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SoftBank's big checks are stalling tech IPOs

October 22, 2017, 4:23 am
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Big cash infusions for startups from an ever-expanding group of financiers, led by SoftBank Group Corp and Middle East sovereign wealth funds, have extinguished hopes that the technology IPO market would bounce back this year.

These deep-pocketed financiers, which have traditionally invested in the public markets but are seeking better returns from private tech companies, have enabled startups to raise more money, stay private longer and spurn the regulatory hassles of an IPO even as they become larger than many public companies.

At The Wall Street Journal D Live conference recently in Southern California, a number of venture capitalists, entrepreneurs, IPO experts and dealmakers spoke with Reuters about the surprisingly low number of IPOs and pointed to investors such as SoftBank for changing the business of startup financing.

"It's not surprising if these companies get 10 term sheets," said Nicole Quinn, an investing partner with Lightspeed Venture Partners, referring to formal offers of investment.

The result is a protracted IPO slump that has contributed to a 50% drop in the number of US public companies over the last two decades, according to the Nasdaq. IPOs have fallen especially precipitously since 2014 - the year public market investors, including mutual funds, ramped up investment in private tech companies.

There are some signs of a more active fall for IPOs. Tech companies Switch Inc, MongoDB Inc and Roku Inc have gone public in the past few weeks, with debuts from ForeScout Technologies Inc and Zscaler Inc ahead.

Yet many investors are bracing for a market tumble after a sustained rally, raising questions about IPO opportunities for 2018.

Just 12 venture capital-backed tech companies went public in the US in the first three quarters this year, compared to 27 for the same time period in 2014, according to IPO investment adviser Renaissance Capital.

Increasingly, the big checks are coming from SoftBank, which in May closed a $93 billion investment fund. So far this year, it has announced at least 14 investments in technology companies globally, including a $500 million deal with fintech company Social Finance and a $3 billion investment in shared workspace company WeWork
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Just relax, Europe's tech leader SAP tells investors

October 22, 2017, 4:26 am
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The German software maker, SAP, is in the midst of a transition to offering cloud-based services to business customers, and management had flagged that 2017 would see a trough in profit margins as it invested in datacenters and redeployed staff.

CEO Bill McDermott said SAP was seeing more customers using its new cloud-based S/4HANA business planning products to overhaul their organisations and supply chains. Such large-scale deals tend to close in the fourth quarter.

"You can expect a dynamite Q4," McDermott told investors on a conference call. "Don't worry about bookings, relax, it's going to be terrific," he said, added that SAP would report "at least 30% year-over-year cloud bookings growth".

The company, the biggest component of Germany's blue-chip DAX index, has a market value of €116.5 billion ($138 billion).

Third-quarter revenue for the business planning software provider grew 8% to €5.59 billion ($6.6 billion) from a year earlier, falling short of the mean forecast of 5.71 billion from 16 analysts surveyed by Reuters.

Core profit excluding special items rose by 4% to €1.64 billion at constant currency rates, below the 1.69 billion expected.

The euro's strength sliced 4 percentage points off core profit, which was flat after taking currency moves into account. Analysts at Baader Helvea said they expected currency headwinds to continue for the next three quarters. The company nudged up guidance for full-year core operating profit to between €6.85 and 7.0 billion and said 2017 total revenue would range from 23.4 to 23.8 billion, marking year-to-year growth around 6 to 8%, excluding currency effects.

In the cloud

Cloud subscriptions and support revenue rose 27% in the quarter to €938 million, excluding currency effects, compared with the 29% analysts had expected, on average.

This was offset by its classic software license and support business revenue, which rose 4% to €3.72 billion, slightly above the 2.2% growth rate expected.

Chief Financial Officer Luka Mucic said the slowdown in new orders growth in the last quarter had coincided with accelerated investments in the cloud business.

As this spending rolls off, an improvement in margins will start to shine through in the current quarter, setting the scene for "exponential" growth in gross margins thereafter, he said. The number of S/4HANA customers rose 70%, year-on-year, of which 40% were net new customers, SAP said.

The platform drives SAP's core product offering - delivered via the internet or on-site - but its human resources, travel management and business-to-business marketplace products are still being integrated into it.

Competitors such as Salesforce.com, Workday and Amazon.com's web services unit offer cloud-only services, challenging the legacy businesses of SAP and its long-time rival Oracle. The key question for investors is whether a tipping point is at hand for SAP to return to delivering consistent growth in profit margins late this year or during 2018.

That would reverse five years of declining growth in core profit margins as the company spent heavily to shift its business into the cloud, instead of relying on traditional software license sales for its suite of business planning tools. SAP management has signalled that its rapid employee expansion since 2015 should slow in coming quarters as its cloud -focused hiring spree runs its course.
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Karnataka needs international coffee trade fairs

October 22, 2017, 4:30 am
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The Coffee Board of India, under the administrative control of the Ministry of Commerce, Government of India, has to contribute to the coffee economy, which is in crisis with three years of near-drought, untimely rains and poor crop yields in Karnataka.

Coffee plantations also have pepper vines inter-planted among them to supplement income, which makes the crash in pepper prices since February this year, worsen the financial hardship of coffee planters.

Moreover, flaws in crop insurance and revenue protection insurance schemes have not really benefited 90% of the coffee-growers, who own plantations of 25 acres or below. The Rainfall Insurance scheme has been discontinued due to lack of adequate modalities in place. Moreover, the newly introduced Revenue Protection Insurance scheme which was initiated as a pilot project in Chikkamagaluru has not evinced much interest among the insurance companies. Therefore, the coffee plantation sector, which employs an estimated 11,00,000 skilled workers, finds that their livelihoods are at stake across the coffee districts of Kodagu, Hassan and Chikkamagaluru.

While coffee growers are confronted with high input costs in terms of labour wages and fertiliser prices, they have to endure low prices for coffee and pepper, which makes it financially unviable to manage plantations. If coffee plantations begin to suffer losses, then the coffee economy will become unsustainable and small growers will find it more remunerative to sell their plantations or convert them into holiday or health resorts -- a development which has already taken shape over the last five to seven years. That will surely herald the beginning of the end of the coffee plantation sector and its related industries. Therefore, the Coffee Board needs to transform to a market support role in addition to its R&D functions.

Till the mid 1990s, the Coffee Board functioned in a regulatory role. However, the Coffee Board now needs to adapt to a free market economy since the 1991 economic liberalisation and transition to that of a facilitator. It would need to support the coffee economy through the organisation of trade fairs and help small growers and international buyers to comply with the various statutory requirements towards coffee trade and export.

The Womens Coffee Alliance India, Bangalore, successfully conducts a vibrant Coffee Santhe or Coffee Fair in Bengaluru annually, and involves all the stakeholders of the economy. For instance, much like the Ministry of Defence organises Aero India at Bengaluru to connect foreign aeronautics majors with the domestic industry; the Ministry of Commerce can also conduct a coffee trade fair under the aegis of the Coffee Board.

The small coffee grower is unable to attend international coffee trade fairs overseas due to cost constraints of airline travel. Therefore, the Coffee Board should hold international trade fairs in Kodagu and Chikkamagaluru for buyers and sellers as a platform to interact with each other. The Coffee Board has large tracts of land with established infrastructure and research stations at Balehonnur, Chikkamagaluru and Chettalli in Kodagu, which can be utilised as centres for international coffee trade fairs and as integrated coffee parks.

Moreover, the boom in coffee tourism over the last decade has developed the hospitality and travel industry resources in these plantation districts to be able to hold the proposed trade fairs. Besides, the two international airports in the proximity are at Mattanur, Cannanore district in Kerala, which is a 90-minute drive from Kodagu and at Mangaluru, which is a two-hour drive away from Chikkamagaluru. As airline connectivity to these two coffee plantation districts, which are also internationally acclaimed biodiversity hotspots exists, these districts are ideal locations to organise trade fairs.

It will make the grower aware of the requirements of the discerning international consumer. The buyer will see for himself the journey of the Indian coffee bean from the plant to the cup. It will incentivise the grower to produce the kind of coffee that the buyer desires. Only a grower knows the trials and tribulations of coffee cultivation and only he can market his coffee with passion and obtain the best price possible for his crop.

Considering that 70% of the coffee grown in the country is exported, the small grower should market his coffee overseas. An important point to note is that Indian coffee is grown under shade, which uses ecologically sustainable methods and adoption of fair trade practices in the eco-sensitive zone of the Western Ghats, which can command premium prices in the international markets. To make Indian coffee competitive in the world market, the Coffee Board must publish a list of internationally-banned pesticides, which will also make the environment safe for plantation workers.

The outcome of such international trade fairs would lead to a demand for Single Origin Estate Specific and Area Specific coffees, which will start to gain importance. Today, these fairs held at foreign locations are not inclusive of all stakeholders and have become the exclusive domain of a few elite coffee growers and traders. The Coffee Board should aim to democratise the sale of coffee and enable the small grower to export coffee to international markets rather than allow a select few to prosper at his expense.

(The writer is Chairman of Karnataka Planters Association, Chikkamagaluru)
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Online fashion ready for its walk of fame

October 22, 2017, 4:38 am
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At a time when international fashion majors like Zara and H&M have announced their foray in the e-commerce space in India, Abof, the online fashion venture by Aditya Birla Group, marked an anticlimactic exit from the business, citing unsustainability and disappointing business metrics.

While Aditya Birla, which already has a significant presence in the fashion industry with Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail (ABFRL), chose to shut operations, another one of India's e-commerce and fashion giants Myntra is well set in its path to achieve profitability -- a distinguished objective for the e-commerce industry.

ABFRL is one of India's leading fashion lifestyle entities with a combined revenue of Rs 6,633 crore for FY17, growing at a rate of 10%, and hosts brands like Louis Philippe, Van Heusen, Allen Solly, Peter England, and Forever 21, apart from brands like Ajile, Akkriti, Alto Moda, Annabelle, etc, under its Pantaloons umbrella. So why is it that the e-commerce venture by the same company could not sustain an online presence?

While discussing the development with DH, Aditya Birla Group HR Director Santrupt Misra said, "In terms of technology, customer response and product selection, Abof performed really well and established the right kind of connect with users. However, market conditions did not support the business."

The ability to convert visits on the website and activity on the app into sales proved to be difficult, he insisted. Few smaller players, including Fashionara and Askmebazaar, have also retreated the market, while in a strategic move, Jabong got acquired by Myntra.

Power over pain

Estimated to be about $3.5 billion, the online fashion industry constitutes only 5% of the overall fashion market in India, according to a joint study by Boston Consulting Group and social media giant Facebook. Pain points such as heavy discounting, high return-rate and last-mile delivery continue to haunt the industry, but with timely initiatives, some of the players are powering through.

From the biggest horizontal marketplaces, namely Flipkart and Amazon, to niche market specialists like Craftsvilla and Jaypore, each contender in the space is taking unique, targeted initiatives to reach out to its consumer.

With a contribution of up to 30% of the customers, Amazon Fashion is now estimated to be among the top three categories for the Indian arm of the global e-commerce behemoth. In line with its commitment to the vertical, the company recently launched its fashion imaging studio in Gurugram, only the third one globally.

Amazon Fashion India Head Arun Sirdeshmukh said, "Amazon has grown to become the largest online fashion destination in India with the widest range of products. Last year, we launched many marquee brands on the platform and we are the leading retail partners for most of the brands we work with," adding, "Now it is more than visibility. We are mapping demand and want to cater to specific demands." The platform has around 15,000 fashion brands, which include the top 1,000 global fashion brands.

Flipkart, on its part, is successively launching private-label brands in the fashion space. Divastri, Metronaut and Anmi, including the upcoming brand in the sportswear segment, mark the extent of Flipkart's investment in fashion.

Rishi Vasudev, who heads fashion at Flipkart told DH, "The response from consumers and numbers justify and even encourage our endeavours in fashion. It is definitely a leading segment across the platform."

Further, Myntra (along with Jabong), a Flipkart entity, recently announced that its in-house brands portfolio Myntra Fashion Brands (MFB) has turned profitable registering a positive EBITDA of 5% in June this year. Clocking a run rate of $300 million, MFB has marked an annual growth rate of 100%.

The portfolio, which currently consists of 13 brands, contributes to 24% of the platform's business. In fact, as a platform Myntra is set to achieve profitability in the last quarter of this financial year.

Ananth Narayanan, CEO of Myntra and Jabong, told DH, "Every time someone asks me about profitability, I feel more confident," adding that the company has made strides in improving supply chain efficiency by rationalising its supplier-base and using technology effectively in making fashion and style predictions.

As a leader in the online fashion space, Myntra has also become the flag-bearer for omnichannel marketing. Its private-label brand Roadster, which contributes 50% of MFB's business, hosts one of the most advanced offline stores.

The CEO has expressed that the company is bullish on extending technology-based components in its stores going forward. "We want to try and put facial recognition with an AI machine-learning programme that can recognise who you are. Basically, what the technology does is, decipher when a person is smirking, cringing, etc, based on which, a signal can be sent to the store owner allowing him to understand how to interact with the customer. This is something we plan for next year," he said.

While having partnered with Mango and acquiring master distribution rights for Esprit in the offline space, it also plans to launch stores for its leading in-house brands Mast & Harbour and HRX.

Expanding into the offline market, private-label brands and shifting focus on to its USP -- traditional fashion, Craftsvilla too is doing it all. Further, heavy discounting days appear to have made way for selected discounting.

So what is then that could tick off this trajectory?

Although a technology leapfrog in its own capacity, the country still has a long way to go in terms of market penetration for the Internet, e-commerce and digital payments. It is certainly a market for long-term play.

Eight-year-old Myntra may be talking about profits now, but most players are far from the objective. However, challenges lie in the broad base of the market. Despite e-commerce is susceptible to connectivity issues, trust issues and so on and so forth, despite which, within its gamut, the scope for fashion remains bright.

According to eTailing India, the country's etailing market stood at $7 billion and online fashion retail contributed $2.4 billion to it in 2016. Whereas, India's online retail revenue is expected to reach $60 billion by 2020, of which online fashion retail is expected to touch $20 billion.

As per these estimates, the segment is set to take up a roaring share of over 33%, amid stiff competition from star e-commerce segments, like smartphones and electronics. And, while numbers speak for themselves, e-commerce players are also voicing their commitment to space vociferously.

Online fashion in India may just be ready for its showstopper appearance.
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Driving buses safely into the future

October 22, 2017, 4:45 am
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There is one brand which has grown with the improving road and highway infrastructure, a brand that poured new meaning into the urn of bus travel, a brand that bus tour operators vouch for, and a brand that is synonymous with safe bus travel in India - and that brand would be Sweden's Volvo Buses.

Ever since setting shop in India over 16 years ago, Volvo Buses has revolutionised bus travel in India, once seen as 'poor man's transport' with little or no glamour. Thanks to Volvo and its European heritage, the humble bus evolved as an apt travel solution which was affordable, convenient, comfortable, and above all, safe.

Sharing vignettes of cracking the Indian bus puzzle, Volvo Buses Managing Director (South Asia) VRV Sriprasad says, "What made us unique was, for the first time in India, we brought a real bus chassis. Otherwise, what we had as a passenger vehicle was a truck chassis modified or adapted with a body built on it, and passed off as a bus."

"We were the first true bus chassis in the country, and we had very stringent norms for body-building. Safety and comfort are integral to our values," he adds. At a time when operators in India plied heavy-guzzling, smoke-puffing 'unstable' machines on the road, Volvo's first offering in India was a 12-metre inter-city coach, built on a twin-axle bus chassis.

Towards higher bus standards

"Many people in this country said, it's just not possible for a Volvo bus to be in India. We were talking about technology unseen on Indian roads - style, comfort, performance, finish and a safety level which were unheard of. More than anything else, was our price-point (over three times higher than a regular bus). But we believed that this country would eventually graduate to appreciating the higher standards we offered, and it was inevitable for road transport to improve," Sriprasad says.

From the beginning, Volvo Buses' resolve has involved the benefit and long-term success of its customers. Hence, many progressive operators such as Sharma Travels, VRL, SRS and Durgamba placed orders for its buses. On its part, Volvo explained to them the entire operating cost, and educated them on the importance of the overall lifecycle cost of the product. Until then, only the transactional price (including for buses) was the invoice value.

"With life cycle of the product, we clearly could convince them that 'you aren't looking at a 3-5 lakh km life cycle of a bus'. We are talking about 1 million km-plus," Sriprasad says, adding that with renewed productivity and efficient cost management in the long run, end-customers would ultimately benefit.

The approach resulted in better turnarounds. Passengers paid an increased fare, but experienced lesser travel time and aircraft-like comfort with air suspension and reclining seats. Gradually, buses began to be favoured by families, senior citizens and lone female travelers, who found a Volvo bus to be an affordable and reliable option, against expensive air fares and long-waitlisted train tickets.

Subsequently, operators across went in large volumes for Volvo Buses, and the company brought in the multi-axle offering in 2008. Then more recently in 2014, Volvo introduced its longest bus - a multi-axle 14.5-metre vehicle. The company also became a much sought-after brand for STUs (State Transport Utilities) and city bus utilities such as BMTC.

Driving farther

Today, Volvo's offerings can be broadly categorised under two heads - City Buses, which includes the Volvo 8400 and Volvo Hybrid; and the long-distance intercity Coaches, which includes the Volvo 9400 range. Till date, the company has put over 6,000 buses on Indian roads.

Explaining about the importance that Volvo has laid on offering cutting-edge city buses as a boon to urbanisation, Sriprasad says, "Over the years, we have been conscious about city transport. With the city becoming extremely congested and more people having to travel longer distances to get to work and back, we saw the need for quality city buses, which we introduced in 2006. We worked with progressive city corporations and STUs, and had our initial success with our home city Bengaluru itself." Today, Volvo has more than 1,600 city buses helping 36 Indian cities with their passenger commute and city transportation. Almost half of them are in Bengaluru. In all, Volvo has around 200 customers, including many small fleet operators. The major customers number between 15 and 20.

According to the Autobei Consulting Group's Indian Bus Market Strategy Analysis 2017, the Indian bus industry volume touched over 1 lakh units in FY2017 (see chart). At a broader level, the industry is defined in three categories - premium/luxury, value-plus and low-cost. The size of the premium bus category currently is around 2% of the total bus market, and Volvo leads this category with a segment share of nearly 60%, competing with Scania and Mercedes-Benz.

Volvo's success today can be traced to its inception in Bengaluru in the late 1990s. The Volvo Group, which operates Volvo Buses, Volvo Trucks, Volvo CE and Volvo Penta, has invested an overall sum of Rs 1,000 crore in Bengaluru, while in the last couple of years itself, it has invested Rs 300 crore. This involves the sprawling facility at Hoskote, on the outskirts of Bengaluru, which also houses the plant that manufactures buses, apart from the premises also being shared by trucks and construction equipment entities.

DH visited the 'Make in India' bus factory and learnt that it is equipped to roll out at least four buses a day. And with scalable capacity, there is scope for night shifts as well. The current capacity, however, is 1,200 buses.

The company is also carrying out exports from Bengaluru to several markets worldwide. "We started with Asian countries, and then stepped it up three years ago by exporting to South Africa. From last year, we are exporting to Europe too. Overall exports so far would be 100-150 buses in all the markets," he informs.

Safety and innovations

Volvo buses are the epitome of high-tech innovation that have made them popular across the globe. The company spearheads the journey of buses into the future, embedding elements of safety and efficiency.

The company's engineering team in Bengaluru is developing adaptations for the Indian market, while all global innovations and technologies do get reflected on buses here. Elucidating with an example, Sriprasad says, "A couple of years back, we started the electromobility drive, and we always have been articulating that diesel would continue to be one of the best options. But given the environmental needs for city applications, we set some interim steps that we would work on diesel, electric hybrid, and finally, a pure electric. In the past few years, we've put around 3,500 hybrid buses on roads globally." The company also has two of its hybrids being deployed at Navi Mumbai.

On the safety front, all of Volvo's buses come with disk brakes, hill-hold, ESP and ESC, along with ABS, apart from other features. Some buses also have chemical toilets to suit the elderly and women. Also as a policy, for the last 18 years, the Volvo Group has trained over 60,000 drivers (including truck and bus) at a dedicated training centre on the Hoskote premises.

From the shortest routes in Bengaluru to ultra-long circuits between states and regions in India, Volvo buses carry passengers safely and reliably, much the glee of operators. "Ultimately," concludes Shriprasad, "Everything that we design about the vehicle is keeping in mind the passenger's needs, safety and comfort."
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MUSIC AND DANCE REVIEWS- GOOD IN PARTS

October 22, 2017, 7:35 am
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GOOD IN PARTS

Yashaswini, who gave a Bharathanatya recital under the banner of EFCEP, is a student of Kalaranga School of Dance and has performed her Ranga Pravesha in 2007 itself. Now, she is learning Kathak under Mysore Nagaraj and is a student of master degree in Dance.

Yashaswini opened her programme with a Alaripu in Mishra Chapu and with her confident presence. She saluted invocatory God through Ikshu Danda. The main item of the evening was the popular varna of Lalgudi Jayaraman (Innum) in the raga Charukeshi. She performed neatly, though her facials came alive only in parts. She dramatised the character of "Balakrishna" in the devaranama and performed the pada (Subramanya Bharathi) with ease and assurance. She concluded with a thillana in Sindhubhairavi. Yashaswini has shown promise of making a grade in the near future.

She had good support from the wings - vocal by Deepthi Srinath, Natuvanga by Guru Radhika Ramanujan, mridanga by Bhavani Shankar and flute by Vivek Krishna.

DELIGHTFUL SHOW BY SUBHASHINI VASANT

Vasantha Ratna Foundation of Arts presented a dance recital to commemorate its 10th anniversary. The Foundation. founded in memory of Col Vasanth (the first Ashoka Chakra Awardee from Karnataka), works in the aid of martyrs families. Subhashini Vasanth, the founder of the organisation (along with Smitha Srinivasan), is a senior dancer, who has been trained under Narmada earlier. She is now being trained by Dr Vyjayanthimala Bali, veteran dancer and actress.

Subhashini presented the usual items, but with a touch of class. Even the common piece Alaripu (Khanda) was dignified and was followed by a composition of Gopalakrishna Bharati, "Shivakamasundari". The popular varna "Sumasayaka" of Swati Tirunal (raga Kaapi), highlighting the grace and dignified beauty of Guru Vyjayanthimalas style, caught the attention of the connoisseurs. She dramatised a few episodes like Gajendra Moksha, Sudhama, Dtuta and Vastrapaharana. She performed the devaranama "Nanena Maadideno" pleasingly. She concluded with a Surati thillana and Vasantha raga mangala. Suhashinis portrayal was neat and pointed to an unmistakable grace that lent a touch of class, which is the result of able training under Vyjayanthimala Bali.

Connoisseurs attention was also on Vyjayanthimala Bali, as she performed the Natuvanga for the first time in Bengaluru. Girija Shankars vocal, Gayathri Shashidharans Natuvanga, Guru Bharadwajs mridanga, Sai Narasimhans flute and Anantha Krishnans violin were also inspiring. A packed house at the Chowdaiah Memorial Hall was encouraging to the dancer and classical dance.
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Reviving a water source

October 23, 2017, 1:32 am
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The historical Gajendra Moksha Kola in Mandya has got a new lease of life due to the concerted efforts of like-minded people, organisations, City Municipal Council and the district administration. The stepped tank was in ruins due to negligence over the past many decades. Last year, the efforts began with desilting work and installing inscriptions that narrate the history of the tank. Three rainwater storage structures have been constructed in the surrounding area and they are linked to the tank.

Filtration devices have been placed in these structures to make sure that only clean water goes into the tank. Water from these structures percolates into the tank.

The efforts have yielded results and the tank now brims with water. "We are content as a historically significant water source has been restored," says MP Mahendra Babu, who was involved in the rejuvenation work.

It is said that the tank was constructed in 1810. The tank is a part of the Lakshmi Janardana Swamy Temple located in the city.

The tank got its current name as the temple's Gajendra Moksha procession used to start from here. While water from this tank was used for the puja in the temple, people also fetched water from here in the past.
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Art from areca sheath

October 23, 2017, 1:35 am
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Areca palm leaf sheath, a waste product of yesteryears, is now popular in many forms, across India and even abroad. It's modern avatar as eco-friendly plates have brought it fortunes. As this story is turning old, areca palm leaf is now all set for a second attempt to get international fame, as an art piece. MD Mathew, the owner of Usheera Industries in Bhatkal, has been making a variety of handicrafts from vetiver root for many decades now. He has designed over a hundred vetiver products that are attractive as well as useful. Of late, he has taken interest in areca leaf sheath. His creative touch makes the hale (the local term for areca leaf sheath in Kannada) turn into designs like Lord Ganesha, and Yakshagana and Kathakali artefacts.

This is the first time someone is trying embossed art on areca palm leaf sheath. "We have to pick raw materials that are available locally," explains Mathew. "Using art and imagination, we can improve the value of otherwise waste product." If these products are accepted by the customers, he has plans to scale up the effort and include other designs, like a Kerala houseboat, as well.

Designing an embossed art piece from areca palm leaf sheath involves a number of stages. Finally, if the design is acceptable, a metal mould has to be cast. Raw areca palm leaf sheath has to be pressed in the mould, which is heated to give stability to the moulded sheath. Then it crosses different hands to get its final form. In fact, Ganesha, in an abstract form, is a simple but catchy art piece. Mathew doesn't use any colour or decorations for that. Embossing, cutting, and stitching the edge with a piece of cloth help give the piece an aesthetic look. In contrast, the Yakshagana and Kathakali artefacts have colourful decorations.

"We have just started marketing. Positive and negative aspects are under observation. Over a period of time, we will perfect it after rectifying drawbacks, if any," says Mathew. Areca palm leaf sheath gets easily degenerated by fungal growth. Won't this affect the art pieces too? "We have to keep the products in a dry place. When we press it in the mould, all the moisture gets evaporated," he clarifies.

Mathew's visualisation and innovation deserve to be appreciated. Today, a good number of units are thriving by adopting his ideas and designs. "I see a lot of vetiver handicraft items in the market now. So, I decided to take up a new raw material. Areca palm leaf sheath came handy," he reveals. To know more, one can contact Mathew on 94486 29439, or email at usheeramathew@gmail.com.
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The people's palace

October 23, 2017, 1:39 am
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Bangalore first became the capital of Mysore State in 1831. The Bangalore Fort Palace was made the administrative building. But, later, the palace partly fell in and was deemed unsuitable. Hence, in 1868, the administration was moved into the Public Offices building inside Cubbon Park. This two-storied, Grecian building, surrounded by verandahs, was later to be called the Attara Kacheri, meaning 18 offices in Hindi. The name came because Mysore had 18 administrative departments. The British transferred powers in the Mysore State to the Maharaja in 1881. The State headquarters was moved back to the city of Mysore. That year, C V Rungacharlu, the then Dewan of Mysore, founded the first Representative Assembly of British India in Mysore. Thereafter, Bangalore's Attara Kacheri came to house the High Court of Mysore.

The Assembly had 144 members to begin with and comprised landowners and merchants. It would meet twice in session every year at Jaganmohan Palace in Mysore. In 1891, the first Assembly elections were held for citizens above the age of 18. The Legislative Council was founded in 1907 with the view that it would assist the Government of Mysore in making laws and regulations. While the semi-annual Assembly sessions continued to be held in Mysore, the budget session came to be held in Bangalore's Town Hall.

On August 15, 1947, Mysore was made part of the Indian Union. Bangalore became the capital of Mysore State, once again.

K Changalaraya Reddy was the first chief minister of Mysore State. The Assembly was held in the Library Hall of Attara Kacheri. This was continued until a separate hall was built on the third floor of the same building. The Council was also held on the third floor. The joint session of the two houses would be held in the Town Hall by the rajpramukh, the Maharaja of Mysore.

The need was felt for a separate and more spacious building. In 1948, the government wanted the chief engineer to construct a suitable office building. In 1950, the Constitution of India came into effect. Under the new constitution, the first Mysore Legislative Assembly was formed. It had 99 elected members and one nominated member. Mysore came to have a bicameral legislature, with two houses: the lower house (Legislative Assembly) and the upper house (Legislative Council).

Symbol of democracy

The House of Legislature was first planned and decided by the K C Reddy cabinet. B R Manickam, a government architect and chief engineer, prepared the design. It was to have an Assembly hall for 200 members and a gallery for 500 visitors. It was also meant to accommodate a joint session of 261 members. In April 1951, plans for constructing the House of Legislature were ready. Jawaharlal Nehru laid the foundation stone on July 13, 1951. In February 1952, the plans and estimates for the roof of the auditorium were conveyed by the legislature secretary to the government. In April 1952,
Kengal Hanumanthaiah succeeded KC Reddy as the chief minister.

Hanumanthaiah dismissed the first design citing that the design was like that of a plain, American building. Meanwhile, members of a Russian delegation who were taken around the city stated that all the notable buildings in Bangalore were by Europeans. They further enquired whether there were no buildings that were designed and built indigenously. Subsequently, Hanumanthaiah travelled across the country to gain ideas on how to build an administrative structure. He started preparations for a building which combined the two legislative houses, the offices of ministers and government secretaries, a library, archive rooms, party rooms, etc. Funds were allotted in the 1952 budget and the work began in the same year.

Manickam led a team of engineers and architects from the state public works department. As many as 5,000 people were employed as unskilled labourers and almost all of them were convicts. Over 1,500 chisellers, masons and wood-carvers were also employed. The result was the neo-Dravidian Vidhana Soudha legislative building, completed in 1956. Vidhana Soudha, the largest state legislature and secretariat building in India, is spread over 60 acres. Known as the 'people's palace', it is built entirely of granite.

On November 1, 1956, Coorg (Kodagu), as well as the Kannada-speaking parts of Bombay, Hyderabad and Madras were integrated with the old kingdom of Mysore to form the new Mysore State. This resulted in the elected assembly seats increasing from 99 to 208. The first sitting of the Legislative Assembly in the Vidhana Soudha happened on December 19, 1956. In 1973, the then chief minister D Devaraj Urs renamed Mysore State as Karnataka.

Vidhana Soudha has 172 rooms, the largest among them is the chief minister's office. The front portion has a 20-metre central dome with the four-headed lion capital of Maurya Emperor Ashoka above it. The main foyer has eight columns. Enclosed balconies, each called a jarokha, a traditional Rajasthani feature, are seen jutting forward from the walls. The top of the building has the motto 'Government work is God's work' engraved upon it in Kannada and English. According to the Karnataka Shilpa Kala Academy, the Vidhana Soudha domes were designed by the Mysore royal family's sculptor Sri Siddalinga Swamy and his son, Nagendra Stapathi. The pillars and the arches were chiselled by Nagendra Stapathi and his disciples.

Elaborate patterns

The northern wing has a ground and three upper floors. The southern wing has a cellar floor, a ground floor and three upper floors. The central wing has a banquet hall on the ground floor and the Legislative Assembly Hall above it. Floral designs, ornamental motifs and geometric designs decorate the walls and ceilings. Inspired by Dravidian temple art, the lotus and other floral patterns are distinct and have not been repeated. The inner passages also have floral designs. The wooden doors have fine details. Some of the pillars are of different colours. Most of the chisellers employed were highly skilled and were from Soraba and Sagara regions. Porphyry has also been used along with granite. Different coloured granite stones such as the Magadi pink and the Turuvekere black have been used.

The Legislative Assembly Hall can seat 254 members and with some adjustments, it can accommodate 100 more members. Its visitors' gallery has 500 seats. Teakwood panels enclose the hall. The ceiling is curved and is made up of acoustic material. Uniform illumination lighting is provided in order to avoid shadows. Ventilation is provided by an evaporative cooling system. The Cabinet room has a door made of sandalwood. The Speaker's chair is made of Mysore rosewood. The Legislative Council Hall can accommodate 88 members. Its gallery can have 250 visitors. The Banquet Hall has 800-seat capacity. The Secretariat accommodates ministers, secretaries and general staff.

With all these unique features, Vidhana Soudha is not just an epitome of democracy, but also an architectural wonder.
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Rendezvous with wine

October 23, 2017, 1:45 am
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The Western influence on us is not recent and has been part of our lives from the colonial age. One such Western culture, which was embedded in us by the Persians and is now gaining popularity, is viticulture - the science, study, and production of grapes.

While French terms like Bonjour, Bon appetite and au revoir have been a part of our vocabulary for the longest time now, the French wine-making culture has been in existence in India from the Vedic era! Nevertheless, it is the present brunch lifestyle in metropolitan cities that are booming the Indian wine industry and Karnataka stands second, next to Maharashtra, in wine production. With desired tropical wetlands and semi-arid climatic regions, Karnataka has 17 licensed and functioning wineries in designated vineyards of over 2,000 acres. A drive on the Mysuru-Bengaluru highway will showcase the most popular of these wineries, which are promoting local farmers and attracting tourists.

Grape cultivation

While a handful of noted brands own acres of vineyards in Bengaluru and are involved in viticulture, the vineyards in other parts of the State, mainly in North Karnataka, work on contract basis with local farmers and are helping them earn a stable living. "We have around 180 acres of vineyard that are harvested by local farmers. The production is growing exponentially each year, which has helped the farmers invariably," explains Vinod Gurradi, the managing director of Elite Vintage Winery in Bagalkot. The Heritage Winery in Channapatna too works with grape farmers on contract basis, and as Gorakh Gaikwad, assistant vice president of Sula Vineyards — Karnataka operations, explains, "While table grape farmers have to keep a regular track on the market to know the price for their yield, the price remains constant and grows exponentially in grape cultivation for winemaking. This sure is a boost to the grape farmers working with wineries."

Wineries in Vijayapura and Bidar too are promoting grape farming in the region extensively. This has helped the farmers and resulted in increased wine production in the State. Manjunath, an employee at Nisarga Vineyard in Vijayapura, says, "There are growers who approach us each year and we work out a price and help them grow quality grapes for winemaking."

The four major wine grape varieties that are popularly grown in the State are Shiraz, Chenin Blanc, Cabernet Sauvignon and Zinfandel. Nevertheless, the wineries in the State are experimenting with over 10 varieties of wine grapes.

Wine tourism

Chartreuse plants looking towards the sky and spread across acres of land, huge wine processing Italian machines reaching the roofs of processing units, the wine connoisseur's corner in the buffet area, wine merchandise shops. This is the outlook of Heritage Winery in Gangeddoddi village of Channapatna. "Wine consumption in Karnataka is increasing yearly," says Gorakh Gaikwad. While quality wines of India are produced here, they also offer wine education that includes the study of wine-making and imparts the art of wine tasting.

A single grape plant produces approximately three to four kg of grapes. However, it depends on the variety of grape plants clarifies Melbourne, a wine tour guide at Heritage Winery. Picked yield from the vineyards is taken to the processing unit and shifted to pneumatic balloon press machine, where the grapes are crushed and squeezed between a cylindrical wall and the balloon to produce juice. "The grapes have to be crushed for red wine and squeezed (to exclude the peel) to make white wine," explains Melbourne. The crushed or squeezed juice is then transferred to another processor, maintained at a controlled temperature, where yeast is added to convert sugar into alcohol and carbon dioxide. The next step is to blend the fermented wine and he explains, "A previous batch of wine is added to the blender with the new wine to get the consistency of taste. It helps blend the taste of varied grapes grown under different soil and climatic conditions."

The blended wine is then transferred to an insulated tank where the inner temperature is maintained at -4° Celsius, freezing the yeast. "The frozen yeast is then filtered with 0.5-micron sheets to produce clear wine," he explains. After this, the wine goes through the ageing process. While these form the basis of wine-making, the process might differ slightly depending on the variety of wine produced.

See, swirl, sniff and sip from the basics of wine tasting and they vary with each variety of wine. While tasting gives the complete picture of a wine, seeing and sniffing too talks great qualities of a wine. Red wines aged for long are darker in colour and light wines aged for long get lighter. The swirl adds to the taste too as it releases the right amount of gases. Also, a lot of etiquette goes behind holding a wine glass. The term 'wine and dine' sounds classy, but it demands a certain dining etiquette. These etiquettes can be learnt easily through wine tours organised by the wineries.

The Karnataka Wine Board is playing a major part in embedding wine culture in the State as it organises wine festivals in various districts; the recent one being The International Wine Festival in Belagavi. However, wine tourism is yet to catch up in interior parts of the State, as Survesh, a technician at Karnataka Wine Board explains, "From Bengaluru, many tourists who travel on the highway take part in the wine tours. But in the interior parts of the State, where tourism takes a backstage, the concept of wine tour is yet to catch up. But we are building awareness among people on wine culture through various wine festivals in these interior districts and it is sure to catch up in near future."

Nevertheless, the wineries around Bengaluru are attracting people for the wine tours around the year. A walk in the vineyard, a talk with the winemakers at the processing units, a sip of the best-tasting wine and stomp on the wine grapes — this is the outline of wine tour offered by the wineries in the State, mostly surrounding Bengaluru and Ramanagara areas. The tourists can be a part of these educative and fun-filled tours around the year and wine stomping and tasting steals the limelight of the tour.
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A surveyor of southern India

October 23, 2017, 1:48 am
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In the Lews Castle museum in Stornoway, on the Island of Lewis, in northern Scotland, an exhibition is currently underway on one of the town's most famous sons, Colin Mackenzie. Such an exhibition would be of little significance halfway across the world. Except that it is important for India, and in a small way for Bengaluru and Nandi Hills, in particular.

In October 1791, Colin Mackenzie was present at the 'Siege of Nundydroog' when he sketched the famous watercolour painting, 'View of Nundidroog with the Batteries firing on the Place during the Siege of 1791'. It is an eerily accurate painting. Not only can one see the puffs of white smoke towards the right of the painting, coming from the mortars firing on the summit's double row of ramparts from two ridges on the north-west side, one can also just about discern Tipu's masjid on the bottom left of the picture.

It would have taken some extraordinary effort and eye for detail to sketch these nuances. Colin's story and his life's small connection with Nandi Hills are indeed remarkable; yet perhaps as a result of the depth of his work, a well-documented one. A few accounts that encompass Colin's life and work are documented in books such as Illustrating India: The Early Colonial Investigations of Colin Mackenzie by Jennifer Howes and Colin Mackenzie: Collector Extraordinary by David Blake.

Born to the Postmaster of Stornoway, Colin secured a commission in East India Company's army and joined as a cadet of Engineers in Madras in 1783. A keen mathematician, Colin had persuaded one of his benefactors to get him appointed to this regiment because he was keen to "prosecute his Oriental researchers in India" of "the knowledge which the Hindoos possessed of mathematics, and of the nature and use of logarithms" as noted in David's book. Colin began his military career during the Third Anglo-Mysore War with Tipu Sultan in 1790-1792 and was involved in the reduction of a number of forts (Nundydroog, in particular). His talents and efforts were spotted by Governor-General Lord Cornwallis, who proposed his appointment as a surveyor. Sandeep Balakrishna, in a blog post on Colin's career, writes that in no small measure it was Colin's intimate knowledge of the geography of South India that won the British many of their military battles.

The years of the Mysore Survey between 1800 and 1809 lie at the heart of Colin's career both as an official topographical surveyor leading to the compilation of detailed maps of the Mysore territory and in his personal capacity, as an antiquarian collector of historical, literary and cultural materials. For both these passions, Colin had official staff and personal assistants. His work in India was characterised by his close association with a handful of Indians. Chief among them was Cavelly Venkata Boria, who proved to be gifted in gathering information. So much was Colin beholden to his staff, that a portrait of Colin and his staff was painted by Thomas Hickey in front of the Gomateshwara statue at Karkala.

By the time Colin was ordered to Java in 1813, he had surveyed the entire Mysore region and many parts of the Madras Presidency. Returning after an intensive excavation of the Buddhist shrine at Borobodur, Colin was made a full Colonel, elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society and made India's first Surveyor General. Dogged by ill-health in his later years, Colin died on May 8, 1821.
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Empowering the farmers

October 23, 2017, 1:51 am
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Due to several reasons, many farmers live on the edge, tilling just enough to survive. Though they are the growers of food, their share in the price a consumer pays at the retailers' end is the least. In fact, much before the crops ripen, their harvests are pawned. From farm to the dining table, the food passes through a number of hands. Each of these adds a cost to it, including the food handling cost. A major issue, therefore, is how to reduce the costs and maximise the benefits to the farmers.

Common experience shows that the promises to bring back the benefits to farmers have remained on paper. The chain gets reversed when it comes to the production of organic food. Consumers would appreciate if it could be known as to what gets into the food they are buying, directly from the farmer who grows it.

Bridging the credibility gap between the growers and consumers has never been easy, given the labyrinthine chain of handlers, processors, packers, distributors and retailers between the twain. In this light, TruTrade, a non-profit organisation based in Bengaluru, has stepped in to see that farmers got their due and consumers knew what their food contains.

To facilitate this process, the products processed and packaged by TruTrade contain all the necessary details a consumer may want to know. Written in large fonts, the packets display information such as purchase price, transport cost, processing, packaging and labelling charges, administrative expenses borne by TruTrade and dealers' commission, and the maximum retail price (MRP). A QR code stamped underneath allows the buyer to get details like name of the farmer from whom it was sourced, his or location, possibly phone number and even a 45-second video explaining the variety of seeds, farming inputs, the age and nature of tree (in case of fruits) that bore it. For instance, Narayan Swamy of Koramangala village in Devanahalli taluk could be heard listing out the ingredients he used while growing
vegetables.

Sustainable methods

TruTrade is also engaged in training the farmers in sustainable farming. "We ensure transparency and traceability of the source in order that the consumers could reach back to the farmers and verify for themselves the facts that we provide," says Naveen Seri, chief executive officer of TruTrade.

Naveen worked as an engineer for 17 years before quitting his job in 2015 to help provide the necessary support to rural farmers. He collaborated with like-minded people to work with farmers and take the products to consumers with transparency, lest they are seen as brokers in the middle.

The organisation works with 20,000 organic farmers from Udupi, Uttara Kannada and Gadag districts in Karnataka and some districts in Andhra Pradesh. As many as 95 types of products are processed and packed at the organisation's packaging plant at Nagarbhavi in Bengaluru and later taken to the retail outlets.

Shivanna Lakshamana, coordinator for training in organic farming for Gadag district, says, "The TruTrade operations in the district cover nearly 1,500 farmers who collectively own 2,443 hectares of farms spread over 90 villages. Here, the farmers grow pulses, vegetables and fruit. Most of these farmers have been trained in preparing compost and other certified organic inputs." Shivanna himself owns a 20-acre farm in Merasabihalli village of Chitradurga district and has been practising organic farming prior to joining TruTrade.

Network of pushcarts

According to T Ambika, chief scientist at TruTrade, support to farmers extends beyond the farm and the organisation facilitates third-party certification of produce by independent agencies authorised to carry out the certification.

In spite of concerted efforts, Naveen says, the odds were formidable for such a kind of marketing. Most retail chains buy foodstuff in bulk quantity and add 30 to 40% margins. "They demanded the same from us forcing us to retrace our steps as very little was being left for the farmers. Now, we are looking for building up a network of pushcart vendors who would take the organic produces directly to the consumers," he informs.

Having hooked first 50 small kiranas (grocery) retailers in Hyderabad, TruTrade now plans to reach Bengaluru consumers through thelawalas (pushcart vendors) with 25 varieties of vegetables and fruits to begin with. Naveen says their items will be sold in the city initially through 50 pushcart vendors. Currently, five of them are already on the road. For more details, one can contact TruTrade at care@trutrade.org or call on +918861722228.
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Science: Snippets

October 23, 2017, 2:00 am
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Long-lasting impressions

Inflammation trains the skin to heal faster

Scars may fade, but the skin remembers. New research reveals that wounds or other harmful, inflammation-provoking experiences impart long-lasting memories to stem cells residing in the skin, teaching them to heal subsequent injuries faster.

These stem cells, which replenish the skin's outer layer take their cue from inflammation, the body's own response to injury or infection. The first bout of inflammation sensitises these cells: the next time they sense it coming on, they respond more rapidly.

This research, published in the journal Nature, provides the first evidence that the skin can form memories of an inflammatory response — a discovery that Elaine Fuchs of The Rockefeller University, USA, says could have major implications for better understanding and treating a range of medical conditions.


Dip in brightness

The mysterious dimming star

Astronomers are working to understand the mysterious dimming of Tabbys Star. The researchers report that space dust orbiting the star is the likely cause of the stars long-term dimming. A scientific paper recently published in The Astrophysical Journal points to space dust circling the star as the source of the long-term dimming. The papers findings are based on space observations from NASAs Spitzer and Swift missions, plus ground observations from amateur astronomers at Belgiums AstroLAB IRIS public observatory. All the observations were from October 2015 through December 2016, and from ultraviolet to mid-infrared wavelengths, including visible light.


Documentary

The Greedy Brain

The human brain is often referred to as the ultimate supercomputer. Medical science has much to learn about the cerebral capacity of our species, but they've begun to make profound strides in one particular area of research. Can the power of the brain transcend its human host? The Greedy Brain explores this intriguing concept. The filmmakers also examine the advancements that have already been adopted around the world based on this concept.

Our brains are constantly attempting to exhibit a level of control over the outside world, and are thereby absorbing the outside world in the process. By understanding and manipulating this process, scientists might usher the human race into thrilling new directions. The documentary can be viewed at www.bit.ly/2yBZaAg.


Better quality

For low cost biodiesel

With increasing demand for transportation fuels coupled with declining reserves of crude oil, scientific communities are forced to focus on renewable fuels. Although biofuels obtained from energy crops such as food and non-food energy crops act as renewable fuels, various issues like biodiversity loss and their effect on the land has shifted the idea of energy production towards other alternative biofuel producers like waste materials and microorganisms.

Using these alternative energy resources are also debatable due to their inability to satisfy the demand for petroleum-based fuels and the relatively high production cost and slower rate of production of the biodiesel. In order to overcome the cost related to biodiesel production, researchers from Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee have investigated the use of crude glycerol for heterotrophic cultivation of a microalgae in a photo bioreactor (PBR) to enhance biodiesel production.

The study found that the quantity of biodiesel obtained was nearly two times more than that produced from other methods. On evaluation, the quality of biodiesel produced was found to be of automotive quality which would ensure smooth running of an engine, improve cold start behaviour, reduce white smoke and ensure a longer shelf life.


Texture morphing

Concealing material

Engineers have invented stretchable surfaces with programmable 3D texture morphing, a synthetic 'camouflaging skin', inspired by studying and modelling the real thing in octopus and cuttlefish. For the octopus and cuttlefish, instantaneously changing their skin colour and pattern to disappear into the environment is just a part of their camouflage prowess.

These animals can also swiftly and reversibly morph their skin into a textured, 3D surface, giving the animal a ragged outline that mimics seaweed, coral, or other objects it detects and uses for camouflage.

Engineers at Cornell University, USA, report on their invention of stretchable surfaces with programmable 3D texture morphing, a synthetic 'camouflaging skin' in the journal Science.
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The genetics of skin colour

October 23, 2017, 2:03 am
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For centuries, skin colour has held powerful social meaning — a defining characteristic of race, and a starting point for racism. "If you ask somebody on the street, 'What are the main differences between races?' they're going to say skin colour," said Sarah A Tishkoff, a geneticist at the University of Pennsylvania. Recently, Sarah and her colleagues showed this to be a profound error. In the journal Science, the researchers published the first large-scale study of the genetics of skin colour in Africans. The researchers pinpointed eight genetic variants in four narrow regions of the human genome that strongly influence pigmentation — some making skin darker, and others making it lighter.

These genes are shared across the globe, it turns out; one of them, for example, lightens skin in both Europeans and hunter-gatherers in Botswana. The gene variants were present in humanity's distant ancestors, even before our species evolved in Africa 3,00,000 years ago. The widespread distribution of these genes and their persistence over millenniums show that the old colour lines are essentially meaningless, the scientists said.

The research "dispels a biological concept of race," Sarah said. Humans develop colour much as other mammals do. Special cells in the skin contain pouches, called melanosomes, packed with pigment molecules. The more pigment, the darker the skin. Skin colour also varies with the kind of pigments: melanosomes may contain mixtures of a brown-black called eumelanin and a yellow-red called pheomelanin.

Pigment-producing genes

To find the genes that help produce pigments, scientists began by studying people of European ancestry and found that mutations in a gene called SLC24A5 caused cells to make less pigment, leading to paler skin. Unsurprisingly, almost all Europeans have this variant. "We knew quite a lot about why people have pale skin if they had European ancestry," said Nicholas G Crawford, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Pennsylvania, USA and a co-author of the new study. "But there was very little known about why people have dark skin." Since the early 2000s, Sarah has studied genes in Africa, discovering variants important to everything from resistance to malaria to height. African populations vary tremendously in skin colour, and Sarah reasoned that powerful genetic variants must be responsible.

Studying 1,570 people in Ethiopia, Tanzania and Botswana, she and her colleagues discovered a set of genetic variants that account for 29% of the variation in skin colour. One variant, MFSD12, was particularly mysterious: no one knew what it did anywhere in the body. To investigate its function, the researchers altered the gene in reddish lab mice. Giving them the variant found in darker-skinned Africans turned the mice grey.

As it turned out, MFSD12 can affect the production of brown-black eumelanin, producing a darker skin colour. The eight gene variants Sarah and her colleagues discovered in Africans turned out to be present in many populations outside the continent. By comparing the DNA of these people, the researchers were able to estimate how long ago the genes appeared.

They turned out to be immensely old. A variant for light skin — found in both Europeans and the San hunter-gatherers of Botswana — arose about 9,00,000 years ago, for example. Even before there were Homo sapiens, then, our distant forebears had a mix of genes for light and dark skin. Some populations may have been dark-skinned and others light-skinned; or maybe they were all the same colour, produced by a blend of variants.

Neanderthals split off from our own ancestors an estimated 6,00,000 years ago, spreading across Europe and eastern Asia. While they became extinct about 40,000 years ago, some of their DNA has survived. These hominins inherited the same combination of variants determining skin colour, Sarah and her colleagues also discovered. It's possible that some populations of Neanderthals, too, were light-skinned, and others dark-skinned.

Unexpected complexity

Living humans come packaged in a wide range of hues — from pale and freckly in Ireland to dark brown in southern India, Australia and New Guinea. Researchers have argued that these varying colours evolved partly in response to sunlight. The idea is that people who live with intense ultraviolet light benefited from dark colour, pigments that shielded important molecules in their skin. In places with less sunlight, people needed lighter skin, because they were able to absorb more sunlight to make vitamin D.

The new genetic evidence supports this explanation but adds unexpected
complexity. The dark-skinned people of southern India, Australia and New Guinea, for example, did not independently evolve their colour simply because evolution favoured it. They inherited the ancestral dark variants Sarah's team found in Africans. "They had to be introduced from an African population," Sarah said. Yet, the same is true for some of the genes that produce light skin in Asia and Europe. They also originated in Africa and were carried from the continent with early migrants. As Africans moved into Europe and Asia, they interbred with Neanderthals on several occasions. Michael Dannemann and Janet Kelso of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Germany reported recently that people in Britain still carry a number of Neanderthal variants that colour skin.

Some of the newly discovered genes appeared relatively recently in our evolution. The pale-skin variant of SLC24A5 that's overwhelmingly common in Europe, for example, is a recent addition to the genome, arising just 29,000 years ago, according to the new study. It became widespread only in the past few thousand years. Sarah and her colleagues found it frequently not just in Europe, but in some populations of lighter-skinned Africans in East Africa and Tanzania. Studies of ancient
DNA recently discovered in Africa point to an explanation. Several thousand years ago, it seems, a migration of early Near Eastern farmers swept into East Africa. Over many generations of interbreeding, the pale variant of SLC24A5 became common in some African populations.

In all, the new study provides "a deeper appreciation of the genetic palette that has been mixed and matched through evolution," said Nina Jablonski, an expert on skin colour at Pennsylvania State University, USA.
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Applications of a new semiconductor device

October 23, 2017, 2:07 am
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The transistor, a semiconductor device used to boost or switch electronic signals, is a widely used component in almost every electronic device, big and small. In fact, it is often considered as one of the greatest inventions of the 20th century. As electronic devices become sophisticated and find new applications, different types of transistors are being designed and developed to suit those applications. Among them is the bipolar junction transistor (BJT), a transistor that uses both electron and hole charge carriers (bipolar) for its operation. It is now touted to play a big role in the Internet of Things (IoT) applications.

But how does this transistor fit in the bigger landscape? Almost every IoT solution needs sensors, which collect data from their surroundings. This data (or signals) could either be digital like the images captured by a camera, or analogue as in the case of audio signals.

Processing the two types of signals needs a versatile technology platform that can work with mixed signals and result in optimal performance. While the Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor (CMOS) transistors handle digital signals, BJTs work with analogue signals. Bi-CMOS (short
for Bipolar-CMOS) technology combines the two transistor technologies in one chip.

In space and communication-related applications, BJTs are used in antennas for communications since they can work with very high-frequency signals. Conventionally, gallium arsenide (GaAs) or gallium nitride (GaN) based transistors are used in such antennas which are stand-alone and result in bulkier chips.

Now, researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay (IIT-B), in a collaborative effort with ISRO's Semi-Conductor Laboratory (SCL), Chandigarh, have developed a completely indigenous BJT that can work with Bi-CMOS. This development was the result of a year-long research led by Professor Udayan Ganguly and Dr Piyush Bhatt.

"The technology adds high-frequency circuits to the existing digital CMOS technology. It enables high-frequency communications and analogue or mixed chips for various applications like IoT and space," says Udayan, who is also the co-principal investigator at the Centre of Excellence in Nanoelectronics (CEN) at IIT-B. "Bi-CMOS technology with integrated BJT based amplifiers reduces form factor, power consumption and cost — all essential for space applications," he adds.

Indigenous technology

India has two semiconductor manufacturing organisations — STAR-C (a unit of SITAR by Government of India) and the Semi-Conductor Laboratory, producing high frequency, low power digital CMOS for strategic and national needs. However, international tech giants have largely pioneered cutting-edge semiconductor technologies.

These exclusive technologies may be availed through technology transfers — the process of transferring scientific findings from one organisation to another for the purpose of further development and commercialisation.

"To have unfettered access to such technologies for national needs, indigenous technology development is a must," remarks Udayan, citing the reasons for the need to augment this production technology indigenously. He also points out two important gaps that have stymied indigenous technology development — the gap in CMOS technology development and manufacturing expertise, and the gap in advanced semiconductor manufacturing.

"While electronics is one of the top research-intensive areas globally, India has not had a significant stake until the Centres for Excellence in Nanoelectronics (CENs) were seeded at IIT-B and IISc, Bengaluru by the Ministry of Electronics," he says.

Pointing out the need for fabrication facilities, Udayan adds, "While the electronics policy of 2017 claims that electronics imports will outstrip oil imports by 2020, the mega-fab creation in India is still under work." In this context, the development of the indigenous BJT is indeed a milestone for the CEN at IIT-B.

The technology can not only provide strategic applications in the areas of space and defence but also in the development of digital and analogue chips. Going forward, these chips can be developed and manufactured by SCL or can be expanded for other corporate players to enter the business, leveraging Semi-Conductor Laboratory's capabilities as a pilot line for scale-up.

"CEN has enabled the group to have excellent in-house 'hands-on' expertise in new technology development. In addition, the group has worked with various international research and manufacturing houses to develop key technologies," says Udayan. He further adds that "every bit of knowledge, technique and idea in our research labs can translate into either a commercial or strategic product of the future."

(The author is with Gubbi Labs, a Bengaluru-based research collective)
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Safeguarding seeds that may feed the future

October 23, 2017, 2:26 am
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Ali Shehadeh, a seed hunter, opened the folders with the greatest of care. Inside each was a carefully dried and pressed seed pod: a sweet clover from Egypt, a wild wheat found only in northern Syria, an ancient variety of bread wheat. He had thousands of these folders stacked neatly in a windowless office, a precious herbarium, containing seeds foraged from across the hot, arid and increasingly inhospitable region known as the Fertile Crescent, the birthplace of farming.

Ali is a plant conservationist from Syria. He hunts for the genes contained in the seeds we plant today and what he calls their "wild relatives" from long ago. His goal is to safeguard those seeds that may be hardy enough to feed us in the future when much more parts of the world could become as hot, arid and inhospitable as it is here. But searching for seeds that can endure the perils of a hotter planet has not been easy. It has thrown Ali and his organisation, the International Centre for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas, or ICARDA, squarely at a messy intersection of food, weather and war.

Agricultural archive

ICARDA, though it received no state funding, was once known as a darling of the Syrian government. Based in Aleppo, its research had helped make Syria enviably self-sufficient in wheat production. But a drive to produce thirsty crops also drained Syria's underground water over the years, and it was followed by a crippling drought that helped to fuel the protests that erupted into armed revolt against the government in 2011. ICARDA, in turn, became a casualty of the war. By 2014, the fighting drew closer to its headquarters in Aleppo and its sprawling field station in nearby Tal Hadya. ICARDA's trucks were stolen. Generators vanished. Most of the fat-tailed Awassi sheep, bred to produce more milk and require less water, were looted and eaten.

Ali and the other scientists eventually sent out what they could — including a few of the sheep — and fled, joining half the country's population in exile. And ICARDA's most vital project — a seed bank containing 1,55,000 varieties of the region's main crops, a sort of agricultural archive of the Fertile Crescent - faced extinction. But the researchers at ICARDA had a backup copy. Beginning in 2008, long before the war, ICARDA had begun to send seed samples — 'accessions' as they are called — to the Svalbard Global Seed Vault, the 'doomsday vault', burrowed into the side of a mountain on a Norwegian island above the Arctic circle. It was standard procedure, in case anything happened.

War happened. In 2015, as Aleppo disintegrated, ICARDA's scientists borrowed some of the seeds they had stored in Svalbard and began building anew. This time, they spread out, setting up one seed bank in Morocco and another just across Syria's border with Lebanon in this vast valley of cypress and grapes known as the Bekaa.

"We are doing our best to recreate everything we had in Aleppo," Ali said. The Aleppo headquarters still contains the largest collection of seeds from across the region — 1,41,000 varieties of wheat, barley, lentils, fava and the like — though neither Ali nor his colleagues know what shape it's in. They haven't been able to return. Seed banks have always served as important repositories of biodiversity. But they're even more crucial, said Tim Benton, a food security expert at the University of Leeds, UK, at a time when the world needs crops that can adapt to the rapid onset of climate change.

"We have to grow considerably different things in considerably different ways," Tim said. "Certainly for our prime crops, like wheat, the wild relatives are thought to be really important because of the genes that can be crossed back into the wheat lines we have in order to build resilience and adaptation to climate change." Especially important, Tim said, because they could easily vanish without protection.

Adapted to harsher climates

How much Syria's agricultural crisis was to blame for the outbreak of war is debatable. There is little debate, though, about the impact of global warming on the region, which seems certain to make agriculture here extremely precarious. Temperatures have climbed by at least 0.2° Celsius per decade across the Middle East from 1961-1990, and risen by close to 0.4° Celsius in the period since then, according to Andrew Noble, who until recently was ICARDA's deputy director of research.

This summer, in already hot, dry countries like Iraq, temperatures shot up well past 50° Celsius, about 120° Fahrenheit, on some days. Droughts are more intense and more frequent. Where farmers rely entirely on the rains, as they do in most parts of the Middle East, the future of agriculture, Noble said bluntly, "is pretty bleak."

This, Ali says, is why he is obsessed with the wild relatives of the seeds that most farmers plant today. He eschews genetically modified seeds. He wants instead to tap the riches of those wild ancestors, which are often hardy and better adapted to harsh climates. "They're the good stock," he said.

ICARDA's entire collection houses seeds that have sustained the people of the Middle East for centuries, including some 14,700 varieties of bread wheat, 32,000 varieties of barley, and nearly 16,000 varieties of chickpea, the key component of falafel. The Lebanon seed bank houses about 39,000 accessions, and Morocco, another 32,000. Most of it is backed up in Svalbard. In Sudan, ICARDA has introduced a wheat variety it hopes will be more resistant to drought and heat. It is breeding a fava bean variety that can withstand a parasitic weed and lentils that can mature in a short growing season. That's useful not just for the Middle East, Noble said. The hot, dry summers that are common to the Middle East may well become familiar with many other parts of the world. "The climates of the future will be similar to the climates we are experiencing," he said.
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Snippets: Environment

October 23, 2017, 2:30 am
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Shared lunch

Pumas may be more social

Pumas have long had a reputation as loners, studiously marking their territory, hunting individually and tolerating one another only when it's time to mate. But the animals may be more social than previously thought, according to a study published in the journal Science Advances. To study puma interactions, researchers tagged 13 of the animals with GPS trackers and filmed their behaviour at Wyoming, USA feeding spots from 2012 to 2015. The film showed pumas with overlapping or adjacent territories repeatedly sharing elk carcasses that were too large for one puma to consume. The shared feeding sometimes lasted days. Based on the feeding visits, the researchers were able to map complex social networks of puma reciprocity. This typically consisted of a single male and multiple females.

Though the animals were rarely caught interacting on film outside of eating together, the researchers believe they were also sharing land and water sources, and the networks helped determine which pumas would mate with each other. The findings challenge conventional wisdom not just about pumas, but about supposedly solitary mammals in general, said Mark Elbroch, lead scientist at Panthera and an author of the study.


Americas polluted past

Dirty secrets saved in dead birds' feathers

Tucked away in the drawers of natural history museums across America's Rust Belt, thousands of dead birds carry dirty secrets from America's polluted past. The specimens that were put away around the start of the 20th century are far grimier than the ones from more recent decades. And now, climate scientists and historians can thank museum curators for not having tidied them up before storing them. That's because the soot preserved on their feathers contains missing pixels in a picture of urban air pollution over 135 years, according to a study published recently in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

When two graduate students at the University of Chicago, USA measured black carbon clinging to the chests and bellies of more than 1,300 birds in collections at museums, they found that the dirt on their plumage contained a record of US coal use over time. "We can estimate how much smoke was actually in the atmosphere," said Shane DuBay, a co-author of the study. Along with Carl Fuldner, a co-author, he used a special microscope to look closely at the feathers. They were just dirty — dusted in the same tiny particles of black carbon that were there a hundred years ago.


Flying ahead

Some birds take flight during storms

For most wildlife, there is no early warning system when a big storm approaches. Most animals have no choice but to shelter in their usual environments. Some birds, however, respond to weather signals like changes in barometric pressure and fly ahead of the storm. A few get caught in high winds and sent many miles away. The American Bird Conservancy reported that after hurricanes Irma and Maria reached the Caribbean, many flamingos left the islands of Inagua in the Bahamas ahead of the storm, returning in force afterwards. But flamingos on the Cuban island of Cayo Coco died in the thousands.

In Puerto Rico, conservationists are worried about several species of birds and other animals in the island's El Junque rain forest, which was devastated by Hurricane Maria. When Hurricane Harvey reached the coast of Texas, the National Wildlife Federation observed that many animal and bird species had adapted to periodic hurricanes. One area of special concern is the rich oyster beds of Galveston Bay. The storm was expected to change the normally saline environment to freshwater for weeks, perhaps longer than the oysters could tolerate.


Documentary

The truth about tigers

The tiger is disappearing at an alarming rate from our forests. Why have India's tigers declined so drastically? What exactly are the problems facing their conservation? And are there any solutions to the crisis? These and many other questions are looked into The Truth about Tigers by Shekar Dattatri. The documentary also provides useful pointers on how ordinary citizens can contribute towards saving the tiger. Two years in the making, the film combines stunning footage shot by some of the world's leading cinematographers with deep insights from experts.

The Truth about Tigers takes one through the tiger's life, from birth to death, and illustrates how different human activities impact the conservation of this great predator. To watch the documentary, visit www.vimeo.com/17468170.
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Dams and fish diversity

October 23, 2017, 2:32 am
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Hydrological barriers like dams cause a dramatic decrease in fish diversity, and also make river waters unsuitable for life by decreasing oxygen levels, finds a recent study. The decrease in the fish species diversity is restored only when the rivers are fed unpolluted, undammed waters from tributaries downstream of the barrier.

There are two scenarios in which hydrological barriers may be constructed across rivers, one is to exploit the energy generating potential of the river (through hydroelectric power), and according to the Ministry of Power, only 26% of India's hydropower potential has been exploited so far. The other reason for building hydrological barriers is to divert water from some rivers to water deficient areas.

It is highly likely, therefore, that more hydrological barriers will probably be constructed across many rivers in our country. Hence, it is critical that an assessment of the impacts of existing barriers is carried out. An important aspect that needs to be taken into consideration is the impact of hydrological regulation on the fish species that dwell there.

In order to acquire a case-specific understanding of the impacts of hydrological barriers on fish species, a recent study from Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment (ATREE), Bengaluru, assessed the effects of small and large scale hydrological barriers on the fish species diversity in the upper basin of the Malaprabha river, in the Western Ghats. "The Western Ghats harbours more than 64% of endemic fish diversity. In fact, most of them are situated in the headwater regions of the river basins. These are also important sites for hydropower projects! Mapping endemic species in each river basin is highly important for prioritising their conservation," explains Dr Vidyadhar Atkore, the lead researcher of this paper.

The authors compared the fish species diversity in undammed parts of the river, to the stretches of the river which are downstream of dams. The authors employed a simple method through which the effect of hydrological barriers on freshwater fish species composition can be easily assessed and have developed a metric for assessing fish species recovery. The study finds that immediately downstream of a hydrological barrier, the proportion of fish species reduces drastically.

What is also noteworthy is that the dissolved oxygen content decreases, and the alkalinity of the water increases immediately downstream of the barrier. Sampling further downstream of the barrier, the authors found that after a certain distance, the proportion of fish species does eventually recover substantially and is more similar to that seen in the undammed regions. This recovery is accompanied by an increase in the dissolved oxygen content and a reduction in the alkalinity of river water.

An important factor leading to the recovery of the species diversity was found to be the number of undammed tributaries which join the river downstream of the dam. As these tributaries currently do not have any barriers themselves, they presumably contain optimum conditions for the survival of a greater number of species, and eventually contribute to the recovery of the species composition in the river. The study also noted that fish species which did not recover in numbers were those with low swimming ability and lived at the bottom of the river.

The main takeaway is that the recovery of fish species composition takes place satisfactorily as long as there are a few undammed tributaries which join the river downstream of the dam. This can inform policymakers to make sure that there is a strict regulation on constructions on undammed tributaries which join dammed rivers.

Although the possible impacts of every potential hydrological barrier should be assessed beforehand in a case-specific manner, this study helps provide general guidelines to follow, especially in the Western Ghats region, where increasing demands for water diversion to cities make the construction of dams inevitable.

Ratna Karatgi

(The author is with Gubbi Labs, a Bengaluru-based research collective)
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Lost in rush hour

October 24, 2017, 2:04 am
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Every passing second counts - healthcare emergency is all about that. In this traffic-gridlocked city, many a life is lost as an accident victim or a person who has suffered heart attack is perhaps too late to be brought to the hospital or not given the necessary first aid till help comes. The question is how prepared is the city in responding to medical emergency?

It is indeed a daily sight to see ambulances stuck in traffic during peak times and being denied the right of way. Less said the better about vehicles tailgating the ambulance. "I'm afraid that Bengaluru traffic is quite unruly. We could do something to create awareness campaigns on giving the right of way to ambulances. Sometimes the vehicle tailgating the ambulance hits the ambulance if it suddenly stops. It so happened that once we had to carry the person in the vehicle tailgating in the same ambulance," narrates Dr Shailesh Shetty, senior specialist, emergency medicine, Aster CMI Hospital.

The layman is most often unaware on how to handle emergency. "In such a case, move the victim or patient to a safe place and make sure the person who is helping is also in a safe place," he says.

"Then make sure to contact the nearest hospital. 108 service is easily accessible. Someone who knows a little more can call the helpline," he says.
VMEDO, a startup, has been doing its bit for emergency healthcare some time now. They have a network of ambulance providers, hospitals, blood donors, blood banks and all these are accessible on a single platform which includes, app, web and helpline.

"People can reach out to its control room by clicking of a button on the web or app or by calling their helpline number (67335555)," says Darshan MK, cofounder of this startup.
"There are more than 3,000 private ambulances in the city and we found 108 one to be really good, be it its technology and the call centre. We then started our own technology and built a team for the technology. We now have 144 ambulances which are GPS enabled."

Ask him about the hurdles and he says, "The ambulance gets delayed 80 to 85 per cent of the time because of the traffic. Also, sometimes they are stopped by the cops and the details of the patient are asked." They are now planning to get first responders, who know how to give first aid during emergency.

"Emergency services are an integral part of healthcare," says Dr Sudarshan Ballal, director of Manipal Hospitals.

"The first thing is providing care at the point where the emergency has happened, be it an accident, a heart attack or a stroke. We need trained people in the general public, those who are familiar with resuscitation," he says.

"The second is the transport service, which is a major issue in a city like Bengaluru. It is good to have ambulances with ICU facilities parked in different locations. The third aspect is movement of patients. Many ambulances have emergency ICU care which are directly connected to ER services, where monitoring is done from the main station. The last point is when the patient reaches the hospital and care is given," he says.

Teaching traffic cops skills to provide emergency aid to accident victims has been a welcome step in this regard. "We had trained around 800 people in basic providing basic life support," says Dr Shailesh.

"They were trained to do compressions till somebody advanced came around. However it will bear fruit only if they can do it real time. I feel it should be mandatory that every citizen is trained in giving Basic Life Support," he says.


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Heating up the dance floor

October 24, 2017, 2:28 am
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She is a turntablist with a hardcore hiphop and old school sound. Over the years, Teri Miko has made a name for herself by being known as an electronic producer and DJ.

Known for her highly energetic sets, she recently performed at High Ultra Lounge.

She spoke to Anila Kurian about her achievements in the music industry.

What motivated you to enter the music industry?
I always knew that I will be doing something in the music industry. I come from a musically-inclined family, so I've always had good knowledge about it.

My friends suggested that I become a DJ since I like to party and that hobby became a career option.

You've performed around the world. How different is the audience?
Each country/region has a different taste in music. While France is more hiphop-oriented, Germany is more into techno music. But in India, it's completely different.

There's a huge crowd that enjoys Bollywood music and EDM. So it's great to explore those terrains.

Where in India have you enjoyed playing the most?
Mumbai has a good audience but also does Bengaluru and Hyderabad. Then again, I never know what to expect each time I perform.

The best compliment you've received...
It's when someone told me that I am Skrillex's sister.

What's the worst compliment you have got?
(Laughs) Can a compliment be bad?

Well, something that made you uncomfortable...
I don't like it when people give me sexist compliments. I don't enjoy it when they comment on how hot I look.

I represent my music and I am an artiste. I don't like to be known as the party person behind the console.

What's the best way to impress you?
Simply compliment my music.

If music is your first love, what's second?
Food, followed by sleep.

If you could be eternally stuck in one year, which one would you pick?
The beginning of the 2000 as it was the golden time for RnB music. And maybe the 70s too.

The one popular song that you don't like...
'I Took A Pill in Ibiza' by Mike Poser.
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