n-Logue kiosks to sport ATMs

ATMs will henceforth not just dot urban India, but rural India as well.

n-Logue, Communications Pvt Ltd, incorporated two years back by the Telecom and

Computer Network Group (TeNeT) of IIT Madras (founded by Dr Ashok Jhunjhunwala)

will soon make available ATMs in the villages by the beginning of next year.

TeNeT has been providing tele-com and Internet access to the villages with a

social cause. The kiosks, popularly called Chi-raag through which the villa-gers

access Internet and telep-hone, are currently running in 10 districts in Tamil

Nadu, seven districts in Maharashtra, six in Gujarat, two in Madhya Pradesh and

Karnataka and one in Andhra Pradesh.

Delineating on the ATMs, Elizabeth Alexander, informa-tion solution, VP ,

n-Logue said that these ATMs would be clubbed along with the Chiraag kiosks. The

TeNeT group in association with ICICI Bank has developed the ATM, which are

specially designed targeting the villagers. The ATM cost just Rs 40,000 and come

with only cash deposit and withdrawal option. The ATM has got sen-sors to detect

if any note has been stuck while any transa-ction, if so it aborts the

transa-ction and restarts it. For the convenience of the villagers, TeNeT has

devised a new system, whereby the user need not remember his PIN number, but the

web camera and the thumb impression device installed along with the ATM will

authenticate the person.

In yet another move, n-Logue in association with Bangalore-based

Neurosyna-ptics (a company incubated by TeNeT) has developed a medical kit,

which will measure all the vital parameters of the patient. Again as is common

with the n-Logue kiosk, the doctor placed in some distant location will study

the patient sitting in some remote kiosk via video conferencing.

The medical kit, costing about Rs 15,000 will comprise of a thermometer,

Stetho-scope, Sthygmomano (BP measuring tool) and ECG. "The doctor will

remotely control the ECG and the stethoscope movement, whereas BP and the

temperature will be taken by the kiosk operator under guidance from the

doctor," informed Alexander.

Nisha Kurian


Chennai