors thereby creating an exclusive medical forum for doctors to interact with each other and gain access to medical and clinical information such as drug directories, clinical nutrition, new product introductions, medical news, drug interaction studies, medical ethics and consumer laws amongst others.

Medybiz.Com is promoted by A. Suryanarayanan, K. Ravinarayanan and Partha Pratim Roy, who have many years of valuable experience in the pharmaceutical and healthcare industry.  A. Suryanarayanan, a Chartered Accountant, has over 15 years experience in the pharmaceutical industry having worked with Nicholas Laboratories and Recon.  K.Ravinarayanan earlier promoted Recon Limited, a pharmaceutical company diversified into agrochemicals.  Partho Pratim Roy was earlier responsible for the institutional business of Lupin Laboratories as General Manager.

                           Click here to go to http://www.medybiz.com 

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