Tata Motors, IndianOil to Launch Diesel Bharo - Truck Jeeto Campaign

Tata Motors, India’s largest commercial vehicle manufacturer has joined hands with IndianOil, the largest retailer of petroleum fuels to launch the ‘Diesel bharo - Truck Jeeto’ campaign to boost diesel sales during the festive season. The campaign was formally launched today by Mr. Gurmeet Singh, Director (Marketing), IndianOil, and Mr. RT Wasan, Vice President, MHCV Product Line, CVBU, Tata Motors, at an IndianOil outlet in Sarsan, Mumbai–Pune highway.

The ‘Diesel bharo - Truck Jeeto’ campaign will run for a period of 90 days. Customers making a diesel purchase of 50 litres or more on a single bill from an IndianOil outlet between September 10, 2019 to December 8, 2019 will stand a chance to win a bumper prize of a brand new Tata Ultra truck at the end of every 30 days. 45 lucky winners will take home a Tata Ace Gold every alternate day. In addition to this, 10,000 lucky customers also stand a chance to win High Speed Diesel worth Rs. 1,000 each. To participate, the customers will have to send a simple SMS on 99114 10000 with details of their Bill and quantity.

Speaking at the inaugural function, Mr. R T Wasan, Vice President, M&HCV Product Line, Tata Motors, said, “At Tata Motors, we are proud to continue our long standing association with IOCL leveraging each other’ strengths to offer superior products with guaranteed performance. Through this Diesel bharo – Truck jeeto campaign, we will be reaching out to all our customers to promote the use of high quality high speed diesel, Tata Motors genuine oil and Tata Motors DEF from the largest network of IOCL and TML channel partners. We are continuously supportive of campaigns that create new benchmark for innovation. Our trucks have always been responsive to the adoption of newer innovations assuring the customers of a smooth quality drive.”

Mr. Gurmeet Singh, Director (Marketing), IndianOil, said, “IndianOil has always strived to serve every single customer of IndianOil. This campaign is yet another initiative in our efforts to engage with and delight our customers. I am sure that with this campaign, more and more customers shall become a part of the IndianOil family and give us an opportunity to energise their lives.”

Introduced in 2005, Tata Ace has successfully pioneered the concept of mini-trucks in India with more than 22 lakh Ace variants sold across the country. The Tata Ace family of vehicles has been constantly evolving, strategically identifying and filling gaps in the market ahead of its time. The Ultra trucks offered by Tata Motors are developed as per Global Trucking Standards and offers superior fuel efficiency, versatility, power, speed, carrying capacity along with stylish, futuristic and smart car-like utility features.

This offer is available at over 27,000 IOCL fuel stations across the country.

Micro Focus Celebrates COBOL’s 60th Anniversary and its Enduring Value with COBOL60

Micro Focus has commenced its COBOL60 activities, celebrating the continued relevance of information technology’s most enduring business language. Known for its innovation, portability, readability and business-centricity, COBOL has continually expanded and adapted to support new technologies and business demands.

Created in 1959 as a U.S Department of Defense project to assist data processing, the revolutionary language was built to last through the expert design work of Grace Hopper, Jean Sammet, and others. Since starting with the development of a COBOL compiler in 1976, Micro Focus has spearheaded the evolution and innovation of the language and the contemporary technology that supports it.

“Our current digital economy is changing rapidly and while core business processing remains critically at the heart of that change, COBOL is fully equipped to meet today’s and tomorrow’s business needs,” said Chris Livesey, Senior Vice President, Application Modernization and Connectivity at Micro Focus. “Modernizing trusted COBOL systems is a proven path to success, which is why COBOL is and will remain to be the bedrock of digital transformation.”

Today, Micro Focus offers products for those learning, maintaining and building upon core COBOL applications. Micro Focus continues to invest millions each year in mainframe and distributed COBOL application analyzer products, as well as modern IDE-based mainframe and distributed COBOL application development products (Visual COBOL and Enterprise Developer) and server deployment products.

“Evolving to support a wide range of contemporary digital technologies, COBOL applications are continuing to be enhanced and extended, yet the language remains readable enough for anyone to learn and maintain it,” said Derek Britton, Global Director of Product Marketing, Application Modernization and Connectivity at Micro Focus. “COBOL continues to modernize - it is a language that was designed to stand the test of time, with six decades of heritage, billions of lines of value and scores of practitioners using it to this very day.”

As part of Micro Focus’ COBOL60 activities, the following resources are available:

The Micro Focus white paper “COBOL at 60: A Living Legend”
The Micro Focus COBOL eBook hosted by IBM Systems Magazine
The Micro Focus webinar “COBOL- Here’s to the Next 60 Years”
Micro Focus’ COBOL Academic Program
The Micro Focus #DevDay event on September 19, 2019, New York City
The Micro Focus Application Modernization and Connectivity products and solutions

SSAB Tops CDP’s List Assessing Business Readiness in Fossil-Free Steel Production

SSAB, the global steel company, is taking steps to gradually eliminate its carbon emissions and achieve the goal of fossil-free steel production by 2045. Recognising these efforts of the company, CDP (formerly Carbon Disclosure Company) in its recent analysis has ranked SSAB first amongst steel companies business ready for a low-carbon operations.

The report analysed 20 of the world’s biggest listed steel companies, which in aggregate represent 30% of global steel production. SSAB had ranked second in the CDP report, when last analysed in 2016.

SSAB has presence in India since a decade with its flagship brands of Hardox wear plate and Strenx performance steel. The company has helped customers use these high-strength steels to reduce the weight of their equipment, improve fuel economy and extend product lifetime – factors that have a major impact on reducing their carbon footprint. These steels are used by a wide variety of heavy equipment types, such as dumper bodies, buckets, trailers, and equipment for lifting, transportation, recycling and agriculture.

The CDP report shines a spotlight on SSAB’s HYBRIT initiative and plans to achieve fossil-free steel production by closure of blast furnaces and their replacement with electric arc ones.

It further states that SSAB has the most ambitious emissions targets among steel companies, ranks it high when it comes to managing risks arising from the switchover and applauds it for being one of the most carbon dioxide-efficient production systems in the steel industry.

Speaking about the achievement, Mr Sergio Moyano, SSAB director for Turkey, Middle East and India said, “The global steel industry accounts for 7- 9% of greenhouse gas emissions and to align with the Paris Agreement's long-term goal to keep the rising global average temperature below 2 °C above pre-industrial levels, the sector will be required to reduce its emissions to 65% of 2014 levels by 2050. We at SSAB have always worked towards sustainable solutions for our customers and environment. Initiatives such as HYBRIT and sensitising customers to upgrade towards a better quality steel is part of the same thought process. We thank CDP for acknowledging our commitment towards carbon free operations.”

Other than steel, CDP’s sector research series takes an in-depth look at high impact industries such as automotive, electric utilities, chemicals, mining, cement, oil & gas, capital goods, consumer goods, shipping etc.

KisanKraft Conducts Aerobic Rice Demo for Kanakapura Farmers

KisanKraft an ISO 9001:2015 certified manufacturer, wholesale importer & distributor of high quality agricultural equipment conducted an Aerobic Rice demonstration for farmers in Kanakapura, Ramanagara district, Karnataka. The demonstration was conducted by Mr. Sumantha Holla and Mr. Raghavendra in order to educate farmers on the process of cultivating Aerobic Rice.

The advantages of Aerobic rice is that it uses 50% less water than that required for paddy cultivation and reduces the amount of fertilizer, pesticides, labor costs and greenhouse gas emissions. As against 5,000 litres of water required to produce one kg of conventional rice, the aerobic rice requires between 2,000-2,500 litres.  This crop could also be grown in low rainfall areas.

Aerobic rice is dry direct seeded in well aerated fields.  The fields need not be puddled. Inter or mixed cropping with pulses, vegetables, and oilseeds is also possible.  In the long run, this improves the soil health.

Speaking at the demonstration, Mr. Sumanth said, “Rice cultivation and production is a huge contributor to the economy of India. Various problems and issues such as water scarcity and the lack of knowledge can have a serious impact on the production of this crop, which can negatively impact the growth of our economy. To combat the growing issues against the rice crop, we at KisanKraft have developed a new strain of Aerobic Rice which consumes more the 50% less water with the same outputs.“

Raghavendra Said “Using Aerobic Rice, farmers can yield 55 quintals of paddy per ha or more depending on the fertility of the soil. Without any change in the taste as compared to traditional rice varieties, this paddy can be sown directly resulting in an increase in profitability of paddy cultivation as it brings down the expenses of cultivation significantly.”

A significant advantage of cultivating Aerobic Rice that it does not need nursery, puddling, leveling and transplanting. It is also very eco-friendly as it produces less methane emission while being a cost effective crop as it gives lesser incidence of pests and diseases.

SDG Corporation and RSA Announce Strategic Partnership Across India

RSA Security and SDG Corporation are proud to announce their strategic partnership for fraud and risk intelligence solutions and services across India. Cyber fraud teams around the world speak in volumes about the frequent occurrences of account takeovers, fraudulent money transfers and sophisticated business logic abuses that result in massive financial and brand losses. RSA’s top-of-the-line fraud management products and SDG’s two decades of experience in delivering cyber security solutions and services make this partnership a great asset for the companies’ global customers.

By strategically working together, both SDG and RSA can address the ever-increasing needs of online fraud detection and prevention solutions and services. The partnership and the newly launched Fraud and Risk Intelligence practice will allow SDG to provide advisory, implementation and managed services, as well as take RSA fraud and risk intelligence solutions to existing & new customers. In the war against evolving cybercrime with actionable intelligence, SDG and RSA will empower customers to respond to digital fraud attacks in real time.

“We are in an era of hyper-digital transformation, and the risk of zero-day fraud exists in all channels. It is extremely important for enterprises to protect online transactions and stay one step ahead of fraudsters’ attempts to exploit vulnerabilities.” says Ajay Gupta, President & CEO of SDG Corporation. “We are extremely excited about our strategic partnership with RSA. It enables us to offer end-to-end cross channel risk-based fraud management solutions to secure users’ online experiences.”

“With rapid penetration of digital deeper into business operations, the line between cyber security and risk management has blurred. RSA’s business-driven security solutions provide a unified approach to managing digital risk that hinges on integrated visibility, automated insights and coordinated actions helping customers create capabilities necessary to achieve the required digital risk management maturity,” said Rajnish Gupta, Regional Director, India & SAARC, RSA, A Dell Technologies Company. “We are thrilled to partner with SDG to give organizations transforming their digital, multi-channel strategy the ability to protect consumers against fraud while improving the user experience and reducing transaction friction.”

SBI General Insurance Announces Bancassurance Tie up with “Karnataka Gramin Bank”

SBI General Insurance, one of India’s leading general insurance companies, has entered into a comprehensive bancassurance deal with Karnataka Gramin Bank to provide the bank customers with a bouquet of general insurance products.

With this partnership, SBI General Insurance has extended its distribution channels in the southern market and will distribute its insurance products across all the branches of Karnataka Gramin Bank. The extensive local presence of the bank will be an added advantage for the insurance company.

Speaking on this alliance, Mr. Pushan Mahapatra, MD & CEO, SBI General Insurance, “We are pleased to announce the tie-up with such a prestigious bank in the state of Karnataka. The bancassurance channel has potential to reach out to the last mile and serve untapped markets thereby promoting the insurance penetration in India. At SBI General insurance, we strive to reach out to the furthest part of the society and spread awareness on insurance, and this partnership is in line with our objective. This association will leverage the strengths of both the companies, bringing Karnataka Gramin Bank’s customers a comprehensive suite of general Insurance products.”

Karnataka Gramin Bank is the biggest RRB of India having presence in 21 districts of Karnataka with 1167 branches. The bank has a business turnover of 46500 cr and is servicing 1.58 cr customers across Karnataka. The deal will benefit the bank’s retail and SME customers spread across rural, semi urban and urban areas of Karnataka state.

Cyient and QinetiQ Sign MoU to Offer Avionics Products for Unmanned Target Systems in India

Cyient, a global engineering and technology solutions company, today announced that it had signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with UK-based defense technology firm, QinetiQ’s Target Systems (QTS), to offer avionics products for its unmanned target systems. Cyient will provide advanced manufacturing and electronics engineering solutions for QTS’ range of unmanned air, land, and sea target systems from its facilities in India.

“The signing of this MOU with Cyient marks a significant milestone in QTS’ strategy in India. The high levels of expertise and quality within the Cyient business together with the enthusiasm and desire to succeed have impressed us from day one. Initial efforts are focused on the manufacture and assembly of avionics and electronics assemblies for our target systems as we grow indigenous activities beyond the manufacture and assembly of airframes, subsystems, and ground equipment already in place,” said Graham Brooks, Program Manager, India, at QinetiQ Target Systems.

“We are very excited about our collaboration with QTS, a world leader in unmanned air, land, and sea targets for live-fire training, test, and evaluation exercises. This partnership will allow us to support the “Make in India” initiative of the Government of India by building critical subsystems for QTS products out of our manufacturing facilities.  While we will initiate the collaboration with making avionics products, Cyient’s comprehensive design, build, and maintain portfolio will be leveraged for other purposes as well. We can deliver world-class aerospace engineering solutions and leverage our award-winning productivity and innovation framework to support QTS’ products in India. We see a seamless alignment between our business strategies, and this MoU is a significant milestone in our long-term partnership,” said Anand Parameswaran, Senior Vice President, Aerospace and Defense at Cyient.

World's Leading Brands Focus On Acquiring New-Age Skills

Every year on September 8, International Literacy Day is celebrated across the globe by UNESCO to acknowledge the improvements in world literacy while working on the challenges that remain. However, in an ever-evolving world that is turning more digital by every passing day, the definition of literacy needs to expand to also cover emerging yet fundamental skills that go beyond being able to read and write. Here’s what the top and emerging brands venturing into equipping young minds and professionals with emerging skills like data literacy and cybersecurity have to say on the occasion of International Literacy Day.

Ankur Goel, Managing Director, Qlik India said, "International Literacy Day is a timely reminder of the essential skills that form the foundations of education and employment. But literacy does not only apply to letters and words… with the volume of data being created today doubling every two years – it goes without saying that reading and understanding this data will become essential to all – but especially so for the younger generation who will be joining the workforce.

Young people are already almost three times more likely to be unemployed than adults and the education system as it stands is unable to adequately prepare them for this new generation of work – of those 16-24 year-olds already in the workforce, Qlik’s Global Data Literacy Report found 52% are overwhelmed by the data they must read and analyse as part of their job. Additionally, the research suggests that most (81%) full-time employees in India admit to feeling overwhelmed when reading, working with, analysing or challenging data. At Qlik, we are already working towards creating a more data empowered society through initiatives like the Data Literacy Project whose mission is to enable individuals at every stage in their data literacy journey. The portal provides at no cost - assessments, courses and even globally recognised certification, where individuals can upskill themselves. The Qlik Academic Program also works with over 150 universities in India to provide access to the Qlik Data Analytics Curriculum, which offers professors ready-to-teach, free resources – including instructor-led content, in-class activities and interactive business use cases. As the success of the digital economy lies in equipping the current and future workforce with the skills to succeed, data literacy training programs must be placed front and centre both in the education system and the workplace to boost their chances of success in a rapidly changing future world of work.”

Mr. Rakesh Kharwal, MD - India, Cyberbit says, "“Today, India is at an interesting crossroad and is brilliantly positioned to not just shape the regional discourse, but to transform the socio-economic dynamics at a global scale. With the ongoing digitization, India is rapidly adopting technological solutions and developing relevant skills. The nation has further traveled a long way in terms of cybersecurity, spreading its awareness and adoption quickly within the market. This is also a reason why avant-garde simulation training solutions such as Cyberbit Range are receiving positive traction in the country. We can clearly visualize such tools equipping our nation with the forward-looking skillsets which can eventually generate over 1 million jobs and make India emerge as the global hub of both technological solutions and talent.”

United Kingdom to Extend Two-Year Work Visa to Foreign Students

In a move that addresses a long-standing demand to boost Indian student numbers choosing British universities, the UK government on Wednesday announced a new two-year post-study work visa route for all international students.

The new 'Graduate' route, to be in place by next year, will be open to all overseas nationals who have valid UK immigration status as a student and have successfully completed a course of study in any subject at undergraduate level or above at a government-approved UK higher education institution.

The visa will allow eligible students to work, or crucially look for work, in any career or position of their choice, for two years after completing their studies.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who has effectively re-instated a policy ended by his predecessor Theresa May around nine years ago, said the change will see students "unlock their potential" to begin careers in the UK.

NetRack Extends a Helping Hand to Karnataka Flood Victims

The heavy water discharge from the Maharashtra reservoir due to heavy Rains in the particular areas has severely affected the North Karnataka districts of Belagavi, Bijapur, Raichur, Kalburgi, Yadgir and Uttara Kannada. Karnataka received nearly five times the rainfall it normally used to have, adding to the severity of the floods across 12 districts. Excess rainfall is the main possible factor that caused and intensified floods.

NetRack, a leading solution provider for data centers and end-to-end IT server racks, acted and came forward to help the recent flood-affected victims in Karnataka. The company contributed INR 10 lakhs to help the flood affected victims in Karnataka. Besides, NetRack also donated 3000 saplings to Isha foundation towards Save Cauvery Campaign, urging on the importance of trees in holding the soil during floods.

Mr. Ravi Raj, Brand Head, Director, Sales & Support at NetRack said, "We at NetRack feel proud to be able to extend our support to help the flood-affected regions with our small contribution. Also, I would like to thank the Karnataka police along with the Indian Air Force, civilians, NGOs, volunteers, fishermen from coastal Karnataka who had actively taken part in the rescue operations."

Like NetRack, out there are many NGOs, rescue teams, including personnel State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and the Army, who extended their helping hands for the restoration of flood-affected regions of Karnataka.

Willis Towers Watson Unveils Tech Innovative Risk Advisory Service ​

Willis Towers Watson, a leading global advisory, broking and solutions company, has launched a new advisory capability to help chief financial officers and risk managers reduce volatility and minimise their total cost of risk.  Connected Risk Intelligence is a single source for financial executives to establish optimal risk strategies across their organisation through a portfolio approach to risk.

Connected Risk Intelligence has been built around IGLOO, one of the leading proprietary decision support systems to the insurance sector. It brings advanced risk modeling and simulation capability, including dependency and correlation modeling, to the corporate sector. This process enables clients to significantly reduce risk while lowering costs.

Kevin Snowdon, Regional Director, Risk & Analytics, Asia, said “With the challenging environment today, the ability to combine analytics with industry data to better understand risk at a portfolio level is of upmost importance. This deeper understanding of the correlations of risk, especially for large and complex risk portfolios, helps organisations to identify better ways to reduce volatility by leveraging the benefits of diversification. It provides a decision framework for companies to select alternative strategies to dynamically respond to the ever-changing business environment. This optimisation can lead to a 10 to 30% reduction in risk and/or insurance cost savings per year.”

Connected Risk Intelligence identifies how to take advantage of market inefficiencies providing the ability for clients to optimise the balance between retained and transferred risk across a broad range of risks that affect their business.  It is an innovative approach which provides clients with a broad understanding of their risk portfolio to enable better informed decisions about their risk finance strategy in aggregate rather than within traditional line of business silos. This process reduces volatility, improves costs and ultimately liberates capital for better uses. It aims to transform the perception of risk management from a cost center to a value center.

John Merkovsky, Head of Risk and Analytics at Willis Towers Watson, added “’Today’s risk manager and CFO have only been able to view risk financing as individual transactions, compartmentalised by line of business. Connected Risk Intelligence is a combination of advanced modeling technology and our own optimisation expertise which will revolutionise the way organisations view risk management. By using Connected Risk Intelligence, we can help clients identify the combination of solutions that move their overall risk finance portfolio to the Efficient Frontier and exploit arbitrage opportunities along the way.  For the first time, companies can have absolute certainty that their risk strategy is exactly right for their business and that they are paying precisely what they need allowing effective capital deployment elsewhere.”

Connected Risk Intelligence is available for large corporate clients with complex risk portfolios.

Union Minister Mahendra Pandey Lays Foundation Stone for Indian Institute of Skills, Mumbai

Key Highlights

»        IISs in line with Institutes of Eminence including IITs and IIMs
»        Tata Group to invest Rs. 300 crore in setting up the 4.5 acres campus at Sion
»        IIS aims to enroll 5,000 students per year with campus placement of 70% trainees

In the quest to make India the Skill Capital of the World, Dr. Mahendra Nath Pandey, Minister for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE), today laid the foundation stone of Indian Institute of Skills (IIS) at Mumbai to provide skill training in highly specialized areas to students who want to pursue technical education after completing Class X and Class XII, making them employable and industry ready for the New India and the global market. The vision behind setting up IIS was to build world-class skill training centres in line with reputed educational institutes like Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) and Indian Institution of Management (IIM), with first-hand learning facilities from internationally renowned existing skill institutions.

Amarjeet Mishra, MoS status Vice-Chairman of Maharashtra Film, Stage & Cultural Development Corporation Ltd (MFSCDCL), Shri Mangesh M Kudalkar, MLA (Kurla Constituency); Shri Malik Abdul Rashid (Kaptan), Corporator; Shri Natarajan Chandrasekaran, Tata Sons; Mr. AM Naik, Chairman, National Skill Development Corporation & Group Chairman, Larsen & Toubro Limited; Shri KP Krishnan, Secretary, MSDE and other senior officers of MSDE were also present at the inauguration of the IIS.

Tata Education Development Trust (TEDT) was selected as the private partner for setting up IIS at NSTI campus in Mumbai through a competitive bidding process. The Tata Group is investing about Rs. 300 crore in the 4.5 acres campus that aims to bring best-in-class infrastructure and facilities to students. The aim of the Institute is to ensure that 5000 trainees will be passing out every year with 70% placement opportunities.

The Union Cabinet had given its nod to set up Indian Institute of Skills (IISs) in three locations of the country — Mumbai, Ahmedabad and Kanpur, to give wings to the Skill India Mission. These institutes will be constructed & operated on a PPP (Public-Private Partnership) model and in not-for-profit basis.

Envisaged as world-class skill training center imbibing best practices from internationally renowned existing skill institutions, the institute will facilitate learnings and trainings through strong industry connect in both public and private sectors. The courses in this institute will include modern training methodologies using digital and augmented learning platforms. It is also an important step towards promoting apprenticeship-embedded courses and offering higher order qualifications leading up to certificates, diplomas and even degrees in conjunction with universities.

Inaugurating the institute, Dr. Mahendra Nath Pandey, Hon’ble Union Minister for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, said, “The concept of Indian Institute of Skills (IIS) was envisaged by the Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi ji himself when he had visited the Vocational Education and Training Center in Singapore. It is under his able guidance and direction that this institute will be on the lines of the IITs and the IIMs that we have in our country. It will aspire to earn a similar reputation, stature and world-class infrastructure to cater to the demands of the international market and modern requirements. Just like how we are now being known for ‘Make in India’, soon we will be known for ‘Skilled in India’ as well.

The driving force behind setting up a state-of-the-art training institution like the Indian Institute of Skills (IISs) is to help candidates equip themselves with marketable skills. There is a need to build a skilled workforce equipped with the required skillsets to meet the demand of Industry 4.0, powered by technology like automation, Artificial Intelligence and machine learning, cyber technology, energy conservation etc. The skill scenario is changing world over, and these institutes will keep us competitive. The setting up of the institute in Mumbai will also cater to aspirations of the youth of Maharashtra eager to become a part of the new-age industrial economy,” he added.

The Government has provided land to the private partner for a period of 25 years for the institute, with comprehensive project reviews every 5 years mapping performance outcome.

Natarajan Chandrasekaran, Chairman, Tata Sons extended his best wishes on the foundation ceremony and said that Tata is privileged to be a part of a project conceptualized by the  Prime Minister, himself. He said that jobs are critical for economic growth and with the current demographic dividend, skill development is the appropriate solution to get the youth productively employed. He said that we need to ensure that latest market relevant skills are imparted to make the youth ready for jobs of the future.

Along with the foundation laying ceremony, the dignitaries also undertook tree plantation today at the National Skill Training Institute campus in Mumbai.

Tata Motors Introduces Pentacare Warranty Package for Tata Harrier

Tata Motors has announced the launch of Pentacare Warranty- an extended 5-year warranty package for customers of its flagship SUV– the Tata Harrier. The announcement of this exciting package comes soon after the launch of the Dark Edition Harrier earlier this month.  As compared to the initial 2-year warranty package, this product extends the timeline of the warranty package on the Harrier upto 5 years for unlimited kilometres mileage to provide complete peace of mind. This product is available for purchase at a special price of INR 25,960 within 90 days of the purchase of the SUV.                                                                                                 

The package covers important maintenance services of the critical parts such as the engine and engine management system, air conditioning system, transmission system and gear box, fuel system and fuel pump, driver information system and many more. Additionally, any maintenance related to the malfunctioning of the clutch and suspension will now be covered up to 50,000 kms.

Commenting on the introduction of yet another exceptional customer friendly package, Mr. SN Barman, Vice President, Sales, Marketing & Customer Support, Passenger Vehicle Business Unit (PVBU), Tata Motors said, “In line with our endeavour to provide our customers with excellent services on their purchased TML products, we are delighted to introduce the 5-year Pentacare warranty package for the Tata Harrier. This package covers almost all major maintenance services for the Harrier and aims to provide our customers complete peace of mind during their ownership experience of Harrier. We hope that our customers will appreciate this service and give us an opportunity to continue to provide them with exceptional customer support in the future.”

The Harrier, which is built on the OMEGARC and derived from Land Rover's legendary D8 platform, is the perfect combination of stunning design and excellent performance. Powered by cutting-edge Kryotec 2.0 Diesel engine and Advanced Terrain Response Modes, Harrier assures an exhilarating performance on the toughest of terrains.

India’s Pulp Strategy Develops a Product for US-Based InCom Mail to Send Personalized Items to Loved Ones Posted on the Line of Duty

If you are one of those who get emotional while watching those surprise military reunion videos, read on. Pulp Strategy, India’s largest independent agency in the digital communications and technology space, acquired the mandate to develop and market a product for InCom Mail that allows users in the USA to send heartfelt messages to their loved ones posted far away on the line of duty.

The product, which is Android, iOS and Web native, aims to bring back the touch of heartfelt communication into people’s lives with the help of technology and allow users to truly convey their messages in a manner that is extremely personal, creative and filled with warmth. Users can and send personalized postcards, greeting cards, picture letters, high quality photos, books, magazines, and more to your loved ones.

InCom Mail is the recent product developed under Pulp Strategy’s Product development and marketing suite of services dedicated for start-ups. The product was developed by Pulp Strategy post sustained discussion with the client team, who wished to enable families of defense personnel connect with them in the most emphatic manner.

Jessica Stewart, Co-Founder and Director of Marketing, InCom Mail said, “In the LOL, emoji, TTYL and 160-character tweet generation, the care, love and scope of language as an effective emotional communication tool is getting lost somewhere. Today, instead of laughing out loud, we just type it, or worse, share an emoticon. Our vision is to rekindle the traditional ways of communications with the help of modern technology, in the same old heartfelt and personalized way. We live in a world where our brave soldiers and offshore troops may not have access to simple joys which we take for granted, the graduation of their daughter or the 1st ball game from their sons league, the prom, the 1st birthday or a mothers day card. InCom Mail makes these little joys possible. We are re-bonding families by enabling them to send out these moments easily from their phones and the printed communication reaches their soldier where ever she or he is posted across the globe. That printed letter on the desk, or in his pocket, while a soldier is thousands of miles away it makes the world of a difference, it is priceless”.

Jessica Stewart further added, “Pulp Strategy realized this idea perfectly, and the end result has become something, which we are extremely proud of. Through diverse customization options in terms of content, font, background and the option to transform virtual messages into something tangible, such as a greeting card, a letter or other items, users can give form to their feelings and shape to the precious memories and moments. The team is extremely professional and has enabled us to shape the product idea into a beautiful product. In addition to the product they have built our brand and guidelines as well in the marketing of InCom Mail.”

ABB India, NITTTR Sign MoU to Setup the First-of-its-Kind Digital Simulation Lab in Chandigarh

The first-of-its-kind multi-physics ‘Simulation Center of Excellence’ (SCoE) in the country will enhance skill development for critical electro-mechanical equipment design and manufacturing, catalyzing ‘Make in India’ for the students and the faculty members of the institute.

ABB signed the MoU with NITTTR, a flagship institute under the aegis of the Ministry of Human Resource Development and one of the initial four institutes, set up in the country to realize the need for training better quality technical manpower to meet the large-scale industrialization of the country. The funding for the project is part of ABB India’s CSR initiative.

‘The Simulation Centre of Excellence’ has added another feather in the cap of educational hub of Chandigarh and Mohali, having institutes of repute ranging from business schools to state of the art research institutions. Chandigarh and its adjoining areas have also become a sought-after destination also for outsourcing industries.

Students from electrical and mechanical engineering department of the institute have been working with ABB on online remote condition monitoring of motors and issues of motor casings. Though the SCoE was established with focus on electromechanical systems, the high-performance computing feature of workstations in SCoE has also been used by students of Computer Science Department of NITTTR for their post graduate thesis work in the domain of Machine Learning.

“A combination of knowledge and expertise developed through the right skilling initiatives would be key to take the Indian economy to the next level of growth. ABB India over decades has been working on various initiatives to catalyze teaching, learning and skill development on best in class global technology and practices,” said Sanjeev Sharma, Managing Director, ABB India. “We are happy that our partnership with NITTTR, one of the oldest institutes of technical training in the country, has made the first of its kind digital simulation lab operational in the emerging educational hub of Chandigarh. Such digital infrastructure in the academia will be the stepping stone to prepare future generations to navigate technology disruptions across the industry,” he added.

“The upgraded computing, simulation and analysis facilities available in SCoE has brought opportunities for NITTTR students and faculty for research of complex industrial systems. With the availability of SCoE infrastructure, NITTTR faculty has been able to introduce new short-term courses in the domain of Finite Element Analysis for the technical teachers,” said Prof. Shyam Sundar Pattnaik, Director, NITTTR. “Thus, SCoE has a cascading effect in improving the quality of technical education system through state-of-the-art learning tools. NITTTR, Chandigarh through SCoE will address the industrial requirements as well as provide an opportunity to the faculty and research scholars to work on real-life for industrial projects and latest technologies of digitalization like machine learning and latest computer aided engineering software,” he added.

High-end computing workstations and complete suites of ANSYS & COMSOL Multiphysics software for the SCoE were procured. Some of the sophisticated Computer Aided Engineering (CAE) software such as ADSTEFAN (for casting simulation), Simufact (for forming & forging simulation), KissSoft (for gear design) etc. were also ported on the high-end workstations for enhancing the efficiency of simulation and provide superior learning experience for the students.

The focus on clean energy and digitalization in the manufacturing and energy sector has also led to higher demand for superior quality, connected and innovatively designed products and solutions for the domestic and international markets. Optimal and robust design of electro-mechanical equipment in the current context is guided by the recent advances in computing machines, parallel processing and simulation tools. Proliferation of advanced automation, digitalization with industry 4.0 has also revolutionized the world of digital product designs and prototypes with digital twins, 3D modelling, robotics on the foundation of thermal, mechanical and electromagnetics.

Trend Micro Hosts Discussions Around Hybrid Cloud Security and Detection and Response During CLOUDSEC India 2019

CLOUDSEC, the leading global cybersecurity conference, will take place in Mumbai on October 10th, 2019. Hosted by Trend Micro Incorporated, CLOUDSEC India 2019 provides an avenue for enterprises and organizations to discuss and collectively address issues such as the increasingly complex cyberattacks, shifting IT environments, and the upcoming industry trends and morphing threat landscape, with this year’s theme being ‘Picture This! See. Secure. Go further’.

The cybersecurity landscape continues to introduce challenges amid exciting new technologies. Organizations need to see order in chaos, see things from a different perspective, and even step back to see the big picture. Having visibility through the power of collective and connected intelligence helps businesses build cyber resilience and allows them to go further and do more. CLOUDSEC offers a platform for industry professionals to convene and share best practices and insights to combat cyber threats.

The day-long event will feature an interesting keynote, engaging theme-based sessions, and fireside chat and breakout sessions. At CLOUDSEC India 2019, some featured speakers include:

Nilesh Jain, Vice President, Southeast Asia and India, Trend Micro
Ramachandra Hegde, SVP, CISO, Genpact
Sriram Lakshmanan, Vice President, Cybersecurity Assurance, Genpact
Brijesh Datta, Vice President and CISO, Reliance Jio Infocomm
Mathan Babu Kasilingam, CISO, NPCI
Venkatesh Subramaniam, Global CISO, Olam International

Commenting on the event, Nilesh Jain says, “It is important for the enterprises to have broader visibility of the risks and detect more complex attacks that otherwise remain unnoticed. Endpoint detection and response (EDR) tools have been available for a while, and many organizations have adopted the technology. While absolutely necessary, EDR is no longer sufficient to meet the requirement of faster detection and response. The industry is now moving to XDR - the ability to detect and respond across email, endpoint, server, cloud workloads, and network via a single platform or managed service. Trend Micro recently became the first to deliver XDR across all these vectors.”

Leading cloud service providers - Amazon Web Services (AWS) and VMware will join the event as platinum sponsors and share their insights on securing various types of cloud environments. At the event, Trend Micro researchers will also be sharing findings and insights around emerging threats. During the event, Trend Micro will showcase demos of their newly launched XDR technology.

CLOUDSEC India 2018 saw close to 750 participants in total. With 18 speakers, 85 CIOs, and 402 companies gracing the event last year, it was a huge success.

JLL Spark Invests in Qdesq, India’s Leading Digital Broking & Co-Working Technology Platform

Silicon Valley-based venture capital arm of JLL, JLL Spark, has invested an undisclosed amount in India’s largest flex-space technology platform, Qdesq. Through this investment, the proptech focused fund has marked its first India focused investment, it said in a statement today.

Founded in 2015 by Paras Arora and Lavesh Bhandari, Qdesq is a digital platform that allows companies to transact flexible workspaces, managed workplaces, virtual offices and individual offices. The company lists India’s largest inventory of available flex spaces in near real t ime and currently transacts one desk every 20 minutes on behalf of corporates looking to avoid locking themselves into long term leases. At present, Qdesq has approximately 2,200 centres, lists over 500,000 desks in near real time, covering the top 35 Indian cities and has rapidly emerged as a dominant distribution channel for co-working operators like WeWork, 91Springboard, AWFIS, Regus, Smartworks, Innov8 and Oyo.

With this investment, the company plans to invest heavily into the analytics capabilities of its technology platform to allow enterprises to better self-solution their futur e real estate footprint and to allow commercial asset owners to create viable co-working and flex spaces within commercial complexes.

“The investment in Qdesq taps into the growth opportunity that the flexible workspace segment offers. JLL’s strong corporate relationships across the globe, combined with Qdesq’s technology platform and preferred partnerships with flex space operators, will help us provide a more comprehensive solution to our clients across 35 cities in India,” said Ramesh Nair, CEO & Country Head – India, JLL.

Demand from corporates, startups and entrepreneurs in India has resulted in a huge jump in the co-working share in total office leasing. According to a JLL study, the share of co-working office leasing has risen to 15 percent in the first six months (January to June) of 2019 from the 8 percent level seen in 2018. The segment has absorbed 10.1 mn square feet of cumulative space since 2017 to the first half of 2019, according to the findings.

“Qdesq sits at the cusp of one of the largest disruptions in commercial real estate. Companies are no longer interested in inefficient leases with long lock-ins. Businesses are increasingly looking for the flexibility to easily expand or contract their footprint. With their comprehensive inventory of real time availability of managed spaces, Qdesq is able to dramatically reduce the lead-time to occupancy for companies,” said Anuj Nangpal, Asia Pacific Lead, JLL Spark.

As per JLL estimates, currently there are approximately 325 to 330 flexible workspace operators in the top seven cities in India. The study finds that the average size of transactions in the co-working segment increased from 37,000 square ft in 2017 to 52,000 sq ft in 2018 and further to 97,000 sq ft in the first half of 2019.

“The average time it takes to close a fixed time lease today is anywhere between three and six months. In comparison, Qdesq is able to close even large enterprise occupancy requirements within days. Our transaction volumes have been growing over 400 percent year-on-year and, with our shared vision with JLL, the opportunity is to scale the platform across Asia,” said Paras Arora, Co-founder of Qdesq. The company recently launched in the Philippines and plans to be present in most of Asia’s gateway cities in the near term.

Qdesq has solutioned real estate occupancy requirements for a wide variety of clients ranging from super high growth te chnology companies like Zomato, Phonepe and Zerodha to more established corporates like Bank of Baroda, Nagarro and Hyundai. India is one of the largest potential markets for co-working spaces in Asia, second only to China.

NA Shah Associates and Fortitude Law were advisors to the transaction.

Bold360 Suites Optimizes Workflows for Behind-the-Scenes Customer Support Teams

Today, LogMeIn announced enhancements to its AI-powered Bold360 suite that make it easier for supervisors, content managers, and other critical behind-the-scenes customer service teams to work smarter, faster, and improve overall performance. From aggregating valuable information to more advanced agent monitoring, these latest features drive operational efficiencies and empower support teams to deliver a better customer experience.

“Changing customer expectations are shifting the dynamic of customer service teams across the board. In particular, a supervisor’s role is evolving from task master and policy enforcer to coach and strategic decision-maker,” said Ryan Lester, Senior Director of Customer Experience Technologies at LogMeIn. “With these latest updates, Bold360 supports the demands of their evolving roles and ensures they spend less time navigating systems and more time guiding their agents to better serve customers.”

Building upon the momentum of previous Bold360 releases, these latest improvements offer:

Best-in-Class Knowledge Management Tools: This iteration of the Bold360’s Search Optimizer makes it easier than ever for knowledge and content managers to identify gaps and quickly address them, all within a single interface. New functionality includes:

* Robust search and filter on customer intents, building on Bold360’s industry-leading Voices Dashboard
* Task-driven interface to manage unanswered, answered, channeled, and muted intents
* Ability to create articles for unresolved intents directly in the Search Optimizer
* Add additional phrasings to an article directly from an unresolved intent

Robust Engagement Monitoring: The updated Monitor View arms supervisors with faster access to information they need to act on. With one click, supervisors can see the full content of live chats, chatbot engagements, emails, SMS texts, and messaging channels like Facebook Messenger, allowing them to keep a more detailed watch on engagements and quickly address issues as they arise.

Better Workload Organization: A new chat flagging feature makes it easier for agents to mark an engagement and come back to it later if they need to follow up with a customer or request supervisor review. Additionally, the Monitor View for supervisors can be filtered by agent flags so that supervisors can easily keep tabs on open engagements.

ISO 27001 Certification and New Security Controls: Bold360 has met the ISO 27001 Certification requirements for managing sensitive company information so that it remains secure. Additionally, Bold360 now offers IP Whitelisting for Agent Logins, which gives administrators the ability to restrict which networks agents can log into from the Bold360 Web Workspace. Whitelisting gives administrators peace of mind that their support environment is secure without the burden of manually monitoring logins. 

Pawan Munjal Inducted into Asia Pacific Golf Hall of Fame

Dr. Pawan Munjal, the Chairman, Managing Director and CEO of Hero MotoCorp – the world’s largest manufacturer of motorcycles and scooters - will be inducted into the 2019 Asia Pacific Golf Hall Of Fame.

Dr. Munjal joins legendary golfers such as Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player and other leading golf personalities, such as Dr. David Chu, the founder of Mission Hills, the world’s largest golf resort.

Dr. Munjal co-hosts the ‘Hero World Challenge’, at Albany in the Bahamas, a PGA sanctioned Tiger Woods invitational event – one of the most high-profile golf tournaments in the world. He also hosts the ‘Hero Challenge’ – the innovative one-hole knockout contest played under lights, at three prominent European Tour events.

Hero MotoCorp has been the title sponsor of Hero Indian Open for men, co-sanctioned by the Asian Tour and European Tour, since 2006 and the Hero Women’s Indian Open, which is a part of the Ladies European Tour, since 2010. Hero MotoCorp also sponsors India’s domestic Pro Tour for women.

Dr. Munjal is being inducted to the Hall of Fame for his unparallelled support and ongoing commitment to golf in India and around the world since more than two decades. His personal commitment to golf has seen Hero MotoCorp being a partner of all three prominent tours – The PGA Tour, The European Tour and the Asian Tour.

Announcing this Mike Sebastian, CEO of the Asia Pacific Golf Group, the owner of the Asian Golf Hall of Fame, said “It is really an honour to be able to recognise Dr. Pawan Munjal and to bring him into the elite fold of some of the greatest names in golf. Besides his wonderful support of golf, the induction of Dr. Munjal serves as a recognition of his invaluable contributions to nation-building and his strong commitment towards socio-economic development of India and in many other parts of the world.”

His induction into the Asia Pacific Golf Hall of Fame will be permanently installed at the Dr. David Chu Golf Museum at Shenzhen in China, the new home of the Hall of Fame.

The induction ceremony will be held on November 6th at the 2019 Asian Golf Awards Gala Banquet, to be held at the multi-award winning DLF Golf & Country Club in Gurugram, India.

Dr. Munjal has also always been a keen supporter and promoter of golfers around the world. Top Indian golfers such as Anirban Lahiri, Shiv Kapur and Sharmila Nicollette are supported by Dr. Munjal and have been brand ambassadors of Hero MotoCorp. Legendary golfer and 16-time major winner Tiger Woods is the Global Corporate Partner of Hero MotoCorp.

In addition to Golf, Dr. Munjal has also been one of the biggest promoters of football, field hockey and cricket in India and around the globe.

Dr. Munjal is one of India’s foremost corporate leaders, championing growth, socio-economic progress and technological innovation. Under his leadership, Hero achieved the coveted title of World’s No. 1 two-wheeler company (in terms of volume sales by a single company in a calendar year) in 2001 and has successfully retained this position till date, for 18 consecutive years now.

Hero MotoCorp commands well over 50% share in the domestic motorcycle market in India and has sold over 90 million motorcycles and scooters in cumulative sales so far.

Dr. Munjal has led Hero MotoCorp in its rapid growth as a truly multinational company with its global footprint spanning across 37 countries in Asia, Africa and South and Central America. The Hero family of people comprise a cross section of nationalities from different countries, including India, Germany, France, UK, Japan, Italy, Austria, Colombia, Bangladesh and the United States of America.

In keeping with Dr. Munjal’s vision of making Hero MotoCorp a technology powerhouse, the Company has set up a world class, state-of-the-art research, design and development centre called the Hero Centre of Innovation and Technology (CIT) at Jaipur in the northern Indian state of Rajasthan. More than 600 engineers from around the world are engaged in designing and developing mobility solutions for customers in markets across the globe.

Siemon Strengthens its Operations Across Indian Market

Siemon India, an arm of The Siemon Company, a US headquartered leading global network infrastructure specialist, opened a new warehouse facility at Chennai today. Siemon offers high quality, high-performance IT infrastructure solutions and services for Data Centers, LANs and Intelligent Buildings in India.

Speaking on the occasion Mr. Prem Rodrigues Director of Sales & Marketing for India, Middle East & SAARC told that “This facility will help Siemon to cut down on delivery time and offer better service to our End users and Channel partners. We continue to follow our global standards of operation and aim to give best of customer experience”.

Siemon India has its Head Office at Hyderabad, where it has also established its Center of Excellence team to provide Datacenter design services, warranty and IT solutions to its global operations. Siemon has a robust team of Customer service representatives, Logistics team, demand analyst and Business analyst to manage the entire pre and post-sales support service. This facility also takes care of its marketing and other back end operations for India & SAARC region.

Siemon said in a statement here that it considers India a strategically important market and is committed to investing in its capabilities to better serve both customers and partners. Siemon is developing its relationships with Complementary manufacturers to provide value added solutions to its clients in Datacenter & Intelligent/Smart Buildings space and is also increasing its robust strength of System integrators and Certified Installers who can give pan India service.

“The company grew its tremendous presence in last couple of years and will ensure that world class IT infrastructure products are made available to Indian market. We foresee strong demand for our products & solutions and will continue to invest in this region with an aim to increase our market share” added Mr. Prem Rodrigues.

Microsoft's September 2019 Patch Tuesday: Tenable Roundup

Microsoft's September 2019 Patch Tuesday release contains updates for 79 CVEs, 17 of which are rated critical. In the wake of BlueKeep in May, and the four additional CVEs for Remote Desktop Services in August (DejaBlue), Microsoft has addressed four new CVEs for Remote Desktop Client. Additionally, Microsoft patched two elevation of privilege bugs which have been exploited in the wild this month. Click here to read the complete breakdown of the most important CVEs from this month's release.

Satnam Narang, Senior Research Engineer at Tenable said, "This month's Patch Tuesday release contains updates for nearly 80 CVEs, including four critical vulnerabilities in the Remote Desktop Client, and two Elevation of Privilege vulnerabilities exploited in the wild as zero-days.

Since Microsoft warned about BlueKeep (CVE-2019-0708) in May, Microsoft's Platform Security Assurance & Vulnerability Research team identified additional vulnerabilities in Remote Desktop, patching four critical flaws in August in Remote Desktop Services, dubbed "DejaBlue." This month, Microsoft's internal research teams identified four new critical vulnerabilities in Remote Desktop Client (CVE-2019-1290, CVE-2019-1291, CVE-2019-0787, CVE-2019-0788). Unlike BlueKeep and DejaBlue, where attackers target vulnerable Remote Desktop servers, these vulnerabilities require an attacker to convince a user to connect to a malicious Remote Desktop server. Attackers could also compromise vulnerable servers and host malicious code on them and wait for users to connect to them.

Microsoft also patched two vulnerabilities that were exploited in the wild as zero-days. CVE-2019-1214 is an elevation of privilege vulnerability in the Windows Common Log File System (CLFS) Driver, while CVE-2019-1215 is an elevation of privilege vulnerability in the Winsock IFS Driver (ws2ifsl.sys). Both flaws exist due to improper handling of objects in memory by the respective drivers. Elevation of Privilege vulnerabilities are utilized by attackers post-compromise, once they've managed to gain access to a system in order to execute code on their target systems with elevated privileges."

India’s First Senior Living Community ‘The Virtuoso Club and Serviced Residences’ Unveiled in Bengaluru By Columbia Pacific Communities

Columbia Pacific Communities, part of Seattle-based Columbia Pacific Management, today announced the launch of a new signature project in India. Columbia Pacific Management, brings together over 40 years of rich experience in senior housing design, development and management in the U.S., Europe and Asia.  Integrating global best practices in senior living design and management, The Virtuoso Club and Serviced Residences is a first of its kind offering in India. 

The 157 apartments and public spaces are designed to international standards and offer world-class amenities and facilities such as 24x7 healthcare, a club with a swimming pool, and home style food, making sure that a resident’s every need is taken care of. 

Commenting on the launch of the first property in India, Mohit Nirula, CEO, Columbia Pacific Communities, says, “We are pleased to announce the launch of our 10th senior living community in the country – The Virtuoso Club and Serviced Residences in Bangalore.  A lot of thought and Columbia Pacific Management’s four decades of experience in senior living of have gone into making India's first senior living community designed to international standards. 

Residents of The Virtuoso Club and Serviced Residences will be able to leave their daily chores to us and use their time instead to embrace life, pursue passions and give back to society in more ways than ever before.

Commenting on the India launch for the group, Carsten Belanich, Lead - International Senior Housing Funds, says,

“The senior population in India is expected to touch 173 million by 2026. There is an increasing need for a wholesome support system that takes care of physical, emotional and mental wellbeing of seniors. Drawing on our group’s deep expertise in developing senior housing across U.S., Europe and Asia, we are confident that Columbia Pacific Communities will positively shape the senior living category in India.” 

 Columbia Pacific Communities has associated with veteran actor Zeenat Aman, for the launch of its first signature property.

Speaking about her association with the launch of Columbia Pacific Communities’ new project, veteran actor Zeenat Aman, says, “Columbia Pacific Communities’ brand ethos of positive ageing resonates deeply with my personal philosophy of ageing gracefully. At 65, I am loving life like never before, and believe that age is just a number. Your advanced years can be very productive if you are in the right environment. I travel frequently, act in movies and theatre, spend time with my pets, enjoy gardening, meet my friends and do everything that brings me joy. This is doubtlessly the best phase of my life. With a burgeoning senior population in India, there’s an increasing demand for a wholesome lifestyle solution for seniors. With their rich legacy of building homes for seniors across the globe, I am confident that Columbia Pacific Communities is poised to set new benchmarks for senior living in India.”

With 40 years of rich global expertise in senior living, the company aims to reimagine senior living and senior care in India.  

Design Dekko by Godrej debuts in India’s Garden City, Bengaluru

After the success of its first edition in Pune, ‘Connections by Design Dekko’, a unique platform initiated by Godrej witnessed the best of the design fraternity get together to share ideas on sustainable designs that will shape future ready living spaces in Bengaluru. The event was hosted at Godrej Lake Gardens, Sarjapur Road.

As part of its third edition, Connections by Design Dekko, Bengaluru brought together a mix of workshops, conversations and experience zones. Leading architects, interior designers, celebrities, home décor enthusiasts and students participated in this specially curated one-day event.

Popular TV host, author and chef Maria Goretti inspired the audience with interesting and personal anecdotes on how one can ‘Make Space for Passion’ with the help of interactive and sustainable home spaces. She spoke about how she engages with her family and friends while pursuing her passion for cooking; especially her favorite East Indian recipes from her kitchen.

This was followed by an evening that celebrated the minds who make sustainable spaces. Leading architect Dimple Mittal of Maya Praxis in conversation with Uday Bhasker, Business Head – South, Godrej Properties shared her experience on thinking radically for transforming spaces. Renowned fashion designer, Sounak Sen Barat of House of Three  spoke on Sustainability at Scale. What brought a very interesting twist to the evening was the presentation by two 15 year old water conservationists, Param Nayar and Ashwin Raghavan, who inspired the AID community with a thought-provoking session on water conservation.

Commenting on the initiative, Sujit Patil, Vice President & Head Corporate Brand and Communications, Godrej Group, said, “Godrej Group has always been at the forefront of creating platforms that foster engagement and collaboration. We are overwhelmed with the response received for our third pop-up event ‘Connections’ by Design Dekko in Bangalore. Design Dekko, today, is a preferred platform not just for established design professionals but also students across the nation. We have recently launched a nationwide school connect program preparing our future generation of architects to take on the role of securing and driving sustainable spaces in India”.

Connections by Design Dekko’s Bangalore edition was supported by Locator, India Circus, Godrej Interio, Godrej Security Solutions, Godrej Locks & Architechtural Fittings and Systems, and Godrej Properties. The ‘break in challenge’and experience zone by Godrej Security Solutions encouraged participants to attempt breaking open a home locker and win exciting prizes. Godrej Locks & Architectural Fittings and Systems showcased their new and innovative digital locks range. Godrej Properties offered homeowners a free consultation from leading architects. At the U&Us zone, homeowners received a free consultation from interior designers.

Deloitte Marks its 10th Consecutive Year of Growth; Record Revenue of US$46.2 Billion

Key highlights:

All Deloitte businesses, regions, and industries experienced continued growth in fiscal year 2019
The number of Deloitte professionals grew 9 percent to more than 312,000
Deloitte continues to advance its commitment to making a positive societal impact by preparing its people, clients, and communities to meet the evolving demands of the Fourth Industrial Revolution

Deloitte has reported aggregate member firm revenue of US$46.2 billion for the fiscal year ending 31 May 2019 (FY2019). This is a 9.4 percent revenue increase in local currency and a US$3 billion increase over last year.

“At the core of Deloitte’s culture and business model is the fundamental belief that we exist to make a positive impact for clients, our people, and the communities in which we live and work. Our performance in FY2019 is evidence that a purpose-led approach works,” says Punit Renjen, Deloitte Global CEO. “Disruption and transformation are shaping business and society today, imposing new and urgent responsibilities on business leaders. Deloitte is meeting the challenges by building an equitable and sustainable business for the long term and holding itself accountable for the triple-bottom line of people, profit, and planet.”

People – Diversity and inclusion power the workforce of the future

Deloitte believes that its workforce must reflect the world around it if it is to succeed in solving its clients’ toughest challenges.

This year, Deloitte launched an initiative to globally coordinate its diversity and inclusion efforts. This is part of Deloitte’s long-standing commitment to talent development and building a workforce with the skills to solve the business and societal challenges of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. The key focus of the initiative is an effort to attract, retain, and increase the representation of women and minorities at all levels within Deloitte.

“While we are proud of our progress, we know we have more work to do to enable the next generation of leaders to reach their full potential. We are making conscious efforts to take steps to increase the number of women and underrepresented minorities in our leadership ranks throughout the organization, while recognizing that diversity and inclusion efforts are most successful when supported by the right environment, culture, and policies,” says Michele Parmelee, Deloitte Global Chief People and Purpose Officer. “Our strategy includes using data analytics to inform actions, modifying talent processes, setting global standards, and providing our people with more development, sponsorship, and leadership opportunities.”

In FY2019, Deloitte increased its workforce to approximately 312,000 professionals, a 9 percent increase. Growth occurred across all regions, with more than 90,000 professionals hired.

As Deloitte’s workforce continues to grow and as transformative technologies─such as digital, cloud, analytics, and artificial intelligence (AI)─become increasingly pervasive, Deloitte is focused on equipping its people with new capabilities that will enable them to be more tech savvy and future-ready. This, in turn, will allow Deloitte to help clients capitalize on these revolutionary innovations.

Deloitte combines common curricula, technology, and innovative learning facilities, such as Deloitte University (DU), to provide its people with consistent leadership, industry, and technical capabilities. Deloitte’s significant long-term investment in the Deloitte University system enables its people to advance their careers and participate in leadership-development programs in a world-class learning environment. In FY2019, nearly 133,000 Deloitte people around the world experienced DU. Additionally, a new personalized digital experience, powered by AI and machine learning, will provide Deloitte professionals with learning recommendations and access to the latest knowledge and skills-based learning they need, when and where they need it.

In addition to preparing its people and clients with the skills required for the jobs of the future, Deloitte is committed to helping millions of people around the world find meaningful work in the new economy. By 2030, Deloitte’s global societal impact initiative, WorldClass, aims to empower 50 million people by improving education outcomes, developing job skills, and providing access to opportunities. Since launching two years ago, WorldClass has reached 5.3 million people. This year, WorldClass continued to expand, reaching 3.8 million people and launching new programs in India, China, and South Africa.

In alignment with Deloitte’s global diversity and inclusion initiative, WorldClass includes a focus on identifying community opportunities and stakeholders who can raise the aspirations, confidence, and engagement of girls and young women, thereby preparing them for jobs, entrepreneurial endeavors, and the Fourth Industrial Revolution. For example, WorldClass in India is focused on accelerating high-impact solutions and promoting cross-sector collaboration with businesses, government, and nonprofits in order to help 10 million girls and women be better prepared for the future of work.

Profit – Record revenue marks 10th consecutive year of growth

Deloitte’s strategy and multidisciplinary business model continued to drive success globally in FY2019. All five business areas—Audit & Assurance, Consulting, Financial Advisory, Risk Advisory, and Tax & Legal—grew during this time.

All six industries also contributed to Deloitte’s growth in FY2019. Growth among the industries was led by Energy, Resources & Industrials, which grew at 20.4 percent, followed by Life Sciences & Health Care at 12.4 percent, Technology, Media & Telecommunications at 10.3 percent, Consumer at 8.5 percent, Financial Services at 5.9 percent, and Government & Public Services at 2.9 percent. Financial Services was the top contributor with US$12.4 billion in aggregate global revenue for FY2019.

Among the regions, revenue in Asia Pacific grew fastest with a local currency growth of 11.6 percent, followed by the Americas at 10.4 percent, and Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) at 7.9 percent.

“Our FY2019 results are a validation of Deloitte’s strategy to deliver high-quality, globally consistent service to our clients while continuing to serve the public interest and working to restore trust in capital markets. We evolved and innovated our offerings to address current and emerging client needs, and we increased our investments in learning and development to build a workforce with deep knowledge, capabilities, and leading-edge insights,” says Renjen.

Key growth drivers for Deloitte’s businesses in FY2019 included:

Audit & Assurance revenue experienced aggregate growth at 3.0 percent. Ongoing investments in audit quality, transformation, innovation, and technology demonstrates Deloitte’s commitment to restoring trust in the capital markets and serving the public interest, with audit quality being Deloitte’s top priority. Deloitte’s innovation and technology investments are anchored by its next-generation, cloud-based audit platform, Omnia. The platform enables the audit of the future, incorporating everything from data analytics to engagement project management and audit applications. Deloitte’s market-leading portfolio of audit innovation tools also includes Cortex, an analytics platform which was recognized as the “Audit Innovation of the Year” in October 2018. Deloitte’s Assurance services business continues to grow at a rapid pace, delivering confidence and additional value across a broad range of service offerings, with revenue totaling US$1 billion for FY2019 and strong continued growth expected.

Consulting revenue grew the fastest globally, at 15.2 percent, by helping leading organizations imagine, deliver, and run the future of their businesses in an era of unprecedented change. Deloitte was ranked number one in worldwide consulting for its market share in April 2019, based on revenue from 2018. Growth and market share increased across the board in mature and emerging markets, with the highest growth occurring in Asia Pacific, as Deloitte helped clients execute their digitally enabled business transformations. This growth was fueled by sustained and successful orchestration of assets and ecosystems across digital, cloud, cognitive and AI, and internet of things (IoT) in collaboration with key alliance partners, such as Adobe, Alibaba Cloud, Amazon Web Services (AWS), Google Cloud, IBM, Informatica, Salesforce, SAP, ServiceNow, and Workday. Areas of hypergrowth included the Consumer industry and Energy, Resources & Industrials industry verticals, and solutions to signature issues clients face in areas like the future of work, smart cities, and the future of health.

Tax & Legal saw the second-highest revenue growth globally among Deloitte businesses at 8.5 percent, driven by client demand for globally integrated, digitally enhanced services to provide them with confidence in a rapidly changing and complex environment. Radical and emerging global tax reforms (including the digitization of reporting, an evolving policy landscape, and increasing transparency expectations for multinational businesses) and demand for integrated legal services underpin this growth. In addition, the ongoing development of key strategic alliances, including with Berry Appleman & Leiden LLP in immigration law and Epstein Becker & Green, P.C. in employment law, are laying the foundation for global leadership in end-to-end global mobility and workforce-management services.

Risk Advisory grew at an aggregate 8.4 percent with double-digit growth in its Cyber Risk and Financial Risk offerings. Gartner ranked Deloitte #1 in Security Consulting Services for its market share in July 2019, based on revenue from 2018. Deloitte is globally recognized as a leader in cyber strategy consulting and Fusion Managed Services (FMS). Risk Advisory delivered innovative, digitized, tech-enabled solutions, driving growth, efficiency, and modernization for clients. Strong results for Government & Public Services, Life Sciences & Health Care, and Energy, Resources & Industrials clients led the way from an industry perspective. Risk Advisory focused on helping clients transform the way they strategically approach risk in what is an ever-evolving and complex environment.

Financial Advisory grew 8.1 percent globally, delivering impact for clients and society through Mergers, Acquisitions, Divestitures, and Forensic services. Growth was fueled by serving as a trusted advisor on many of the world’s most iconic M&A transactions for corporations, private equity, and sovereign wealth funds. Deloitte’s market-leading Forensic practices prevented and remediated complex disputes, investigations, and crises and addressed the global impact of financial crime through innovative technology and digital solutions.

“In today’s hyperconnected world, the best solutions to address client challenges are developed by ecosystems of problem solvers. Deloitte’s success is driven, in part, by our alliance relationships with many of the world’s most powerful and innovative companies that help our clients solve their most complex problems, shape new markets, and create sustainable value,” added Renjen.

Planet – Shaping our future through environmental sustainability

Deloitte believes business has a critical responsibility to help mitigate the impacts of climate change.

Deloitte has committed to the global reduction of carbon emissions as part of its ongoing and increasing efforts to preserve the planet and natural resources for future generations. Deloitte strives to lower its carbon emissions in line with the Paris Agreement and has set specific reduction goals for its buildings, fleet, and business travel by FY2025 from its FY2017 levels. The building and fleet goals were formulated in line with methodologies put forth by the Science-Based Targets Initiative aimed at limiting emissions in accordance with the Paris Climate Agreement.

Deloitte’s greenhouse gas emissions goals cover the entire global organization and address its major sources of emissions. The goals include a 36 percent per unit of area reduction in building emissions, 11 percent reduction in fleet emissions, and 10 percent per FTE reduction in travel emissions. And furthering Deloitte’s commitment to sustainability, emissions arising from Deloitte air travel during FY2019 are being offset through the purchase of carbon credits.

To learn more about Deloitte’s societal impact and FY2019 performance, please read Deloitte’s 2019 Global Impact Report.

About the Deloitte societal-impact commitment

Addressing the complex challenges society faces today has become a mandate for business, and one that requires a new mindset for action.

Deloitte is taking action through WorldClass, a societal-impact initiative to empower 50 million futures by 2030. Our ambition is to create pathways for people to fulfill their aspirations and find meaningful work in the new economy. Deloitte is also empowering women around the globe, promoting environmental sustainability, investing in new insights and methodologies, and serving clients to fulfill their purpose.

CBSE and Microsoft to Build Capacity for AI Learning for Schools

The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has announced that it will conduct Capacity Building Programs for high school teachers in association with Microsoft India with an aim to integrate cloud and AI-powered technology in K12 teaching.  Meant for teachers of grades 8-10, the program will be conducted in 10 cities across the country, starting September 11, 2019.

AI and intelligent technologies are becoming all-pervasive today, transforming organizations across sectors and redefining the way we work. To equip the workforce of tomorrow, it is critical to the ramp up the institutional set-up and build capability among educators as well as integrate advanced technologies into the teaching process.

This program will provide teachers better access to the latest Information and Communication Technology (ICT) tools and help them to integrate technology into teaching in a safe and secure manner, thereby enhancing the learning experience and 21st century skills of all students. The 1000 teachers nominated by CBSE will undergo a 3-day project-based training for practical, hands-on knowledge of Microsoft 365 tools such as OneNote, Flipgrid, Teams, Outlook & Minecraft and Paint3D Microsoft.

They will also learn about digital story telling; creation of personalized learning experiences for diverse learners; use of Teams for virtual lessons and how to leverage Artificial intelligence tools to create BOTS and demystify concepts around Artificial Intelligence. The program will also offer them the opportunity to become Microsoft Innovative Educators. With this they will have access to free resources, tools and software; as well as mentoring sessions and discussions with global educators. Please read more here about it here: http://www.cbseacademic.nic.in/web_material/Circulars/2019/48_Circular_2019.pdf

In the next phase the program will be extended to cover skilling workshops for 400 CBSE School on the Microsoft K-12 Education Transformation Framework. . https://info.microsoft.com/ww-landing-Transforming-Education-eBook.html

Manish Prakash, General Manager, Microsoft India said, “AI has become a strategic lever for economic growth across nations around the world. Through this initiative, we are empowering institutions, educators and students of India to acquire early education/skills in new technologies like AI and cloud to lead that growth in that rapidly changing world.  We are excited at the opportunity to partner with CBSE, as our very first endeavour in any country, to transform the education eco-system with the power of AI and cloud.”

Microsoft works closely with schools throughout the entire transformation journey – from research and planning to creating tailored solutions and implementing the technology.