Streax Professional Reinvents Vintage Styles with Latest Launch ‘Retro Remix’ at Mega Hair Show ‘Hair & Beyond’

Retro-inspired trends are back again to reinvent contemporary fashion in 2019. Leading the way is Streax Professional, the premium product range for hair care, colour and style, specially crafted for salon professionals and technicians, which today showcased Retro Remix, its new collection of vintage styles, reimagined for present-day fashionistas. The collection was launched in Bengaluru at the 2019 edition of its mega hair show “Hair & Beyond”. Using products such as Argan Secrets hair colour, CanvoLine straightening cream, and the Hold & Play styling range, Retro Remix mixes brunette, gold and copper blonde, and brown shades to create a range of sophisticated retro styles for Indian women.

Announcing the launch of its new collection, Mrs. Rochelle Chhabra, Professional Division Head, Hygienic Research Institute said, “Streax Professional is proud to present this new vintage range, inspired by ultra-glamorous 70s hairstyles created for style icons like Marilyn Monroe and Audrey Hepburn in the West, and Zeenat Aman and Hema Malini in the East. Our collection, which highlights the brown palette, has been specially designed for the fashion-conscious Indian woman. It combines old world charm with contemporary freshness, making Retro Remix a perfect fusion of the old and the new.”

Actress Pranitha Subhash, who was the showstopper, did her part in turning up the glamour quotient when she walked the ramp at the event. She made heads turn in her retro chic hairdo accompanied by other models who looked their classic best. The event showcased an array of hairstyles including the romantic amber retro chignon, bouffant fudge sleek, the dark chocolate precision bob, undone beige messy ponytail, gypsy tangerine blonde heart shaped braid, all created using the perfect blend of the collection’s range of products.

International celebrity hair stylist Yolly Ten Koppel, also known as ‘Queen of Hair’, who was hosting the training sessions at the event said, “I am delighted to participate in Streax Professional’s mega hair show. Besides the high profile launches that it showcases, “Hair & Beyond” provides India’s hair technicians with a unique opportunity to receive new insights and learning about hairstyling, helping them emerge as true experts of their craft.”

Yolly Ten Koppel joined Agnes Chen, Technical Head of Streax Professional to lead the training sessions at Hair & Beyond 2019—sharing styling tips, haircut tutorials, and colouring techniques with the audience.

Streax Professional continues its endeavor to educate and train hair professionals through ‘Hair & Beyond’, making international standards and global techniques accessible to Indian professionals. The brand has already conducted a Hair & Beyond 2019 Seminar in New Delhi, Kolkata, Kathmandu, Mumbai, Chennai, Dehradun, Jammu, Ahmedabad and Vijayawada. After Bengaluru, Retro Remix will also be showcased in Jaipur and Faridabad.  

Be Q-rious! Diversity Job Portal Equiv.in Unveils Initiative to Promote Inclusiveness of the LGBTQIA Community

India’s leading diversity job portal Equiv.in launched “Q-rious”, the first-of-its-kind networking initiative that will bring together corporates and the LQBTQIA community to collaboratively evolve policies that can promote inclusiveness of the community at the workplace.  The initiative was unveiled on Saturday in the city at the eighth edition of the Women Changemakers Career Fair and Confluence, a job fair for women organized by Stockroom.io, the parent company of Equiv.in. Stockroom.io is an HR tech start-up that aims to become the primary and biggest platform for companies to hire curated, skill-based talent at scale.

With an ambition to have a pan-India impact, starting early 2020, Equiv.in will host ‘Q-rious’ sessions at six cities across India – Bengaluru, Mumbai, New Delhi, Kolkata, Pune and Chennai. In the no-fee entry programme, Equiv.in will facilitate members of the LGBTQIA community and representatives of some of the biggest corporate brands to hold informal discussions that will enable both parties to understand each other’s hiring and employment needs and challenges in an open and honest manner. A vast range of issues, from workplace discrimination to talent development and reskilling is expected to be addressed in these free-wheeling discussions, with the ultimate aim of co-creating meaningful and actionable hiring policies.

Commenting on the launch of Q-rious, Naren Krishna, Founder and CEO, Stockroom.io and Equiv.in, said, “Diversity is a nascent market in India, where HR departments are still focused on improving the gender ratio within their companies. However, this leaves out a significant section of the available talent pool, comprising of highly skilled individuals in other hiring cohorts, like the LGBTQIA community. The barriers of entry for this community are often cultural ones, but repeated exclusion due to discrimination can lead to employable LGBTQIA members being unaware about the changing skill demands of the increasingly specialized and competitive job market. With Q-Rious, we seek to build a forum for dialogue between corporates and the LGBTQIA community to break down barriers and evolve hiring strategies that will benefit both parties.”

Q-rious is modelled after the start-up’s highly successful Women Changemakers Career Fair and Confluence, where women-centric focused discussions and networking opportunities have drawn thousands of female job aspirants across varied levels of experience, many of whom eventually landed in their dream careers. This year, the eight edition of the event saw participation from over 1200 women who leveraged networking and knowledge sharing opportunities presented by prominent corporate brands including Genpact, McKinsey, Maersk,Dell, Thoughtworks, American Express, Shell, Coca Cola, Shell, Standard Chartered, Mphasis, Paysafe, Akamai and Apus.

“It is really great to see such large number of women participating in Career Fairs such as Women Changemakers. These platforms are enabling women who are ready to start their career or are looking to restart their journey in the professional world. At Dell Technologies, we provide flexibility for all genders and encourage our team members to keep themselves abreast of the latest technologies and be upskilled.

We are also focused and committed to provide the ecosystem with ample opportunities. Our recent VMinclusion program ‘Taara’, is one such initiative for women who want to upskill themselves and return to work.  It encourages women to join back the workforce by providing them with free technical education to become VMware certified professionals. The training and certification is free of cost. With rapid pace of technology evolution and transformation, every woman needs to realise that it is essential to evolve, and we are happy to act as a catalyst to that journey." said Sujatha Idiculla, Senior Director – Dell Digital, Dell Technologies

Other highlights of the event included a moving talk by Paralympic medal winner Hitesh R who discussed his battle with cerebral palsy, a storytelling session on gender equality by Ankita Mehra & Shakti Iyer Singh. Participants were also treated to a speaking session by Bollywood actor and motivational speaker Ashish Vidyarthi.

Micro Focus Introduces New Robotic Process Automation Product, Ignites Enterprise Productivity

Micro Focus has announced the general availability of Micro Focus Robotic Process Automation (RPA) which gives companies the power to build, secure, and scale automated business processes, from legacy to modern, across the enterprise.

According to Gartner, “The ability to integrate legacy systems is the key driver for RPA projects. By using this technology, organizations can quickly accelerate their digital transformation initiatives, while unlocking the value associated with past technology investments.”  Micro Focus RPA automates repetitive, error-prone UI-based human actions on legacy apps and integrates them with modern IT process automation in a single product.

“Micro Focus RPA delivers on key capabilities such as scalability, resiliency and security that our customers and partners demanded,” said Tom Goguen, Micro Focus Chief Product Officer. “It adapts to UI changes, automates UI and API-based applications, and includes real-time auditing and traceability, giving our customers the confidence to deploy RPA across the enterprise while providing for centralized governance and compliance for their digital workforce.”

“As we have worked closely the last few years with our customers and partners to leverage test automation for their first RPA projects, it presented a convenient way to evaluate the potential of business-related automation and further prove its value to the organization,” said Raffi Margaliot, Micro Focus General Manager for Application Delivery Management. “With Micro Focus RPA, we augmented our core capabilities to be purpose built for RPA and we believe our innovations in making automation more resilient to change will deliver a lower TCO compared to existing solutions.”

Micro Focus RPA capabilities include:

Easy-to-use design studio: An intuitive design interface that allows users to easily record screen actions and design sophisticated end-to-end RPA workflows, visually or with code.
Cross-platform connections: A technology-rich product that combines UI automation with API and other integration methods to connect business processes spanning old and new applications.
Scalable robots: A worker-queue-based architecture to scale robots up or down as workloads change, making it possible to run hundreds or thousands of robots at once.
Centralized security: A centralized dashboard to manage the robots that have unique IDs and encrypted, role-based credentials.
Resilient robots: Advanced object recognition technology to detect UI changes and automatically adapt as needed, saving time on maintenance.
“Our customers demand genuine improvements through integrated service delivery, and we know this can only occur with advanced service offerings and innovative partnership in technologies like robotic process automation,” said Denham Seneviratne, National Sales Manager for Winthrop Australia. “We believe Micro Focus is well placed to help deliver on this promise and we hope our customers are the beneficiaries.”

“At Kinetic IT, we strengthen our personalized service offerings by minimizing effort on activities better suited to automation,” said Brett Roberts, Chief Product Officer of Kinetic IT. “The release of Micro Focus RPA opens up new opportunities to explore and pursue for the benefit of our customers.”

“As a Platinum partner of Micro Focus, we are excited about the release of the RPA product and see the definite benefits it can start to bring our clients,” said Jamie Duffield, CEO of Revolution IT. “The RPA product will enable us to automate their processes and focus areas of their application stack to drive value into repetitive tasks quickly and efficiently.”

With cost-effective licensing, companies can keep their RPA costs predictable and scalable. Pricing starts at $15,000 USD per robot, with special pricing that extends to Micro Focus Unified Functional Testing and Operations Orchestration customers.

A Man from Utrecht Arrested for Producing and Distributing Malware

Recently the high tech crime team (THTC) of the Dutch National Police Unit arrested a 20 year old resident of the Dutch city of Utrecht. He is suspected of large-scale production and selling of malware. The young man offered programs with names like Rubella, Cetan and Dryad, enabling the buyer to include secret code or malware in amongst others Word or Excel files. In view of the ongoing investigation, the arrest could not be disclosed earlier by police and National Prosecutor’s Office.

The suspect was active at hackers’ forums under various names. Eventually all these names could be traced to the man from Utrecht who was arrested sitting at his computer. The police were helped in tracing the man thanks to investigations of two private companies, including the cybersecurity company McAfee.

The suspect developed and supplied amongst others the macro builder Rubella, selling it for prices ranging from a couple of hundred to thousands of euros. A macro builder is a toolkit designed to include fragments of hidden code to widely used Office documents such as Excel and Word. Upon opening of such an infected document, the hidden code would be executed. This code could amongst others (surreptitiously) download malware or start a program on the device. The macro builder would design the documents in such a way that they would not usually be detected by a virus scanner.

Distribution of such malware generally takes place via an e-mail containing an infected document as an attachment. The message in the mail is designed to inspire confidence in the potential victim and to induce him to open the attachment. This is actually a kind of phishing, but it is very difficult to protect yourself against it, according to THTC and the public prosecutor of the National Public Prosecutor’s Office. In all cases the advice is not to open, view or download such files as a matter of course and to perform all updates for security software on data carriers.

Furthermore the suspect was found in possession of data concerning dozens of credit cards and manuals on carding, a type of credit card fraud. The young man also possessed access credentials for thousands of websites. It is not known what he was planning to do with these.

The suspect has collected an amount of approx. 20,000 euro in crypto currency such as bitcoins. These have been seized. The investigation into further amounts the young man may have (unlawfully) earned will continue. In due course, a confiscation order will be issued.

The public prosecutor has meanwhile decided that the suspect will have to face trial. No court date has yet been set.

L&T Technology Services Q1FY20 Revenue Rises on Large Deal Wins

L&T Technology Services Limited, India’s leading pure-play engineering services company, announced its results for the first quarter ended June 30, 2019.

Highlights for Q1FY20 include:

*USD Revenue at $194 million; growth of 15% YoY
*Revenue at ₹ 13,475 million; growth of 17% YoY
*EBIT margin at 17.1%; up 230bps YoY
*Net profit at ₹ 2,039 million; growth of 3% YoY

During the quarter, LTTS won 7 multi-million dollar deals across all major industry segments. On a YoY basis, LTTS has increased its USD20mn+ clients by 2 and its USD10mn+ clients by 5.

“We had a strong quarter in most of our segments – Industrial Products, Transportation, Medical and Process Industry, with sequential growth accelerating in Q1 as compared to Q4 on the back of multiple deal wins and good deal conversions.  Digital & leading-edge technologies - the growth driver for ER&D, contributed to 37% of Q1 revenues and grew by 44% YoY. On the operational front we executed well with the margin trajectory continuing to inch upwards on YoY basis.

Innovation and speed-to-market are key priorities for our customers, and our end-end capabilities spanning product and process engineering are enabling us to engage with them at a more strategic level. Further, we are seeing good opportunities to leverage our platforms and solutions that have inbuilt AI & Machine Learning capabilities in the areas of predictive maintenance and energy management.

We are excited about the opportunities in our pipeline and see a clear trend of increasing deal sizes and outcomes,” said Dr. Keshab Panda, CEO & Managing Director, L&T Technology Services Limited.

Industry Recognitions:

·         A global automotive major conferred LTTS with the ‘Performance Excellence Award’ for exceeding performance standards including quality, cost and service.
·         Zinnov rated LTTS in the leadership zone for its deep expertise in the Broadcasting domain and recognized the practice as mature and established in the OTT and Content Security ratings in its Zinnov Zones for Media & Technology Report 2019.
·         LTTS was appraised with Maturity Level 5 in the CMMI V2.0 Development view, the highest capability maturity level in the new CMMI framework. LTTS’ CMMI Maturity Level 5 certification is an indication of the company’s continually improving processes and business performance.
·         At the 17th Annual American Business Awards, LTTS was recognized as the Best Human Resource Team of the Year and conferred with the Stevie Award

Patents

·         At the end of Q1FY20, the patents portfolio of L&T Technology Services stood at 399, out of which 288 are co-authored with its customers and 111 are filed by LTTS.

Human Resources

At the end of Q1FY20, LTTS’ employee strength stood at 15,913 a net addition of 773 during the quarter.

Honda 2Wheelers India Gives Wings to Young Females in Realising their Dream Across Four States

Giving wings to young women’s dream of becoming a commercial pilot, Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India Pvt. Ltd. today announced project SAPNO KI UDAAN - Honda’s unique CSR initiative on women empowerment. Five girls from Karnataka will be selected.

Honda firmly believes that empowering women means strengthening nation and it is with this philosophy Honda is supporting young females to pursue commercial pilot training. Their journey towards becoming a commercial pilot begins with Honda.

Announcing Honda’s biggest CSR initiative, Mr. Harbhajan Singh, Director, General & Corporate Affairs, Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India Pvt. Ltd. said, “As a responsible corporate citizen, Honda 2Wheelers is always committed to bring a positive change in our society. Gujarat and Karnataka are special for Honda 2Wheelers India as it is here we have together covered a long journey of growth and development. Taking one step further in our commitments, we are delighted to announce project SAPNO KI UDAAN - Honda’s unique CSR initiative on women empowerment. Many of the bright young women are not able to pursue their dreams due to lack of financial support. Under this unique initiative, Honda will provide 100% scholarship 20 deserving young females in becoming commercial pilots. We believe that these young women would not only get into a highly respectable profession but also inspire millions in realizing their power of dream.” 

In India, percentage of women commercial pilots stands only around 12%. Encouraging young women to pursue a highly respected profession, Honda has announced its biggest CSR project SAPNO KI UDAAN. Honda is inviting all girls from Gujarat, Haryana, Rajasthan, and Karnataka to apply in this initiative. Honda will provide 100% scholarship to 20 females for their dream of becoming a commercial pilot.

Supporting the deserving females in realizing their dream to become a commercial pilot, Honda will empower them with this once in a lifetime opportunity. Honda will bear the entire cost of training right from their selection to training period of 18 months in one of India’s leading flying school. Moreover, Honda will also assist them in getting a job as commercial pilot.

The final 20 girls will be selected based on an exhaustive selection process. The selection would take merit and income level into the consideration.  Young women having scored more than 90% in Physics and Mathematics in class 12th science under State Education Board will be eligible to apply.

Further, the submitted applications would be screened based on different parameters including achievements in co-curricular activities. Finally, a written test, Medical test, Psychometric test, and a Technical assessment would be carried out to select 20 most deserving female candidates. The girls, proving their merit by qualifying the same, will thus get to avail special training course, supported by Honda.

Candidates can apply online by submitting their documents (10th and 12th mark sheets, scanned copy of recent photograph, email id, and mobile number) on pilotadmission@teamleaseuniversity.ac.in. The application date closes on 10th August.

About Honda’s Corporate Social Responsibility initiatives:

As a responsible two-wheeler manufacturer, Honda 2Wheelers India’s corporate social responsibility philosophy is aligned with United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals. Over the years, Honda is contributing towards women empowerment, community development, road safety promotion, environment sustainability, rural sports, healthcare, education and skill development. Under these 7 pillars, Honda’s CSR initiatives have benefitted nearly 40 lakh people.

1.     Women empowerment: Under Project Unnati and Project Ummeed Honda is providing Vocational training to women, making them self-reliant. Honda has made difference in the lives of 3 lakh women in last 18 years of its operation in India.

2.    Community development: Under Project Jan Uthaan, Honda is developing infrastructure including bus stands and shelters, public parks, overhead tanks. Over 1.5 lakh people benefitted through this initiative.

3.    Road safety promotion: As a responsible corporate, road safety is top priority for Honda. Since 2001, Honda educated more than 29 lakh Indians on road safety and adopted 14 traffic parks in India.

4.    Environment sustainability: Honda’s Project Harit Udaan is not only providing livelihood to 153 families in 75 villages, but also increasing green coverage with help of modern irrigation technologies.

5.    Rural Sports: Encouraging youth at local level, Honda is developing sports infrastructure in rural areas while developing stadiums, sports ground. Honda is also training talented young players for Tennis, cycling etc.

6.    Healthcare: Honda’s Aarogya Abhiyaan is providing medical mobile vans, free cataract surgeries, dispensaries, medical tests, toilets for community, aids to physically challenged.

7.    Education and skill development: Under Shiksha evam Kaushal Vikas Abhiyan, Honda has benefitted more than 1.15 lakh students. Upskilling youth Honda is providing job oriented skill enhancement training at its adopted 23 ITIs across India.

AMW-CFmoto Cruises into Indian Market with Four New Motorcycles

AMW Motorcycles in association with CFmoto, has announced the much-awaited launch of the year for the die-heart bike enthusiasts. AMW Motorcycles today launched four models of CFmoto in India. The models of CFMoto motorcycles launched are the 300NK, the 650NK, the 650MT and the 650GT. The bikes were unveiled today amidst grand fanfare in presence of a host of dignitaries.

Speaking at the launch, Mr. Vamsi Krishna Jagini – CEO AMW Motorcycles said “This is the most awaited launch yet in the Indian market. We are thrilled to partner with CFmoto to bring their globally renowned models to India. The bikes are in the premium niche segment and there is a healthy demand in the category.”

Mr.Kent Chen, Assistant General Manager – Global Sales CFmoto said, “We are happy to bring CFmoto to the Indian consumers. India is a vast and exciting market and in AMW we found a perfect partner to make our India foray. The Indian two-wheeler sector has seen tremendous growth and the premium motorcycle market in India is not only growing but also evolving in consumer tastes and preferences."

CFmoto 300NK is a street fighter and features dual riding modes, TFT Color Display, LED Lighting and Rear mudguard. It will have full LED headlamps with LED turn indicators and will be powered by a 299cc, single cylinder engine.

CFmoto 650NK is also a street fighter and boasts of a muscular fuel tank and sharp tail section.

CFmoto 650MT is an adventure tourer powered by a 649.3cc liquid cooled engine. The tourer gets a tall windscreen and comfortable riding position. It sports a large fuel tank with 18 litres capacity.

CFmoto 650GT is a sports tourer powered by a 649.3cc, liquid-cooled, parallel-twin engine that makes 70PS of power at 8,750rpm and 62Nm of torque at 7000rpm. The 650GT comes with a 6-speed gearbox.

The CFMoto Motorcycles launch are powered between 300-650 cc. The four CFMoto motorcycles that will be available are - 300NK, 650NK, 650MT and the 650GT. The models range from INR 2,29,000/- INR 3,99,000/- INR 4,99,000/- INR 5,49,000/- (ex-showroom prices all India) respectively. The motorcycles will be brought in via the CKD route and will be assembled locally at AMW’s assembly plant located in Bengaluru.

The new models will be available through their dealer network in 6 cities based at Bangalore, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Chennai, Cochin, Kolkata and Guawahati.

Jaguar, Land Rover Inaugurates its First Boutique Showroom at Cunningham Road in Bengaluru

Jaguar Land Rover India today announced the opening of its new Boutique showroom by Marqland at Cunningham Road in Bengaluru. The new facility was inaugurated by Rohit Suri, President & Managing Director, Jaguar Land Rover India Ltd (JLRIL) and Naveen Philip, Director, Marqland.

Located in the heart of Bengaluru, the facility offers better customer access and allows for the display of both Jaguar and Land Rover’s portfolio. The boutique showroom is equipped with a digital personalization studio, offering enriched customisation options. It also showcases and retails the latest accessories and branded goods. 

Rohit Suri, President & Managing Director, Jaguar Land Rover India Ltd (JLRIL), said: “We are pleased to introduce a boutique showroom in one of our key markets, Bengaluru. Enabled by the latest in digital technologies, the brand new facility will help us enhance customer experience and engagement with the two iconic brands. The showroom is very well located and offers great ease of access to many fans and customers of Jaguar Land Rover in Bengaluru.”
Customers can even book their cars by visiting the online booking platform at www.findmeacar.in for Jaguar and www.findmeasuv.in for Land Rover.

The Jaguar range in India includes XE (starting at ₹ 40.61 Lakh), XF (starting at ₹ 49.78 Lakh), F-PACE (starting at ₹ 64.64 Lakh), XJ (starting at ₹ 102.58 Lakh) and F-TYPE (starting at ₹ 90.93 Lakh). All prices mentioned are ex-showroom prices in India.

Land Rover Product Portfolio in India
The Land Rover range in India includes the Discovery Sport (starting at ₹ 44.68 Lakh), Range Rover Evoque (starting at ₹ 52.06 Lakh), Discovery (starting at ₹ 76.94 Lakh), the Range Rover Velar (priced at ₹ 72.47 Lakh), Range Rover Sport (starting at ₹ 86.71 Lakh) and Range Rover (starting at ₹ 181.86 Lakh). All prices mentioned are ex-showroom prices in India.

Jaguar Land Rover Retailer Network in India
Jaguar Land Rover vehicles are available in India through 27 authorised outlets in Ahmedabad, Aurangabad, Bengaluru, Bhubaneswar, Chandigarh, Chennai, Coimbatore, Delhi, Gurgaon, Hyderabad, Indore, Jaipur, Kolkata, Kochi, Karnal, Ludhiana, Mangalore, Mumbai, Nagpur, Noida, Pune, Raipur, Vijayawada and Surat.

Immerse in Wilderness of Africa with ‘The Lion King’ at Cinépolis 4DX

Cinépolis, India’s 1st international and the world’s 2nd largest movie theatre circuit in terms of attendance, presents the much awaited movie ‘The Lion King’ in the revolutionary 4DX format.  Breath-taking special effects involving elements such as wind, fog, lightning, scent, water, rain, and even snow; will transport the movie connoisseurs to the jungles of Africa while actually allowing them to live the adventurous and moving journey of Simba.

The 4DX provides for an immersive screening experience which is widely considered to be the biggest innovation in cinematic technology. The format provides a real life experience, that trigger all five senses, giving the viewers a chance to actually live the movie and not just watch it. The effects work in perfect harmony with the action on screen - creating the most captivating cinematic experience.

Cinépolis Asia & Middle East, Managing Director, Javier Sotomayor, commented on the launch, “Since our inception in the cinema industry, we have endeavoured to remain at the forefront of innovation and constantly introduce newer technologies. We were the pioneers of the 4DX technology in India which has revolutionized the movie watching experience. We look forward to our patrons truly living the wilderness of the African Jungle with the much awaited story of ‘The Lion King’.“

Cinépolis’s focus on revolutionizing the movie going experience goes in sync with it being a tech driven brand, pioneering innovative technologies in the exhibition industry. Cinépolis was the first in India to bring the 4DX technology in 2014 and introduce the concept of megaplex. The brand collaborates with the best global technology providers to be in sync with the rapidly evolving technologies.  Cinépolis’s exclusive global collaboration with RealD  (the global leader in 3D) to add 300 RealD 3D screens across their circuit, along with their alliance with IMAX to open new theatres in India, are examples of their partnerships with Tech giants. Some of the other cutting-edge technologies include LED Screens, IMAX, RealD, 3D and Dolby Atmos.

Synechron Honored as Two-Time Stevie Award Winner in 2019 American Business Awards

Synechron Inc., a leading Digital Consulting firm for financial services, today announced that it has been recognized with two Stevie Awards in the Tech Innovator of the Year – Services category, recognizing Robert Huntsman, Synechron’s Head of Data Science and the Video – Corporate Overview category, recognizing Synechron’s Corporate Film, in the program’s  17th Annual American Business Awards.

These awards highlight Synechron’s commitment to innovation, creativity and accelerating digital.  Robert Huntsman, Head of Data Science at Synechron’s award for Tech Innovator of the Year realizes Robert’s commitment to drive forward innovation from the ground up and builds on the momentum of the successful AI Data Science Program he has led with the formation of Synechron’s Data Science Center of Excellence (CoE), which has won two industry awards since its launch in October 2018 and continues to gain traction.

The recognition in the Video category is the company’s third award-win for such work, showcasing Synechron’s proven excellence for its in-house digital and creative video capabilities through its global Marketing function.

“Having spent over 20+ years in financial services committed to innovation, I am honored to be recognized with a Stevie Award for the cutting-edge work we are doing in Data Science at Synechron to support our clients’ digital transformation initiatives and create powerful, transformative solutions,” said Robert Huntsman, Head of Data Science at Synechron. “I am incredibly proud of the work the Data Science team has contributed to build up this program and the overwhelming response and recognition that has been received thus far. I am happy to play a role in that success and to be part of a company that values and has supported our unique and innovative work.”

“The nominations submitted to The 2019 American Business Awards were outstanding.  They illustrate the continued vibrancy of innovation and high level of achievement across the American economic landscape,” said Michael Gallagher, president and founder of the Stevie Awards.

The American Business Awards are the U.S.A.’s premier business awards program. All organizations operating in the U.S.A. are eligible to submit nominations – public and private, for-profit and non-profit, large and small. More than 200 professionals worldwide participated in the judging process to select this year’s Stevie Award winners. Details about The American Business Awards and the list of 2019 Stevie winners are available at www.StevieAwards.com/ABA.

Larsen & Toubro Infotech USD Revenue Growth Up 11.5% YoY; Digital Revenues at 39%

Larsen & Toubro Infotech, a global technology consulting and digital solutions company, announced its Q1 FY20 results today.

Q1 FY20

In US Dollars:

§  Revenue at USD 356.5 million; growth of 0.8% QoQ and 11.5% YoY
§  Constant Currency Revenue growth of 1.0% QoQ and 12.9% YoY

In Indian Rupees:

Revenue at Rs 24,849 million; growth was flat QoQ and 15.3% YoY
Net Income at Rs 3,557 million; growth of (6.1%) QoQ and (1.5%) YoY

“We delivered 12.9% YoY revenue growth in constant currency driven by Digital Services that now make up 39% of our revenues. We also won a large deal by opening a new client logo in Insurance vertical with net-new TCV of US$44m.

We are also pleased to welcome Lymbyc to LTI family. Lymbyc is a specialist AI, machine learning, and advanced analytics company. The acquisition further strengthens LTI’s Mosaic platform and our fast-growing digital and analytics offerings.”

- Sanjay Jalona, Chief Executive Officer & Managing Director, LTI

Recent Deal Wins

-          A US based insurance company, a new logo has selected LTI for a multi-year, multi-million dollar managed services deal for its IT infrastructure and IT security operations
-          Selected as the strategic partner by Deutsche Telekom for their strategic Microsoft Cloud Acceleration Centre initiative in Central and Eastern Europe
-          A world leader in medical products chose LTI for a managed services deal covering 100+ applications across its global operations to make its IT landscape lean, cloud first and digital ready
-          Selected as the exclusive strategic partner by a leading investment management Company for its AI and automation driven digital transformation journey
-          A leading Japanese electrical and software company selected LTI for SAP Application Management Services engagement
-          A global bank selected LTI for cloud based digital transformation of its wealth management applications
-          Selected by a leading security services firm for implementing financial analytics and reporting tool

Client Testimonial

 “Deutsche Telekom has selected LTI as their trusted partner for the joint Microsoft Cloud initiative in Central Eastern Europe. We are convinced that LTI’s experience with cloud migration will further empower the digital transformation in the region. We are looking forward to pave the customers’ digital journey together with LTI.”

-  Ralf Nejedl, Senior Vice President B2B Growth Europe, Deutsche Telekom AG

“LTI has been a strategic partner to Velliv and continuously strives to deliver business benefits. In the past 4 years, LTI has been instrumental in strategic transformation of our core business applications. LTI has also been proactive in setting up the critical test automation processes across Velliv application domains.”

- Jakob Andersen, CIO, Velliv

Awards and Recognitions

-          LTI ranked as a Leader in AI Based Automation Capability in Software Testing Services: AI and Digital NextGen Testing NelsonHall NEAT report 2019
-          LTI’s Digital Transformative Agribusiness case study recognized in ISG’s Global Digital Excellence: 25 Winning Partnerships Book
-          LTI ranked number 5 in HFS Top 10 Energy Service Providers 2019
-          LTI named in Honorable Mentions in the Gartner, Magic Quadrant for Data and Analytics Service Providers, Worldwide, 2019

*Gartner, Magic Quadrant for Data and Analytics Service Providers, Worldwide, 2019, Jorgen Heizenberg et al., 12 February 2019 Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in its research publications, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors with the highest ratings or other designation. Gartner research publications consist of the opinions of Gartner's research organization and should not be construed as statements of fact.

Gartner disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.

Other Business Highlights

-          LTI signed a definitive agreement to acquire Lymbyc, a specialist AI, machine learning, and advanced analytics company. The acquisition further strengthens LTI’s fast-growing digital and analytics offerings. 
-          Guidewire Software announced LTI as new consulting alliance partner
-          LTI is now a constituent of the FTSE4Good Index Series following the June 2019 index review.

*Larsen and Toubro Infotech satisfied the requirements to become a constituent of the FTSE4Good Index Series. Created by the global index and data provider FTSE Russell, the FTSE4Good Index Series is designed to measure the performance of companies demonstrating strong Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) practices. The FTSE4Good indices are used by a wide variety of market participants to create and assess responsible investment funds and other products.

KPMG – Videocon Partners with 247around to Enable Pan India After Sales Servicing

With an intention to help Videocon in regaining its consumer electronics market share in India, KPMG the brand’s resolution professional, has taken a bold step by handing over its all India after sales service to 247around, a digital post-purchase home appliance servicing platform.  It will provide services such as installations, repair, returns-validation, maintenance contracts, and warranty thereby ensuring the seamless customer experience. It will enable Videocon’s customers to perform self-diagnostics, decipher issues, and estimate prices much before the engineer arrives at home.

Videocon Industries is now back into the process of manufacturing, sale, and distribution of consumer goods. They recently launched India’s latest AI-enabled television, which is the flagship product of the season. Powered by Sensy Technology, the television provides a superior viewing experience and takes care of a family’s diverse tech needs. However, to help the users adapt to and accept this new generation of smart TVs comfortably, they need assistance that is easily accessible. This is where 247around steps in.

Speaking on this collaboration, Nitin Malhotra, CEO and Co-Founder of 247around said, “Consumers prefer buying latest appliances which enhance their lifestyle but what matters the buying decision most is the after sale feedback of the brand, our unique the proposition is that we use technology to our advantage in order to provide seamless repair experience to customers. We use remote diagnostics and more to know in advance what exactly has gone wrong in the product, such that engineer armed with relevant parts can arrive at your doorstep thus minimizing the downtime. Through our association with Videocon, we will enable the brand to manage its customer loyalty efficiently.”

247around is a technology-abled platform that acts as a backbone to its brand partners while empowering them with analytical assistance and helping on-ground engineers take better repair decisions thus delivering best-in-class repair services. The offerings at 247around include services such as installations, demonstrations, returns validation, maintenance contracts, and warranty services, among others. The user can book any of the aforementioned services through the company’s official Android app, website or call center. Once booked, a team of qualified engineers arrives at the given address. Besides Videocon, the platform currently works with 100+ brands and has set expansion plans to reach consumers directly through B2C. It ultimately envisages becoming the fastest service provider delivering superior quality service and best-in-class consumer experience.

3i Infotech’s ORION 11j to Consolidate the Business Operations of Gayatrishakti Paper & Boards Ltd

3i Infotech Limited, a global Information Technology company, committed to accelerating business transformation, helped enhance Gayatrishakti Paper & Boards Limited (GSPBL)’s growing business. The company upgraded to ORION 11j, a GST and TDS-compliant ERP solution from 3i Infotech to solve the challenges pertaining to its operations and reporting.

GSPBL was using the earlier version of ORION that met their business needs for long.  But the growing business needs and dynamic in market expectation requires better scalable, dynamic, business controls and analytics. The upgradation to 3i Infotech’s ORION 11j helped them in improving their business efficiency. It further ensured inventory accuracy and reduction of wastage.

ORION 11j, an enterprise manufacturing suite consisting of finance, purchase, inventory and sales modules, facilitated auto scheduling of reports / invoices and email facility to concerned persons without any manual intervention. Complex reports were generated using ORION 11j and hence additional reporting from other external sources was not required. With the fully web-based system, GSPBL was able to access their system from anywhere with minimum bandwidth requirement.

Speaking on the implementation, Mr. Mahesh Jalan, Executive Director from GSPBL said, “ORION 11j ERP solution was the answer to our fast-expanding business as it helped consolidate our business operations and offer complete visibility by providing real time data flow across the locations. We were looking for a GST-compliant solution and ORION 11j was the right fit as it facilitated prompt GST and TDS reporting and met our requirements.”

Mr. Suryanarayan Kasichainula, EVP & Business Head (ERP), 3i Infotech said, “Through the effective implementation of ORION 11j, GSPBL was able to achieve a remarkable advancement in their overall operations. The solution provided a proactive system with alerts and dashboards, which offered a complete business view for informed decision-making. ORION 11j, being a single integrated solution that connects all business units, enabled the company to gain a 360-degree visibility into its operations.”

Social Media Influences Opinions & Attitudes of Majority School Students: Fortis Study

A study by the Behavioural and Mental Health department of Fortis Healthcare found that Social Media plays a pivotal role in forming opinions and attitudes among majority of the school students today. It also confirmed that as many as 78% students spend a lot of time on social media. A majority of 92% agreed that it’s a conducive platform to spread positive narration about mental health. The survey was done under the supervision of Dr Samir Parikh, Director, Mental Health & Behavioural Sciences, Fortis Healthcare.

The study noted that the content which the students see via various social media platforms do contribute towards influencing their opinions and attitudes. The students admitted that the content which they see via various social media platforms do contribute towards influencing their opinions and attitudes. The role and influence of social media in shaping the belief systems and attitudes of the young generations is very evident, affirmed Dr Parikh.

Dr Samir Parikh, Director, Mental Health and Behavioural Sciences, Fortis Healthcare said, “The ability of social media to influence the belief systems and attitudes of the youth cannot be contested. But it is heartening that majority of the students recognize social media as an effective means to create awareness about relevant issues. We need to capitalize on the role that social media platforms play in the creating alternative and positive narratives around social issues. Finding ways of building the engagement of young people with platforms that are driven to create awareness, encourage help-seeking and act as a support system is a must in this regard. There is a need for us to evaluate the way we are approaching mental health in the context of the young population and find better mechanisms of connecting and engaging with them on mental health. There is untapped potential that needs to be fully utilized to build mental health related awareness.”

The survey was conducted among 4000 school students studying psychology in Class XI and XII, from over 200 schools across 10 cities; viz. Delhi-NCR, Mumbai, Mohali, Ludhiana, Jaipur, Bangalore, Lucknow, Varanasi, Dehradun and Chennai. The idea behind this survey was to understand the relevance of social media in present times, the impact it has and how it has the power to shape narratives which influence their opinions and attitudes. The survey highlighted the need for media literacy among parents. Knowledge of social media would enable parents to understand their child’s perspective better and provide insights into how time spent on social media could be more productive and constructive.

Decade of “Social Entrepreneurship India Award” for Jubilant Bhartia Foundation and Schwab Foundation

Jubilant Bhartia Foundation and Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship, a sister organisation of the World Economic Forum, celebrate 10 years of a vibrant partnership in bringing the most coveted social entrepreneurship award in India. In 2010, the Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship and Jubilant Bhartia Foundation came together to promote social innovation in India through the Social Entrepreneur of the Year (SEOY) India Award.

Ø Social Innovation Takes Off in India: A total of over 1480 unique social innovation applications have been received in 10 years.
Ø 10 years have seen a total of 497 women applications across India.
Ø Women Change Makers: 5 out of 9 winners of the SEOY India award are women social entrepreneurs.
Ø Turnover of participating social organisations range from Rs 1 million to Rs 600 million.
Ø Stringent evaluation: Two new parameters for evaluation of social entrepreneurs – Market-based and Technology-enabled solutions added this year.
Ø New Trends: In the recent years, sustainable farming and clean technology have emerged as new areas of social entrepreneurship

The SEOY India award 2019 will be presented at a high-profile event in New Delhi on 3rd October this year coinciding with the ‘India Economic Summit’ of the World Economic Forum and Confederation of Indian Industry.

The annual award recognises entrepreneurs who implement innovative, sustainable and scalable solutions. These entrepreneurs address pressing issues faced by under-served communities in an effort to make inclusive growth a reality in India. They work in diverse areas such as health, education, employment, water, clean energy, building identity & entitlements, financial literacy, access to information and technology among others. The applications are evaluated on the key parameters of Innovation, Sustainability, Direct Social Impact, Reach & Scope, Replicability. The year 2019 sees the addition of two new parameters of ‘Market-based’ and ‘Technology-enabled’ solutions. The finalists will be selected following an intensive search and selection process, including expert reviews and site visits. The winner is selected by a prominent Jury consisting of eminent leaders and professionals from Government, Business, Media and Civil Society.

The winner of SEOY India will join the world’s largest network of social enterprises affiliated with The Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship, so as to engage, build and sustain their social enterprises. The winner is awarded by a prominent chief guest in a magnificent ceremony every year.

2019 Applications Trend:
Over 120 applicants from 19 cities
Over 30 applications from women social entrepreneurs
Health sector with 43% applications leads the nomination tally followed by Education at 40%, Environment 27% and Rural Development following closely at 26%
Around 20% of the entries from Women Empowerment
Most active sectors are Education, Health, Livelihood, Environment, Technology, Women Empowerment
New categories witnessed are Enterprise Development, Disability, Water & Sanitation, Labour Conditions, Micro Finance, Housing, Fair Trade, Energy, Sustainable Farming, Communication Media, Clean Technology and Nutrition

The Social Entrepreneur of the Year (SEOY) India Award aims to promote and celebrate leading social entrepreneurs and their unique ventures in India that help in addressing the various gaps in our society and country. Through providing recognition, the SEOY India Award hopes to inspire many other potential social entrepreneurs in India every year.

Shell Drives Sustainable Energy Solution at Shell E4 Demo Day in Bengaluru

After a successful first edition in 2018, Shell returned with its second edition of Shell E4 Demo Day, the largest Energy Entrepreneurship Conference in India on July 16, 2019 in Bengaluru. The event included a unique gathering of energy focused startups along with the attendance of Arvind Tiwary, Chair, IoT Forum, TiE and Subhashini Chandran, EVP and Managing Director – India at Xynteo. The day also witnessed the graduation of 10 startups which were selected by Shell for incubation at the Shell Technology Centre Bangalore in January 2019.

The 10 startups which include Mobycy, RightWatts, Ziptrax, igrenEnergi, TresMoto, Manastu Space, AutoVRse, LogisticsNow, Maximl and iGarage, operate on diverse domains and backgrounds. These startups have interesting business models and differentiated product offerings like Battery Management, Digital - AR/VR, Mobility Solutions, Logistics, Energy Management, Operations Efficiency and Energy IOT Applications.  While a number of these startups are working towards a pilot with Shell businesses, some others are closely working with Shell to co-create customer solutions.

Like last year, Shell E4 continues to bring together technical, financial and technological expertise to help India move a step closer to its desired energy efficiency targets.

Speaking on the occasion, Sada Iyer, Shell Technology Centre Bangalore Leader, said, “At Shell, we constantly strive to strengthen our commitment to partner energy entrepreneurs and take steady steps towards India’s transition to a sustainable tomorrow. We are glad to announce the graduation of the second cohort of the E4 programme and we wish each of the graduating start-ups success in their journey towards a better future. By mentoring these start-ups, we have nurtured and enabled the young energy entrepreneurs to bring innovations in the Indian energy sector. We are hopeful that the next year will see even more diverse energy start-ups striving towards an advanced and sustainable ecosystem with Shell E4.”

With an overall approach to nurture a culture of open innovation, through various programmes like Research Connect, Shell Technology Ventures and Shell E4, Shell endeavours to support, engage and empower start-ups at various stages of their lifecycle. Going forward the programme has an interesting growth journey. Following the larger energy focused cohorts, Shell will also be empowering startups under specific themes and sub-sectors and on Monday announced that the 3rd cohort of the E4 programme will focus on digital startups and the 4th cohort will focus on the theme ‘Future of Mobility for India’. The registrations for the 4th cohort are open from July 15 – October 15, 2019.

James Unterreiner, General Manager, Shell E4  Start-up Hub, said, “Keeping in mind the idea behind introducing Shell E4, we have and shall keep identifying and engaging with start-ups who have the talent and vision to innovate technology that will further accelerate India’s transition to a sustainable energy future. On behalf of Shell, I congratulate each of the start-ups under the second cohort of Shell E4 and wish them the very best in their journey ahead.”

Launched in 2017, Shell E4 programme aims at playing a prominent role in accelerating technologies that are fit for India’s energy transition. Shell Technology Centre Bangalore is integral to Shell’s core ambition of providing cleaner energy solutions, for India and the world.

One of the company’s three global innovation hubs, the centre, houses the Shell E4 startups at a vibrant co-working space for six months. The startups are offered a seed funding of USD 20,000 each and access to:

Prototyping laboratories for product development and testing
Bootcamps aimed at customer discovery and improving the product
Top industry mentors and experts
New markets and interactions with investors and other growth and funding opportunities
Since their graduation last year, the startups in the first cohort have witnessed significant growth in their businesses. A noteworthy example is Detect Technologies who have successfully raised Series A funding of $3.3 million from Tier 1 VCs and their cofounders are featured in the Forbes 30 under 30 in both India and Asia. ION Energy’s advanced battery management & intelligence platform is being used by top tier OEMs and Battery Pack Makers in 10+ countries. IoTrek is piloting with 2 Engineering Procurement and Construction (EPC) companies at construction job sites in India and commercially launched product for US market; partnering with General Contractors to deploy the pilot projects.

Startups also have the opportunity to work closely with Shell businesses themselves. For instance, Detect Technologies is working on joint R&D projects with Shell. As alumni of the programme, the startups will continue receiving access to the E4 laboratory, in addition to support from the Shell E4 team for Shell deployment opportunities.

LTI to Acquire Advanced Analytics Firm Lymbyc, a Specialist AI, ML and Analytics Firm

Larsen & Toubro Infotech Ltd., a global technology consulting and digital solutions company, has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Lymbyc, a specialist AI, machine learning, and advanced analytics company. The acquisition further strengthens LTI’s fast-growing digital and analytics offerings.

Founded in 2012, Lymbyc is headquartered in Bengaluru, India and has customers in the USA, UK, Africa, and India. The company is well recognized for its unique capabilities in analytics and data-sciences space. The core of Lymbyc’s capabilities are centered around a proprietary product, Leni, which solves for the entire spectrum of descriptive to predictive business insights, leveraging deep learning, Natural Language Processing, data visualization and predictive analytics. Leni is a virtual analyst that allows users to conversationally access information and insights.

With growing dependence on data, global enterprises need to be better at data discovery, agile analytics, and ability to process large datasets. Lymbyc’s expertise in these spheres will enhance LTI’s Mosaic platform to provide differentiated analytics solutions in a SaaS model. 

Sanjay Jalona, Chief Executive Officer & Managing Director, LTI, said: “We believe self-service capabilities for AI and advanced analytics will be the next wave of disruption in the marketplace, and Lymbyc brings this capability to our Mosaic platform. Leni by Lymbyc is an industry-agnostic platform that solves business user’s need for experience, speed, and comprehension. I welcome Lymbyc’s experienced management team and all its employees to the LTI family.”

Satyakam Mohanty, Founder & CEO, Lymbyc  said: “As a strategic business partner of LTI during last year, we have seen first hand how LTI is leading data and digital transformation agenda for its clients. With AI becoming increasingly mainstream, we are excited to join hands with LTI and to help a larger and richer set of clients. Leni, our AI-based Virtual Analyst is perfectly suited to deliver better value to business users and maximize their information and analytics investments.”

LTI and Lymbyc have been strategic partners for last one year, and have collaborated to deliver unique solutions to several leading global enterprises.

Lymbyc is the fifth acquisition by LTI since the company got listed in 2016. Earlier this year, the company acquired Ruletronics, a boutique Pega Consulting company, and N+P (NEILSEN+PARTNER), a Temenos Wealthsuite specialist.

Emirates to Launch Services to Mexico City via Barcelona from December 9, 2019

Emirates announced its plan to launch a new daily service from Dubai (DXB) to Mexico City International Airport (MEX), via the Spanish city of Barcelona (BCN), starting on 9 December 2019.

Emirates’ Mexico City flight will be a linked service with Barcelona, meaning that customers can now travel between the two cities in unprecedented style and comfort.  Citizens from Mexico, Spain and the UAE only need their passports to enjoy visa-free travel to each respective country.

The new route will be operated with a two-class Emirates Boeing 777-200LR which offers 38 Business Class seats in a 2-2-2 configuration and 264 seats in Economy Class. The new 777 flight will also offer up to 14 tonnes of cargo, opening up access to more global markets for Mexican exports such as avocados, berries or mangoes, automotive parts or medical supplies. Emirates SkyCargo has been flying freighters to/from Mexico City since 2014 already and in the last year carried over 22,500 tons of cargo on the route.

Sir Tim Clark, President of Emirates Airline said: “We are excited to be able to introduce new air connectivity between Dubai and Mexico. The availability of high-quality, daily international air services is essential for the development of tourism, business and cultural ties. Trade, especially in high-value and time-sensitive products, will be facilitated by the ample cargo capacity on Emirates’ Boeing 777 aircraft. We also expect tourism to receive a major boost from the daily flights on our newly-refurbished Boeing 777-200LR.”

Sir Tim added: “Due to the high altitude of Mexico City airport, it is not possible to operate a non-stop flight from Dubai, and Barcelona was a natural choice for a stopover. We are pleased to offer a direct connection on the route between the Spanish city and Mexico City that has long been neglected by other airlines and remains underserved despite the strong customer demand. We would like to thank the authorities and our partners in both Spain and Mexico for their support of the new route and look forward to provide our unique product and award-winning service to travellers.”

“Mexico supports the launch of the long-awaited flight Dubai-Barcelona-Mexico City, which responds to Mexico’s Government tourism policy towards opening new markets and strengthening connectivity between the Middle East and Mexico. We are eager to receive tourists from this part of the world”, said Mexico’s Minister of Tourism, Miguel Torruco Marqués.

"Emirates’ arrival will bring a significant contribution to our international connectivity network by adding up daily services to Dubai and beyond. Emirates will be the 43rd carrier operating international flights into Mexico ... congratulations!!”, said Rodrigo Vasquez C, Director General, Mexican Civil Aviation Authority.

Mexico City, the first destination in Mexico to be served by Emirates, is the largest city of Mexico and the most populous city in North America. Mexico’s capital is one of the most important cultural and financial centres in the Americas, accounting for nearly a third of the nation’s GDP. Located in the Valley of Mexico at an altitude of 2,240 metres, the city is famous for its historic centre known as

Zocalo, a designated UNESCO World Heritage Site. Mexico City is also an important trade and industrial city, specifically in the automotive, medical supplies and pharmaceutical industries. 

Mexico is a popular destination for business and leisure travellers around the world, in particular from UAE, Spain, India, Pakistan, Singapore, Egypt and Lebanon. Mexico is also home to Middle East communities that can now take advantage of the new service.

Dubai is also increasing in popularity with Mexican travellers. In the first 5 months of 2019 alone, Mexican visitor numbers to Dubai have grown by 32% compared to the same period last year*.

Passengers flying with Emirates can book a Dubai Stopover package which will allow them to stay in Dubai for a few days on their way to/from one of over 140 destinations. Dubai offers everything from desert outings to beaches to family-friendly hotels, and even ski slopes at the Mall of the Emirates. Having become the fourth-most-visited city in the world, Dubai is known for its eclectic mix of offerings, from futuristic architecture to vibrant traditional culture and diversity. Passengers on the route can also decide to stop over in Barcelona on their way to/from Mexico or Dubai.

Emirates flight EK 255 will depart Dubai at 03:30 local time, arriving in Barcelona at 08:00 before departing again at 09:55 and arriving into Mexico City at 16:15 on the same day. The return flight EK256 will depart Mexico City at 19:40 local time, arriving in Barcelona the next day at 13:25. EK256 will depart once again from Barcelona at 15:10 bound for Dubai where it will arrive at 00:45 the following day, facilitating convenient onward connections to numerous destinations in India, South-East Asia and the Middle East.

Passengers in all cabin classes can enjoy the friendly service from Emirates’ international cabin crew, meals prepared by gourmet chefs, and over 4,000 channels of movies, TV programs, music and podcasts, including channels in Spanish, on its award-winning ice entertainment system.

* Dubai Department of Tourism & Commerce Marketing (DTCM)  

Vee Technologies’ Global Assessment: A First for a Salem Tech Centre

The Salem and Chennai facilities of global strategic services firm Vee Technologies focused on Analytics and Software Development achieved a landmark by getting appraised at CMMi maturity level 3, considered a global standard for efficiency. The appraisal was done by QAI Global Institute.

With this assessment Vee Technologies’ Salem facility becomes the first software development unit in the Tamil Nadu textiles hub to be appraised. It’s one more reason to attract to the town emerging economy firms keen to tap rich talent pool coming out of prestigious engineering schools like Sona College of Technology where the IT centre is located.

CMMi, a capability improvement framework, provides essential elements of effective processes that help improve performance of organizations.

Bengaluru and New York headquartered Vee Technologies, a pioneer in locating software development centres in non-metro locations a decade ago, provides equal work opportunities to men and women. Today women make up for one-third of its development team strength in Salem.

The firm that offers Healthcare and Engineering Global Services through its dedicated development centres in Bengaluru, Chennai, Salem and Pennsylvania, USA, has integrated healthcare analytics, Robotic Process Automation (RPA), and Revenue Cycle Management with services offerings for the healthcare industry.

Vee Technologies’ Artificial Intelligence Lab and Robotic Process Automation Centre of Excellence offerings span across AI, business intelligence, robotic process automation and cloud engineering technologies for digital and mobile platforms.

“The CMMi assessment will motivate our team to innovate further and strengthen processes to deliver IT solutions combined with our proven quality service to our global customers,” says Chocko Valliappa, founder and CEO of Vee Technologies, a nimble IT firm known for offering high quality service levels.

With strong academic linkages with academic institutions, Vee Technologies attracts bright students to learn and apply new technologies in a global work environment during their internship. This is a proven demonstration of industry- academy linkage.

“By following many niche processes, the firm helps its healthcare customers enhance level of patient care with analytics business deploying capabilities that result in insights about patient populations, clinical outcomes, financial measures and risks involved,” adds Valliappa.

Facts about Vee Technologies you did not know:

•        Using its AI and proprietary tools Vee Technologies analytics solutions help improve clinical decision-making capabilities and predict revenue.
•        Rated as No. 1 in customer satisfaction in the Fortune International Association of Outsourcing Professionals (IOAP) list.
•        Vee Technologies’ Incubation Centre nurtures and employs students from engineering schools around Salem.
•        Its Innovation Lab researches to solve problems using artificial intelligence, computer vision and Natural Language Processing technologies.
•        Robotic Process Automation Centre of Excellence focuses on re-engineering and automation.

Truecaller Unveils User Verification Solution for the Mobile Web

Truecaller has announced the global launch of its Truecaller SDK solution exclusively for the mobile web platform. With this, Truecaller SDK now supports all the key mobile platforms across Android, iOS, React and now mobile web including Progressive Web App support. Developers can access the mWeb SDK from Truecaller’s global developer portal.

Across emerging markets like India and Africa, mobile web-based experiences on smart phones are proving to be the first point of discovery for users trying to access products and services online. One of the key challenges in these markets has been to on-board users using email or other modes and getting verified using the inefficient OTP process. This SDK solution on mobile web is intended to simplify this process for developers through its OTP-less and free to use phone number-based verification solution allowing their users to seamlessly and securely access services using their Truecaller credentials. This ensures there are reduced barriers along with fewer user drop offs and resulting in increased growth in verified users that contributes to minimized business risks for the developer.  A screenshot of a cell phone

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Commenting on the launch, Priyam Bose, Global Head, Developer Platform & Relations, Truecaller, said, “Our vision has always been to enable the developer community by providing them with solutions that help them to build user focused, trust based and growth-oriented products. User onboarding and verification continues to be one of the critical use cases for developers as it is crucial in creating a first impression for their users in terms of building a seamless and secure product experience. On an average, developers in growth markets are starting to see anywhere between 40%-60% of their users now coming from mobile web, giving us more reasons to launch our Truecaller SDK solution for mobile Web interfaces.”

This launch extends Truecaller’s philosophy of building and solving problems at scale for users and developers globally, with value-driven functionalities. Truecaller SDK service for the mobile web platform can be used to fulfil use cases such as mobile number-based signup, login, checkout, verification, and more such touch-points across the user journey.

Early access developer partners for this service also shared their experience.

Mukund Laddha, Product Manager, OYO, said, "At OYO, we have been expanding globally at a rapid pace. Improving user experience during authentication has been a key area of focus. This integration with Truecaller presented us with an opportunity to present users with a reliable alternate login method with a large presence across countries. This has made user on-boarding on web more fluid and frictionless."

Zairus Master, CEO, Shine.com, said, “At Shine.com, our constant endeavor is to improve our end-user experience by adopting best-in-class technologies. As an early access partner, the integration with Truecaller’s verification solution for mobile web platform will help candidates simplify their registration process on Shine.com and facilitate a constantly active and verified set of candidates on the platform, complete with their updated contact details. We believe that this product integration will give Shine.com a competitive edge over other job portals which solely rely on traditional, OTP-based verification.”

Udit Tyagi, Product Head, Times Internet Limited - Indian Languages News Business, said, “In the ever-evolving world of PWA's the gap between app and mWeb is slowly fading away and users expect uniformity and seamlessness in terms of experience and onboarding irrespective of the platform. By leveraging Truecaller SDK for mobile web, we have been able to improve the on-boarding experience of users in our canvas of mobile web apps. In our case, onboarding conversions via Truecaller are 41% higher compared to standard onboarding processes."

ThoughtWorks to Conduct the First Multi-City Edition of Vapasi in India

ThoughtWorks, a global software consultancy, will be hosting the first ever multi-city edition of Vapasi – a technical training program for women technologists who are on a career break and want to re-enter the world of IT. The latest edition of the program will be simultaneously organized across three cities – Chennai, Hyderabad and Gurgaon.

Set to kickstart on 5 August 2019, the program will be held at the ThoughtWorks offices across these three cities. The program is designed to be an intensive four-weeks that will sharpen candidates’ technical skills through hands-on sessions on object-oriented programming practices. Upon completion, short listed candidates will be offered a 3 to 6-month internship at ThoughtWorks and can apply for permanent positions. The last 6 batches of Vapasi that were tailored to developers and quality analysts saw close to 100 women participate. Today, many of them are on fruitful career paths at ThoughtWorks and other tech companies in India.

Commenting on the Vapasi program, Tina Vinod, Head of Diversity and Inclusion, ThoughtWorks in India said, “ThoughtWorks has always understood the importance of diversity at the workplace and is committed to providing an inclusive environment for its employees. Empowering women’s success in technology is a key focus area for us, and we are extremely delighted to launch the latest edition of our much awaited Vapasi program. We are experimenting with a multi-city approach which makes this our biggest edition of Vapasi, in terms of scale and execution. In 2019, our aim is to run no less than eight editions of the program across our seven offices in India. We are very excited for what this step represents when it comes to ThoughtWorks’ journey in nurturing a technical community that is representative of the diverse society that we live in.”

“I was a full-time working professional before a two-and-a-half-year break during which I was a full-time mother. When I first thought about going back to work, I wasn't very confident in starting all over again. And, that’s when I heard of Vapasi,’’ said Sana Siddiqui, an alumnus of the Vapasi program. “I was surprised to recognize how Vapasi has influenced me - boosting my confidence, vision, goals and interest in learning and gathering new skill sets. I received incredible guidance and coaching from the Vapasi mentors, and that made me feel welcomed!”

Soumia Annie Jose, another participant of the program said, “Vapasi helped me gain confidence and ignite a familiarity with emerging technologies. While the program’s intensive format sharpened my existing skill set, what was truly impressive was the exceptional patience demonstrated by the trainers and mentors. The program helped me get my career back on track.”

The Vapasi program is part of #TalkTechToHer, a ThoughtWorks initiative directed towards women in technology who have more than 6 years of work experience. The campaign wants to elevate the conversation around inclusivity and drive an important message that women can achieve as much as men, or more when presented with the opportunities, without the biases.

To register for the upcoming multi-city edition of Vapasi, please click here. The last date to register is 25th July 2019.

#AdvantageSpeed – ACT Fibernet Upgrades Internet Broadband Plans in Chennai

ACT Fibernet (Atria Convergence Technologies Ltd.) India’s largest fiber-focused wired broadband ISP (Internet Service Provider) has upgraded the most popular internet broadband plans for its customers in Chennai. The newly upgraded plans will allow existing and new customers to enjoy faster and uninterrupted broadband speed at no additional cost.

Beginning 15th July 2019, ACT Blast Promo has been upgraded from 100 Mbps to 150 Mbps speed with 1000 GB FUP limit. ACT Storm has been upgraded from 125 Mbps to 175 Mbps speed with 1250 GB FUP limit. Similarly, ACT Lightning has been upgraded from 150 Mbps to 200 Mbps speed with 1500 GB FUP limit and ACT Incredible has been upgraded from 250 Mbps to 300 Mbps speed with 2000 GB FUP limit.

Speaking on the upgraded plans, Mr. Sandeep Gupta, COO, Atria Convergence Technologies Ltd.  commented, “With online streaming, gaming and smart homes gaining momentum among customers fast and reliable home broadband connectivity is a necessity. Sensing the market needs we have upgraded our broadbands to empower and enable customers to do and achieve more in the digital space”.