Startups need support from the government to decrease the failure rate

Startups in India face numerous challenges at different stages in terms of incorporation, fund raising and hiring and they need adequate support to tide over these difficulties and minimise failures, says a report. The government should provide incentives to investors in startups and direct funding on the basis of monitoring and evaluation as India has the potential to become a major hub for startups, industry body Ficci said in the report.

The report on the vibrancy of the startup ecosystem in the UK and its lessons for India’s developing startup scene observes that while in global hubs like London failure for such venture is accepted, entrepreneurs in countries such as India could be seen as braver as they are taking comparatively greater risks in the face of adverse situations. “There are a number of challenges for Indian startups, from the stage of incorporation through the stages of raising capital, hiring resources, scaling up and making an exit.

“There is a need to address such bottlenecks to minimise failures and ensure that the startups graduate to becoming scale ups,” Ficci said. Corporates can act as hotbeds for co-creation with startups, provide market opportunities through procurement and encourage a wider culture of entrepreneurship. The government can promote direct procurement from startups approved on the Startup India website, the report suggested.

Moreover, the government should take technology scale-up focused trade delegations to innovation hubs around the world and seek successful outcomes from such delegations to include MoUs between Indian and foreign incubators and accelerators. Startups that are innovation and technology driven have increasingly become the backbone of a new India and could be key drivers for several of the government’s programmes such as Make In India, Digital India, Startup India as well as employment generation.

The UK could formally work with experts and business organisations to conduct a state-by-state assessment of where the UK could work with Indian state and central governments, as well as existing private incubators and accelerators, said the report.

IANS

Publish date: February 22, 2017 12:39 pm| Modified date: February 22, 2017 12:39 pm

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Russia in progress of building world’s first “floating” nuclear power plant

Russia is in advanced stages of building the world’s first “floating” nuclear power plant (FNPP) for installation in remote areas and hopes FNPP technology will also interest South Asian countries like India.

Pavel Ipatov, Deputy CEO (Special Projects) in Russia’s state atomic energy corporation Rosatom, told IANS in an e-mail interview from Moscow that an FNPP is basically a mobile, low-capacity reactor unit operable in remote areas isolated from the main power distribution system, or in places hard to access by land.

“FNPPs are designed to maintain both uninterruptible power and plentiful desalinated water supply in remote areas,” he said. The Russian explained that floating units are components constructed for transport by sea or river to areas that are otherwise inaccessible or difficult to reach by land.

“The plant is constructed as a non-self-propelled vessel to be towed by sea or river to the operation site. Its mobility will make it possible to relocate it from one site to another, if necessary,” he said. “The first floating NPP is to operate in Russia’s extreme northeastern region of Chukotka, where there is plenty of oil and gas exploration, gold mining and other mineral resource enterprises,” he added.

According to Ipatov, the vessel’s “construction is at its closing stage. The plant has already been floated out, fitting-out is under way”. It has been undergoing “mooring trials” since last July to test the FNPP’s performance efficiency, which are scheduled to be completed by October.

After the tests, the FNPP, called ‘Academician Lomonosov’, will be transported by Russia’s Northern Sea route to the operation site, where it will be integrated into the coastal network being constructed in the port of the city of Pevek. “The construction of onshore facilities is under way on the FNPP’s future operation site. In 2019, the power unit installation on its proper location is expected to start, and then the FNPP will undergo final trials and be put into operation,” he said.

The FNPP has an electric capacity of 70 MW and is equipped with two reactors of 150 MW thermal capacity each. “A vessel like that can provide electric supply to a city of 200,000 and heat supply to a million-plus city,” Ipatov said. An FNPP’s operational lifespan ranges from 35 to 40 years.

In line with conventional onshore nuclear plants that are often equipped with desalination units for freshwater, the FNPP will have a desalination unit producing up to 240 cubic metres of water per hour. Besides, as regards safety, the Russian said that FNPPs would be governed by the same advanced safety parameters put in place after the Fukushima disaster in Japan in 2011.

He cited the example from Soviet times of the first commercial desalination complex attached to a nuclear power plant that went into operation in 1967, providing freshwater supply to the city of Aktau in Kazakhstan.

“Now this nuclear plant is inoperative, but the desalination plant is still working with alternate heat generation,” Ipatov said of the project that was implemented by Rosatom. According to him, with Russia’s expertise, its FNPPs will be in great demand in the global small nuclear power market. “We see significant potential in Southeast Asia and other regions of the world. Memorandums of cooperation on floating nuclear power plants projects have been signed with China and Indonesia,” he said.

“We hope that FNPP technology will also gain interest in South Asia, including India, not only in terms of new opportunities to provide power supply to remote areas, but in terms of building extra seawater desalination facilities, too,” he added.

Rosatom are the builders, in collaboration with the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL), of the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project (KNPP) in Tamil Nadu, that envisages the construction of six reactors of 1,000 MW capacity each.

While KNPP reactor units 1 and 2 are already connected to the southern power grid, the ground-breaking ceremony for construction of units 3 and 4 was done in February last year. Earlier this month, the Indian cabinet approved the setting up of 10 indigenous Pressurised Heavy Water Reactors (PHWRs) for nuclear power generation of around 7,000 MW power. India currently generates 6,780 MW from nuclear power. Nuclear reactors, which will produce another 6,700 MW, are under implementation and these are expected to be completed by 2021-22.

Publish date: May 30, 2017 6:27 pm| Modified date: May 30, 2017 6:27 pm

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Baby 'Walks' Moments After Birth. 68 Million Views And Counting

A video that appears to show a newborn baby "walking" moments after its birth is currently breaking the Internet. Since being posted on Facebook on May 26, the 41-second clip has been viewed well over 68 million times. It has been shared over 1.5 million times and has collected over 325,000 (mostly incredulous) reactions. The footage shows a newborn, being supported by a nurse, lifting one foot, and then the other, in movements that mimic walking. 

The video was posted on Facebook by Arlete Arantes from Brazil. It's unclear when the video was recorded.
                         


So, what's actually going on in the video?

According to the University of Rochester Medical Center, the "walking" is not so much a miracle but a natural newborn reflex. 

Called the "stepping reflex," this reflex is also referred to as the walking or dance reflex because the baby appears to take steps or dance when held upright with his or her feet touching a solid surface. This reflex lasts until the baby is about two-months-old. It helps babies develop and survive. 

But that information hasn't deterred the Internet from doing what it does best: make jokes.

"Gotta stretch the legs after a 9 month journey," writes one person on Reddit, where a GIF of the video has been posted.

"That baby's name: Usain Bolt," jokes another. 

"That kid is going places," comments a third Redditor.






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