Feature
An ambulance for all roads that can convert into clinic
By Mohammed Shafeeq
Hyderabad, Nov 30 (IANS) It can zip past on city roads or traverse through narrow roads in countryside to rush a patient to hospital, and when idle can convert into a mobile clinic with all out-patient facilities.
It’s not an ambulance on four wheels but can be pulled by a motorbike so that it can move quickly through heavy traffic on city roads or on narrow roads in villages. The three-in-one invention called AmbuPod is one of the few products on display that caught attention at Global Entrepreneurship Summit (GES).
“It has oxygen and all that an ambulance will have. When idle it can be converted into a mobile or makeshift clinic with all out-patient and diagnostic facilities,” Yamini Lavanian, co-founder and Director, AmbuPod, told IANS.
The Pune-based firm has filed the patent for the “amicro-ambulance and mobile clinic”.
AmbuPod has a bed and other medical equipment. When deployed in a remote area or village, it can also be used as a telemedicine facility.
“The medical attendant in AmbuPod feed all the symptoms of patient and results of diagnostic tests in the app. The same is accessed by the doctor sitting in the city who then suggests medicines,” she said.
The facility can treat 30 to 60 patients every day. “As soon as there is an emergency, it can be connected to a bike for use as ambulance,” she explained.
A concept of Dr Lavanian, it was designed and assembled by a team of engineers. The AmbuPod, which costs Rs 4 lakh, focuses on mother and child care. It is equipped with ECG machine, and a medical attendant sitting in the pod can give medical resuscitation while on the way. Like any ambulance, it has oxygen, nebulizer and suction equipment.
“We have tested in cities and villages and in all terrains and it works perfectly,” said Lavanian.
The company is looking for partners and investors to help scale the product and develop saleable model. Initially, it plans to deploy this in at least 50 villages.
Though yet to get orders, the company is in talks with various hospitals and NGOs.
“We also plan to export it to African countries because they also have similar healthcare problems,” she said.
“Our company representatives say they were overwhelmed by the response at GES as many participants from various countries saw the product and evinced interest,” she added.
(Mohammed Shafeeq can be reached at m.shafeeq@ians.in)
–IANS
ms/nir/vm
The State Scores Extra High on Gaming-Friendly Industry Index
Meghalaya scored 92.85 out of 100 possible points in a Gaming Industry Index and proved to be India’s most gaming-friendly state following its recent profound legislation changes over the field allowing land-based and online gaming, including games of chance, under a licensing regime.
The index by the UK India Business Council (UKIBC) uses a scale of 0 to 100 to measure the level of legalisation on gambling and betting achieved by a state based on the scores over a set of seven different games – lottery, horse racing, betting on sports, poker, rummy, casino and fantasy sports
Starting from February last year, Meghalaya became the third state in India’s northeast to legalise gambling and betting after Sikkim and Nagaland. After consultations with the UKIBC, the state proceeded with the adoption of the Meghalaya Regulation of Gaming Act, 2021 and the nullification of the Meghalaya Prevention of Gambling Act, 1970. Subsequently in December, the Meghalaya Regulation of Gaming Rules, 2021 were notified and came into force.
All for the Tourists
The move to legalise and license various forms of offline and online betting and gambling in Meghalaya is aimed at boosting tourism and creating jobs, and altogether raising taxation revenues for the northeastern state. At the same time, the opportunities to bet and gamble legally will be reserved only for tourists and visitors.
“We came out with a Gaming Act and subsequently framed the Regulation of Gaming Rules, 2021. The government will accordingly issue licenses to operate games of skill and chance, both online and offline,” said James P. K. Sangma, Meghalaya State Law and Taxation Minister speaking in the capital city of Shillong. “But the legalized gambling and gaming will only be for tourists and not residents of Meghalaya,” he continued.
To be allowed to play, tourists and people visiting the state for work or business purposes will have to prove their non-resident status by presenting appropriate documents, in a process similar to a bank KYC (Know Your Customer) procedure.
Meghalaya Reaches Out to a Vast Market
With 140 millions of people in India estimated to bet regularly on sports, and a total of 370 million desi bettors around prominent sporting events, as per data from one of the latest reports by Esse N Videri, Meghalaya is set to reach out and take a piece of a vast market.
Estimates on the financial value of India’s sports betting market, combined across all types of offline channels and online sports and cricket predictions and betting platforms, speak about amounts between $130 and $150 billion (roughly between ₹9.7 and ₹11.5 lakh crore).
Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Delhi are shown to deliver the highest number of bettors and Meghalaya can count on substantial tourists flow from their betting circles. The sports betting communities of Karnataka, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana are also not to be underestimated.
Among the sports, cricket is most popular, registering 68 percent of the total bet count analyzed by Esse N Videri. Football takes second position with 11 percent of the bets, followed by betting on FIFA at 7 percent and on eCricket at 5 percent. The last position in the Top 5 of popular sports for betting in India is taken by tennis with 3 percent of the bet count.
Local Citizens will Still have Their Teer Betting
Meghalaya residents will still be permitted to participate in teer betting over arrow-shooting results. Teer is a traditional method of gambling, somewhat similar to a lottery draw, and held under the rules of the Meghalaya Regulation of the Game of Arrow Shooting and the Sale of Teer Tickets Act, 2018.
Teer includes bettors wagering on the number of arrows that reach the target which is placed about 50 meters away from a team of 20 archers positioned in a semicircle.
The archers shoot volleys of arrows at the target for ten minutes, and players place their bets choosing a number between 0 and 99 trying to guess the last two digits of the number of arrows that successfully pierce the target.
If, for example, the number of hits is 256, anyone who has bet on 56 wins an amount eight times bigger than their wager.
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