With the increased adoption of automation across industries, job seekers for robotics profiles have seen a significant jump over the last few years with Maharashtra having maximum openings in this sector, says a report.
According to data from global job site Indeed, there has been a rise of 186 per cent in the number of job seekers for robotics profiles between May 2015 and May 2018. During the same period, job postings in the sector grew 191 per cent.
During the same period, job postings in the sector grew 191 per cent. "Robotics is one of the most exciting sectors emerging in India today. Sectors like construction, manufacturing and healthcare are boosting the demand for robotics talent, and there is enormous scope for its application across an even wider array of industries," said Sashi Kumar, Managing Director, Indeed. Kumar further noted that "as access to internet connectivity and open source platforms improves, a favourable environment for the sector’s growth and development is being created. Even as people fear that automation will take away jobs, robotics is creating new job opportunities for skilled resources."
Over the last three years, while job seekers are increasingly looking at working in the robotics sector, companies within the sector are slowing down in terms of hiring. "Following the initial spurt in growth in 2015, driven by the government's investment of USD 13 billion in robotics under its Make in India initiative, hiring for robotics profiles has slowed considerably," the report said.
The data further indicates that Maharashtra is the leading state in India for those seeking job opportunities in the robotics sector. Karnataka, which houses India's Silicon Valley Bengaluru, and Telangana, of which upcoming technology hub Hyderabad is a part, come second and third in terms of job seekers in the sector.
The state will have its second agricultural engineering college on Gandhi Krishi Vignana Kendra (GKVK) campus in Bengaluru. The government has already issued a notification in this regard.
At present, an agricultural college is functioning from the GKVK campus and it would be upgraded as agricultural engineering college. The new college will get accreditation from the Indian Council of Agriculture Research and function as an independent institution under the University of Agricultural Sciences (ICAR). The funds released by the ICAR will be used for the research and betterment of the infrastructure facilities on the campus.
“We have good infrastructure to become an agricultural engineering college. As the admission process has started this year, we will be adding new courses from next year depending on the demand. But we will function as agricultural engineering college from this academic year only. We will add some more courses at MTech and PhD levels,” a senior official of agricultural college in GKVK told the media.
Presently, India has 23 agricultural engineering colleges. The first agricultural engineering college in Karnataka was established in Raichur. The agricultural engineering institute, which was offering diploma courses in agricultural engineering since 1969 was upgraded as agricultural engineering college in 1987.
Dr M Veerannagouda, Dean, college of agricultural engineering, Raichur, welcomed the government’s move. “There is lot of demand for agricultural courses at present. Being an agricultural engineering college, GKVK can offer more courses in MTech and PhD. More staff need to be recruited for the institution,” he said.
Union Minister Arun Jaitley exuded confidence that India will pip Great Britain to become the fifth largest economy in the world next year if economic expansion continues at the projected rate.
However, rising international crude oil prices and the global trade war would throw up challenges going forward, he said. “If we keep growing at the rate which is being projected, it is likely that next year we will be the fifth largest economy ahead of Great Britain,” Jaitley said in a Facebook post titled ‘The Congress Gave Slogans to Rural India - Prime Minister Modi Gave Resources’. “This is in consonance with the rest of the narrative. Being the fastest growing economy for the last four years, we can look at the next decade as one of economic expansion,” he added.
A latest World Bank report has said that the Indian economy has become world’s sixth-biggest economy, pushing France to seventh place. The US tops the list followed by China, Japan, Germany and Britain.
The new calculations were arrived on the basis of Indian economy’s performance in 2017. India’s gross domestic product (GDP) was valued at $2.597 trillion at the end of 2017 overtaking the French economy, which was amounted at $2.582 trillion last year.
“We have already seen a significant move up in India’s ranking in the ease of doing business and as a preferred investment destination. Today we stand to be tested in the midst of a global challenge thrown up on account of the international crude oil prices and the trade war,” Jaitley said.
Crude oil prices, which were around $66 a barrel, in April are now hovering around $75 a barrel. The Indian economy is estimated to grow at 7% to 7.5% in the current fiscal, higher than 6.7% growth clocked in 2017-18 fiscal.
“The recently released World Bank data reveals that India has now become the sixth largest economy relegating France to the seventh position. Obviously, on account of disparity in the size of the population, there would be a very significant difference in the per capita of the two countries,” he said.
Airbus BizLab subsidiaries, Navblue and Aerial has signed contracts with three Indian startups with an aim to establish a new industry benchmark in aeronautical data services, flight operations and imagery services.
Airbus BizLab subsidiaries, Navblue and Aerial signed contracts with three Indian startups here in Bangalore with an aim to establish a new industry benchmark in aeronautical data services, flight operations and imagery services.
The contracts were signed with Eflight, a Bengaluru-based startup, Stelae Technologies and Airpix Devices based out of Chennai and Navi Mumbai respectively.
"For the last couple of years I have been convinced with the potential and the quality of entrepreneurs in India. I am pleased to see that all these partnerships between Airbus and Indian startups are proving me right," Airbus BizLab, Global Head, Bruno Gutierres, said on the occasion.
As part of the take-off programme, Airbus BizLab will sponsor two travels to Europe for Indian startups in a period of six months as well as fund up to 50,000 euros to them for the demonstration of proof of concept.
Navblue, Chief Strategy and Innovation Officer, Fabrice Villaum said India has aproven capacity for innovation within the IT sector, which is demonstrated by the startups present at the Airbus'BizLab.
The company also sees the potential of the aerospace industry given the fact that India has the world's fastest-growing domestic airline market.
The company said the agreements mark the successful culmination of season 3 of Airbus BizLab's startup acceleration programme "Take Off-2018," which seeks to bolster the Indian government's 'Make in India' and 'Startup India' initiatives.
Zebra Robotics, a world-class robotics and coding center, today announced the grand opening of its first robotic school in Bengaluru with an aim to bring quality curriculum, content and approach to kids in India. Located at Jayanagar, Bengaluru, the Canada-based organization will open its doors for classes on August 1st, with an open house event scheduled on July 14th from 1-3 PM.
Founded in the year 2014, Zebra Robotics has taught over 1000 students in the Greater Toronto Area, Canada. “What merely started as casual sessions to teach robotics to our family friend’s children quickly transformed into a multi-location evening, weekend and summer camp program in the neighbourhood”, said Sharmila Govindarajan, co-founder of Zebra Robotics, while talking about the inception of the company.
Zebra Robotics plans to open 5 centers in Bengaluru by the end of this year, and 20 centers across various regions of India next year.
“We have always thought about coming back to India, and we are finally ready to give local kids easy access to robotics and coding classes. Zebra Robotics India has been made possible due to countless hours put in by JV partners, Collatrix Technologies Private Limited, friends and family members. While we have a long way to go, we have definitely taken our first step in the country,” she added.
"Learning should be hands on and fun. Especially when it comes to something so fascinating like robotics, kids should work together to solve a challenge in a friendly atmosphere without feeling pressurised,” co-founder Satish Thiyagarajan stated while stressing on the importance of a fun-filled environment in a classroom.
The unique approach of Zebra Robotics has proved to be truly essential for its students who have not only participated in but also won several competitions, awards at provincial and national levels. Some students have also represented Canada in the World Robotics Olympiad, which adds another feather in their cap.
Vijay K Thadani, Vice Chairman & Managing Director of NIIT Limited said, "Artificial Intelligence (AI) has the potential to add $1 Trillion to the Indian Economy by 2035.
Speaking at the inauguration of Confederation of Indian Industry [CII] 14th India Innovation Summit he said, "AI has been compared to electricity and the disruption it brought 100 years ago. Its application is limited only to your imagination." he said.
AI will help automate administration tasks in learning and development such as calendar scheduling and notifications (L&D). This will also help the L&D professional to focus on more value-adding tasks of a strategic nature thereby increasing learner engagement, Thadani adds.
He concludes saying that AI is also likely to play a significant role for people who will ensure that AI-systems operate as they do. Tasks in this category might include setting limits for AI-systems of flagging errors in machine judgment.
CII held its annual flagship event - Fourteenth India Innovation Summit 2018 - from July 12 & 13, 2018 at Hotel Lalit Ashok, Bengaluru. The theme of the Fourteenth India Innovation Summit was “India.AI – Driving the future for the world”. It is also a platform to engage and drive the innovation led growth strategies from India for global markets.
Many leading CEO’s/CXO’s, Functional Heads, Evangelists, Technical Strategists Design thinkers, Academia/ Students took part in the two day event.
The Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) has announced the launch of training program for the new job role of ‘Insolvency Associates’, in partnership with Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI). The program will provide youth an opportunity to be a part of the growing insolvency management profession in our country.
This first-of-a-kind course, designed to provide the Indian youth with a better career opportunities, will help them build a dynamic and unique career for themselves, while contributing to the overall growth and development of the economy. Once a plea for insolvency has been admitted, the plea has to be resolved within a time bound period of 180 days and is extendable by maximum 90 days. Insolvency Associates will assist Chartered Accountants, Company Secretaries and other insolvency professionals, licensed by the IBBI, in the smooth functioning of the Insolvency & Bankruptcy Code (IBC) 2016.
Sharing his views on the launch of this unique program, Dharmendran Pradhan, Minister for Petroleum & Natural Gas and Minister for Skill Development & Entrepreneurship, Government of India, said, “I am thankful to Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India for collaborating with Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship for the launch of Insolvency Associate program. Today there is a major worry regarding the fraudulent cases specially when it comes to money. However the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code 2016 is a major reform towards resolving insolvency cases in a definite time frame. Five years back we didn't know that a course like Insolvency Associate could generate employment and self-employment opportunities for the youth. We are constantly adapting to the industry requirement by introducing new age skill development courses for blockchain technology, artificial intelligence among others. To strengthen the overall skill ecosystem, we are facilitating international employment opportunities through collaboration with Japan, UAE etc. We also plan to introduce many more programs which are aspirational among the youth in our country and are happy to launch one such initiative from the prestigious Delhi University."
Sharing his views on the launch of this unique program, M.S. Sahoo, Chairperson, Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India, said, “The reforms introduced by The Insolvency Code have defined turnaround times for such cases. This in turn has led to a need for certain tasks, which are highly specialized, to be completed correctly within a set time period. We are glad that MSDE has seen this sectoral growth as an opportunity to generate employment and meet the career aspirations of the youth. We are confident that youth trained under this program will be an assets to the economic growth of our country and will contribute significantly towards building of New India.”
The 250-hour course will cover various aspects related to the Insolvency Code, Companies Act, accounting, valuation and secretarial practice. The course is expected to begin from July 15 and is being launched through best-in-class institutions and reputed law & commerce colleges across the country. The cost of the course will be subsidized by MSDE under the Pradhan Mantri Kushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY). The IBBI will also aid in placing successful candidates in Insolvency Professional Agencies.
Graduates in commerce, management, economics and law, along with intermediaries of Chartered Accountant, Cost Accountant or Company Secretary would be eligible to apply for the program. After completion of the program, the associates will assist insolvency resolution professionals in their respective cases.
MSDE is making constant efforts to map new job roles in order to meet existing and future market demand. Various courses are in the process of being introduced to train the youth to contribute to crucial sectors which are critical to nation-building.
True to the motto of ‘Saaf Niyat, Sahi Vikas’, these initiatives will not only achieve the vision of the ‘Skill India’ initiatives, but will also contribute substantially to the holistic growth of the country.
Infinix Mobile, an online smartphone brand from TRANSSION Holdings with presence in over 50+ countries, made its inroads in the country last year in August. As the brand is celebrating its one-year anniversary in the Indian market by further strengthening its product base by launching HOT 6 Pro today.
With a promise to provide an ultimate video watching experience, HOT 6 Pro is designed to match on-the-go streaming lifestyle of millennials. Priced at Rs 7999, HOT 6 Pro is a dual Rear camera smartphone that flaunts a 5.99-inch HD+ screen with 18:9 full view display, 83.4% Screen-to-body ratio and packed with 4000mAh battery. The smartphone will be exclusively available on Flipkart in three trendy colours of Bordeaux Red, Sandstone Black and Magic Gold.
Anish Kapoor, CEO, Infinix said, “With data revolution and digital content platforms sprouting to provide online streaming and video on demand has led to personal screen becoming the first choice among millennials. There is a dire need for video viewing device in mid-budget segment that can offer all host of features in one device such as bigger screen, long battery, loud sound and bright display. We, at Infinix, are committed to adhering to our consumer centric approach and with HOT 6 Pro, we are certain to fulfill the consumer video watching pain points in the budget segment with Superb 6 inch full view display along with Eye care feature which is supported by long battery for binge watching.
He continued further saying, “It’s been a year since we launched Infinix in India. These twelve months have been an incredible ride for us. We have successfully made inroads in the online space and launched a global portfolio consisting of four product lines – HOT, NOTE, HOT S & ZERO that received overwhelming response from the consumers on Flipkart.”
To celebrate the launch of Infinix HOT 6 Pro, Ayyappan Rajagopal, Senior Director Mobiles Category, Flipkart said, “We are excited about the new Infinix launch on Flipkart. With this, we have unlocked a completely new category of phones specialized for video viewing. Flipkart has always offered customer centric solutions and with the new Infinix Hot 6 Pro, we have a special phone that offers one of the best viewing experiences at its price point.”
Up your multimedia experience and style quotient
Notching up its game, the phone is equipped with a 5.99-inch HD+ Full View display with 18:9 aspect ratio, perfect for watching videos, reading, and browsing. HOT 6 Pro has an exceptionally high category defining 500 nits screen brightness and 1000:1 Contrast ratio which accentuate the brightness even in the sunlight, so that videos watching experience is always amazing. And it can be used with ease even in the dark with Eye care mode which produces warm colours in the display that go easy on your eyes. With 2.5D curved edges, 83.4% screen-to-body ratio, slim bezels & matte finish coming together, HOT 6 Pro’s exquisite looks makes it an ideal device for consumers who want their brand to reflect their personal style.
Uninterrupted movie marathon experience
While HOT 6 Pro’s display steals the spotlight, it comes with a massive 4000mAh battery capacity which empowers users to stream content without interruption. Once fully charged HOT 6 Pro, you can enjoy 12 hours’ uninterrupted video playback or 37 hours’ music playback.
Superior surround sound
To enhance the overall multimedia experience, HOT 6 Pro pumps rich audio output from phone speakers that comes with 83dB surround sound.
Dual Rear camera
Setting it apart in the camera optics, the HOT 6 Pro comes with a category defining dual-lens camera sporting a 13MP f2.0 primary sensor which captures perfect portraits with the help of its depth sensing 2MP secondary sensor. While phase detection auto focus (PDAF) helps the camera in fast focusing, it’s Dual LED soft light lets your beauty shine through even in the dark. Other features include Portrait Mode, HDR, Beauty, Panorama, Night Mode, Time Lapse and professional camera settings for enhancing the overall photography experience.
Selfie Camera
While the 5MP f2.0 front camera is clubbed with soft LED flash which helps in capturing the perfect selfies and making clear video calls regardless of the lighting condition. Also its live focus lets you take beautiful Bokeh shots where you make your subject stand out and blur rest everything in background. The Beauty Mode enhances your skin tones and other blemishes to present the perfect selfies.
Hardware and performance
Equipped with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 425, 64 bit Quad-core processor, the HOT 6 Pro is snappy and runs efficiently without any lag. The smartphone comes with 3GB RAM and 32GB storage which lets you reap the benefits of multi-tasking on the immersive 5.99” HD+ screen. HOT 6 Pro comes with 3-in-1 multi card slot where you can put Dual nano SIM along with a dedicated microSD card.
Moreover, the advanced integrated Face Unlock and fingerprint sensor enhance security of your smartphone. It also offers a smooth and faster software experience with XOS 3.2 powered by latest Android Oreo operating system. All of that put together makes the HOT 6 Pro a perfect smartphone for multimedia enthusiasts.
With launches like HOT 4 Pro for entry level followed by NOTE 4 and HOT S3 for mid- level and ZERO 5 as a flagship Dual Camera smartphone, Infinix has been successful in cultivating a devoted consumer base and gain immense appreciation over the past year.
SAP SE has announced that Knack Systems, a niche SAP consulting partner driving digital transformation across industries, will adopt SAP S/4HANA Cloud and leverage its Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning capabilities to boost their business. Knack Systems will be enabled to make data-driven decisions with predictive analytics by deploying the intelligent cloud enterprise resource planning (ERP), which is also embedded with the first ever true voice-activated digital assistant for enterprises – SAP Co-pilot.
Knack Systems, a fast-growing professional Services company in India with a global presence, is one of SAP’s global strategic partners and is aligned with SAP’s strategy for public cloud and on-premise software solutions. Its presence spans across various industry verticals including manufacturing, banking, technology, and more.
The company will be adopting S/4HANA Cloud to achieve growth through enhanced digital transformation, improve efficiency via automation, and redefine business processes all without the need for any investment in hardware hosting. This implementation uniquely positions Knack Systems as the first reference site in India that can demonstrate the value of a truly intelligent ERP Cloud solution – S/4HANA Cloud – to its customers.
“To prolong success in the current rapidly changing technology environment, it was necessary to take the next step beyond ‘just’ cloud,” said Sandeep Arora – COO, Knack Systems. “With the adoption of S/4HANA Cloud, we will streamline the business for better efficiency using the next generation technologies of AI & ML. This will further strengthen our capabilities by integrating and managing all critical business processes into one powerful system, thus enabling us to deliver an enhanced experience to our clients.”
“Businesses of tomorrow will require the deepest and broadest intelligence to retain their competitive edge,” said Neeraj Athalye, Vice President – Innovation & Digital Business, SAP Indian Subcontinent. “S/4HANA Cloud, the world’s first hands-free ERP solution, will empower Knack Systems to run faster, operate smarter, and achieve industry & operational excellence. The solution will aid them with the necessary skill sets to stay several steps ahead of their competition and help realize greater profitability.”
S/4HANA Cloud is SAP’s intelligent cloud ERP software-as-a-service (SaaS) solution with built-in machine learning and AI capabilities that serves customers in various product-centric and service-centric industries to help them achieve instant value, cost savings and improved efficiencies.
Impressed by the wide range of polymeric films that Flex Films manufactures and the associated R&D capabilities that the company is globally recognized for, Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) had approached the company earlier in September 2017 with a requirement of specialized film for passive thermal control of spacecraft components.
Flex Films at Noida is the Indian Film Manufacturing Arm of India’s largest multinational flexible packaging materials and solution company Uflex Limited.
Taking this requirement in its stride, the engineers at Flex Films India developed a solution for ISRO in a record time period of 6 months.
Talking more about this specialized film, Anand Prakash Gupta from Speciality Films and R&D Department at Flex Films, Noida says, “ISRO approached us in an endeavour to achieveits vision to self-reliance in Indian Space Programme which aims at engaging more Indian Industries in producing Space worthy products/technologies for its specific applications.Their desired specifications were in electro-optical and physical terms like Solar Transmittance, IR Emittance, Thickness of Coating in nano-meterson both sides of the substrateand wide spectrum working temperature of -150 to +120 degrees Celsius to name a few. The real challenge was to convert these specifications into our measurable norm.For this we sent an A4 sized sample to ISRO to get everything measuredand testedin their terms.When ISRO reverted to us with their requirements in the parameters that they recognize, we extrapolated that information to our measurable norm. Performing metallization in conventional metallizer was fraught with high risks of getting scratches and other aberrations (anomalies which were absolutely unacceptable for a high precision job that we were processing for ISRO).Further we developed some specialized coatings and applied on the substrate to ensure flawless metallization as required by ISRO.”
Talking more about this major break-through Jagmohan Mongia, President of Flex Films India said, “The specialized metallized film that we supplied to ISRO was subjected to space environmental tests and passed through all parameters/tests qualifying for space application. Here I would particularly like to acknowledge the unrelenting and hard work by the metallizing team of Flex Films India without which it would not have been possible for us to accomplish this goal.After this major break-through we nowlook forward to working with ISRO more closely in other research areas and technologies. This is just the beginning.”
Expressing delight on this breakthrough, Ashok Chaturvedi, Chairman & Managing Director, Uflex Limited said, “The most gratifying part of this whole engagement is that Uflex has been able to contribute to ISRO’s endeavour of indigenization and becoming self-reliant in space technology applications. This is a perfect example of an Indian polymeric film manufacturermeeting and exceeding the performance parameters set by Indian Space Research Organization. This is a major win for Make in India and a moment of truth for Made in India.”
Siemens Limited flagged off and launched one of the largest industry initiatives, the ‘Ingenuity Tour’ from the iconic Kalwa factory located on the outskirts of Mumbai. The tour is mobilised in the form of a road show that will cover 23 states, 120 cities and travel more than 30000 kilometres.
On display is a comprehensive array of latest products covering Electrification, Automation and Digitalization from the fields of industry Software, Automation, Power Distribution, Drive Technology, Digital & Cloud services, Industrial Training as well as customised Financing solutions. The tour is targeted at various industry verticals and demonstrates the competitive advantage that can be gained by adopting innovative technologies and solutions.
“Siemens has been partnering the Indian manufacturing industry to become more agile, efficient, reliable and future-proof through our engineering, domain and digital know-how. Our focus is on helping our customers generate performance improvements across the entire value chain, from design to production and operations to maintenance. The Ingenuity Tour will bring our innovations live in action, right to the door step of our customers.” said Ashish Bhat, Executive Vice President and Head of Digital Factory, Siemens Ltd.
Digital technologies are transforming our world. The 'Make in India' initiative aims to boost the contribution of the manufacturing sector from 15% to 25% of the GDP, by 2022. To support this massive growth, India will need an ecosystem comprising of Tier 1, Tier 2, as well as the Tier 3 suppliers, with an elevated level of manufacturing performance and agility .
“Digitalization is a top priority for us in Siemens and the Ingenuity Tour will help us engage and address challenges of our customers from various verticals and industry suppliers across the complete value chain. SMEs can utilize digitalization to address growing demands such as mastering increasing and process complexity, reducing time to market, adapting to changing market requirements, deliver individualized products and secure continuous product improvement,” said, Bhaskar Mandal, Executive Vice President and Head of Process Industries & Drives, Siemens Ltd.
Digitalization promises lower costs, improved production quality, flexibility and efficiency, shorter response time to customer requests and market demands, and also opens up new and innovative business opportunities. Indian manufacturers have the unique opportunity to blend the availability of advanced manufacturing technologies with low cost of labour to create extraordinary competitive advantage. The need of the hour is for SMEs to take the lead in adopting new technologies and make it an integral part of their business strategies. Those that are successful in understanding the power of digitalization and harnessing it across their businesses will lead this new wave of growth.
With a vision to make India a superpower in the world of para sports, Aditya Mehta Foundation (AMF) in association with Border Security Force (BSF) will be conducting its 3rd Divyang National sports training camp at STC, BSF Bengaluru, till July 13th, 2018. Over 200 Para Athletes are expected to undergo training in various sports with the objective of training them to international glory at the 2020 Paralympics.
Launched last year, ‘Mission 100’ is an aim to find and coach the most talented 100 para athletes who can represent India at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics. Through this camp, BSF along with AMF is determined to scout for the best, train, coach and support the participants at every step so that they can represent India at the global platform.
Speaking on the occasion, Aditya Mehta said, “The national training camp is an annual feature where BSF along with AMF brings experienced and fresh talent together at one place. The main objective of the camp is to educate our Jawans and civilians about para sports, screen their abilities and strengths to then recommend an appropriate sport”. The foundation has been supporting para athletes in sports like Swimming, Cycling, Wheelchair Tennis, Athletics, Shooting, Arm wrestling and power lifting.
Apart from screening, counselling and training, the foundation also works tirelessly to raise funds and provide the athletes with appropriate para equipment and funds required.” He further added.
Aditya Mehta Foundation (AMF) is a non –profit organisation helping people with disabilities to pursue sports. In last three years, AMF along with BSF has reached over 120 Para athletes and won over 50 national and international medal counts. The foundation is also associated with armed force of the country like BSF, CRPF, ITBP, SSI and CISF where they counsel and train the Jawans who got injured in the line of duty and help them become professional athletes at highest level giving them sense of sustenance.
Expanding its retail presence in South India, Philips Lighting, a global leader in lighting, today inaugurated its 10th Philips Light Lounge in Bangalore. This is the company’s 69th Light Lounge in South India and is an exclusive showroom displaying a wide range of home decorative products from the company. The store was inaugurated by Sumit Joshi, Vice Chairman and Managing Director, Philips Lighting India and Ashwath Narayanji, MLA, Malleshwaram Constituency.
Commenting on the store inauguration, C Arun Kumar, Head – Consumer Sales, Philips Lighting India, said “Bangalore has emerged as one of the most promising markets for us in South India due to its growing real estate demand. Keeping in mind the evolving tastes of consumers and the increasing demand for lighting solutions, we are expanding our presence in the city with the opening of our tenth Philips Light Lounge in Bangalore. This exclusive store will offer a wide range of lighting solutions and is a testimony to our commitment towards providing top-of-line products to our customers.”
Spread across an area of 400 square feet, this latest Philips Light Lounge showcases an impressive display of over 600 world-class home decorative lighting products and concepts that have been designed keeping in mind the lighting needs of Indian consumers, home décor trends in the country and the emerging concept of connected ambient lighting for homes. The store extensively features Philips Hue - the world’s smartest web-enabled LED home lighting system. By emulating actual home settings of a living room, bedroom and a dining room, customers can experience first-hand the light settings and recipes to suit different parts of their day.
Through their live demonstration zones, Philips Light Lounges enable customers to get a first-hand experience and choose lighting products that match their individual design tastes and requirements. The company differentiates its offerings through innovation in design, energy efficiency and its global lighting application expertise.
With the launch of the latest Philips Light Lounge in Bangalore, the company now has more than 180 Light Lounges in India, in addition to LightSTUDIO’s. This new Philips Light Lounge is located at Shop No - 560, Yashwantpur Main road, Bangalore.
Signify became the new company name of Philips Lighting as of May 16, 2018. The legal name of Signify will be adapted in India in the beginning of 2019.
Aligned with its mission to support and provide valuable benefit to the communities, Toyota Kirloskar Motor recently inaugurated its 23rd community based water purification unit at Primary health Centre in Bidadi region [Ramanagara District]. The facility will provide purified water of highest quality for a nominal amount of Rs. 1 per litre to benefit the villagers in the region.
With this, Toyota Kirloskar Motor has installed a total of 23 units in Bangalore, Mandya, Ramanagara and 2 units in North India catering to around 7,000 beneficiaries per unit.
The newly set up unit has a 1,000 liter per hour capacity accompanied with a minimum 6-stage purification system and dispenses 5,000 to 6,000 litres per day. With a first ever advanced feature - Water Quality Standards & Consumption Data Display, the client can easily access from their location without visiting the site to assess the filtration quality standards of the water [TDS, PH contents] for delivering the high standards of purified water to the community members. Also, the advanced app based filtration system will provided water consumption data on daily basis to ensure the cause reaching the affected.
In addition, the installed unit is equipped with solar system, power backup, wastewater management, and 250 ML cup water dispensing with paper cup vending machine among others. The wastewater generated will be discharged into the recharge soak pit after ensuring compliance to waste water quality standards thus ensuring no water waste efficiently contributing to recharging the aquifer.
The uniqueness of this initiative has been the assessment & installation of the water purification unit in such identified location which not only caters to the general public for domestic purposes, but also specifically catering to the ailing patients at the Health Care Centre whose water requirements would be more specific to medical needs for healthy recovery & further prevention of possible water borne diseases. Thus, such intervention ensures a larger outreach to beneficiaries of different categories.
Another specialty of this advanced technology are the multi-purpose water dispensing methodology & end-to-end cleanliness of safe drinking water consumption:
- Ensure ‘Zero Water Waste’ whereby the beneficiaries have the option to dispense water depending on their water quantity requirements each time they desire to source water [Rs. 1/- per 250 mililitre, Rs. 5/- per 20 litres, etc.]
- The “Negative Ion Water” dispenser will cater to the specific needs of the Hospital located near the water unit largely benefitting the patients who require alkaline water which neutralizes the body acidity, thus help restore vital minerals in the body for healthy recovery. Such mineral reserves in the water boosts the immunity in the body and resist diseases. Also, the cost of water consumption at the hospital will reduce to bare minimum, while they were sourcing such water at exorbitant price of appxm. Rs. 150 – Rs. 300 per litre on an average. Toyota has been able to effectively support the affordability of required quantity & quality of water by contributing towards reduction of 98% of the total cost for such water being sourced through other vendors at the health centre. Such water can be dispensed from Toyota installed water purification unit at mere cost of Rs. 1 per litre, which is just 2% of the total cost spent by the hospital for such water standards
- Such installed water unit comes with a special feature which washes and cleans the water cans/containers of the beneficiaries before dispensing the water into such possible unclean water storage. This way further water contamination is prevented serving the real purpose of clean water use at the beneficiaries end too. This water system ensures end-to-end purified water for multi-purposes and ultimate consumption of safe water
Commenting on the new unit launch, Naveen Soni, Vice President - Toyota Kirloskar Motor said, “Access to safe drinking water is a serious issue affecting people of all ages, especially for those living in remote communities where the availability of improved water sources is limited. Our aim is to enrich the society with endeavors that are relevant and meaningful with each initiative reflecting uniqueness towards achieving the social cause.
Further to our earlier Health & Hygiene projects in providing safe drinking water, through this specific initiative, we have moved one step ahead by cautiously assessing the potential needs of the community in terms of desired quantity and quality of water to meet different consumption patterns through in-built choices of such installed unit, catering to multiple beneficiaries be it ailing patient and or general public, etc., covering holistic use of safe water for domestic/medical necessities. In true sense, we at Toyota adopt such sustainable & integrated approach enabling larger outreach of our social contributions to bring in the real difference amongst people lives, without limiting our interventions.”
In the past, Toyota Kirloskar Motor has installed water purification units at Byramangala, Ramanahalli, Bidadi, Manchanayakana halli, and Harohalli Grama Panchayats and one each in Varanasi and Vaishali to cater to the drinking water requirement of villages in Bidadi.
Besides Water Purifying units, Toyota over the years, has undertaken several social projects in the fields of Education, Primary Healthcare, sanitation etc., contributing positively to the society marking a meaningful difference in their lives. The company’s efforts include rebuilding a local residential school, construction of water tanks in rural Bangalore and launch of Mobile medical unit for the sustained intervention in health care system with focus on providing the basic medical equipment to the Primary Health Centers. Besides, the company has undertaken several sustainable flagship programs such as Development of Model School, Lake Rejuvenation, Project ABCD [A Behavioral Change Demonstration] on school sanitation, Toyota Safety Education Programme, Driving Safety Training Programs, etc.
Toyota remains committed to bring in more enriching and sustainable CSR projects for the holistic development of the community members, thus effectively contribute to the underlying cause of positive societal growth.
Ashok Leyland, a flagship of the Hinduja Group, launched the "eN-Dhan" fuel card, in partnership with HPCL Drive Track Plus" program, to provide best-in-class savings in fuel to customers. This initiative with HPCL was developed by the Customer Solutions Business of Ashok Leyland, which aspires to develop a lifetime engagement with customers and to positively impact all facets of their business by offering customized solutions. For the first time in India, an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) and an oil marketing company (OMC) have collaborated to create a co-branded card, which is expected to result in annual savings in the range of Rs 50,000 per annum per truck especially for customers in the medium and heavy commercial vehicle (M&HCV) segment.
The eN-Dhan cards are free of charge and will be available in all Ashok Leyland dealerships across the country and can be used in all HPCL Fuel Stations.
At the launch, Vinod K. Dasari, Managing Director, said, “Ashok Leyland's brand signifies innovation not only in its products but also in its solutions. Exemplifying our brand philosophy, ‘Aapki Jeet, Hamari Jeet’, we are constantly evaluating opportunities to help our customers be more efficient and profitable. Our analysis shows that the current fuel spends on a commercial vehicle in India is between 35% and 60% of its lifecycle cost. Since fuel cost is the major expense, we came up with this fuel card program to help vehicle owners save on this expense and optimize total cost of operations (TCO). Every rupee saved is an opportunity to plough back the profits to grow the business. Besides savings in fuel cost, the card will promote digital payments and offer enhanced insurance benefits to drivers.”
Speaking on the launch, Shri G S V Prasad, Executive Director – Retail HPCL conveyed that “HPCL-Ashok Leyland partnership is essentially for serving the common customer - the trucker, who buys chassis from Ashok Leyland and buys fuel from HPCL. This is first of its kind partnership wherein an Energy Major is partnering with an Automobile Major for fueling the vehicles from the time it is rolled out of the Factory.”
“HPCL believes in improving the logistics efficiency of the vehicles by providing superior quality Fuels and Lubricants to the Customers/Fleets owners. The co-branded card “eN-Dhan” will be accepted at all HPCL outlets and going forward we would like to take the entire business on to a card less platform which is in sync with the “Digital India” initiative of the Govt of India. HPCL also is a pioneer in Retail Automation and is embarking on a plan to automate all its 15100 retail outlets pan-India by December 2018 which will also be integrated with digital transactions.”
With the launch of this innovative solution, Ashok Leyland has once again lived up to its brand’s philosophy “Aapki Jeet, Hamari Jeet”. Customers can enrol for the eN-Dhan program at any Ashok Leyland dealership.
Newgen Software, a provider of Business Process Management (BPM), Enterprise Content Management (ECM), and Customer Communication Management (CCM) platforms, has released OmniFlowiBPS 4.0, an enhanced version of its BPM Suite. The new version empowers knowledge workers to work beyond boundaries of the workplace and manage structured and unstructured processes more effectively.
The platform now offers case management capabilities on mobile, facilitating improved user responsiveness and business performance.Further, it enables users to efficiently manage cases with auto-generation of case summary, notifications for each task, advanced calendaring and configuration capabilities.
“OmniFlow iBPS 4.0 enables organizations to gain flexibility required to respond to real-time opportunities and unanticipated situations. It meets the requirements of a digital business by empowering users to work anytime-anywhere,” said Diwakar Nigam, Chairman and Managing Director, Newgen Software.
Key features include:
· Improved User Interface of the Form Builder- Enrich user experience with an intuitive user interface of iForms, the form builder. Create responsive forms by allowing users to group multiple controls and customize form elements.
· Better Information Security- Ensure system and data security with password protected rule set reports. Configure rules based on the assigned rights using if-else conditions and functions such as sum, average, and others.
· Language Support- The new version supports Arabic and Spanish languages.
· Integration with Google Drive- Import document into a work item from Google Drive or export a document to Google Drive. Check-in/ check-out from Google Drive while maintaining document versioning.
· Web Service Enhancements- Allow users to execute multiple web services on a single workstep and configure REST based web services. Supports RESTful webservice integration based on RAML standard.
The platform’s advanced capabilities such as process orchestration, robotic process automation (RPA), mobile, social and others allow organizations to re-engineer processes and go digital.
The U.S.-India Strategic Partnership Forum (USISPF), in its first ever Annual Leadership Summit, awarded Ajay Singh, Chairman & Managing Director, SpiceJet, with the USISPF Leadership Award, an honour established by the Forum to commend excellence in transformative leadership and public service, along with the leaders’ role in expanding trade and collaboration between the U.S. and India, on July 12 in Washington, D.C.
D. Jim Umpleby III, CEO of Caterpillar Inc., was also conferred with the Leadership Award. Both the business leaders were felicitated for their transformative role in developing U.S.-India business ties and progressing the lives of citizens in the U.S. and India.
The Annual Leadership Summit hosted in Washington D.C., highlighted the Forum’s commitment to furthering the strategic partnership between the U.S. and India. The theme of this year’s summit was “Strengthening the Strategic Partnership”.
“I am deeply honoured to receive this prestigious award. SpiceJet is privileged to be a part of USISPF’s journey and vision. This recognition belongs to every SpiceJetter who has worked relentlessly to resurrecting a dying company and building a globally admired airline in less than three years. SpiceJet’s success is a testament to the strong and growing relationship between India and the US. This is just the beginning and we look forward to making great strides together in the years to come.” said Ajay Singh, CMD, SpiceJet.
Under the leadership of Singh, SpiceJet placed an order for up to 205 narrow and wide bodied aircraft – one of the largest orders for new airplanes in Boeing’s history. SpiceJet was lauded by US President Donald J. Trump for this aircraft order and helping create tens of thousands of jobs in the United States. SpiceJet followed up the Boeing order with an order for 50 Bombardier Q400 planes --- the single biggest order for the Q400 in Bombardier’s history.
The event brought together key stakeholders, including Government of India officials, industry leaders from the U.S. and India, and government officials in the United States to discuss opportunities in investment.
Approximately 300 senior level business leaders and investors attended the Summit. Attending companies at the summit included Walmart, Dow, Boeing International, Abbot, Amway and Bank of America. Industry and government leaders from the U.S. and India discussed the value of the U.S.-India partnership between the two countries and how their shared values of democracy, security, and sustainability are being applied in both business and government to spur job creation, encourage innovation, and accelerate economic growth.
Some of the key speakers from India who attended the summit were Navtej Sarna, Ambassador of India to the United States and Rajiv Kumar, Vice-Chairman of Niti Aayog. Representative from the USA included Senator Rob Portman (R-OH); USDA Under Secretary for Trade and Foreign Agricultural Affairs, Ted McKinney; Jeffrey Gerrish, Deputy U.S. Trade Representative; and Senator Mark Warner (D-VA), Co-Chair of the Senate India Caucus among others.
Among the major highlights of this year’s Summit was former Secretary of State, Henry Kissinger, participating in a fireside chat with USISPF’s Chairman, John Chambers, former Executive Chairman & CEO of Cisco and Founder of JC2 Ventures.
The summit followed a year where India has seen unprecedented global economic growth. As the fastest growing economy and soon to be third largest consumer economy, India is of vital interest to the U.S. with regard to trade, technology and innovation. Led by the most prominent leaders in U.S.-India relations, USISPF has already been instrumental in furthering this partnership during the organization’s first year of existence.
Around 4.32 lakh people were employed in the renewable energy sector in India in 2017, according to India Spend report that cited a recent analysis by the inter-governmental International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA).
The renewable energy sector created 47,000 new job in the previous year, accounting for over 20 percent of 5 lakh new green jobs created globally.
The number of jobs in India’s green energy sector, excluding large hydropower projects, rose by 12 percent to 4.32 lakh people in 2017 from 3.85 lakh people in 2016, the report said.
The increase in number of jobs has been due to "gradually switching to clean energy in sync with their commitments under the Paris Climate Agreement 2015”
"Renewable energy has become a pillar of low-carbon economic growth for governments all over the world, a fact reflected by the growing number of jobs created in the sector," Adnan Z Amin, director-general of IRENA, said in a statement.
The renewable energy sector has been growing in India because of several factors.
The government has opened routes for foreign investors to establish renewable energy-based power generation projects and collaborate with Indian firms on financial and technical levels.
India received $1.77 billion foreign direct investment (FDI) in non-conventional energy sector from April 2014 to September 2016.
The country has been working towards achieving the target of producing 175 GW by end-December 2022. Of the total target, 100 GW is to come from solar power, 60 GW from wind power, 10 GW from biomass and 5 GW from small hydropower.
India has installed 69 GW of cumulative renewable power capacity as of May 2018. India reported 4.8 GW of renewable capacity as of November 30, 2017, against a target of over 14 GW, which is way below the set target.
The International Renewable Energy Agency said that the diversion of a national clean energy cess to subsidise Goods and services tax (GST)-induced losses and a new import duty to protect domestic manufacturers of solar equipment threaten could derail India’s ambitious 2022 target.
SonicWall, the trusted security partner protecting more than 1 million networks worldwide, announces record numbers for malware volume, ransomware attacks, encrypted threats and chip-based attacks in the mid-year update of the 2018 SonicWall Cyber Threat Report.
“The cyber arms race is moving faster than ever with bigger consequences for enterprises, government agencies, educational and financial institutions, and organizations in targeted verticals,” said SonicWall CEO Bill Conner. “SonicWall has been using machine learning to collect, analyze and leverage cyber threat data since the ‘90s. This commitment to innovation and emerging technology is part of the foundation that helps deliver actionable threat intelligence, security efficacy and automated real-time breach detection and prevention to our global partners and customers.”
SonicWall publishes its monthly cyber threat intelligence via a public-facing resource, Capture Security Center, on the company’s website. The cloud-based tool offers the ultimate in visibility, agility and capacity to govern entire SonicWall security operations and services with greater clarity, precision and speed — all from a single pane of glass.
“Real-time cyber threat intelligence is more critical than ever as cybercriminals continue to find new attack vectors — like encrypted and chip-based attacks,” said Chad Sweet, Chief Executive Officer at The Chertoff Group, a global advisory focused on security risk management. “To stay protected in the cyber arms race, organizations must use every tool in their security toolbox, particularly technology that delivers the necessary visibility to enhance an organization’s security posture.”
Malware Volume Still Climbing from 2017’s Record Highs
The malware boom of 2017 has shown no signs of stopping through the first half of 2018. SonicWall Capture Labs threat researchers recorded 5.99 billion malware attacks during the first two quarters of the year. At this same point in 2017, SonicWall logged 2.97 billion malware attacks.
On a month-to-month basis in 2018, malware volume remained consistent in the first quarter before dropping to less than 1 billion per month across April, May and June. These totals were still more than double that of 2017.
Ransomware Back in Big Way
Published in March’s original report, SonicWall Capture Labs threat researchers found that ransomware attacks dropped significantly — from 645 million to 184 million — between 2016 and 2017.
SonicWall now shows ransomware attacks surging in first six months of 2018. There have been 181.5 million ransomware attacks year to date. This marks a 229 percent increase over this same time frame in 2017.
Encrypted Attacks Ascend to Record Highs
The use of encryption continues to grow for legitimate traffic and malicious cyberattacks alike. In 2017, SonicWall reported that 68 percent of sessions were encrypted by SSL/TLS standards. Through six months of 2018, 69.7 percent of sessions are leveraging encryption.
Cybercriminals are strategically following this trend to help prevent their malicious payloads from being discovered. Encrypted attacks increased 275 percent when compared to this time in 2017.
“Encrypted attacks are a critical challenge in the industry,” said Conner. “Far too few organizations are aware that cybercriminals are using encryption to circumvent traditional networks security controls, and others aren’t activating new mitigation techniques, such Deep Packet Inspection of SSL and TLS traffic (DPI-SSL). We predict encrypted attacks to increase in scale and sophistication until they become the standard for malware delivery. And we’re not that far off.”
SonicWall Now Blocks Spectre Chip-Based Attacks
The SonicWall Real-Time Deep Memory Inspection (RTDMITM) technology now protects customers from Spectre chip-based attacks. SonicWall Capture Labs threat researchers validated RTDMI mitigation against Spectre variants and false positives in production.
“It’s critical for cybersecurity leaders to build innovative solutions that adapt to the changing threat landscape to better protect customers,” said SonicWall CTO John Gmuender. “Cybercriminals increasingly hide weaponized code with more sophisticated obfuscation and advanced custom encryption techniques, then expose, detonate and wipe the weaponized code from memory in real time.”
Since January 2018, RTDMI has identified and blocked more than 12,300 never-before-seen cyberattacks and malware variants.
Included in the SonicWall Capture Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) sandbox service, RTDMI identifies and mitigates even the most insidious cyber threats where weaponry is exposed for less than 100 nanoseconds. RTDMI protects against chip-based attacks like Meltdown and Spectre, as well as attacks leveraging PDFs and Microsoft Office documents.
“Existing industry sandbox solutions do not perform true real-time analysis of malware and, therefore, 'blink' and miss detecting sophisticated weaponry, exposing customers to dangerous threats,” said Gmuender. “By never 'blinking,' RTDMI provides incredibly powerful technology that advances state-of-the-art threat protection to block sophisticated attack vectors and protect customers in real time.”
The SonicWall Capture Threat Network
Data for the 2018 SonicWall Cyber Threat Report mid-year update was gathered by the SonicWall Capture Threat Network, which sources information from global devices and resources including more than 1 million security sensors in nearly 200 countries and territories; cross‐vector, threat‐related information shared among SonicWall security systems, including firewalls, email security, endpoint security, honeypots, content-filtering systems; SonicWall Capture Advanced Threat Protection multi‐engine sandbox; and SonicWall’s internal malware analysis automation framework.
European aerospace giant Airbus has revealed the new A220 at a ceremony held at its Henri-Ziegler Delivery Centre, near Toulouse, France.
Witnessed by Airbus employees and members of the global media, the A220-300 landed directly from the painting in the early hours of Tuesday, wearing its new Airbus name and colours.
The A220 family comprises two models, the A220-100 and A220-300, formerly Canada-headquartered Bombardier’s C Series (CS100 and CS300). The aircraft are fully optimised for the 100 to 150-seat market and perfectly complement Airbus’ existing best-selling A320neo family.
It was in October last year that Airbus had announced that it was taking control of Bombardier’s C Series airliner programme, in a bid to dodge competition with American rival Boeing, which last week announced a tentative deal to take over the commercial unit of Brazil’s Embraer.
Global media had reported late last year that under the aforementioned agreement, Airbus would acquire 50.01% of the C Series programme.
“Everyone at Airbus has been looking forward to this historic moment. Today, we are thrilled to welcome the A220 to the Airbus family and are honoured to see it wearing its new Airbus colours for the first time,” said Airbus President (Commercial Aircraft) Guillaume Faury.”
