cmyk

cmyk
PAGE

13

BENGALURU MONDAY 18 | MARCH 2013

Dropbox says it will buy Googles Eric Schmidt to start-up behind hot email visit Myanmar, an untapped management app Mailbox telecom market

TECHNOMICS
VIEW FROM THE CORNER ROOM
RAMANUJAM SRIDHAR

app store

VIDEOGAME POWER HARNESSED FOR POSITIVE GOALS

Washington, March 17: Even as videogames come under scrutiny for potential harmful impacts, researchers and developers are touting digital games for positive effects on health, learning and other social goals. The immersive power of games is being used to encourage kids to develop healthy eating, help seniors maintain brain functions and even to tackle problems like poverty and climate change. Most Americans in a recent Harris online survey said they see a link between videogames and violent behaviour. US Vice-President Joe Biden, who convened a White House meeting after the Sandy Hook school massacre that saw a man gun down 20 children and six adults before taking his own life, has said more research is needed on how videogames affect users. But many researchers say there is little evidence that playing games can cause users to become violent, and point to numerous positive impacts. Games can have a positive impact, particularly with psychological functions, said Jason Allaire of North Carolina State Universitys Gains Through Gaming Lab. We focus on cognition and learning, trying to understand the exact mechanisms, such as the impact on reaction time and memory. Allaire led a recent study that found seniors who played digital games showed higher levels of emotional wellbeing than non-players. Though the research did not offer a clear cause and effect, Allaire expressed confidence that the research would eventually find such a relationship. Digital games get a bad rap because often they are played to excess" but blaming games for societal ills is simplistic, Allaire said. Still, he said researchers are

Healthcare: Japanese efficiency, Indian warmth

SANGEETHA CHENGAPPA | DC
BENGALURU, MARCH 17

reviewing their thinking following a spate of shootings. If I say as a scientist I think games can have a positive effect, it would be hypocritical to say that they cannot have a negative impact, Allaire said. But he argued, There is no evidence to show that playing a violent videogame can cause you to engage in violent behaviours. Big game companies and independent developers have created many games aimed at positive skills and habits. Jive Health, a startup founded by Northwestern University student Dennis Ai, produced a mobile game that encourages children to eat more fruits and vegetables, with the goal of curbing childhood obesity. In the game, kids must find apples or other fruits for their animal characters and take a picture of real-life foods to advance to the next level. Kids, they really do enjoy playing the game, its looking very promising, said Ai, whose team won the Innovation Challenge prize sponsored by the nonprofit Partnership for a Healthier America. "You can't teach kids healthy eating habits by just preaching to them." Even the oft-criticized shooter games can have an upside: a University of Toronto study showed that playing shooting or driving videogames, even for a short time, improves the ability to search for a hidden target. Researcher Ian Spence said these visual skills can be useful. It's necessary for baggage screening, reading Xrays or MRIs, interpreting satellite images, defeating camouflage or even just locating a friend's face in a crowd, he said. Boston Childrens Hospital researchers reported that a game can help children with anger problems regulate their emotions. The game involves shooting at enemy spaceships while avoiding shooting at friendly ones. When their heart rate goes above a certain level, players lose their ability to shoot, teaching them skills to keep calm, according to a study published in the journal Adolescent Psychiatry. AP

With a vision to provide best-inclass healthcare in India, Mr Vikram Kirloskar and Mrs Geetanjali Kirloskar have partnered with Secom Medical Systems and Toyota Tsusho, Japan, to set up a chain of multispecialty hospitals across the country, beginning with Bengaluru at a total investment of Rs 200 crore. The first one in the chain, the Sakra World Hospital, in Bellandur, Bengaluru, is a 300-bed multi-specialty hospital which will bring together Japanese quality, precision, medical practices and protocols with Indian expertise in neurosurgery, orthopaedics and cardiology including pediatric cardiac care. The Kirloskars have invested 50 per cent of the cost in the holding company, Takshasila Hospitals Operating Pvt Ltd. Secoms share is 30 per cent and Toyota Tsusho has invested 20 per cent. This is the first time that a Japanese hospital chain is stepping out of Japan to partner with an Indian company to set up a chain of multi-specialty hospitals. We hope to introduce new standards of patient care, infection control, hygiene and emergency care, said Mrs Geetanjali Kirloskar of the Kirloskar Group. Additionally, plans are on to set up a 100-bed hospital within a 10 km radius of Sakra World Hospital as well as a chain of polyclinics 10-15 km in and around the hospital. Hiring has begun to fill up the 1,000 positions, of which 400 would be nurses. We are looking beyond Bengaluru to hire some of the best doctors in various specialties, from Chennai, Mumbai, Delhi etc. The Japanese Nursing Director is here in Bengaluru and is working closely with our nurses to set up training procedures, manuals, and setting up processes jointly to integrate the best of Indian and Japanese practices. Rehabilitation is a strong offering at this hospital where it provides complete after-care rehabilitation after surgery, she said. Elaborating, Dr Prem P Singh, DGM Clinical Quality & Medical Administration, Sakra World Hospital said, We are setting up a state-of-the-art trauma unit, with a stringent infection-control programme in line with Japanese healthcare practices in high-end critical care, with zero-tolerance to errors. One of our key focus areas is to facilitate faster patient recovery thereby, reducing in-hospital time, leading to satisfied patients.

The times they are a changing..

Arguably, the most lethal destructive weapon ever created (at least for the marketer and advertising agency) is the remote control for the television at home. Customers wield the power of switching channels with such desperate ease that it can be painful to watch for people whose unfortunate commercial gets zapped by an increasingly restless and demanding customer. But advertising agencies are not the ones who are going to take this sort of apathy lying down, so they increasingly push the creative envelope, doing edgier, funnier and more entertaining work that will ensure that you stay on to the same channel. No wonder the advertising is more interesting than the programming on occasion. Hardly surprising given the fact that my favourite serial is only onto its 634th episode! Even poor sage Veda Vyasa would have been unable to stretch the Mahabharata that long! But despite all the threats and distractions that marketers worry about, they can still take heart from people like me who spend more time with the TV set than with their spouse! I am the advertisers dream and the familys nightmare whose greatest catastrophe in life is a missing remote control. My wife has given up on me as even during the most serious of conversations, I cant help peeping surreptitiously at the TV screen lest I miss a commercial and I am going to talk about two commercials that I saw recently for Havells fans one of which is nice and the other questionable but both conform to my earnest belief that advertising should be either loved or hated but never ignored. Well you cant ignore these commercials! The winds of change In a sense advertising reflects the times that we live in and that is what makes people look at it though sometimes the creative mind depicts something that it wishes for than what is a true reflection. But the reality is that women in this country are not being treated with the respect that they deserve by a society that is largely male chauvinistic. The other reality and most of us are guilty of this is the superior manner in which we treat servants and domestic help simply because we happen to be more affluent, better educated and pay the wages of the people who work at our homes. The recent Havells fan commercials address both these issues with differing degrees of success. Mind you, Havells was a relatively unknown company to the aver-

The under-construction Sakra World Hospital in Bellandur, Bengaluru. The 300-bed multi-specialty hospital will be the first of a chain of hospitals being set up by Mr Vikram Kirloskar and Mrs Geetanjali Kirloskar in partnership with Secom Medical Systems and Toyota Tsusho, Japan. (Below) Japanese and Indian staff of the hospital learn each others traditions and culture R. SAMUEL

We are setting up a state-of-the-art trauma unit, with a stringent infection-control programme in line with Japanese healthcare practices in high-end critical care. One of our key focus areas is to facilitate faster patient recovery, reducing inhospital time
Dr Prem P Singh DGM - Clinical Quality & Medical Administration, Sakra World Hospital
To do this, we are defining the clinical processes after mapping various scenarios, while complying with international standards, such as the National Accreditation Board for Hospitals and Healthcare Providers (NABH) and Joint Commission International (JCI), whose standards have been incorporated at the design stage of the hospital itself. A hospital information system is being set up to automate everything from the time a patient registers at the hospital till he gets discharged. Involving nursing in clinical decision making is another key aspect in Sakra Nursing care, said Dr Singh. We are defining an environment for nursing which is not only focused on skill-sets such as being pleasant, communicative and highly skilled in care delivery, but also by developing nurses as leaders in hospital functioning; all imbibed from Japanese best practices. While profitability is important to us, we will continue to remain focused on the quality of clinical outcomes, which will be regularly assessed by qualified multi-disciplinary care teams, added Mrs Geetanjali Kirloskar.

Himalaya enterprise re-enters oral care

Launches a range of herbal toothpastes for specific oral problems
DC CORRESPONDENT
BENGALURU, MARCH 17

Advertising agencies are increasingly pushing the creative envelope, doing edgier, funnier and more entertaining work that will ensure that you stay on to the same channel
age Johnny a few years ago but today, thanks to visible advertising and a whole host of other things which they must be doing they are fairly well known. I do remember their wires that dont catch fire commercials from the not too distant past. Equality the new mantra Let me talk about the first of the two commercials that I am reviewing now. A middle class family has sat down for dinner and is discussing about an impending wedding and the maid lays the last dish on the table. As she prepares to move away someone compliments the sabji and the mistress of the house asks her to sit down at the same table, at the head of it to be precise and the embarrassed and surprised maid sits down with the cleaning cloth that she has been carrying with her. The voice over talks about the winds of change doubtless a reference to the brand that is being advertised that is fans. I liked this because even if the Rajas have lost their place in the Indian system we think we are Rajas the way we treat our domestic help. Maybe things will not change overnight and equality restored overnight but at least we can stop to think about the way we treat our servants. And now for the name changer Then we come to the second commercial shot in the Registrars office where a young couple Vikas Verma and Shanti Pandit want to get married. To the lady registrars question whether the bride to be would change her name to Shanti Verma the bridegroom says no, I will take her name and will be Vikas Pandit. I nearly fell off the chair! As a father who has just got his son married, I wondered what my reaction might have been if my son had proposed that. I would have blown a fuse perhaps. Had an attack of apoplexy or been in intensive care and saved you the bother of reading this column! Would someone dump their parents name simply in the name of equality or love for the woman he has met a few months ago? Has this been written by a lady who has no clue of what is happening or who is completely insensitive to what older people might feel. Isnt there a better way of empathising with downtrodden women than by upsetting parents? Is this the wind of change that is sweeping the country that I am completely oblivious to? Even if it is a wish, is the wish justifiable, acceptable or so radical that I will switch the brand of fan I am willing to consider and even buy? You be the judge! Ramanujam Sridhar is Director of Custommerce and Founder CEO of brand-comm, a communications consulting company

Riding the wave of consumer preference for natural products, Himalaya Drug Company has reentered the oral care space with the launch of a range of herbal toothpastes that offers consumers protection from germs/cavities and also addresses specific oral problems. like stained teeth, sensitive teeth, gum health and bad breath. The `1,200-crore ayurvedic pharma major had forayed into the oral care space over a decade ago with its Himalaya Dental Cream that predominantly targeted the South Indiam market. The recent national launch of the new range of herbal toothpaste includes, Complete Care, which has natural antioxidants that remove germs and neutralise toxins to ensure healthy gums and teeth; Sparkling White, which removes stains and whitens teeth through natural whitening agents; Active Fresh Gel, which prevents bad breath and lends freshness; and Sensitive, which provides relief from pain and sensitive teeth. It has taken us over two years of R&D to come up with the range of toothpastes that uses innovative plant-enzyme technology, powerful antioxidants and natural active ingredients, said Mr Rajesh Krishnamurthy, Business Head, Consumer Products Division, Himalaya Drug Company. Despite the companys late market entry into the oral care space, Mr Krishnamurthy says he expects the company to garner at least a 2 per cent share (urban) of the `3,500 crore toothpaste sector

Mr Rajesh Krishnamurthy, Business Head, Consumer Products Division, Himalaya Drug Company launching oral care products

Himalaya Drug Company has reentered the oral care space with the launch of a range of herbal toothpastes that offers consumers protection from germs/cavities and addresses specific problems
in India over the next two years. The oral care market in urban India is valued at around `4,000 crore and is growing at about 19 per cent per annum, of which the toothpaste category is approximately `3,500 crore. Herbal toothpaste constitutes 10 per cent of the overall toothpaste category, where Dabur dominates with approximately 8-9 per cent market share. Pointing out that freshness as a separate segment was the first to emerge in the country, followed many years later by sensitivity as a segment which picked up in 2009, he said, the whitening segment is just about marking its entry into the market. Within the toothpaste category today, basic oral healthcare seg-

ment contributes to around 65 per cent of the total pie and is growing at 14 per cent per annum; the freshness segment makes up 25 per cent with a growth of 19 per cent; the sensitive segment, although smaller at 7 per cent is growing at a whopping 262 per cent and the whitening segment enjoys a share of around 3 per cent of the overall category, he said. The new range of toothpastes will be available in 115 Himalaya stores across the country, in all modern trade and kirana stores as well as in medical stores. While the company has a strong distribution muscle in the South, it is in the process of ramping up distribution in the North. SC