Dr Subhash Chandra performs rheumatic mitral stenosis, first such procedure in Tanzania

Senior Cardiologist from a leading Indian (New Delhi based) BLK Super Speciality Hospital performed Balloon Mitral Valvotomy (BMV) on a 19-year old girl. The surgery was performed at Tanzania's leading Cardiac Centre, The Jakaya Kikwete Cardiac Institute, Dar es Salaam in partnership with the a team of resident  cardiologists led by Dr Peter R Kisenge, Head of the Cardiology Unit. This procedure was the first of its kind ever performed in Tanzania.

Besides the BMV, Dr Chandra performed 6 other interventional procedures at JKCI. All these procedures were performed in partnership, as part of an effort for JKCI and BLK Super Specialty Hospital to work together to build capacities in cardiology in Tanzania.

BLK Super Speciality Hospital has been committed to work in partnership with hospitals across Africa to share its vast experience across specialties to build healthcare capacities locally. to achieve this, the hospital provides training to doctors from these countries at New Delhi and regularly sends teams of eminent doctors from New Delhi to different African countries to work with local hospital and perform complicated surgeries. 

Dr Subhash Chandra, Chairman & HOD, BLK Heart Center said, “the young girl suffered from heavy breathlessness and fatigue, initial diagnosis revealed Mitral Stenosis (narrowing of heart valve). The team thought of using a technique which will have minimum involvement of any surgical procedure and girl could be discharged without having to stay for long in the hospital.  We inserted a tube (catheter) with a balloon attached to it through a vein and into her heart. We inflated the balloon to expand the valve using a technique called Balloon Mitral Valvectomy”.

The girls symptoms of tiredness, breathlessness, cough and swelling was cured without any major surgery and was discharged the next day, informed Dr Chandra.

Dr Peter R Kisenge, Head Cardiologist, Muhimbili National Hospital, said, “for the benefit of people of Tanzania, we are looking forward for a mutually rewarding and enduring relationship with BLK Super Speciality Hospital. We shall periodically invite doctors from BLK hospital to visit Tanzania to conduct surgeries and CME programmes at JKCI for training of our medical staff.  Also whenever required, JKCI shall send its medical staff for training courses to BLK Hospital. We are very thankful to Dr Chandra and team for their support in showing us a technique that we have not used so far.”

“Taking our commitment to next step, we plan to enter into an official partnership in developing world class cardiac care facilities in Tanzania. We are hopeful that an official tie-up soon will be in place with the JKCI and we will do more such procedures and surgeries to provide quality healthcare at the door steps of people in Tanzania. We have already started work in this regard and an official MoU shall further strengthen our efforts”, said, Mr Naresh Kapoor, Director, BLK Super Speciality Hospital.

Stenosis means narrowing of an opening in the heart valve. Stenosis of the mitral valve limits the forward flow of blood from the left atrium to the left ventricle. This may cause a back-up of blood and fluid in the lungs. Mitral stenosis most commonly develops many years after a person has had rheumatic fever.  Many of the symptoms of mitral stenosis includes quick weight gain; weakness; dizziness; swelling in the ankles, feet and/or abdomen (edema), heart palpitations.

Cedar Rapids Welcomes New DreamCourt for Area Kids

Dreams deferred are not dreams denied as proven yesterday, when three years of fundraising came to fruition with the grand opening of DreamCourt™ at the Boys & Girls Clubs of Cedar Rapids – Polk Alternative Education Center. DreamCourts are top-quality, multipurpose play spaces built in lower-income communities to promote fitness and fun, thanks to a collaboration among WorldVentures Foundation™, Nancy Lieberman Charities and Sport Court^®. Local dignitaries, event sponsors and community members gathered for the ribbon-cutting ceremony, held from 4 to 6 p.m.

“As the second-largest city in Iowa, Cedar Rapids has the distinction of being one of the nation’s best places to live. But we know big cities often house big challenges for children. We’re humbled to help provide a safe place for area children to play and grow socially so they can compete on every level,” said Gwyneth Lloyd, executive director of WorldVentures Foundation.

WorldVentures Foundation is a dedicated, national partner of the Boys & Girls Clubs of America and leads Volunteer Days at clubs throughout North America. Eddie Head, president of WorldVentures, cut the ceremonial ribbon at the Cedar Rapids opening, unveiling a two-hoop, 35-by-65-foot DreamCourt with Sport Court’s SportGame high-performance safety surface and bright blue and orange accents. Of 21 DreamCourts built to date, 13 are located at Boys & Girls Clubs nationwide.

“We are honored and thrilled to be a recipient of a new basketball court through the Nancy Lieberman Foundation and World Ventures Foundation,” said John Tursi, executive director of Boys & Girls Clubs of Cedar Rapids. “Our kids will be able to use this beautiful, new court for many years.”

Basketball Hall-of-Famer Nancy Lieberman, founder and chairwoman of Nancy Lieberman Charities, was unable to attend due to her obligations as assistant coach of the Sacramento Kings, but she shared her sentiments with the audience through a letter read by Lloyd.

“I am living the dream that every one of the kids who will play on this court will have one day. I'm proud to be in Sacramento making history as only the second woman to coach in the NBA. But history doesn't mean anything unless we open the doors for others to fulfill a dream.” 

3i Infotech sets benchmark in KSA with Saudi home loans

-          ORION, KASTLE Universal Lending (ULS) and KASTLE Treasury are amongst  the chosen products

India, 19 October, 2015: Saudi Home Loans (SHL), a Riyadh based fully Islamic specialized home finance company, established to provide customer focused products and services to finance home loans, adopts 3i Infotech's mainline solutions- ORION, KASTLE Universal Lending (ULS) and KASTLE Treasury.

SHL is now equipped with powerful capabilities to manage three key processes - Internal Systems, Data Management & Human Resource Management.

Speaking on the occasion, Jeelani Basha, Geo Head- KSA and Bahrain, 3i Infotech said, “The new system implementation by 3i Infotech has enabled SHL to automate and improve their go-to-market strategy to offer new products in the lending business market. The new system has also enabled the end users to access customers’ information and documents on real time basis which will eventually improve the user performance as well as customer relationship.

Abdulelah Al-Shaikh, CEO, Saudi Home Loans commented, “SHL selected 3i Infotech’s KASTLE ULS (integrated with DMS and OBI), KASTLE Treasury and ORION. We went Live on these solutions in June, 2015. Implementation of these products involved a number of challenges but the dedication and knowledge of 3i Infotech’s team made it to a successful migration into production, and since then, we have been able to serve our customers with superior services. We continue to work closely with 3i Infotech and agree the timetable for the phase two deliverables. We look forward to continue our collaboration and I hope this collaboration will be a long and enduring professional relationship between the two companies”.

KASTLE ULS is an enterprise-wide lending solution that automates the entire lending life cycle from customer acquisition to recovery. KASTLE ULS accelerates commercial lending, consumer lending, home equity, project financing, Islamic lending and micro finance.

KASTLE Treasury is a leading, integrated treasury management solution used by financial institutions worldwide to meet their business objectives. Equipped with holistic picture of an organization’s financial health, KASTLE Treasury offers multi-entity, multi-portfolio, multi-dealing room environment supported by robust risk management, back-office management, and MIS. With the capability of being deployed on Oracle Database 11g Release 2, KASTLE Treasury is now Oracle Exadata & Exalogic Ready.

With the deployment of the technologically advanced ORION ERP system, SHL gets complete control over the value chain and instant access to actionable and critical business information which is imperative for growth oriented businesses to run seamlessly.

Efficient management of SHL transformation adds another feather to the 3i Infotech’s leadership skills in the Banking and Financial Services sector in Kingdom Of Saudi Arabia region.

XIUS Awarded NFC Patent by USPTO

Strengthens XIUS Mobile Payments Portfolio in APAC

XIUS, a leader in delivering innovative, revenue-generating solutions to mobile operators, banks and financial institutions worldwide, announced today the award of its patent in Near Field Communication (NFC) technology. The invention relates to a smart integration of dual architecture contactless SIM into mobile devices and describes the method of efficiently performing various financial transactions. The patent filed in February 2010, was awarded by the US Patent and Trademark Office recently this year.

NFC as a technology is extending beyond applications initially envisioned by the market. End users have started to believe that using their mobile phone for payments is safe and also addresses privacy concerns. Mobile wallets are now making a significant impact by creating new market opportunities. XIUS mobile payments solution is powered by futuristic technologies including NFC, and aims to deliver customers seamless services and enriched experiences in real-time fashion.

Speaking on the occasion, said G.V. Kumar, CEO and Managing Director, “The award of yet another patent is testimony to XIUS’ thought leadership and emphasis on innovation. XIUS takes immense pride to have developed years ago, a SIM based solution for NFC enabled payments. Our endeavoring efforts have borne fruit and the award of this patent only reiterates our strong belief and commitment to continue innovating and contributing to the industry”.

XIUS implements NFC as one of the technologies in offering banks and financial institutions its unique technology enabled banking services. The solution leverages existing mobile ecosystem and extends banking services to the unbanked and under-banked segments of the population that banks are otherwise challenged to penetrate and cater to.

NFC technology allows retailers and brands to engage with increasingly connected mobile consumers. Retailers and brands can use NFC during the customer journey to improve in-store experiences, enable touch & go payments, generate more sales, and enhance customer loyalty and trust. As part of its mobile commerce offerings, XIUS NFC-based payment solution improves customer experience and delivers control of purchase flow to the merchant.

Whether deployed to facilitate banking transactions or in a retail outlet, XIUS NFC mobile enabled solution has diverse uses among those that are now being widely publicized and adopted by technology companies / retail chains in evolved markets such as the US and Europe in the recent times

Leah Remini and Life is Good Headline DreamCourt Opening in Long Beach

Life is Good is more than a brand, it’s a movement fueled by optimism. Today, the California children served by the Boys & Girls Club of Long Beach celebrated optimism with the grand opening of a new DreamCourt™ at the Freeman E. Fairfield/Westside Center. DreamCourts are state-of-the-art basketball facilities built in lower-income communities through a collaboration among WorldVentures Foundation™, Nancy Lieberman Charities and Sport Court^®. Optimistic lifestyle brand Life is Good, who donated over $50,000 to build the court, along with actress Leah Remini headlined the grand opening event.

“I’m honored and humbled that Leah Remini and Life is Good are rallying behind this effort,” said Nancy Lieberman, Basketball Hall-of-Famer, NBA coach and founder of the Nancy Lieberman Charities. “Together we can bring a renewed sense of vitality and community to children and families in the area.”

The building of this court was motivated by the story of a 15-year-old boy who was slain in the area last March. Leah Remini’s sister, Nicole Remini, who initiated the project said: “After such a tragedy, we hope this DreamCourt will unite the community and provide a safe place for children to play, away from gangs and violence.”

When Life is Good heard about the need for a safe place to play in Long Beach, they stepped up to support the building of the DreamCourt. The $100 million lifestyle brand is currently on a nationwide tour to spread optimism and help #GROWtheGood by connecting with communities and raising over $1 million to help kids in need. The DreamCourt opening is one of the main events during the tour.

“Optimism doesn’t ignore what’s wrong – it helps you focus on what’s right,” said John Jacobs, Co-Founder, Life is Good. “We’ve learned through the years that life isn’t easy and life isn’t perfect, but life is good. We are committed to giving back and helping to make life good for all kids.”

Dan Stammen, the board chair of WorldVentures Foundation, shared his perspectives: “When you consider that 83% of children who come to this facility live below the poverty line and 60% come from single-parent households, a message of optimism is like oxygen. I’m a Boys & Girls Club alumni, and I know together, we can breathe new life into communities like these all over North America.”

"Sport Court is extremely pleased to support the WorldVentures Foundation and Nancy Lieberman Charities on this important DreamCourt project that will provide a high-quality Power Game™ surface for safe play at the Boys & Girls Club in Long Beach,” said Joe Ure, Sport Court Director of Residential Sales.


WorldVentures Foundation is a dedicated, national affiliate of the Boys & Girls Clubs of America and leads service excursions to clubs nationwide. Of 19 DreamCourts built to date, 11 are located at Boys & Girls Clubs nationwide. Earlier this year, the Remini sisters and Viva Glam magazine hosted a celebrity silent auction at the Sofitel Los Angeles at Beverly Hills to help raise money for construction of the Freeman E. Fairfield/Westside DreamCourt, which features two full-sized, multi-sport courts constructed with Sport Court’s Power Game high-performance safety surface, bright blue and orange accents, a wall mural and bleachers.