The document summarizes an educational software called Edualert that tracks students' academic performance and suggests suitable career paths. It allows schools to automate attendance tracking and notifies parents of test scores/absences via SMS. It was developed over 2 years in the founders' spare time. Several schools in Kerala have installed it, charging 10% of annual fees. It aims to help students choose careers beyond just engineering and medicine. A school principal believes it will improve student, parent and teacher dynamics. However, a student worries it may intrude on family relationships while a mother feels it can benefit children if seen positively.

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BENGALURU
MONDAY 14 | NOVEMBER 2011
Internet wars
Acer founder Stan Shih warns Sony Corp Chief Executive Howard
Google against concentration of Stringer dismisses reports that he
value in Android ecosystem will step down next year. TECHNOMICS
CBI JOINS FB, SEEKS
HELP FROM NETIZENS
The Central Bureau of
Investigation has joined
Edualert: A software to help Kapil Khandelwal
you track your child’s career A dose of IT
social networking site
Facebook in a bid to get
help from people in cracking
cases. CBI sources said the
idea of going online is first
being implemented by its
Bhopal unit on experimental
basis which will be further
followed by all its wings
Thiruvananthapuram, Nov.
13: It can identify the right
career for your child, tell you
Business angels
after assessing people's
response.
when he’s mischievously miss-
ing from the class and message
you his test scores as soon as he’s
enable start-ups
iProblems been handed the answer sheet. A
T
software developed by three IT here was an interest- up to invest for from the
professionals promises to change ing discussion at perspective of a BA.
APPLE RECALLS the teacher, students, parents
dynamics.
NASSCOM Product
Conclave 2011. The title of
First, the start-up team’s
experience. For the product
FIRST-GEN NANO Called Edualert, the software
has been developed by US-based
the discussion was — how
do we enable product start-
start-ups to succeed, high-
tech experience is a critical
Apple has Keralites Akbar Narendran and ups? success factor. Second, co-
unveiled a Sanjay Nair, and Rajiv As the conclave pro- mmitment. The start-up
worldwide Viswanath who is based in India. gressed, some of the break team should have a passion
replacement “Edualert can give suggestions through ideas to emerge and ability to execute a
programme to a student and his parents as to were ones conceived while global ambition. Third,
for the first- which career suits him best attacking health and educa- BA’s compatibility with the
generation based on his academic perfor- tion sectors and in solving start up. Forth, business
iPod nano mance,” 33-year-old Narendran the ` 100,000 crores -human orientation of the start-up
music player said during a visit to Kerala to capital capacity opportuni- team. It is important that
due to over- promote the software. ty that I spoke of at the the team cares about the
heating bat- The modus operandi goes some- World Quality Congress product and customers.
tery issues, thing like this. Details of a child’s earlier this year. Also the team has to show a
telling own- entire academic history, his The discussion zeroed global awareness and sensi-
ers to stop interests and extra curricular down to two key human tivity towards the needs of
using the activities right from the first capital issues to enable the customers. Fifth, lead-
product and grade is fed into the software. “In January, we will come Narendran. Another interesting would be available at a click of a high-tech product start-ups ership. It may sound clich-
get it “Through an analysis, it would again because we have got feature is that the moment the mouse,” said Iyer. However, a — the entrepreneurial éd, but integrity, focus and
replaced for free reveal which is the best career numerous enquiries from child enters the school bus, he Class 12 student had different team and the business strategy are important fro-
option for the student,” schools in some metros and Tier will be monitored and in case views on the subject. angels (BAs). As a business m my perspective. Manage-
Phone Scan Narendran said.
Edualert operations manager
II cities. We will first do a demon-
stration of our product in front of
there is a traffic jam, an SMS
alert will go to the parents.
“In many homes, the relation
between parents and children is
angel (BA), India is still to
mature as the silicon valley
rial experience of the start-
up team needs to be sharp.
Ramakrishnan said the thinking teachers and parents,” said “It took us two years to fully friendly. The software wouldn’t of the East! A level of clari- Second, guts and the
of parents in the state for long Narendran. develop it as we did it in our bother those kids. But overall, ty is emerging in the start- endurance of the team. The
has been that there are only two The software with add-ons ver- spare time. We are now working parents would always like to ups about the role of BAs team should be able to han-
good professions — engineering sion comes fairly cheap and it on some other add-ons,” said know what their ward is doing and as to how they benefit dle adversity and have the
and medicine. will cost 10 percent of the annual Narendran. which is a little scary,” said the high tech start-ups. stamina to be a long runner
“We have observed that many fee of a student, said Narendran. Krishnamurthy Iyer, principal student, before saying that since BAs assist the start-ups in while working under pres-
children for fear of earning the “It includes a centralised of the A.R.R. Public School, pre- his schooling was almost over, he four key ways; assisting in sure. Third, the team work
wrath of their parents unwilling- process of taking attendance dicts the “revolutionary” soft- had escaped. bootstrapping and over- between the founders.
ly opt for either of the two most which takes only a few minutes. ware to be a huge hit in the edu- However, a mother of a Class 10 coming initial funding dif- Start-ups breeds cama-
sought after professions,” said When done, an SMS will be sent cation sector. “We installed it student said: “Children need not ficulties and hiccups; pro- raderie and the winning
Ramakrishnan. to the parents of all those stu- just two weeks back and from the be worried because this is a tool viding active and hands on spirit if team members
The basic version of Edualert is dents who are absent. Likewise, first look, it’s something unique. for their own betterment and for post-investment involve- have worked together in
free for schools. Around 10 the moment corrected answer It is certainly going to improve their good future. Just look into ment in a start-up to scale their earlier avatars and
schools in the state have already papers are distributed, parents the quality of students, parents the positives and not the nega- faster; leveraging the have some element of work
given the nod to this unique will get an SMS about how their and teachers. All the information tive aspect that it will track chil- industry network; and pro- understanding. Fourth,
product. child has performed,” said on children and their progress dren,” she said. — IANS viding leverage for the next entrepreneurial experience
round of funding. to scale the venture beyond
Although BAs are the old- the idea and first few cus-
est, largest and most impor- tomers. Lastly, the team
MODERN WARFARE 3 tant source of incubation should know their weak-
‘Call of Duty’ sets Twitter can become a
Nokia W10 Prototype funding for high-growth ness. For BAs the challange
start-ups, collectively, BAs is whether the team will
Tech plus invest between two and five
times more capital in start-
take advice or not; and
willingly step aside to
first-day record lifesaver soon: Study
SONY’S ‘DIFFERENT ups than formal venture
capitalists. But, the issue is
bring in others to handle
the situation if required.
KIND OF TV SET’ about the selection of the
start-ups to fund! Here is a
Kapil Khandelwal is a
leading healthcare and ICT
The Japanese electronics Washington, Nov. 13: 10-factor framework that I expert. Kapil@KapilKh-
giant is working on technol- Twitter could become a have used to assess a start- andelwal.com
ogy that Sony Chairman and
CEO Sir Howard Stringer has
new mode of saving lives
by providing vital infor-
ORDER TO DISCLOSE PROBE INFO
confirmed his company is mation about health-relat- San Francisco, Nov. Magistrate Judge The-
working on ‘a new form of ed matters to its growing 13: US judge has ordered resa Buchanan ordered EC TO EDUCATE VOTERS THROUGH FB
television. Mr Stringer said number of users. Twitter to disclose infor- the San Francisco-based
“There’s a tremendous Researchers who studied mation about three Twitter in March to Mumbai, Nov. 13: The Election Commission is plan-
amount of R&D going into a tweets on cardiac arrest account holders to US hand over information ning to take the help of social networking sites like
different kind of TV set” suggest that Twitter repre- officials conducting a about the three users of Facebook and Twitter to impart electoral messages to
sents a unique, promising probe into WikiLeaks. the service, rejecting young voters, Chief Election Commissioner S Y
avenue to respond to In a 60-page opinion arguments that the Quraishi said.
queries from the public issued Thursday, US move violated freedom “The Commission is now seriously looking at the
and disseminate informa- District Court Judge of speech and privacy. social media as the hubs to impart electoral educa-
tion about this leading Liam O’Grady upheld a The ruling came after tion,” Quraishi said delivering the Maulana Azad
killer. ruling by a US magis- the US Justice Depa- Memorial Lecture 2011 titled ‘Education for
“Twitter is an incredible trate judge concerning rtment obtained a court Deepening Democracy’.
New York, Nov. 13: company will be able to resource for connecting the Twitter accounts of order seeking informa- “Like Maulana Azad, I
Activision Blizzard’s Call expand the Call of Duty and mobilising people, and Birgitta Jonsdottir, a tion from the Twitter believe that an educated
of Duty: Modern Warfare franchise by offering fans it offers users a way to member of the Icelandic accounts as it considers and aware citizen is the
3 racked up more than new game content each receive instant feedback parliament, US comput- action against Wiki- best guarantee for deepen-
GOOGLE RELEASES $400 million in sales on
its first day in stores in
month over the Internet,
and having them pay for
and information. The
potential applications of
er researcher Jacob
Appelbaum and Rop
Leaks, which has rele-
ased a trove of secret US
ing both democracy and
development,” Quraishi
‘IRAN’ IMAGES North America, Asia and
the United Kingdom, set-
it with annual subscrip-
tions.
social media for cardiac
arrest are vast,” said
Gonggrijp, a Dutch vol-
unteer for WikiLeaks.
diplomatic and military
documents. — AFP
said.
The CEC said he had
Search giant Google has ting a video game indus- Along with the console Raina Merchant who led recently held talks with pol-
released satellite images of try record. game, Activision is the study on this particu- icy makers of Education
facilities at two Iranian cities Activision’s biggest hol- releasing Call of Duty lar topic. ated cardiac arrest and and breathing during a and Youth ministries to integrate citizenship and
that the UN claims may be iday title sold 6.5 million Elite, a subscription ser- “Twitter might even be resuscitation related cardiac arrest. voter education as a part of the curriculum of their
used to develop nuclear units in a single day after vice that costs $50 annu- harnessed to save lives in tweets during a month- AED is a portable device various courses.
weapons. Recent satellite going on sale early this ally and offers extra an emergency, by allowing long period in early 2011, that treats life-threatening “We have established the India International
images of Arak and Natanz week, surpassing last online content, including bystanders who respond to according to a statement. cardiac conditions with Institute of Democracy and Election Management (
show changes to the facili- year’s record of 5.6 mil- apps for mobile devices. cardiac arrests in public They discovered that electrical therapy which IIDEM) making voter education a core area of empha-
ties when compared with lion units or $360 million “What you’re likely to places to seek information users frequently share stops the arrhythmia sis in it,” Quraishi said.
images taken in late 2010. in sales. The version of see is a shift over time in about the location of the information about car- allowing the organ to re- Regretting that many voters in the age group of 18-35
the game released last the whole economic closest AED (automated diopulmonary resuscita- establish an effective years do not exercise their voting rights for whatever
year, called Call of Duty: model for these kinds of external defibrillator),” tion (CPR) and AEDs. rhythm. reason, the CEC said the Commission has put voter
APPly yourself Black Ops, went on to games. It looks more like said Merchant, assistant CPR is an emergency In one of the new studies, education and awareness programme on fast track to
rake in $1 billion in less World of Warcraft than professor of Emergency procedure to manually the researchers identified improve the situation. In a strategic initiative called
than two months. anything else,” he said Medicine at Penn preserve brain function- 15,324 tweets involving YUVA (Youth Unite for Voter Awareness), the
Chief Executive Bobby referring to the compa- University. ing until further measures cardiac arrest specific Commission has planned to rope in the new and
Kotick revealed in an ny’s other big franchise. The varsity’s Perelman are taken to restore spon- information. young voters, he said. —PTI
interview on Friday the —Reuters School of Medicine evalu- taneous blood circulation — IANS
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