Sponsorship for Quark 2013, BITS Pillani KK Birla Goa Campus

Since its inception in the 2006, Quark- the techno-managerial festival of BITS PILANI K K BIRLA GOA CAMPUS has established itself as one of the stalwarts in the collegiate fest circuit. Staring off as a small intra-college fest in, Quark is now one of India’s largest technical fests. Having moved from strength to strength in every edition, Quark 2013 - Quantum Leaps- from Feb 1-3  is expected to live up to the festival’s hard-earned reputation and take the institute to a higher level of technical expertise. 

A three day long itinerary boasts of guest lecturers by eminent personalities, state of the art workshops and  a range of competitive events- rendering Quark  the ideal  platform for innovation, invention and inspiration.

The pioneers of diverse fields have graced Quark with their presence, illuminating more and more minds to new areas of interest. Influential leaders such as Dr. A.P.J Abdul Kalam, notable industrialists such as K.M Birla and Babasaheb Kalyani, Noble laureates Sir Harry Kroto (Chemistry, 1996) and Prof. Douglas Osheroff (Physics, 1996), media personalities such as Prabhu Chawla and innovators such as Mr Vic Hayes (the Father of Wi-Fi) and Tamer Nakisci (Nokia 888 designer) have spoken at the Quark dais in past editions.

Focusing on theoretical fundamentals as well as hands-on experience, Workshops at past editions have ranged from Android App Development, RC Car, Robotics and Business Law. A profligacy of workshops before and during the fest ensures that there is never a dull moment for those who wish to try their hand at something new. With an approach that intrigues the techies without perplexing first-timers, Quark has always aspired to deliver avant-garde workshops that disseminate technical knowledge effectively amongst those who wish to build their technical skills.  Quark '13 hosted a workshop on Android Robotics as a prelude to the festival.

Being extraordinary is a default state for tech enthusiasts here who have conceptualized highly competitive and one-of-a-kind events on Corporate Methodology, Electronics, Mechatronics, Coding and Digital Cryptography. Some of the flagship events of Quark are Design and build, Programmers’ Inc., Open Showcase, Blue-chip Beatdown, Burnout and featured events such as the very popular gaming competition, MATKA, online treasure hunt- E Dorado and RoboKombat.

Our negligence on harnessing unconventional energy sources is facile and to educate the citizens of tomorrow, a one of its kind Green conference BITS GCON was formulated as one of the flagship events of Quark. The festival also hosts BITSMUN, a model United Nations assembly encouraging participants from competing colleges to volunteer for a country and act as its pseudo governmental backbone. India’s first design and content conference, Mark My Word an on-campus initiative is being held under the Quark ’13 banner. The impressive speaker line-up includes author Nikita Singh, Akshar Pathak of Minimal Bollywood posters fame and National Award winning director Quashik Mukherjee. The conference will also feature filler performances by the likes of well- known comedian Sorabh Pant. A one of a kind conference, Mark My Word is expected to set news trends in the Indian conference scene.

Exhibitions on mobile planetarium, miniature engine models, oceanography, alienware gaming laptops etc. were also showcased in previous editions of Quark. The festival has also hosted workshops by DRDO (Defence Research and Development Organization) and the Naval Aviation and Armament Depot.

Quark 2013 is proud to associate with Google Developer’s Group (GDG) to host A GDG Events panel as a part of the festival.  The panel has a number of interesting technology based events lined up both before and during the festival. The 3 pre-festival Hackathons will be based on Android, Chrome Extension, Map APIs and HTML5. Two editions of the pre-QuarkHackathons have already been conducted and have witnessed strong participation from off-campus institutions as well.  The final event, Quark 72, will be an enormous 72 hour programming marathon, with some of the country’s best coders. Officials from Google would be present to judge the event, offering contestants the opportunity to interact with them.

Apart from this,  BITS Pilani K K Birla Goa campus also assisted the Google Developers’ Group (GDG) in organizing the Goa edition of the Google DevFest, an exhibition of Google’s latest products and technologies such as App Engine, Web Services and Android, held on September 29. Quark will also be associated with Nitro-Droid, the Goan Android summit, with several great speakers from across Asia. This fantastic and ground-breaking partnership with Google promises to make Quark an absolute gold-mine for all lovers of technology and programming.

With a wide array of  events, guest lectures , workshops and exhibitions; Quark 2013 is the perfect platform for India's brightest minds to come together, innovate and make a Quantum Leap to the next level of technical excellence.  Check out the official website for more information: www.bits-quark.org

Commonfloor.com featured in India Today

The 1st September, 2012 edition of India Today carried an exclusive interview of 'the man himself', Mr. Vikas Malpani, one of the three co-founders of Commonfloor.com. 

This brief interview was covered under the Net Flux section of the paper titled 'Net Point: Reality Check' and it truly was. The interview gave a gist of what the concept of the website is, its competitive edge and the sheer size and current volume of the business.

CommonFloor has received tremendous media presence in the recent past. Having being covered by almost all popular tabloids of the country, CommonFloor is more than proud of its success story and all the media recognition, that it has received. Setting new milestones and achieving it has become the general agenda of business for the company and there is no looking back now. 

The company is now embraced to achieve a market share, that the founders had once dreamed of while building this website.

Opinion of Commonfloor.com on investment by Godrej Properties in different ventures- Legallyindia

LegallyIndia has recently published an article piece on investment by Godrej Properties in different ventures and also the opinion of Commonfloor.com on it.  

J Sagar Associates (JSA), Nishith Desai Associates (NDA), Fox Mandal, international law firms Linklaters and two European firms, advised a consortium of investors led by Dutch pension services provider APG, in their Rs. 770 crore ($141m) co-investment in Godrej’s Indian residential projects.

The deal represents a shift in focus for Godrej Properties, from joint ventures and joint development, to purchasing land parcels, according to real estate website Commonfloor.com.

Godrej Properties will be the sole developer of the residential properties, in return for a development management fee. Alongside the Dutch funds, real-estate developer Godrej Properties and global real estate fund-of-funds Sparinvest Property Funds II also invested into the project.

To read more about it, Click Here!

Commonfloor.com helps housing communities resolve issues through collaboration- TOI Coimbatore

 
The Times of India, Coimbatore version has recently published a feature on Commonfloor.com and how it helps housing communities resolve issues through collaboration.

Launched in 2007 by Sumit Jain, Lalit Mangal and Vikas Malpani, Commonfloor.com, is an innovative online service that combines property search, apartment management and vendor management and caters to a person’s complete residential requirements. From searching for an apartment to facilitating interactions within an apartment community on the ‘common floor’ platform, to connecting one to relevant service providers, the portal is dedicated to meeting all aspects of consumers’ needs around their home. Commonfloor is currently present in 120 cities and has over 35,000 communities listed with it, which constitutes more than 25 Lakh homes.  

Apartment communities are increasingly using technology to connect with their neighbours and manage their apartment societies. Apartment management services software facilitates the networking of members within a community. There are many common problems which residents within a community face to which the solutions are similar. Coordinated efforts to resolve issues make day to day life easier for all within the community. In the process, members may form lasting friendships. Groups within the community can also be formed based on common problems or interests. 

Communities manage their accounts transparently and connect with residents through emails or SMSes when they need to make important announcements like meetings notices. From annual body meetings to cultural events and festivals, a large number of apartment societies are beginning to use Commonfloor to bring residents together in holding these events.

A property buyer, Arabindh AD, a resident of Kovundampalayam has been using Commonfloor.com for more than a year now. He decided to open an account when the builders continued to delay construction of the project in Saravanampatti for more than five years, where he had made a down payment for a flat. “It became very difficult to reach them as they are headquartered in Lucknow with zonal offices in Mumbai and Bangalore. This software is really useful for all flat owners, especially those residing abroad or outside Coimbatore,” said Arabindh.

In Coimbatore city alone, more than 100 communities use the software to connect with other members and manage the association. Over 15000 registered users make use of Commonfloor services in Coimbatore.

 






The New Indian Express recently published a feature on CommonFloor.com, its founders: Vikas Malpani, Sumit Jain and Lalit Mangal and how it helps in building communities and knowing your neighbours in the community.

 

When three friends Vikas Malpani, Sumit Jain and Lalit Mangal faced the common problem — in metros and apartment societies — of hardly knowing their neighbours, they were compelled to come up with the solution to bring owners, buyers and association committee members together to address common problems and find solutions. After much thought, they finally launched CommonFloor in 2007. The technology has been invented by the three engineers from their company maxHeap Technologies Pvt. Ltd.

“If one is looking to rent or buy apartments, CommonFloor helps identify the right apartment, interact with dealers as well as owners and collect relevant information. On the other hand, CommonFloor also helps apartment owners connect with buyers, tenants or agents and for agents and builders, it helps in providing relevant and accurate information about properties to prospective buyers or tenants,” explains Sumit Jain, chief executive officer, maxHeap Technologies Pvt. Ltd.  

Vikas Malpani, co-founder and head, Marketing and Communities, maxHeap technologies Pvt. Ltd., says, ”From searching for an apartment to facilitating interactions within an apartment community on the ‘common floor’ platform and connecting one to relevant service providers, the portal is dedicated to meeting all aspects of consumers’ needs around their home.” The CommonFloor team today connects over a million apartment or house buyers and users. Currently present in 120 cities, CommonFloor has over 35,000 communities listed with it, constituting more than 25 lakh homes.

To read more about the feature, Click here!

Commonfloor.com presents Car Fiesta 2012!

Commonfloor.com is happy to organize a Car Fest in the apartments: Raheja Residency in Koramangala and Purva Panorama in Bannerghatta Road on 16th of June 2012, Saturday,. The fest will be conducted in front of the club house at around 9:30 am.

In this event, Volkswagen Palace Cross, Trident Chevrolet and Nandi Toyota will provide you with the opportunity to test drive the latest cars. There are assured gifts from giftbig.com for first 20 test drivers. Also, on spot Car Loans are provided by HDFC Bank (A Leading Housing Finance Provider in India).

We expect your generous participation to make this event happening. A successful event will motivate us to come up with more of such events in near future.

Meet your neighbours in gated communities online via Commonfloor.com - Washington Post

Washington Post, the most acclaimed and circulated daily in Washington, D.C., recently published an article on how Indians in gated communities can meet their neighbors online through Commonfloor.com.

In the recent years, as economy of the country is rising high, millions of young professionals are moving into urban gated communities of apartment projects. But due to the economic prosperity, a lot of neighbourly ties and friendly lifestyle of great importance have been severed.

That sense of loss led one of the co founders of Commonfloor.com, Sumit Jain to create an one stop “neighborhood portal” for Indians whose lifestyles have changed with their nation’s economic transformation but who still crave neighborhood life. A sort of hyper-local version of Facebook, Commonfloor creates online communities for the half-million users in 30,000 apartment buildings across 100 cities it has attracted so far.

Sumit Jain has fond memories of his childhood in a small town where everybody knew everybody. But as a young man, he moved to a big city for work and began living in an apartment building. He soon missed feeling connected to a community.

“Something fundamental is changing among urban Indians today,” said Jain, 27, a software engineer and co-founder of the start-up in the southern city of Bangalore. “We no longer know who our next-door neighbor is, we don’t speak to each other in the elevators, and we cannot knock on the neighbor’s door just to say hello without making them wary.”

To know more about the original post by The Washington Post, you can Click Here and read it for yourself!