Hyderabad Becomes India’s First GIGA City; City Browses on 1GB Broadband Internet Speed and Beyond...

ACT Fibernet, India’s largest non-telco and 3^rd largest Internet Service Provider has announced the launch of 1Gbps (Giga speeds) wired broadband internet service for the city of Hyderabad. Launched in the presence of K. Taraka Rama Rao, Minister for IT, Municipal Administration and Urban Development and Industries (MAUD), ACT Fibernet is the first player in the Indian internet market to GIGA enable an entire Indian city.

Riding on the strength of being the largest non-telco ISP, ACT Fibernet has the best global fiber optic technology and is now bringing world class experience with futuristic speeds to Indian consumers.

When the average internet speeds in India is 2.5 Mbps, ACT Fibernet’s 1 Gbps launch will leapfrog Hyderabad internet speeds to 400x national average.  Very few cities across the world can boast as being ‘Giga enabled’, certainly not at this scale.  This launch places Hyderabad in league of select cities in the world that can boast of such futuristic technology. Giga speeds will allow downloads from the internet faster than transferring data from a USB drive.

ACT Fibernet is the largest broadband provider in twin cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad with over 65% market share. Growing at an incredible rate, ACT Fibernet is known to be a speed pioneer in the broadband industry; this launch will not only provide internet connections at incredibly high speeds, but will disrupt and lead technological growth in the country. 

Speaking on the launch Bala Malladi, CEO, ACT Fibernet said, “With our citizens and the government moving towards the Digital India movement, high speed internet is the need of the hour. With the launch of our 1 Gbps broadband internet service, it gives me immense pride to turn this dream into reality. The city of Hyderabad is apt for our maiden launch as it has some of the best technology brands, educational institutions and a vibrant economy.”

Malladi further added, “We are confident this product will transform the way internet is now being consumed at large and this will fast track the government’s newest target to connect all its 23 million Telangana residents through the Internet by 2018”.

Speaking at the launch, Minister for IT, Municipal Administration and Urban development and Industries, K. Taraka Rama Rao said, “I am extremely pleased to be present here and witness the historic launch of 1Gbps broadband internet service for an entire city in the country. It is my vision to connect our residents through high speed internet and I am sure this product from ACT Fibernet will further help fulfil my vision of making Telangana a tech and digitally advanced hub.”

India is the second largest market globally with internet connectivity reaching over 400 million people.  With the government’s constant and fervent efforts to internet enable cities, internet penetration is set to reach over 600 million users by 2020. Additionally, the government’s recent announcement to boost high-speed broadband via optic Fiber to 1,50,000 gram Panchayats will further receive support through initiatives such as ACT Fibernet’s and its contribution to the country’s digital growth.

ACT Fibernet’s 1 Gbps wired internet service is slated to soon be available in the 11 cities the company has presence in. The product is currently available in Hyderabad for Rs 5999 per month, 1 Gbps , 1TB FUP. 

Infosys Joins the 2000 Member Open Invention Network Community

Open Invention Network (OIN), the largest patent non-aggression community in history with well over 2000 members, announced that Infosys has joined OIN as a community member.  As a leading IT services provider, and one of the most admired companies in India, Infosys believes that open source software (OSS) is a necessary enabler as enterprises worldwide use the Internet to build new consumer-centric and connected applications. 

“We are pleased to have a premier global IT services firm, like Infosys, join the OIN community,” said Keith Bergelt, CEO of Open Invention Network. “We appreciate Infosys’s leadership in joining OIN, and believe that those that look to the company for inspiration, both in and outside of India, will see the wisdom it has demonstrated by supporting patent non-aggression in Linux and adjacent open source technologies.”

“Open source software has become the primary engine of innovation, and should now be viewed as the key building block of all modern enterprise architectures. Innovation in areas like cloud computing, big data, artificial intelligence, DevOps and modern web frameworks are all happening in the open source ecosystem, and the adoption of these technologies in enterprises is benefiting from the foundation of Linux that enterprise IT departments have already invested in.  Infosys is actively taking open source, and open source based products, to all our enterprise customers, and so we are extremely excited to become part of OIN, and we encourage others to join OIN as well to support this very important initiative.” said Navin Budhiraja, SVP - Head – Architecture and Technology, Infosys.

OIN’s community practices patent non-aggression in core Linux and adjacent open source technologies by cross-licensing Linux System patents to one another on a royalty-free basis. Patents owned by Open Invention Network are similarly licensed royalty-free to any organization that agrees not to assert its patents against the Linux System.  

ALTBalaji, MobiKwik Announce Payment Wallet Platform Integration

ALTBalaji, the digital platform of Balalji Telefilms Limited announces partnership withmobile wallet major MobiKwik. The global OTT entertainment platform ALTBalaji, will offer 250 hours of original content and subscribers can now avail 25% cashback while paying for the service using MobiKwik wallet. The partnership will provide an easy payment facility to MobiKwik’s 55 million registered users to enjoy ALTBalaji.

Speaking on the announcement, Nachiket Pantvaidya, CEO of ALT Digital Media Entertainment Limited said, “With a vision to create a better consumer experience, the partnership with MobiKwik will facilitate frictionless connection between our subscribers and ALTBalaji. This convenient payment option will allow our consumers to subscribe to our original and exclusive content with ease. We are glad that MobiKwik which is a pioneer in the wallets business will open a new consumer base to our service.”

Bikram Bir Singh, Business Head at MobiKwik said, “We are glad to partner with ALTBalaji and extend our digital payment services to their subscribers. This association is in line with our endeavor to make MobiKwik payments ubiquitous.”

MobiKwik also powers payments for the IRCTC service and can target the users based on the long-distance rail tickets that they have purchased, allowing ALTBalaji to offer the service to these customers who are otherwise starved of entertainment or must consume the same content available elsewhere. ALTBalaji, the subscription based digital entertainment platform will be commercially available from mid-April. Created to provide an alternative to mainstream Indian entertainment and TV content, ALTBalaji will bring fresh and interesting stories to audiences in varied genres. The platform will offer original content of 250 hours in the first year of its launch.

ALTBalaji app will be launched with 6 new shows and will be followed with a new show every 15 days for its viewers to binge watch. The content is created by some of the best talent of Indian Entertainment industry including critically acclaimed directors and actors. The long illustrious list of artists comprises of Nagesh Kukunoor, Juhi Chawla, Nimrat Kaur, Rajkumar Rao, Hansal Mehta, Sakshi Tanwar, Ram Kapoor, Atul Kulkarni, Sameer Soni, Yudhishtar Urs, Dipannita Sharma Atwal, and more.

Siemens Home Appliances Opens Corporate Showroom in Bangalore

Siemens Home Appliances, Germany’s number one brand and Europe’s market leader in built-in kitchen appliances, has inaugurated their 2^nd corporate showroom in India at J.P Nagar, Bangalore After receiving an applauding response from the corporate showroom in Mumbai, Siemens Home Appliances expanded its experiential offering to the tech hub of the country. The exclusive 726sqft. Corporate showroom has a lot to offer as it will showcase its high-end built-in appliances like Combination Microwave, Microwave, Induction Hob, Island Hood along with Dishwasher and Refrigerator. All these products will be live and one can come and experience their features and best in class technology before making a purchasing decision. The store is located at opposite Renault Showroom, Bangalore allowing the customers to try the live products before buying them.

Commenting on this exclusive showroom expansion, Gunjan Srivastava, MD and CEO, BSH Household Appliances Manufacturing Pvt. Ltd. said, “Siemens has seen a phenomenal growth in India since our entry in 1997 and has continued to deliver an ace lifestyle to the Indian audience. Experience always speaks for itself and hence we believe that an experiential showroom will help reinforcing our brand quality and value among customers. South has been a key market for us, Bangalore being the silicon valley of India, the showroom launch we aim to increase the accessibility to innovative appliances.

The Siemens corporate showroom will offer an array of products in the built-in and free standing category that would define the ultimate in lifestyle for customers in Bangalore. They provide a full range of premium products and services with an integrated solution. The flexible fitting and the cutting-edge design of Siemens built-in appliances, provide easy integration with the kitchen furniture and home architecture. The free-standing products have built-in intelligence which ensures it saves energy, reduces input and maximizes output. Siemens has always been a pioneer in innovation, design and technology for which it has been bestowed with various international awards. All the Siemens products involve detailed research and testing right from its conceptualization to manufacturing and thus ensure complete customer satisfaction. The products are a combination of superior technology with visually aesthetic designs.

The Siemens showroom is at No.- 8, Ground and Mazzanine floor, 15^th cross, 6^th phase JP Nagar, Diagonal opposite to Renault showroom, Bangalore- 560078, Karnataka.

Siemens Home Appliances is renowned for constantly taking up technological challenges and enthused by developing forward-looking products, solutions and services. It combines the latest technology with improved functionality that results in pioneering products and solutions into benefits its customers can see and experience. Setting these benchmarks in the market, Siemens products cater to the most demanding and wide-ranging aspirations of a modern lifestyle. These superior standards are a result of Siemens’ decade’s long experience in manufacturing home appliances, ensuring that its products meet the most specific customer requirements.

Trend Micro Bids Farewell to its Global CTO Raimund Genes

It is with great sadness that Trend Micro and its 5,500 employees around the globe have learned about the death of Raimund Genes, chief technology officer for Trend Micro. Genes, aged 54, died unexpectedly of a heart attack on Friday, March 24, at his family home in Germany.

“It is with a heavy heart that I have to inform you about the incalculable loss of our dear friend and colleague Raimund Genes,” said Eva Chen, chief executive officer for Trend Micro in a note to all employees. “We are shocked and heartbroken. Raimund was an exceptional human being and a great leader. He was a confidant and friend and our heart goes out to his family.”

Raimund Genes was an integral part of Trend Micro during the last 21 years, building up the Trend Micro organization in Germany and Europe and serving as chief technology officer and an important public voice for the company. 

“Trend Micro and the entire security industry have lost an exceptional visionary and a wonderful human being. Raimund’s talent, knowledge, passion and great sense of humor will be truly missed,” said Jenny and Steve Chang, co-founders of Trend Micro. “Raimund was well known in the industry for his security knowledge, and he enjoyed using vibrant examples to educate audiences about the need for cybersecurity. As an integral part of our executive team, we highly appreciated his ambition to constantly challenge himself and the organization. His drive for continuous improvement and his remarkable talent sparked the passion of security of others. He was a great mentor to so many Trend Micro employees.”

Raimund Genes gained a wealth of security expertise and experience over the course of his 30-year career. Originally a distributor for Trend Micro with his own business, he founded Trend Micro Deutschland GmbH, Trend Micro’s subsidiary in Germany in 1996. During his time at Trend Micro, Raimund held numerous senior management positions, including managing director for Trend Micro Germany, head of sales marketing and sales Europe, president of European operations and most recently global chief technology officer. Most importantly, Raimund was a loving husband and father of two sons and great friend. Trend Micro and all of its employees share with Raimund’s family and friends the immense sadness of his death.

XIME Hosts Two-Day International B-Schools’ Meet in Campus

Xavier Institute of Management and Entrepreneurship holds the International B-Schools’ meet with a theme “Management Education: Coping with the emerging trends in the globalized world” which commenced on Tuesday. The two day event ending on March 29, 2017 is being  held at the XIME Campus in Electronic City Phase 2, Bengaluru.

The conference was chaired by Prof. J. Philip, the Founder and President of XIME. Prof. Philip who is a former Director of Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Bengaluru is considered a doyen of Indian management education and under his stewardship XIME has gone from strength to strength and has been consistently ranked among the best B-Schools of India with the latest Business India Survey putting it at the 25th rank from among over 3500 management institutions in India.

“Globalization has been a dominant theme and framework for action for the business world during the last two decades and more. Management education for its part has been making constant adjustments to the exigencies of globalization, whether it is multinational management, business strategy, marketing, international finance or supply chain management,” said Professor Philip.

In the backdrop of various concurrent situations around the world, the organizers chose a theme in which they can hold discussions on how management education can cope with various emerging trends in the era of globalization.

“There have recently been countervailing forces against globalization, as illustrated by BREXIT, the rise of illiberal populism in parts of the world and policy trends associated with the new USA administration,” said Professor Philip.

“While such restrictive trends may periodically appear and disappear, technological developments and the compulsions of inter dependence of nations would continue to shrink the world and make it imperative for businesses to operate on a global canvas. B-Schools too will have to follow suit, and design strategies to sustain their globalized operations and exposure, keeping in view the contextual condition,” he said. 

A galaxy of illustrious international and Indian academicians along with distinguished industry captains deliberated on the conference theme with separate sessions devoted to the sub themes such as- ‘perils and pleasures of globalized education: stakeholders’ perspectives’,  by Dr John Delaney,dean of Kogod School of Business, American University stressed on the U.S. disruption and how it can affect International business school, he says the impediment  will shift oportunities from the west . Universities outside the west  must collaborate to preserve information essential to recognise we are equal in pursuit of higher education. He also highlighted on pollution as a global enemy . The  US policy encourages coal as fuel, this will discourage other countries to  reduce pollution. Besides,he also said business is an applied field ,the business school outside the west must lead development and enroll more students from U.S. and Uk .networks and partnerships for globalized education’, funding support for global exposure: requirements and availability’.

Other significant and brainstorming sub sessions were ‘globalized education: the role and impact on transnational corporations’, ‘multi-country Programmes: feasibility and impact’, ‘technology enabled pedagogies in management education’ and ‘globalizing management education: An agenda for action’.

While Dr. R. Natarajan, the former chairman of The All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) (AICTE) was the Guest of Honour at the conference, the Keynote addresses were delivered by Dr. John T. Delaney, Dean – Kogod School of Business, American University and Mr. Rajiv C. Lochan, MD & CEO of The Hindu Group. The group of international speakers were the Directors/Deans of leading Business Schools from the USA, China, Russia, UK, Ireland, Malaysia, Thailand, Brazil and Australia and the team of Indian academia was led by the Directors of IIM Bangalore (Dr. G. Raghuram), IIM Raipur (Dr. B.S. Sahay), IIM Trichy (Dr. Praful Agnihotri), MDI Gurgaon (Dr.C.P. Shrimali) and the former Director of IIM Kolkatta (Dr. Shekhar Choudhari).

As any deliberation on Management Education is considered incomplete without the industry’s perspective, leading lights like B. Muthuraman (Former MD, Tata Steel), Ganesh Natarajan (Former Chairman, NASSCOM and Chairman 5F World), Sandip Sen (Global CEO, Aegis Ltd), Milind Chalisgaonkar (Founder Mphasis Ltd and Advisor AXA), Amitabh Satyam (Former Managing Partner SAP and Global Consulting Leader – Telecom, IBM) and Suprio Guha Thakurtha (Chief Strategy Officer, The Economist, London) spoke at the event representing the industry.

ROHM Semiconductor and Renesas Partners for GR Peach Design Contest

ROHM Semiconductors India was a proud partner of the annual GR Peach Design Contest organized by Renesas. The contest which commenced in July last year, concluded successfully with the Grand Finale organized on March 2^, 2017, at The Leela Palace, Bangalore. ROHM Semiconductor has always encouraged young aspiring engineers by supporting such events. This contest invites students, hobbyists and buddying engineers to design and build innovative embedded systems, which attracted participation of more than 100 teams.

25 best projects from the top 50 were awarded by ROHM with their Sensor Shield Evaluation Kit which the young engineers can utilize in their various projects, including IoT solutions.

ROHM Sensor kit is an efficient way to quickly evaluate and test sensor products which is compatible with the Arduino Uno platform, and the kit contains the base board, with 6 Sensor Breakout Boards (Analog and Digital Ambient Light Sensors, Accelerometer + Magnetometer Combo Sensor, along with Hall, Tempr and UV Sensors). For more details on the Sensor EVK.

The Grand Finale witnessed 20 teams contesting against each other for top prize. Hyderabad-based NEO Innovations won the First Prize for their ‘Mini Gateway for Automation and Security’ Project. The Second Prize was bagged by the team from MBCET, Trichy for their Project PEACHSAT and the 3^rd prize was awarded to the team from Sri Eshwar College of Engineering, Coimbatore for their project- ‘IoT Based Vehicle Parameters and Security System’.

Britto Edwards Victor, Head, India Design Centre, ROHM Semiconductor India was on the jury of this contest. Daisuke Nakamura, Managing Director, ROHM Semiconductor India also presented prizes to the winners. 

Bharti of Maharaja Surajmal Institute is TechGig’s Geek Goddess 2017

The recently concluded TechGig Geek Goddess event proved without a doubt that given the opportunity, top coders can appear from any background and are not are not exclusive to the top 10 institutes in India.

Ms. Bharti from Maharaja Surajmal Institute, not only topped the Geek Goddess leader board beating hundreds of IIT and NIT graduates, but did it in style by completing all her coding challenges with 2 hours to spare!

"This is first time I’ve come first somewhere. At Maharaja Surajmal Institute, I always placed third. I wish I could have called my Dad on stage now that I have come first. Since I was born, I have faced a lot of discrimination being a woman, I never stepped out of my house unchaperoned, even for a day. But when I shared my desire to move to Hyderabad to join Verizon, my dad supported me whole-heartedly, even against the wishes of other family members. He was the one who encouraged me for my education and supported my growth," said a very emotional Bharti.

Accepting the TechGig Geek Goddess 2017 title Bharti added, "Everyone says behind every successful man there is a woman, behind me it’s my dad. I dedicate my success and this award to him."

Bharti is a B. Tech from Maharaja Surajmal Institute of Technology (MSIT), with proficiency in Java and knowledge of Network and Data Security. Verizon was quick to recognize Bharti’s innate talent and employed her straight out of campus as a software developer at their Hyderabad facilities.

Women leaders from across the IT space graced the event and interacted with the contestants, including such stalwarts as,

·  Vasuta Agarwal, VP & GM, India at InMobi

·  Kalyani Sekar, Managing Director, Verizon Data Services India

·  Vidhya Krishnaswamy, Director, Sapient Razorfish

·  Deepika Goel, Vice President- Research and Analytics, Genpact

·  Anahita Varma, Managing Director - Financial Services, Technology, Accenture

·  Daisy Chittilapilly, Managing Director, Partner Organization, Cisco India and SAARC

·  Annie Mathew Director-Audience Marketing, Microsoft India

·  Bidisha Nagaraj, Chief Marketing Officer, Schneider Electric

·  Dipti Tandon, Head of Product and Technology, TechGig

Annie Mathew Director-Audience Marketing, Microsoft India, commented, “The passion and energy of the women coders at the finale was palpable. It was especially sweet to hear the stories of the women who won and others who came across and discussed the issues on top of their minds. It’s so important to have such events for women to bring out role models. So, thanks to TechGig for the Geek Goddess contests.”

Dipti Tandon, Head of Product and Technology, TechGig, thanked everyone for the resounding success of event by saying, “Each finalist at TechGig Geek Goddess is a winner, as we had 30,000 women register for the event, and only the top 100 made it to the final. This event not only revealed the top women coders from across India, but also gave an opportunity for them to interact and network with exemplary women leaders who were present at the grand finale.”

“The astonishing victory of MSIT graduate Bharti, at TechGig Geek Goddess substantiates our purpose of democratizing talent. We organize such events to promote true merit and reveal the best coding talent in the country by bringing coders from start-ups and established giants under one roof to compete and unleash their true potential, irrespective of their background. We wish Bharti tremendous success as a role model and inspiration to other women coders,” said Nilanjan Roy, Head of Strategy, Times Business Solutions.

Other winners at TechGig Geek Goddess 2017 were, RTMNU graduate Charmy Vora (Rank 2), Sneha Mujumdar from Pune University (Rank 3), Anusha Yakkala from IIT Kgp (Rank 4), and Sonal Bhargava from DAVIET (Rank 5).

Upcoming national level competitions and the complete list of winners and finalists are available on the TechGig website.

Mahindra First-Ever 'Mojo Exclusive' Showroom Now Opened in Bengaluru

Mahindra opens Exclusive MOJO dealership in Bengaluru Mahindra Mojo exclusive dealership was launched today in Bengaluru. This exclusive Mahindra Mojo dealership is located in Banaswadi of Bengaluru.

NAFS Motors, the exclusive Mahindra Mojo dealership is located at 100 feet Road, Doddabanaswadi, Bengaluru. This is a first of its kind two-wheeler brand specific dealership in the country.

The exclusive Mojo dealership, NAFS Motors comes with a workshop that has been designed to promote one-stop destination for all the biking needs of a biker. The MOJO showroom also sells accessories and merchandise of Mahindra Mojo motorcycles. Apart from accessories, the dealership will also provide customisation and servicing attributes. The exclusive Mahindra Mojo dealership is driven by young and vibrant team who are passionate about biking.

The “MOJO TRIBE” – community of owners of Mojo motorcycles translates the brand ethos into brick and mortar, having meticulously planned sections showcasing the essentials of riding and the adventure of ‘Trails of Mojo Tribe‘.

Naveen Malhotra,  senior General Manager – Sales, Marketing and Product Planning, Mahindra Two Wheelers said, “We have always believed in biking being a lifestyle and attitude than just a product and hence we look the unconventiopnal route right from the launch of the “MOJO Tribe” for MOJO owners to the “Trails of MOJO Tribe” which took the owners to experience the bike in diverse terrains.”

The company had also announced that they are working on an adventure, street and cruiser models based on the Mojo platform. With 4 new models confirmed to join the Mojo family; prime contenders being production versions of the Scrambler and Adventure version displayed at the 2016 Auto Expo. A low-cost version with standard telescopic forks and a single sided exhaust too is on the cards!

Launched in 2015, the Mojo currently retails at Rs. 1.70 lakh (ex-showroom, Delhi). The move to separate the Mahindra Mojo from the rest of the line-up, which includes products like the Centuro and Gusto, is to add value for buyers paying this premium price by offering more exclusive experience and premium treatment.