Friday, November 8, 2019

Boeing Marks a Decade of Research and Technology Presence in India


Boeing marks the 10th anniversary of its research and technology presence in India. Boeing Research & Technology-India is playing an important role in Boeing’s technological advancement. The center, in addition to building internal capabilities, has also been working closely with Indian R&D organizations, driving innovation and contributing to the aviation industry.

Using home-grown Indian technical talent, Boeing Research & Technology-India (BR&T-India) has been pursuing research and development in areas of aerodynamics, structures, materials, manufacturing, communication networks and artificial intelligence. Its researchers and engineers partner with Indian academic and research organizations such as Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) and Indian Institutes of Technology, to create value through high quality engineering, advancing aerospace technology, and creating digital solutions.

“Celebrating 10 years of BR&T-India is an exciting milestone that signals the importance of Boeing’s partnership with the Indian aerospace, ecosystem,” said Salil Gupte, president of Boeing India. “BR&T India is building and enhancing the aerospace capability in the country by bringing the best of Boeing to India and the best of India to Boeing.”

Boeing Research & Technology-India is leading a solid foundation of collaborative research projects in India. The team has set up labs for manufacturing & materials and value engineering. In these labs, scientist and engineers work to improve the design, materials and manufacturability of aircraft parts, in order to make them more reliable and create opportunity for sourcing them from Indian manufacturers.

Over the past ten years, Boeing Research & Technology-India has delivered commercially viable solutions for Airplane Health Management (AHM) and Air Traffic Management (ATM).  Its ATM experts are currently working with Airports Authority of India to develop a roadmap for modernisation of air traffic management in the country. Today, the research center is using artificial intelligence and machine learning to improve quality of wide body airplanes that Boeing delivers. Using Internet-of-Things (IOT) technologies, its engineers are finding ways to improve passenger experience during air travel.

“The BR&T-India team continues our legacy of creating and collaborating with research and development partners in India to provide innovative solutions to the aerospace industry's toughest challenges,” said Dr. Naveed Hussain, vice president and general manager of Boeing Research & Technology. “What started as a four-employee venture in 2009, today has grown to a team of over 100 researchers, delivering innovative technical solutions and collaborative research projects in India. BR&T-India has also been influential in the launch of the Boeing India Engineering and Technology Center, which is a testament to Boeing’s long term commitment to India.”

Yes Bank Launches YES Fintech Developer, India’s Largest Banking API Developer Platform

Highlights

* Sandbox platform hosts more than 50+ APIs, highest in the Indian Banking Sector  - the platform will host 100+ APIs by the end of FY20
* Wide array of APIs enabling corporate partners, startups and individual developers to discover relevant APIs, and test banking integrations for their apps in a secure environment
* Also plans to conduct a series of hackathons – registration opens on November 13, 2019

YES BANK, India’s fourth largest private sector Bank announced the launch of YES Fintech Developer, India’s largest API sandbox with 50+ virtual APIs at Bengaluru today, marking the evolution of the Bank’s technologies to Open Banking. This is in line with the Bank’s strategy of keeping customers at the core while ideating and co-creating solutions. YES BANK was the first Bank in India to launch APIs that allowed integration with the technology systems of corporate clients.

The sandbox builds on the Bank’s strategy of using API banking as an enabler to customize digital solutions for its clients. This will not only help corporates, MSMEs and startups to identify ‘best-fit’ APIs based on their sectors but also allow them to test the APIs with their app in a secure environment. The sandbox will enable clients across sectors to visualize multiple banking use cases, customized for their application and understand possible integrations & functionalities of the Bank’s APIs.

YES Fintech Developer, also provides a boost to the Bank’s effort of co-creating innovations with Fintechs, startups and the developer ecosystem to enhance customer experience. While API suites from banks have helped such partnerships, it is often difficult for Fintechs and startups to experiment with live APIs to build new features and capabilities. The YES BANK sandbox will ease these concerns by providing a secure virtual environment to test, train and develop solutions with banking integrations. Developers can complete integrations in the environment and mimic how their solutions would work in a ‘live’ environment. Once they are comfortable, they can move to subscribing the APIs.

Commenting on the launch, Ritesh Pai, Chief Digital Officer, YES BANK said, “YES Fintech Developer sandbox will create a perfect collaboration opportunity with startups to test emerging solutions such as alternative data-driven banking models, gamified solutions to nudge user behavior and more. Along with this, the platform would showcase our API suite – functionalities, responses with corporate and MSME clients and help them to understand full attributes of our API stack, while enabling faster integration with the Bank’s APIs.”

Through the sandbox, YES BANK will grant access to APIs across four usage categories including account management, payments, cards and CRM with operations such as –

ü  Accounts: Account Opening; Account Management; Customer Portfolio

ü  Payments: Beneficiary Management; Fund Transfer; Bill Payment;  Recurring Payment

ü  Cards: Credit Card; Debit Card

ü  CRM: Lead management; Customer Service

ü  Partner APIs: Sandbox APIs of partner organizations across sectors (to be launched soon)

The launch event hosted in Bangalore, was attended by 100+ clients including market leaders such as Swiggy, PhonePe, Blackbuck, Myntra and Razorpay among others who are already using the platform for banking functions like instant cashback, in-app fund transfers, customer authentication and custom database management among others to develop innovations.

YES BANK will work with its clients, the start-up ecosystem and the developer community to continually expand portal’s functionalities and the virtual APIs it offers basis feedback.

The sandbox is open to all developers, startups and corporate partners, who are invited to register their interest at www.yesdeveloper.in. Upon registration, once an email verification is completed, they will have access to all APIs in a development sandbox, thereby enabling them to test their ideas in a secure environment.

To fuel co-development of innovations, the Bank will also conduct a series of virtual hackathons and developer jamming sessions on the sandbox platform. Registration opens for the virtual hackathon on November 13, 2019 at www.yesdeveloper.in for an exciting 72 hours of brainstorming and coding.

YES BANK had also conducted a detailed study and released a report on 'Open Government, Open Data – Re-imagining India’ last year. The study was undertaken by the Bank, in support with Digital India, Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY).The study can be accessed at https://www.yesbank.in/beyond-banking/knowledge-reports/technology/open-government-open-data-reimagining-india.

Accenture Expands Cybersecurity Capabilities with Network of “Cyber Ranges”


Accenture has expanded its cybersecurity capabilities with the opening of three “cyber ranges” to help industrial companies — including those in the oil and gas, chemicals, utilities and manufacturing industries — practice their response to cyberattacks across their most critical assets.

The cyber ranges are controlled, interactive and hyper-realistic environments for cybersecurity training and software development used to assess network and other technical vulnerabilities of industrial control systems (ICS). These systems are commonly used to automate processes in critical infrastructure industries such as utilities, petrochemicals, oil and gas, and industrial manufacturing.

Featuring live-fire, multi-vendor capabilities, the three cyber ranges are located in:

Houston, Texas ‒ Housed within one of the company’s innovation hubs, this cyber range focuses on the oil and gas industry, from upstream exploration, midstream into downstream refining and retail. 
Washington, D.C. ‒ Focused on the utilities industry from electric transmission to distribution, this cyber range is in Accenture’s Cyber Fusion Center in Washington, D.C.
Essen, Germany ‒ This cyber range, in one of the company’s Industry X.0 Innovation Centers, is dedicated to the utilities and chemicals industries focused on electric distribution networks and chemical plants.

“We tailor security solutions to our clients’ industries and help them build resilience across their entire value chains,” said Jim Guinn II, who leads Accenture’s cybersecurity business for the energy, utilities, chemicals and mining industries. “Our ICS cyber ranges are designed to help pressure-test and improve the security posture of organizations so they can innovate safely and grow their businesses with confidence.”

Accenture is also in the construction stage of its first ICS Cyber Fusion Center opening early next year to help clients better protect their industrial networks, including field level and plant assets. Located in Accenture’s Innovation Hub in the heart of Houston’s business district, the new ICS Cyber Fusion Center will bring together world-class threat intelligence and vulnerability assessment services leveraging a dedicated team of ICS and industry security analysts. The center will be part of Accenture’s global network of Cyber Fusion Centers, joining others in Washington, D.C.; Bangalore, India; Prague; Tel Aviv, Israel; and Tokyo.

“The energy industry has the largest installed base of industrial control systems around the world, and the cyber risk has never been greater,” said Luis Luque, ICS cybersecurity global lead at Accenture Security. “Securing and defending these large and complex industrial systems requires not only improving processes and tools, but also adopting cybersecurity practices for operational maintenance and resilience programs. With the expansion of our ICS cybersecurity capabilities, we can deliver the most comprehensive security solutions tailored across the ICS environment, delivered by people who understand the zero-loss time imperative our industry expects.”

ICAT is Organizing NuGen Mobility Summit – Disruption Unveils from Nov 27-29, 2019 at ICAT Centre-II, IMT Manesar, Haryana


International Centre for Automotive Technology (ICAT), a premier Government of India automotive Research & Development and Testing agency, has been in the forefront of creating the required knowledge, competences, R & D and testing facilities for new emerging auto technologies, including for electrification technologies. As an ongoing part of its efforts, ICAT is organizing the “NuGen Mobility Summit – Disruption Unveils” from 27th - 29th Nov 2019 at ICAT Centre-II, IMT Manesar, Haryana.

NuGen is being preceded by technology appreciation workshop for Government agencies on 8th Nov’19, at ICAT Manesar. This will include inauguration of new testing and development facilities by Hon’ble Minister of Heavy Industries & Public Enterprises along with a session on electrification technology appreciation wherein the strengths, benefits, and unique challenges to electrification, specific to Indian conditions will be presented. During this event ICAT will also share the performance results of various xEVs on Indian conditions tested in Lab as well as ‘On road’.

The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS, New York) has Honoured Dr. K. Ullas Karanth


The award is named after WCS’s Dr. George Schaller, considered to be one of the greatest wildlife scientists and onservationists globally. The WCS George Schaller Lifetime Award in Wildlife Conservation Science has been created to honour WCS colleagues for outstanding contributions to saving wildlife and wild places. Dr. K. Ullas Karanth is the first recipient.

Dr. George Schaller said “It has been my honour and pleasure to know Ullas since 1988 and mentoring his early career with the Wildlife Conservation Society. No one, anywhere, has done better research and conservation on large carnivores than Ullas."

Dr. Karanth was honoured by the WCS Board of Trustees on 29th October in New York. He was presented with the award by WCS President and CEO Cristián Samper and WCS Board Chair Alejandro Santo Domingo.

“Dr. Karanth has set the bar for excellence in science and field research,” said Dr. Samper. “His leadership on tiger conservation is recognised across the globe, but his influence extends even beyond tigers. Today, there is not a species of big cat that is not better studied and conserved because of Ullas’s rigorous and conservation-focused science. It has been a great honour to work with Dr. Karanth.”

Dr. Karanth joined WCS in 1988. He was inspired to become a wildlife biologist by the work of Dr. Schaller. Dr. Karanth’s research is often described as pioneering and groundbreaking. He has focussed on the ecology of tigers, sympatric predators and other large mammals, predator-prey population ecology, and mitigation of human-wildlife conflicts. He has provided research expertise to projects across the world including in Thailand, Malaysia, Cambodia, Lao
PDR, Myanmar, Indonesia, Russia, as well as in Africa and Latin America. He has published hundreds of scientific papers, authored many books and written popular articles in various journals of international repute.

A recipient of several other honours including the Sanctuary Asia Lifetime Achievement Award (2007), the J. Paul Getty Award for Conservation Leadership (2007), the Karnataka Rajyotsava Award (2010), and the Padma Shri (2012), Dr. Karanth is currently the Director of Centre for Wildlife Studies. 

Hero Motocorp Launches India's First BS-VI Motocycle Priced at Rs. 64,900 (Ex-Showroom Delhi)

In keeping with its concerted efforts towards bringing innovative and technologically advanced products for customers, Hero MotoCorp, the world’s largest two-wheeler manufacturer, today launched India’s first BS-VI compliant motorcycle – the new Splendor iSmart.

The Splendor iSmart is being launched in the market within a few months of Hero MotoCorp becoming the first two-wheeler manufacturer in the country to receive the BS-VI certificate from iCAT.

In addition to featuring India’s first BS-VI compliant (110cc) FI engine, the new Splendor iSmart delivers an added punch with its higher torque, at a higher fuel efficiency. The new motorcycle is designed to take on every challenge with its an all new diamond frame with increased front suspension travel, higher ground-clearance to take on any road and longer wheel-base for greater stability.

The new contemporary and youthful Splendor iSmart also offers a best-in-category value proposition to the customers who are seeking more with every ride. The next generation of Hero’s iconic brand – the BS-VI Splendor iSmart – draws inspiration from the core brand attributes of innovation, tech-excellence, style and trustworthiness, which have established a strong connect with customers the world over.

The retail sales of the Splendor iSmart - attractively priced at Rs. 64,900/-*, is expected to commence at Hero MotoCorp dealerships in Delhi and the National Capital Region (NCR) within the next few days. The motorcycle will gradually be available at the Company’s dealerships across the country over the next few weeks.

(*Price ex-showroom Delhi)

Available in three vibrant tones – Techno Blue & Black, Sports Red & Black and Force Silver & Heavy Grey - the new Splendor iSmart makes a strong first impression. The motorcycle is available in two variants – Self Drum Cast and Self Disc Cast (added BS-VI onwards).

Unveiling the motorcycle here today, Malo Le Masson, Head - Global Product Planning, Hero MotoCorp, said, “The Splendor iSmart is a clear testimony to the immense progress we have made in scaling up our in-house R&D capabilities in a short span of time. This is the first BS-VI compliant motorcycle homologated in the country with a new engine family, and a new chassis design, completely designed and developed at our Centre of Innovation and Technology (CIT) in Jaipur. Conforming to stringent BS-VI emission norms, while improving the performance capabilities, style quotient and riding experience of the motorcycle is a remarkable feat. All these, under the successful Splendor franchise provide a highly appealing proposition for the customers. This marks the commencement of the transition of our product range to BS-VI norms.”

Sanjay Bhan, Head – Sales, After Sales and Parts, Hero MotoCorp, said, “The launch plan for our BS-VI products has been strategically developed keeping in mind the interest of our customers and the demographic dynamics of the market. The Splendor iSmart will be made available in a phased manner across the country as we steadily ramp-up production. The price of this motorcycle is a directional guidance of the price points of our upcoming BS-VI vehicles, which will be launched sequentially in the coming months. We will be rolling-out an exciting multimedia campaign for the new Splendor iSmart BS-VI to connect with our customers.”

Domino’s Launches a New Brand Campaign - ‘Dil, Dosti, Domino’s!’

Domino’s Pizza, the market leader in chained pizza segment in India, has unveiled its new campaign ‘Dil, Dosti, Domino’s’. The campaign aims to strengthen the emotional connect with the consumers by creating tasty and memorable moments of togetherness while capturing it in the new tagline “Dil, Dosti, Domino’s!”

Domino’s has been a progressive brand in many ways. The promise of ‘30 minutes or free’ a decade ago was well ahead of its time. Even today, the brand continues to stay connected with emerging consumer trends. The consumer today are seeking brands that are authentic, inclusive and engaging. So whether it was about acknowledging consumer feedback and launching ‘All New Domino’s’ product improvement campaign, offering great value to consumer with the ‘Everyday Value’ campaign, offering best in class digital ordering experience on the ‘Domino’s App’ or offering variety to the consumers through exciting launches like ‘World Pizza League’, Domino’s has always attempted to stay relevant to the new age consumer. 

Speaking on the launch of the new campaign, Mr. Kapil Grover, Chief Marketing Officer, Domino’s Pizza India said, “Today, relationships have evolved from what they were a few years ago, especially relationships between Friends and Families. Hierarchical parental relationships no longer bind families. There is a lot of mutual respect and friendship amongst kids and parents today. Similarly, with the family structures changing, friends have become your new support system and in fact an extended family for a lot of us. And if we recall these moments, good food has always been a glue for relationships, especially Domino’s Pizza being a shareable product has been at the centre of many such stories where “Friends Become Family and Families Become Friends.”

Shedding light on the storytelling, Swati Bhattacharya, CCO, FCB Ulka said, “Domino’s pizza is designed to be shared for people to gather around the "magic circle", pull at a cheesy slice and fight for the last bite. And in this very act of sharing and connecting, formality and boundaries get dissolved. Friends become like family, and family become like friends. Our campaign captures this essence of Domino’s and its role in the Indian consumer’s life.”

The campaign is live from 1st November, 2019 with a multi-media approach and will leverage all media channels including TV, digital and in-store collaterals.

TVC Credits

Creative Agency: FCB Ulka, Delhi
Creative Team: Swati Bhattacharya, Surjo Dutt, Arijit Sengupta, Manu Gupta, Vageesh Gautam
Planning Team: John Thangaraj, Kizzie Basu, Anuraag, Abhijit Kumar, Archita Ghosh
Account Management: Debarpita Banerjee, M.N. Damodaran, Ankit Garg, Ketaki Bihari
Film Department (FCB): Mazhar Khan
Director (of the TVC): Abhinav Pratiman
Exécutive Producer: Amarjeet Phukaan
Production House: Early Man Films Pvt. Ltd.

Thursday, November 7, 2019

ABB Uses Artificial Intelligence to Revolutionize Energy Management


ABB is deploying artificial intelligence (AI) to help commercial and industrial buildings revolutionize their energy management and tackle rising electricity peak tariffs. The company has added two new AI-powered applications to the  ABB Ability Electrical Distribution Control System (EDCS): Energy Forecasting and Intelligent Alerts.

ABB has developed the AI functions in partnership with Silicon Valley AI specialist Verdigris Technologies as part of the company’s Open Innovation program. The Energy Forecasting app will enable users to reduce their electricity bills by reducing peak demand charges. The Intelligent Alerts app uses machine learning algorithms to help customers better manage their assets, identifying underlying issues before they become problems.

Andrea Temporiti, Digital Leader for ABB’s Electrification business, said: “Our use of AI to help customers make better energy management decisions demonstrates ABB’s commitment to innovation in our products and quality in our services. With the new Energy Forecasting and Smart Alerts apps, AI drills down into the facility’s power data to pinpoint actionable opportunities for productivity improvements and energy cost savings.”

ABB’s Open Innovation program engages incubators, accelerators, innovation centers and start-ups in the co-development and design of innovative new digital solutions and business models. The company is building an ecosystem of innovation partners to work on digital energy management services for applications that range from smart buildings to e-mobility. The collaborations help start-ups to develop services that can be marketed directly to ABB customers via its Digital Marketplace; the innovation strategy also enables ABB customers to benefit from cutting-edge digital technologies much sooner.

ABB Ability Energy Forecasting uses AI to give facility managers accurate power consumption predictions. Energy Forecasting enables them to take timely action to reduce unplanned consumption spikes by re-scheduling or switching off non-critical loads – and taking full advantage of Time of Use (TOU) tariffs.

The Energy Forecasting AI uses neural network methods to identify and learn patterns in a circuit or a building’s energy consumption, while also factoring in weather data. Using weather forecasts and historical data, Energy Forecasting is then able to predict power consumption (kW) for the next 24 hours, updating its forecast every 15 minutes with best-in-class accuracy.

“This innovative digital service makes it easy to take the necessary corrective actions to minimize any peak demand charges,” said Temporiti. “The precision of the forecasting reduces hedging positions, narrows variability and produces meaningful energy cost savings for commercial and industrial buildings.”

ABB  Ability Intelligent Alerts uses machine learning to help customers better manage critical assets. Intelligent Alerts learns how various factors affect the building and key assets so that it can minimize the distraction of false alerts and information overload, allowing facility teams to focus their time more productively. Intelligent Alerts also identifies the relevant circuits and makes potential recommendations to ensure any response can be swift and decisive.

Thomas Chung, Head of Product Strategy at Verdigris said: “Verdigris AI is 10 times more effective than traditional energy management methods. Our partnership with ABB enables our AI capabilities to reach a significantly larger ecosystem of ABB users. These energy and asset management tools will cut through the noise to deliver actionable insights, identify real energy savings and make resource allocation more effective.”

Energy Forecasting and Intelligent Alerts are available now to subscribe on the ABB Digital Marketplace. Further developments by ABB and Verdigris are planned.

ABB (ABBN: SIX Swiss Ex) is a technology leader that is driving the digital transformation of industries. With a history of innovation spanning more than 130 years, ABB has four customer-​​focused, globally leading businesses: Electrification, Industrial Automation, Motion, and Robotics & Discrete Automation, supported by the ABB Ability™ digital platform. ABB’s Power Grids business will be divested to Hitachi in 2020. ABB operates in more than 100 countries with about 147,000 employees. www.abb.com

Verdigris Technologies is a leading AI company based in historic NASA research park in Silicon Valley, California with offices in the US and Taiwan. They are a privately held company backed by prominent venture capitalists and have developed several award-winning products for commercial and industrial energy management. www.verdigris.com.

23 Year Old With Congenital Heart Defect Undergoes Heart Transplant at Manipal Hospitals


Manipal Hospitals Bangalore recently performed a path breaking heart transplant to give a new lease of life to 23 year old, Arshad who was detected with congenital heart defect at the age of 3 years. The surgery was performed by Dr. Devananda, HOD & Consultant, Cardiothoracic Vascular Surgeon and Heart Transplant along with a multi-disciplinary team of doctors i.e Dr. Murali Krishna, Consultant - Cardiothoracic Vascular Surgeon and Heart transplant, Dr. Lalchand Bandagi - Cardiothoracic Vascular Surgeon and Heart transplant, Dr. Ramesh – HOD and Consultant – Cardiac Anesthesia who left no stone unturned to save the life of young Arshad.

Arshad was born with a serious and rare heart condition known as Transposition of Great Arteries (TGA), which occurs in 3 percent of all congenital heart defects, and about two-thirds of the cases are identified in boys. In TGA, two main arteries carrying blood from the heart to the lungs and body are not connected as they should be and are in reversed position. Ideally, such children needs corrective surgery within first 6 weeks of life. However, in his case it remained undetected till he attained the age of 3 years. Hence, he was put through a palliative Operative at Chennai. Due to his bad luck, he developed viral Infection of the heart making his left ventricle (main pumping chamber) weak that made many surgeons refuse to perform further palliative surgeries.

Speaking about the case, Dr. Devananda N S, HOD & Consultant, Cardiothoracic Vascular Surgeon and Heart Transplant at Manipal Hospitals Bangalore said, “Arshad has been consulting with us from 2011 when he was just 14 years old. He had severe infection coupled with complications due to which the left side of his heart was weak. After crucial examination, we decided to perform modification of Sennings Operation. As the right ventricle was performing better, we decided to increase the load on right Ventricle. After the surgery, his right ventricle started pumping blood to aorta with which the condition of the patient improved but we were not sure for how long we could sustain” Dr. Devananda added.

The operation reaped benefit and the boy was robust in health and progressed in academics too. He was in pink of his health and enjoyed cycling as well. After completing his schooling and PUC, he embarked on his Engineering studies. However, during his follow up visit to the Hospital, Dr. Devananda observed that the boy’s heart was deteriorating. Further investigations and medical reports confirmed his doubts. It was decided that a heart transplant was the only viable option.

Speaking after the success of Heart transplant, Dr. Devananda N S, HOD & Consultant, Cardiothoracic Vascular Surgeon and Heart Transplant at Manipal Hospitals Bangalore said, “The task of operating on a boy who has already undergone two surgeries earlier was quite challenging. This was an emotional journey for the team as we have been associated with the case for 8 long years. However, multidisciplinary approach, proper planning for the transplant and a focused and dedicated team effort paved the way for a successful heart transplant. Infact we had to undo various procedures that was done previously and to many modifications to fit the normal heart. Sincere efforts put in by our doctors, reliable and expert nursing staff, anesthetists gave new lease of life to the boy and he was discharged on 10th day post the surgery and was administered Immuno suppression medicine and has recovered well.”

Sharing his thoughts, the patient said, “I have no words to thank Dr. Devananda and the entire team of Manipal Hospitals who have been a rock solid support to me and my family. Ever since I was 14-year-old, they have been taking care of me. I am feeling quite healthy and have resumed normal routine. My heart felt gratitude to Manipal Hospitals and most importantly to the donor’s family who have given me a new lease of life. I would like to take this opportunity and highlight the need and importance of Organ Donation and urge people to come forward without hesitation and pledge for this nobel cause.”

upGrad Receives Accreditation by National Skill Development Corporation


In line with the 'SKILL INDIA MISSION' launched by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi to train over 40 crore people in India by 2022, National Skill Development Corporation extended accreditation to upGrad, making it a part of Government’s Skill India initiative.

Through this association, the mission aims at providing vocational training and certification facilities for the Indian youth with a focus on job opportunity creation. Through this partnership, upGrad commits to train and place 32,000 learners in the course for the next three years, in the sectors of IT/ITES, BFSI and Management among others.

upGrad Co-founder and MD, Mayank Kumar said, “We are pleased to gain accreditation by the NSDC which aims at promoting skill development and enhancing private sector initiatives. Through this association, we look forward to upskilling the talent pool and preparing them for a better tomorrow. As a brand largely committed and passionate towards education, we look forward to extending our support and build a learning ecosystem that will make a difference in society.”

“This accreditation conveys and recognizes the existing efforts and best practices adopted by us. Through this collaboration we are confident to play a big role in shaping the talent pool of the nation,” he further added.

upGrad’s online courses are certified and highly regarded among students and professionals looking at upskilling for better job opportunities in their corresponding fields.

About upGrad:

upGrad was founded in early 2015 by Ronnie Screwvala, Mayank Kumar, Phalgun Kompalli and Ravijot Chugh, with the aim of providing formal education online. In a short span of 4 years, upGrad on-boarded over 15K paid learners and impacted more than 363K individuals globally, making it India’s largest online higher education company, basis gross revenue generated from the Indian market.

upGrad provides programs in the areas of Data Science, Technology and Management to college students, working professionals and enterprises. These programs are designed and delivered in collaboration with top-notch universities like IIT Madras, IIIT-B, BITS Pilani, MICA, NMIMS Global Access School For Continuing Education, Cambridge Judge Business School Executive Education, Duke CE and others. To further enhance the learning experience, a comprehensive ecosystem has been built which includes one-on-one mentoring, peer-to-peer learning, industry networking and most importantly an expert career guidance, in order to provide learners a holistic support to elevate their careers to the next level.

The company has been awarded the ‘Best Tech for Education’ by IAMAI in 2019. The company received the ‘Best Education Brands’ award by Economic Times and has made it to LinkedIn’s ‘Top 25 Startups’ two years in a row in 2018 and 2019.

Cloudera Enterprise Data Platform Available on Microsoft Azure


Cloudera, the enterprise data cloud company, today announced the Cloudera Data Platform (CDP) powered by Microsoft Azure. CDP is an integrated data platform that is easy to secure, manage, and deploy. Now available on Azure, it delivers powerful, self-service analytics with a consistent Azure experience and enterprise-grade performance across hybrid environments with the granular security and governance policies that IT leaders demand.

“Much like what happened with the Bring Your Own Device phenomenon of the last decade, today’s business users are demanding to Bring Their Own Data into the enterprise. They want to analyze, report, and predict business outcomes on that data in real-time,” said Mick Hollison, chief marketing officer of Cloudera. “For enterprise IT, this means that delivering speed and agility is now just as important as security and governance when it comes to enterprise data management and advanced analytics. CDP, powered by Microsoft Azure, provides IT with an integrated data platform to work at the speed of business with enterprise-grade security, privacy, and compliance for any type of data.”

CDP on Azure includes Cloudera’s Shared Data Experience (SDX), which makes it easy to create a secure data lake in hours instead of weeks and replaces tedious scripting with ‘set it and forget it’ convenience. With CDP on Azure, organizations can speed time to value for data engineering, data warehousing, and machine learning.

Cloudera leverages Azure infrastructure services such as:

·         Azure Data Lake Storage (ADLS) to run high performance analytics with increased availability and durability.

·         Azure Resource Manager (ARM) templates to deploy infrastructure as code in Azure, ensuring rapid, consistent, and repeatable deployment of CDP services.

·         Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) to scale up or down depending on the analytics workload to more easily and cost effectively meet service level agreements (SLA) and take advantage of the benefits of cloud bursting.

“Cloudera customers choose Azure because of the freedom to build, manage, and deploy applications on a global, hybrid cloud offering using their favorite tools and frameworks,” said Arpan Shah, General Manager, Azure Marketing, Microsoft. “I am excited to have the Cloudera Data Platform available on Azure.”

Showing Robots “Tough Love” Helps them Succeed, Finds USC Study


Humans acting in an adversarial manner towards robotic systems can actually improve their robustness, says a team of USC computer scientists.

Los Angeles, November 7, 2019: According to a new study by University of Southern California (USC) computer scientists, to help a robot succeed, you might need to show it some tough love. In a computer-simulated manipulation task, the researchers found that training a robot with a human adversary significantly improved its grasp of objects.

“This is the first robot learning effort using adversarial human users,” said study co-author Stefanos Nikolaidis, an assistant professor of computer science.

“Picture it like playing a sport: if you’re playing tennis with someone who always lets you win, you won’t get better. Same with robots. If we want them to learn a manipulation task, such as grasping, so they can help people, we need to challenge them.”

The study, “Robot Learning via Human Adversarial Games,” was presented at the International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems. USC PhD students Jiali Duan and Qian Wang are lead authors, advised by Professor C. C. Jay Kuo, with additional co-author Lerrel Pinto from Carnegie Mellon University.

Learning from practice

Nikolaidis, who joined the USC Viterbi School of Engineering in 2018, and his team use reinforcement learning, a technique in which artificial intelligence programs “learn” from repeated experimentation.

Instead of being limited to completing a small range of repetitive tasks, such as industrial robots, the robotic system “learns” based on previous examples, in theory increasing the range of tasks it can perform.

But creating general-purpose robots is notoriously challenging, due in part to the amount of training required. Robotic systems need to see a huge number of examples to learn how to manipulate an object in a human-like manner.

For instance, OpenAI’s impressive robotic system learned to solve a Rubik’s cube with a humanoid hand, but required the equivalent of 10,000 years of simulated training to learn to manipulate the cube.

More importantly, the robot’s dexterity is very specific. Without extensive training, it can’t pick up an object, manipulate it with another grip, or grasp and handle a different object.

“As a human, even if I know the object’s location, I don’t know exactly how much it weighs or how it will move or behave when I pick it up, yet we do this successfully almost all of the time,” said Nikolaidis.

“That’s because people are very intuitive about how the world behaves, but the robot is like a newborn baby.”

In other words, robotic systems find it hard to generalize, a skill which humans take for granted. This may seem trivial, but it can have serious consequences. If assistive robotic devices, such as grasping robots, are to fulfill their promise of helping people with disabilities, robotic systems must be able to operate reliably in real-world environments.

Human in the loop

One line of research that’s been quite successful in overcoming this issue is having a “human in the loop.” In other words, the human provides feedback to the robotic system by demonstrating the ability to complete the task.

But, until now, these algorithms have made a strong assumption of a cooperating human supervisor assisting the robot.

“I’ve always worked on human-robot collaboration, but in reality, people won’t always be collaborators with robots in the wild,” said Nikolaidis.

As an example, he points to a study by Japanese researchers, who set a robot loose in a public shopping complex and observed children “acting violently” towards it on several occasions.

So, thought Nikolaidis, what if we leveraged our human inclination to make things harder for the robot instead? Rather than showing it how to better grasp an object, what if we tried to pull it away? By adding challenge, the thinking goes, the system would learn to be more robust to real world complexity.

Element of challenge

The experiment went something like this: in a computer simulation, the robot attempts to grasp an object. The human, at the computer, observes the simulated robot’s grasp. If the grasp is successful, the human tries to snatch the object from the robot’s grasp, using the keyboard to signal direction.

Adding this element of challenge helps the robot learn the difference between a weak grasp (say, holding a bottle at the top), versus a firm grasp (holding it in the middle), which makes it much harder for the human adversary to snatch away.

It was a bit of a crazy idea, admits Nikolaidis, but it worked.

The researchers found the system trained with the human adversary rejected unstable grasps, and quickly learned robust grasps for these objects. In an experiment, the model achieved a 52 percent grasping success rate with a human adversary versus those with a human collaborator, which had a 26.5 percent grasping success rate.

“The robot learned not only how to grasp objects more robustly, but also to succeed more often in with new objects in a different orientation, because it has learned a more stable grasp,” said Nikolaidis.

They also found that the model trained with a human adversary performed better than a simulated adversary, which had 28 percent grasping success rate. So, robotic systems learn best from flesh-and-blood adversaries.

“That’s because humans can understand stability and robustness better than learned adversaries,” explained Nikolaidis.

“The robot tries to pick up stuff and, if the human tries to disrupt, it leads to more stable grasps. And because it has learned a more stable grasp, it will succeed more often, even if the object is in a different position. In other words, it’s learned to generalize. That’s a big deal.”

Finding a balance

Nikolaidis hopes to have the system working on a real robot arm within a year. This will present a new challenge — in the real world, the slightest bit of friction or noise in a robot’s joints can throw things off.  But Nikolaidis is hopeful about the future of adversarial learning for robotics.

“I think we’ve just scratched the surface of potential applications of learning via adversarial human games,” said Nikolaidis.

“We are excited to explore human-in-the-loop adversarial learning in other tasks as well, such as obstacle avoidance for robotic arms and mobile robots, such as self-driving cars.”

This begs the question: how far are we willing to take adversarial learning? Would we be willing to kick and beat robots into submission? The answer, said Nikolaidis, lies in finding a balance of tough love and encouragement with our robotics counterparts.

“I feel that tough love – in the context of the algorithm that we propose – is again like a sport: it falls within specific rules and constraints,” said Nikolaidis.

“If the human just breaks the robot's gripper, the robot will continuously fail and never learn. In other words, the robot needs to be challenged but still be allowed to succeed in order to learn.”

Unity Technologies Unveils the 3rd Edition of Unite India in Association with KSUM

Unity Technologies (https://unity3d.com/), creator of the world’s most popular end-to-end development engine that reaches nearly 3 billion devices worldwide is back with its third edition of Unite India in association with Kerala Start-up Mission during 14 and 15 November 2019 at Grand Hyatt, Kochi. The conference will bring together Indian and global representatives across industry verticals Automobile, Defence, Gaming, Film. Animation and Education amongst others to explore real-time development in the rapidly evolving landscape. More specifically, the conference envisions how Unity, the platform for creating games, simulations, and VR/AR tools help you focus on your top priority – improving learners’ skills, knowledge and performance.

This year at Unite will majorly focusing on latest developments in the content creation industry. At Unite, creativity and interactive learning take center stage. The goal is to learn from fellow artists, creators and experts across all verticals of industries and walk away with knowledge and tools to boost creative success

Hubert Larenaudie, President APAC & Global Head Distribution Portal, Unity Technologies said “After the two successful editions of Unite India, the third edition is expected to be bigger and better. Over these years Unite India has become a platform for the industry to witness the power of AR, VR and 3D technologies simplifying the industry challenges. We believe that India has a huge potential and as a country, we are sitting at a sweet spot to adopt new technologies and keep evolving with the changing needs.”

The event is going to bring an opportunity to learn, network and participate in exciting activities, including advanced hands-on demo workshops, technical sessions–customized for different levels from beginner to intermediate and advanced, previews of upcoming Unity tech, opportunities to get tips from Unity experts, Auto and Industrial mini-summit, Animation and VFX mini-summit and Networking. Individual sessions include representatives from Byjus, Kerala Start-up Mission, NCERT, Autodesk, Ford, Dassault systems, HTC Vive, Hexaware, Tata Elxsi, Tech Mahindra, Trimble, Cyient, Merkel, Toonz Animation, Vidwath, June Gaming, Dreamerz Lab to name a few.

Kerala Startup Mission and Unity Technologies entered into a partnership in January 2019. As part of this partnership, Unity Technologies has setup it’s Center of Excellence(CoE) in Kerala. In order to support an ecosystem of startups working in disruptive technologies Startup Mission has been collaborating with leading global universities and corporates. The CoE in Extended reality in Kochi was set up in association with Unity Technologies with this objective and Startup Mission is extremely happy to host Unite India 2019 to bring together all the stakeholders of the mixed reality and gaming ecosystem in Kochi. The CoE will play an important role in shaping Kerala into an AR/VR hotspot of India. Unite India 2019 being hosted in Kerala itself, will play a crucial role in Unity’s and KSUM’s contribution to the growing ecosystem here.

Attendees at the event will get a chance to explore the powerful new tools and workflows used to create best-in-class AR, VR and 3D experiences by Unity. This conference aims to offer learning and networking opportunities for almost 1200 participants across the globe. Furthermore, the event shall also give an inside scoop with technical sessions and workshops about the latest developments in Unity Technologies. There will be roundtables curated by Unity to understand the challenges faced by the industry which will then dictate the roadmap. 

Abbott Announces Discovery of New Strain of HIV, Keeping Global Health Community a Step Ahead of the Virus


Abbott announced today that a team of its scientists identified a new subtype of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), called HIV-1 Group M, subtype L.1 The findings, published today in the Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes (JAIDS), show the role next-generation genome sequencing is playing in helping researchers stay one step ahead of mutating viruses and avoiding new pandemics.

Since the beginning of the global AIDS pandemic, 75 million people have been infected with HIV and 37.9 million people today are living with the virus.2 Thanks to the work done by the global health community over the past few decades, the goal of ending the HIV pandemic is becoming feasible. Yet researchers must remain vigilant to monitor for new strains to make sure testing and treatments continue to work.

"In an increasingly connected world, we can no longer think of viruses being contained to one location," said Carole McArthur, Ph.D., M.D., professor in the departments of oral and craniofacial sciences, University of Missouri — Kansas City, and one of the study authors. "This discovery reminds us that to end the HIV pandemic, we must continue to outthink this continuously changing virus and use the latest advancements in technology and resources to monitor its evolution."

This research marks the first time a new subtype of "Group M" HIV virus has been identified since guidelines for classifying new strains of HIV were established in 2000. Group M viruses are responsible for the global pandemic, which can be traced back to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in Sub-Saharan Africa.3,4

The science behind genetic sequencing to discover new viruses

To determine whether an unusual virus is in fact a new HIV subtype, three cases must be discovered independently.5 The first two samples of this subtype were discovered in DRC in the 1980s and the 1990s. The third, collected in 2001, was difficult to sequence at that time because of the amount of virus in the sample and the existing technology.

Today, next-generation sequencing technology allows researchers to build an entire genome at higher speeds and lower costs. In order to utilize this technology, Abbott scientists had to develop and apply new techniques to help narrow in on the virus portion of the sample to fully sequence and complete the genome.6

"Identifying new viruses such as this one is like searching for a needle in a haystack," said Mary Rodgers, Ph.D., a principal scientist and head of the Global Viral Surveillance Program, Diagnostics, Abbott, and one of the study authors. "By advancing our techniques and using next generation sequencing technology, we are pulling the needle out with a magnet. This scientific discovery can help us ensure we are stopping new pandemics in their tracks."

Twenty-five years of tracking mutating viruses around the world

As a leader in blood screening and infectious disease testing, Abbott created its Global Viral Surveillance Program 25 years ago to monitor HIV and hepatitis viruses and identify mutations to ensure the company's diagnostic tests remain up to date. As part of this research, Abbott scientists confirmed that its core and molecular laboratory diagnostic tests can detect this new HIV strain.

In partnership with blood centers, hospitals and academic institutions around the world, Abbott has collected more than 78,000 samples containing HIV and hepatitis viruses from 45 countries, identified and characterized more than 5,000 strains, and published 125 research papers to date to help the scientific community learn more about these viruses. The study published today, "Complete genome sequence of CG-0018a-01 establishes HIV-1 subtype L," is now available online. 

Wednesday, November 6, 2019

United Technologies Partners with Girls Who Code to Inspire the Next Gen of Technology Leaders in India


United Technologies Corp. has announced an expansion of its strategic partnership with the U.S. based non-profit organization Girls Who Code (GWC). GWC is building one of the largest pipelines of future female engineers and technologists in the U.S. and with UTC’s support, it is now expanding to India. The global initiative, supported by Collins Aerospace and Pratt & Whitney, is part of UTC’s comprehensive effort to inspire, train, increase and sustain the number of women and underrepresented populations in the technology sector.

“Digital acceleration is changing our world at an unprecedented pace and the future of our industries will be shaped by innovation rooted in gender parity,” said United Technologies’ Chief Digital Officer Vince Campisi. “UTC is incredibly proud to partner with an organization like Girls Who Code, to foster a learning environment and empower women and girls of all ages and backgrounds to thrive in STEM-related roles. Together, we can begin to break barriers, build relationships and inspire the next generation of technology leaders in India and around the globe.”

Considered one of the most significant GWC corporate partnerships to-date, UTC’s commitment will significantly help drive the expansion of GWC in India. UTC’s support includes financial backing, professional mentoring and hosting select GWC programs at company facilities. As part of the launch event in India today, UTC and GWC recognized the first-ever 30 girls graduating from GWC Clubs in India.

“Girls Who Code is on a mission to bring more girls into computer science around the world, and we’re thrilled to be doing that work in partnership with United Technologies in India,” said Girls Who Code founder and Chief Executive Officer Reshma Saujani. “The partnership will enable more girls to explore computer science, develop tangible skills as students, and one day shape the future of aerospace.”

GWC plans to leverage Collins Aerospace and Pratt & Whitney in-country resources to expand pilot clubs in Bangalore, Delhi, Hyderabad and Mumbai. With UTC’s support, GWC can serve as a gateway to technology and engineering careers for women in India. The program partners with schools and orphanages to set up free clubs and provide girls with the skills and tools necessary for success in engineering and technology fields, encouraging the pursuit of careers in STEM.

GWC offers more than just coding skills – it helps aspiring technologists develop problem-solving skills, confidence-building, communication strategies, and empowers them to break barriers and build relationships that will last throughout their careers. The program provides an environment for girls to engage in fun online coding tutorials, build community through interactive activities, learn about inspiring role models in tech, and work together to design solutions to real-world problems facing their communities. To date, GWC has set up 100 Girls Who Code Clubs in India.

UTC is actively focusing its STEM investment strategy in support of achieving diversity goals, building technology workforce skills and driving community engagement in the places where UTC operates worldwide. UTC has more than 4,000 employees in India in its aerospace divisions – Collins Aerospace and Pratt & Whitney.

UTC will also sponsor The Grace Hopper Celebration taking place November 6-8. The event in Bengaluru brings together female technologists to celebrate the achievements and future of women in technology.

Mumbai Fintech Hub (MFH) and Fintech Convergence Council (FCC) Come Together for a Collaborative Growth Ecosystem for Indian Fintech


Mumbai Fintech Hub (MFH) and FinTech Convergence Council (FCC) have joined hands for a collaborative growth ecosystem for fintech in India. The two bodies have jointly fashioned the ‘India Fintech Festival (IFF)’ a global platform to showcase the opportunities while discussing the key challenges in the industry and the possible solutions to counter the same. IFF 2020 is backed by the Government of Maharashtra (GoM) as it will be driven by GoM Fintech Policy, operationalized under MahaIT. The platform is powered by World Bank, NITI AAYOG and Invest India, while MEDICI, a global innovation and insights platform for fintech is the program partner.

Fintech in India has today become a global growth story riding on key points such as – digitizing money in financial services, solving for identity in the form of Aadhaar for formalization, getting everyone a bank account or equivalents (PMJDY) to store money, building scalable platform(s) to move money (IMPS, UPI, etc.) and finally, allowing banks, FinTechs and wealth/insurance/lending players to access platform like UPI to innovate. This framework has led India to a FinTech revolution.

The GoM and FCC now aim to foster next-generation innovation enabling financial empowerment and technological advancement across the entire financial services ecosystem thus nurturing the sector for global competence. The Government wants to take the first step in this direction by focusing on making the country the next FinTech destination globally.

The festival, scheduled in the first week of March 2020, intends to empower the global FinTech ecosystem by providing them with an opportunity to showcase their ideas and technologies that promote innovation in the financial services’ industry. The platform will help build relationships, create business and investment opportunities while bringing together the who’s who across the global landscape to discuss the effects of regulatory and policy shifts. 5000 delegates across 50+ countries comprising of Fintech start-ups are expected to attend the event along with regulators, key financial institutions, tech companies, governments, industry bodies, corporates and students.

IFF will serve as a representation for the innovations of the best of over 2000+ Indian startups working to make India a $5 trillion economy by 2024. With the present economy at $2.7 trillion India’s is aiming for two times growth. Whereas digital financial services contribution to economy is expected to grow by five times during the same period.   

Maharashtra was the first state to launch a FinTech policy in 2018 which is being operated under the banner of "Mumbai FinTech Hub", in an attempt to build awareness and inculcate the widespread adoption of financial technologies.

The festival will have an advisory board with eminent personalities like Suniti Nanda, Fintech Officer, Government of Maharashtra, Naveen Surya, Chairman, Fintech Convergence Council; G Padmanabhan, Ex-RBI Executive Director, Current Non- Executive Chairman at Bank of India; Dilip Asbe, Managing Director & CEO at National Payments Corporation of India; Srinivas Jain, Executive Director and Chief Marketing Officer, SBI Mutual Fund; and Mohan Tanksale, Strategic Consultant, SWIFT among others.

On the occasion, Mr. Ajit Patil, IAS – MD, Maharashtra IT Corporation Limited said “With 400+ Fintechs, an API sandbox, investment platform, education platform, fintech adoption by state - we are leading the Fintech movement in India. We are firm in our belief to make Mumbai a Global Fintech Hub and the Fintech gateway for India. Through IFF (India Fintech Festival), we look forward to host 1000+ global delegation. We aim to showcase our Fintech strength and foster investments / new Fintech setup in the state”

Ms. Esperanza Lasagabaster, Practice Manager - Finance, Competitiveness and Innovation Global Practice, World Bank said “The World Bank recognizes the positive impact Fintech can have in addressing the long-standing barriers for financial inclusion, financial sector deepening and development. In recognition of this potential the World Bank jointly with the International Monetary Fund unveiled the Bali Fintech Agenda in October 2018 to guide our efforts in helping our client countries harness the opportunities and mitigate the risks associated with the rapid advances in financial technology that are transforming the economic and financial landscape. We are pleased to be a partner to the Government of Maharashtra and the Fintech Convergence Council in the organization of the inaugural India Fintech Festival. This event will offer an opportunity to showcase the rapid strides made by India in harnessing the potential of Fintech responsibly and also to bring lessons from across the World to shape the further development of Fintech in India.”

Ms. Suniti Nanda, Fintech Officer – Government of Maharashtra, said, “An event like IFF (India Fintech Festival) will be a testimony by itself which resonates the objective and passion of COLLABORATION between all key stakeholders in Fintech ecosystem.”

Commenting on this progressive move, Mr. G. Padmanabhan, Ex-RBI Executive Director and Current Non- Executive Chairman at Bank of India said, "India boasts of a state-of-the-art financial services system but the goal of complete digitisation is still miles away. The world is witnessing a technological revolution and being one of the fastest growing economies it is imminent that India joins the digital wave. Any event of this magnitude is impossible without the support of the most important stake holder, the Government, and we are fortunate to get their whole-hearted backing. The spontaneous gesture of support by the World Bank and other influential policy makers has encouraged us further to bring to you the best of FinTech-- be it speakers, seminars or the latest technological developments. I hope this event becomes the harbinger of digital transformation for the Indian FinTech ecosystem."

Mr. Naveen Surya, Chairman, Fintech Convergence Council who has been instrumental in bringing fundamental changes in the digital payments system was quoted saying, “India has led its digital Initiatives across the globe thanks to the potential of innovation, investment and collaboration in the country. This sector though evolving rapidly is still in its nascent stage. It is therefore imperative for opportunities to be harnessed in the right ways thus cementing India's position as a leader in the digital landscape. IFF was conceived as that global platform to facilitate communication and collaboration through shared learning experiences across the globe. We are thankful to many prestigious institutions who have agreed to become our partners and our eminent advisory board for their role in making IFF a reality."

Dilip Asbe, Managing Director and CEO, National Payments Council of India stated, “NPCI is committed towards the mission of Digital India. With the support of Government of Maharashtra and IAMAI/FCC, we expect IFF to host a vibrant community of innovation enablers, enterprises and start-ups to drive new solutions relevant to address industry needs and challenges. Government of Maharashtra has been the first state in India to create a Fintech Policy and IFF would be yet another step towards providing the right and deserved platform to the innovative tech minds who are ready to disrupt the fintech space.”

Layoff: How tech-driven processes are improving job security across different industries?


Today, the world economy is staring at a period of turmoil as two global giants, namely China and the US, have locked horns in a trade war. The fallout of this ongoing economic conflict is now visible on various markets – including India – and is promoting conservative outlook amongst businesses. Cognizant, which has 70% of its workforce in our nation, is going to layoff around 5,000 to 7,000 mid-to-senior level employees. Similar measures are being taken by other businesses including HP, HSBC, and others.

This is when Indian economy is already facing strong headwind because of its auto sector. It has resulted in around 100,000 job losses in the past couple of months and further 500,000 are expected in the upcoming quarter. So, it is barely a surprise when a CMIE (Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy) report indicates the nation’s unemployment rate is highest since 2016. As a matter of fact, it is 1.3% up from what it was back in September 2019, reaching 8.5% in the month that has just passed.

However, there is a silver lining in the cloud for India. Our nation can become the epicentre of global growth revival and emerge as the go-to destination for stressed investors. Bring the nation’s largest pool of youth, socioeconomic dividend, and fast-emerging digital market into the picture, and tables start turning around. Still, this will require a targeted approach wherein everything from job creation to skill development have a pivotal role to play.

Thankfully, several tech companies and their methodologies are bringing about a positive change on this front. Here are some of them:

Cybersecurity: The burgeoning global digital infrastructure requires skilled cybersecurity professionals to address the prevailing vulnerabilities within the IT domain. However, the irony is that around three-fourth of the global organizations are currently experiencing cybersecurity skill shortages. It is also difficult to train or upskill a professional due to the sheer dynamism of the sector and fast-emerging technologies (hence, new attack vectors). Usually, cybersecurity professionals get trained through ‘Baptism by Fire’ or, in other words, while facing a real cyberattack. Students, on the other hand, merely get bookish knowledge which is both incomplete and largely irrelevant by the time they enter the job market.

Here, solutions like Cyberbit’s Cyber Range are proving to be a game-changer. They create a hyper-realistic environment with simulated network architecture of a particular organization. It enables the in-house teams to experience a virtual attack without risking the IT infrastructure. Such solutions are also finding their way into educational institutes, thereby adding considerable value for the student entering the advanced segment.

Education Sector: One of the biggest challenges that India today faces is to train the massive pool of youth that it has. Surely, teachers have a critical role to play in this development both in the short-term and the long-term. The challenge over here is that there are limited technological tools available for teachers to discreetly observe a class. There is also no standardization in CPD (Continuous Professional Development) of teachers. In this scenario, avant-garde solutions like ONVU Learning’s LessonVU, a tech-driven teacher training and self-reflection program, are bringing a positive change. For instance, LessonVU’s lesson capture, observation, and self-reflection-based approach enable teachers to bridge the gaps in their pedagogical training and experience targeted skill development. With the perfect confluence of technological features (including Data analytics and Artificial Intelligence), it comes across as a comprehensive solution for proficiency building of the teaching community. The best part is that such solutions have visible impact from Day 1 and gradually improves the class performance.

Data Analytics: Today, data has become the new oil and gold for businesses. For the uninitiated, we will be generating 463 exabytes of data daily by 2025, which is equivalent to creating 212 million DVDs per day. This industry development is enabling organizations to use this rapidly increasing data to make informed decisions and drive efficiency enhancement for across-the-board processes. It is the reason why Big Data industry, which clocked $8.5 billion market size back in 2017, will grow more than four-fold to reach $40.6 billion by 2023. The fast-emerging market and the professionals operating in it can unlock new avenues for India by spearheading a comprehensive data-driven growth of the nation.

Nevertheless, the organization of exponentially generating data is not easy and neither is understanding its relevance. Certain approaches like Qlik Academic Program are enabling Indians to learn data analytics skills with much ease. The free-to-use online program perfectly aligns concepts of data mining, programming, and database management at the academic level. It further equips a person with product-agnostic Data Analytics and Data Literacy certifications. Similarly, SkillUp Online and its certified courses for data science curate cutting-edge training programs for aspiring professionals. Ultimately, they are making our nation’s youth well-prepared for a sector that is destined to transform everything from economy to business processes forever.

Entrepreneurship: Both growth and job creation go hand in hand with entrepreneurship. However, a free enterprise cannot thrive in the absence of credit. Several NBFCs and lending platforms are working on this front to eliminate the credit gap that various industries face today. Vivriti Capital, India’s largest online credit platform for institutional clients, has created a marketplace platform to make funding easily accessible for businesses. It directly lends to both businesses and NBFCs (which then lend to businesses) via different models including credit disbursement, investment banking, and consultancy for strategy formulation, new business launches, due diligence, liabilities management, risk management, transaction advisory, etc. It helps in the all-round development of the market as well as various verticals present in it. This is while also infusing capital across different industries and empowering them to avail the predominant business opportunities more seamlessly with its technological expertise.

In the light of recent turn of events, it is a prudent measure to intensify such tech-driven approaches and upskill our youth as fast as we can. India stands at a crucial juncture in terms of market and is eyeing better job creation and double-digit growth rate. Perhaps, this is the perfect break to drive the same change for the global economy.

Covestro Launches its 4th Edition of #STEM4Girls in Greater Noida and will Reach Out to More than 1200 Girls


Covestro, one of the world’s leading producers of advanced and high-performance polymers has successfully commenced the first phase of #STEM4GirlsFestival2019 in Greater Noida starting from today. The initiative will continue till 9th November in Greater Noida with around 300 girl students joining each day and will subsequently expand to other cities like Dharampur, Ankleshwar, Cuddalore and Mumbai. Overall around 4000 girls will be part of this year’s #STEM4Girls edition. #STEM4Girls is an initiative of Covestro to promote STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) education among girl students between the age of 11-14 years.

As science becomes increasingly crucial for tackling the world’s issues, Covestro strongly believes that every girl needs STEM, and STEM needs girls. STEM4Girls aims at empowering thousands of girls every year across the globe to bring a positive change in society.

“In India, women are mostly understated in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields. With STEM4Girls Initiative, we at Covestro India believe in encouraging young girls to build a career in STEM. It is an initiative to capture the interest of girls and get them thinking about the possibilities of careers in STEM in order to build a brighter future. We aim to enhance awareness among teachers and students about the value of learning, with a special focus on STEM. Covestro intends to help revolutionize the future of girls in the field of STEM,” said Ajay Durrani, Managing Director, Covestro (India) Private Limited.

Covestro (India) has been working towards empowering the girl child in line with the Government’s mission of Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao through STEM Learning Workshop for girls in partnership with Chandra Mohan Foundation since 2016. The STEM initiative started with just 100 students in the year 2016 and has received immense success over the years with the workshop empowering over 4500 girls today in the field of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics.

Hero Motocorp Unveils The Xtreme 1.R Concept at EICMA 2019


Hero MotoCorp Ltd., the world’s largest manufacturer of Motorcycles and Scooters, presented a glimpse into the future of its premium motorcycle range at the EICMA 2019 in Milan .

The New Delhi (India)-headquartered Company showcased the Xtreme 1.R concept at the EICMA this year, like it had showcased the XPulse 200 and XPulse 200T concepts in the 2017 and 2018 editions of the motor show respectively.

Hero MotoCorp – that has rapidly expanded its global footprint to almost 40 countries across Asia, Africa and South & Central America – also revealed a Rally-Kit specifically developed for the acclaimed adventure motorcycle XPulse 200, integrating the learnings from its Dakar Rally experience.

The Xtreme 1.R is inspired by the precision of an arrow - It boasts of an aggressive stance.  Ensuring agile and responsive handling – the motorcycle carves out corners with pinpoint accuracy – be it on urban roads or while negotiating fast corners.

Aimed at the youth of tomorrow, the Xtreme 1.R offers a sneak-peek at the next generation of the Xtreme brand. With a kerb weight of less than 140 kg, it makes every ride engaging and sheer fun. The unapologetic design, LED headlamp, signature LED tail-lamp makes for a combination that is sure to entice the racer in everyone.

The new Rally-Kit for the XPulse 200 has been developed and tested at Hero MotoCorp's R&D hub – the Centre of Innovation & Technology (CIT) - in India. Developed by incorporating the expertise of Hero MotoSports Team Rally, which has proven its mettle in some of the leading rallies around the world, the XPulse 200 Rally kit, will serve as a catapult for young talents across the globe improving on their riding technique as well as participating in Rally motorsport events with a competitive machine.

The kit consists of fully adjustable, taller front and rear suspension, flatter seat for easy position change while off-roading, extended gear pedal to suit off-road boots, handlebar risers or greater maneuverability while riding standing up, extended side stand for the additional ground clearance, front sprocket 12T, rear sprocket 40T for greater grunt, and rally tyres for relentless traction.

The *kit is ready-to-fit on the XPulse 200, which transforms the street legal motorcycle into an all-out rally machine. This kitted version adds to the already-proven capabilities of the XPulse 200 and provides a new avenue to the growing off-road, motorsports enthusiasts around the world.

*Rally kit not homologated for road use.

Unveiling the Hero MotoCorp pavilion here, Malo Le Masson, Head of Global Product Planning, Hero MotoCorp, said “We are continuously innovating to enhance the customers’ riding experience. The Xtreme 1.R concept offers a glimpse into the future of Xtreme styling DNA, a concept packed with fun and bold styling. While the XPulse Rally-Kit is focused on youth across the Globe seeking the perfect machine to jump-start their rally racing potential.”

Displaying its latest lineup of motorcycles at EICMA, Hero MotoCorp’s pavilion showcased XPulse 200T, XPulse 200 Hunk 200R, Hunk 200S, Ignitor 125 and the Splendor iSmart.

Underlining its focus on a diverse product offering across segments, Hero MotoCorp also showcased its new range of scooters – Duet 125, Dash 125 and Pleasure+.

Three special signature editions of Hunk 200S, XPulse 200T and Dash 125 were also on display.

Developed for customers across the globe, the products exude youthful styling, premium features and superior technology. Compliant with the stringent Euro IV emission norms, these scooters and motorcycles meet the market demands in several geographies across the world.

Fueled by innovation and evolution the Hero MotoCorp pavilion showcased diverse technologies, including the indigenously developed i3S technology (Idle Stop Start System). The EU-5 powertrain display, portraying the Company’s technology readiness to comply with the EU-5 emission norms, highlighted by an animated engine cut section and key elements of the Catalytic Converter.

Appealing to the tech-savvy visitors, the Company displayed a Connected Section, showcasing the potential applications of connected technologies in two-wheeler riding. With the aid of a VR Riding Simulator, riders get an opportunity to ride XPulse 200 in an exciting and challenging ON-OFF track and interact with various Connected features such as Turn by Turn Navigation, Weather Alerts, Service Alerts, Call and Message Alerts, Real Time Alerts.

Hero Motocorp Unveils The Xtreme 1.R Concept at EICMA 2019


Hero MotoCorp Ltd., the world’s largest manufacturer of Motorcycles and Scooters, presented a glimpse into the future of its premium motorcycle range at the EICMA 2019 in Milan.

The New Delhi (India)-headquartered Company showcased the Xtreme 1.R concept at the EICMA this year, like it had showcased the XPulse 200 and XPulse 200T concepts in the 2017 and 2018 editions of the motor show respectively.

Hero MotoCorp – that has rapidly expanded its global footprint to almost 40 countries across Asia, Africa and South & Central America – also revealed a Rally-Kit specifically developed for the acclaimed adventure motorcycle XPulse 200, integrating the learnings from its Dakar Rally experience.

The Xtreme 1.R is inspired by the precision of an arrow - It boasts of an aggressive stance.  Ensuring agile and responsive handling – the motorcycle carves out corners with pinpoint accuracy – be it on urban roads or while negotiating fast corners.

Aimed at the youth of tomorrow, the Xtreme 1.R offers a sneak-peek at the next generation of the Xtreme brand. With a kerb weight of less than 140 kg, it makes every ride engaging and sheer fun. The unapologetic design, LED headlamp, signature LED tail-lamp makes for a combination that is sure to entice the racer in everyone.

The new Rally-Kit for the XPulse 200 has been developed and tested at Hero MotoCorp's R&D hub – the Centre of Innovation & Technology (CIT) - in India. Developed by incorporating the expertise of Hero MotoSports Team Rally, which has proven its mettle in some of the leading rallies around the world, the XPulse 200 Rally kit, will serve as a catapult for young talents across the globe improving on their riding technique as well as participating in Rally motorsport events with a competitive machine.

The kit consists of fully adjustable, taller front and rear suspension, flatter seat for easy position change while off-roading, extended gear pedal to suit off-road boots, handlebar risers or greater maneuverability while riding standing up, extended side stand for the additional ground clearance, front sprocket 12T, rear sprocket 40T for greater grunt, and rally tyres for relentless traction.

The *kit is ready-to-fit on the XPulse 200, which transforms the street legal motorcycle into an all-out rally machine. This kitted version adds to the already-proven capabilities of the XPulse 200 and provides a new avenue to the growing off-road, motorsports enthusiasts around the world.

*Rally kit not homologated for road use.

Unveiling the Hero MotoCorp pavilion here, Malo Le Masson, Head of Global Product Planning, Hero MotoCorp, said “We are continuously innovating to enhance the customers’ riding experience. The Xtreme 1.R concept offers a glimpse into the future of Xtreme styling DNA, a concept packed with fun and bold styling. While the XPulse Rally-Kit is focused on youth across the Globe seeking the perfect machine to jump-start their rally racing potential.”

Displaying its latest lineup of motorcycles at EICMA, Hero MotoCorp’s pavilion showcased XPulse 200T, XPulse 200 Hunk 200R, Hunk 200S, Ignitor 125 and the Splendor iSmart.

Underlining its focus on a diverse product offering across segments, Hero MotoCorp also showcased its new range of scooters – Duet 125, Dash 125 and Pleasure+.

Three special signature editions of Hunk 200S, XPulse 200T and Dash 125 were also on display.

Developed for customers across the globe, the products exude youthful styling, premium features and superior technology. Compliant with the stringent Euro IV emission norms, these scooters and motorcycles meet the market demands in several geographies across the world.

Fueled by innovation and evolution the Hero MotoCorp pavilion showcased diverse technologies, including the indigenously developed i3S technology (Idle Stop Start System). The EU-5 powertrain display, portraying the Company’s technology readiness to comply with the EU-5 emission norms, highlighted by an animated engine cut section and key elements of the Catalytic Converter.

Appealing to the tech-savvy visitors, the Company displayed a Connected Section, showcasing the potential applications of connected technologies in two-wheeler riding. With the aid of a VR Riding Simulator, riders get an opportunity to ride XPulse 200 in an exciting and challenging ON-OFF track and interact with various Connected features such as Turn by Turn Navigation, Weather Alerts, Service Alerts, Call and Message Alerts, Real Time Alerts.

ITC Earns the Highest Global Recognition for Water Stewardship

Highlights

* ITC and WWF-India have been working on watershed management in the area benefitting 149 villages and 14000 rural households
* ITC is the only company in the world to be water positive for 17 years and its Water Stewardship Programme has cumulatively covered 10.87 lakh acres benefiting over 3.20 lakh people in 15 states

ITC’s Kovai Paperboards factory in Tamil Nadu has earned the unique distinction of being the only facility in India to be awarded the Alliance for Water Stewardship Platinum-level certification – the highest recognition for water stewardship in the world. The prestigious certification marks a global acknowledgement of ITC’s large-scale and impactful water management programmes benefitting millions.

ITC Kovai is the first site in India and only the second in the world to be awarded this certification based on international benchmarks in water stewardship. The fact that the ITC Kovai was awarded AWS Platinum level certification – only awarded to those sites that meet the very highest standards – is testament to the extensive actions directed beyond the site’s own water use to supporting communities, vulnerable groups and local agencies to build a sustainable future.

ITC’s Paperboards factory in Kovai produces 103,000 tonnes per annum of recycled boards. The factory obtains water from a stream which is part of Upper Bhawani river basin, in Tamil Nadu. This area is under water stress due to erratic climatic conditions (inconsistent rainfall), excessive unplanned and unsustainable groundwater usage, water intensive cropping pattern as well as a steep declining trend of water table.

ITC’s water stewardship approach involves interventions both within the factory premises as well as the catchment level. Within the factory, continued efforts are made to minimise fresh water consumption, while maximising reuse and recycling of treated effluent.

At the catchment level, ITC and World Wide Fund for Nature - WWF-India have been working towards a watershed management strategy using a multi-stakeholder approach in the Upper Bhawani basin, since 2015, benefitting nearly 149 villages and 14000 rural households.

This involves both demand side management, where ITC works with farmers across the catchment to improve irrigation efficiencies in agriculture (since >90% of the water use within the catchment is by agricultural sector) as well as supply side management through creation of check dams, farm ponds and other water harvesting and recharge structures, strengthening of water governance in the catchment through creation of water user groups etc.

Over the years, more than 385000 cubic metres of water harvesting potential has been created across the catchment, benefitting tens of thousands of farmers.

Commenting on the certification to ITC Kovai, Mr. Adrian Sym, Chief Executive Officer, Alliance for Water Stewardship (AWS) said, “For many years, ITC has been at the forefront of business engagement in water stewardship, understanding the need for business to contribute to the sustainability of the water catchments on which they depend. The AWS certification awarded to ITC’s Kovai paper mill provides deserved global recognition to ITC in the field of water stewardship. ITC Kovai is only the second site worldwide to achieve AWS Platinum certification. This achievement and ITC’s corporate commitment to transparent and inclusive engagement on water sets an example not just for India but for companies worldwide. I look forward to supporting ITC on the next stage of its journey on water, and to encouraging others to follow their example.”

“This certification is indeed a source of encouragement to all at ITC and will inspire us to scale up our efforts to ensure water security to our stakeholders around our factories,” said Mr. Chitranjan Dar, Group Head of EHS, Projects and R&D, ITC Limited.

The Alliance for Water Stewardship (AWS) is a global membership collaboration of businesses, NGOs and the public sector driving water stewardship, which is defined as the use of water that is socially and culturally equitable, environmentally sustainable and economically beneficial, achieved through a stakeholder-inclusive process that involves site-and catchment-based actions.

At the centre of the development of the AWS Standard was a 15-member group called the International Standard Development Committee (ISDC), of which ITC was a part. The ISDC had representatives from three stakeholder groups (businesses and water service providers, civil society, and public-sector agencies) across eight regions (Africa, Asia Pacific, Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean, North America, Northern Asia, South Asia, and Western and Central Asia).

The 1.0 version of the AWS Standard was launched in April 2014 as part of the deliberations of ISDC. In order to ensure that the Standard continues to reflect stakeholder perspectives and the best global thinking and practices in water stewardship, it underwent a revision process through multi-stakeholder consultations and a result, The AWS Standard v2.0 was released on 22 March 2019.