In collaboration with the Indian subsidiary of the US-based Cisco Systems Inc, the Bangalore-based Parikrma Humanity Foundation (PHF) hosted the Intra Parikrma Spelling Bee finals to mark the launch of Cisco’s CEED technology connecting Parikrma schools in Bangalore, on July 12. CEED ‘boxes’ sponsored by Cisco enable students and staff of all four PHF schools to communicate inter se using real-time video conferencing technology.

“Cisco Systems is the largest IT networking company in the world, which also invests in scalable and self-sustaining programmes using cutting-edge technology to meet some of society’s biggest challenges through its CSR (corporate social responsibility) programmes. Cisco’s social investment programmes focus on four areas — education, healthcare, economic empowerment and disaster relief,” said Dinesh Malkani, president of Cisco System (India), speaking on the occasion.

Added Shukla Bose, founder-CEO of PHF: “PHF is a non-profit organisation providing the best English language education to poorest children from the slums of Bangalore, since its inception in 2003. We value our association with Cisco Systems and are thankful to the company for its sustained support to PHF.”

 

SBI-Oracle’s D-Change

The State Bank of India (SBI) and Oracle India have launched a ‘D-Change’ initiative which supports prime minister Narendra Modi’s Skill India and Digital India programmes. Under the initiative, employees from both organisations, including senior leadership, will support education and learning, women’s empowerment and skills development in rural India.

Oracle and SBI volunteers will help to enhance IT literacy among high school students, teachers and parents of over 100 SBI-supported government schools through an initiative named ‘Digital kushalta ki aur’. The first project to be launched under D-Change will be initiated at the Rotary Bangalore Vidyalaya, Bengaluru and Mandal Parishad High School, Kondapur in Hyderabad on August 6.

“For more than two decades, Oracle employees around the world, including here in India, have volunteered their time to improve the quality of life in communities where we live and work. Today, we extend our 20-year-old relationship with SBI to support India’s mission of creating a digitally empowered society. Through this programme, we will leverage SBI’s financial expertise and expansive reach with Oracle’s technology expertise to bring about substantial change in the community and support the development of a skilled economy,” said Loic Le Guisquet, president, EMEA and Asia Pacific of Oracle, addressing a media conference in Bangalore on August 1.

 

Enactus India national champion

A students team of the Shaheed Sukhdev College of Business Studies, Delhi, recently crowned champions of the Enactus India National Competition, will represent the nation at the Enactus World Cup in Toronto, Canada from September 28-30 to compete with national champion teams from 34 other countries. Teams from IIT, Delhi and Shri Ram College of Commerce, Delhi, were the first and second runners-up in the national competition.

The Enactus India National Competition provides a platform for student innovators to present unique social projects to leaders of India’s business and industry. This year, the national competition attracted 67 teams from higher education institutions countrywide who showcased their community empowerment projects on July 21 before a panel of judges including Richard Rekhy, CEO, KPMG India and Ronnie Screwvala of UTV Software, among others.

“Participating students form teams on their campuses and apply business management concepts to develop outreach projects to improve the livelihoods of people. Currently, over 1,700 active Enactus teams of 69,000 students in 36 countries around the world are taking entrepreneurial action to create a better world for all,” says an Enactus media release. The Mumbai-based Enactus India is a subsidiary of Enactus Worldwide.

 

Monsanto’s partnerships drive

The Mumbai-based Monsanto India Ltd (MIL) has forged partnerships with several NGOs to restore a school devastated by floods in Uttarakhand, establish libraries in government schools in Maharashtra, provide mid-day meals to schools across UP, Karnataka, Rajasthan, Odisha & Gujarat, and also conduct training programmes for teachers in Bihar.

Monsanto has tied up with the San Francisco-based NGO Room to Read to install libraries across 11 government schools in Maharashtra; partnered with Bangalore-based Akshaya Patra Foundation to provide mid-day meals for 45,000 children in Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, Rajasthan, Odisha and Gujarat; partnered with the Deshkal Society to conduct teacher training workshops and provide inclusive classrooms in Purnea, Bihar to improve the learning outcomes of 48,000 children in the district. Moreover with Action for Food Production, MIL will build a sanitary napkin-making unit in Telangana to empower a women’s self-help group.

“With the firm belief that education can bring about positive changes and social development, MIL has initiated these programmes to address these issues and help improve access to education in rural India,” says a media release dated August 2.