People Love OYO - Hotel Chain Records a 90.57% Increase in Bookings in India

Valentine’s Day is no longer limited to a sombre exchange of gifts and dinners. Instead, it is an opportunity to spend quality time with loved ones, thereby encouraging many to relax with short getaways reveals the Valentine’s Day booking statistics by OYO.

OYO Hotels & Homes, a young hotel startup and the world’s leading chain of hotels, homes, and spaces today released a snapshot of Valentine’s Day bookings trends in 2020. OYO’s booking data revealed a whopping 90.57% increase in Valentine’s Day bookings across India, with guests ranging from families, couples to solo travellers.
Interestingly, OYO’s mobile app witnessed a 100% increase in consumer bookings from last year, while less than 10% of the total bookings preferred to book their stays through the website and other channels. With Valentine’s Day falling on a Friday, booking trends revealed that this year consumers started planning their travel way in advance, with one consumer booking his OYO as early as 24th August 2019.

Here are India’s Top 10 cities of love:
The startup observed a spike in bookings pan India, with Delhi continuing to top OYO’s Valentine’s Day booking charts, followed by the cities of Bangalore, Kolkata, Hyderabad and Chennai. Interestingly, across OYO’s international markets too, guests opted to stay at OYOs located in capital cities, with Kaula Lumpur emerging as the most booked city in Malaysia, Kathmandu in Nepal and Jakarta in Indonesia.

Across South India, Pondicherry, Chennai and Hyderabad emerged as the most sought-after destinations for Valentine’s Day celebrations whereas Goa, Pune and Mumbai were top locations preferred by consumers across West India. With no surprise here, Kolkata was the most popular city in East India for 14th February bookings.

Love is in the air: According to OYO's booking data, Delhi, Bangalore and Kolkata were the top three cities that made the most advance bookings for the big Valentine’s Day weekend, which explains why these cities were also the most searched locations on the OYO app for booking requests between 14th-16th February.

Harshit Vyas, Chief Business Officer, OYO Hotels & Homes - India said, “Valentine’s Day falls on a Friday this year, giving people across the country an opportunity to extend this special day into a long weekend. We’re thrilled to share that so far, we’ve observed a whopping 90.57% increase in Valentine’s Day bookings, along with a 100% increase in-app bookings with a mix of bookings coming in from families, couples as well as solo travellers.

We believe that with our offerings, we’ve enabled many consumers to opt for an affordable and good quality stay across cities. With consumer experience at the heart of everything we do, we are enhancing our capabilities to ensure that every guest who walks out of an OYO has the best experience. We’re extremely excited to host everyone who chose to stay with us while celebrating this special day and look forward to serving many more guests throughout the year!”
This Valentine’s Day, OYO also rolled out its social media campaign #CheckInForLove, a concept that takes a desi approach to Valentine’s Day by riding on existing pop phrases and cult art styles. The campaign that went live on 7th February has resulted in a 284% increase in positive sentiment for OYO.

*Period of comparison: Bookings for 14th -16th February made before 9th February (2019 Vs 2020).

Esper Secures $7.6M from Madrona Venture Group and Seed Investors

In a Series A funding round led by US-based venture capital firm Madrona Venture Group, Esper has raised $7.6 Million. Madrona Venture Group is well known as an investor in Amazon’s Series A round in 1995. The round also saw participation from their existing seed investors - Root Ventures, Ubiquity Ventures, Haystack Ventures, and Pathbreaker Ventures.

Esper is an intelligent cloud platform that helps enterprises deploy and scale Android dedicated devices and manage applications and devices in real-time. Their full-stack solution enables enterprises to efficiently develop, manage and monitor these devices securely across different versions of Android and device types. Esper has a large customer base in the US and India. The funding will be utilised for product development and to expand its customer base in India and the United States.

“We are excited to have the full support of these investors to expand our team and further scale our business to help customers move beyond Mobile Device Management into true device orchestration. Our vision is to provide a platform that allows our customers to focus on building their value proposition rather than their infrastructure,” said Yadhu Gopalan, Co-Founder, and CEO, Esper.

Android Devices are at the Forefront of Digital Transformation

Android-based devices such as tablets, point-of-sale devices, mobile payment devices, and kiosks are rapidly proliferating in the market and have become commonplace to consumers. India represents a strong market for these devices with over 97% of devices deployed using the Android operating system. These include tablets in cabs, biometric devices, POS, delivery and logistics devices.

“India has been an early adopter of Android devices for enterprise use cases, we have some leading POS, logistics, and retail customers in India who are using Esper to deploy their device fleet. We look forward to utilizing our Series A fundraise to grow our India market share and expand our engineering team in Bengaluru.” adds Shiv Sundar, Co-Founder, and COO, Esper.

Esper’s customer base in India includes leading enterprises from Retail, Logistics, Hospitality and Healthcare industries. Esper also has ongoing partnerships with MediaTek, Lenovo, and Zebra for hardware development and devices. Besides this, Esper is also Android Enterprise Recommended as a Google EMM partner.

By applying Esper’s intense customer focus, the founders identified the huge unmet need for effective device and app management in the Android dedicated device segment. The many customer pain points were poorly addressed by existing systems, typical leaving developers and Android firmware out of their solutions. In 2019 Esper set off on implementing a full-stack approach for customers building, deploying, and maintaining Android-based solutions all the way from offering Esper Enhanced Android, a full developer toolchain, and addressing the table stakes of application and device management honed to the unique market needs. This view and vision were made possible by the unique experiences of the founders including building the Windows CE kernel at Microsoft, working with and for major players in the Android market including Samsung, Huawei, and Cyanogen, and leading Android-based solutions for Amazon.

Esper’s growing team in Bengaluru is set to expand across engineering, sales, marketing, and customer success. The company’s unique culture focused on melding software and devices to impact and improve the human experience worldwide through intense customer focus has resulted in low turnover and high satisfaction. Yet the company prides itself on a cordial environment in a casual but intense atmosphere. Esper is the place to be for the highest caliber personnel in the Android industry.

About Esper

Esper was co-founded in the year 2018 by US-based, industry veterans Yadhu Gopalan and Shiv Sundar. In addition to providing a device and application management platform, Esper enables device manufacturers and chipset vendors to deliver a lean Android solution purpose-built for the smart dedicated device space. Esper allows its customers to control every aspect of their device fleet and go as far as real-time debugging of applications on a remote device when required.

This is How Senior Citizens in Bangalore Celebrated Ageless love this Valentine’s Day at Columbia Pacific Communities

To celebrate love in in all its forms and glory, senior citizens in Bangalore came together for Columbia Pacific Communities’ unique initiative of Valentine’s special meal comprising a 100 dishes at the Taj Yeshwantpur, Bangalore. The special lunch curated specially by Chef Selvaraju was served to three couples, including a single woman of 75 years who came with her friend. Through the unique experience for its senior residents, Columbia Pacific Communities takes the conversation of “positive ageing” forward.

Often seniors in our society are associated with various labels and celebrating love and being romantic is considered an impractical idea for seniors. As a brand, Columbia Pacific Communities has always stood against ageism, and attempted to break age-related stereotypes, whether it is through the campaign RELEARN or through initiatives such as organising south India’s first senior citizens flash mob.

Drawing parallels between food and relationships, Columbia Pacific Communities believes that both come with their own unique flavours, and both need time and patience to be nurtured. The initiative was a symbol of acknowledgment that love is ageless and selfless. It focuses on the fact that food often is an individual’s first love, and the love for food often builds lasting, loving relationships. Nothing spells ‘love’ more than a platter of delicious fare.

A contest titled #ExpressionsOfLove was run for residents of Serene Urbana by Columbia Pacific Communities and inviting poems, prose, photographs, painting, craft and other forms of art that depict an expression of love. The top three entries won a special Valentine’s Day meal comprising a 100 dishes at the Taj Yeshwantpur, Bengaluru.

Commenting on the initiative, said, Mohit Nirula, Chief Executive Office, Columbia Pacific Communities, "The Oxford dictionary defines "love" as "an intense feeling of liking and concern for another person." It is not bound by age, it can be felt by the most young and one can continue to feel this emotion until one's last day.  Columbia Pacific Communities is delighted to host three special couples from its senior living community Serene Urbana, a unique Valentine's Day experience. Taj Yeshwantpur will host three couples for a Valentine's special meal to celebrate love and demonstrate that love is ageless."

Aakash Institute Announces SPARRK -- A National-Level “Scholarship Exam for deserving students”

Aakash Educational Services Limited (AESL), the national leader in test preparatory services for aspiring doctors and IITians with more than 200 centres across the country, has announced a new scholarship exam, named Aakash SPARRK, aimed at giving deserving students from Class VII to Class IX an opportunity to take the first step in their endeavor to realise their dreams.

Aakash SPARRK is being offered for the first time from this year and is for students moving from Class VII to Class VIII; from Class VIII to Class IX and from Class IX to Class X. It will be held on March 15, 2020, across 24 states and Union Territories in the country.

Aakash SPARKK will offer students an opportunity to compete at a national level and win a scholarship of up to 90% of the tuition fee. Through SPARRK, Aakash aims to empower and enable students to utilize AESL’s coaching without financial constraints.

Commenting on the announcement of the new scholarship, Mr Aakash Chaudhry, Director and CEO, Aakash Educational Services Limited (AESL), said: “To succeed, it is important to take a step in the direction of your goal. From this year, we are pleased to introduce Aakash SPARRK, which will provide students an opportunity to win a scholarship at the national level. We are confident that SPARKK will generate great enthusiasm among students and enable them to strive onto the path of realising their dreams.”

DETAILS OF THE SCHOLARSHIP
• AAKASH SPARKK will be held on March 15, 2020, across 24 states/union territories in the country.
• The exam will be for one hour and will be conducted in two shifts i.e. from 11 am to 12 pm and from 3 pm to 4 pm.
• The last date for registration and receiving the duly filled-in application form is March 13, 2020. The registration fee is Rs 200.
• Students will be tested on subjects viz. Physics, Chemistry, Biology and Mathematics.

The exam will take place across all major cities in the states of Assam, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Goa, Gujarat, Haryana, Jammu, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Punjab, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and West Bengal. 

Aakash Institute aims to help students in their quest to achieve academic success with its standardized content and coaching methods, integrated teaching methodology, qualified faculty, comprehensive study material, diversified course offerings and delivery channels, modern infrastructure and disciplined and focused learning environment. It has a centralized in-house process for curriculum and content development and faculty training and monitoring, led by its National Academic Department. Over the years, students from Aakash have shown proven selection track record in various Medical & Engineering entrance exams and competitive and scholarship exams such as NTSE, KVPY, and Olympiads. 

MSSI Bengaluru Chapter is Celebrated India MS Day in Association with Department of Neurology – PMSSY (Victoria Hospital)

Multiple Sclerosis Society of India (MSSI), Bengaluru Chapter is a voluntary organization looking after the interests of Persons with Multiple Sclerosis (PwMS). Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is an auto-immune disease for which research has been ongoing globally, in order to find a cure.

Veteran actor Shri Srinath graced the occasion as a chief guest and encouraged our MSPs. Smt. Geetha Patil, Deputy Director, Department of the Empowerment of Differently Abled & Senior Citizens and Sri Umesh Chandrashekhar, District Disabled Welfare officer , were in presence and answered questions from our PMSSY (Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha. They mentioned about the government schemes that have been recently launched for the disabled, where  medical benefits up to INR 1 Lakhs can be availed. Along with this, the GOI has also launched the UDID, a unique identity card for persons with disability that will replace the need to carry multiple cards to avail benefits. This scheme is intended to become like Aadhaar card and is in the evolutionary stages. As MS has been included in RPWD Act recently government is working on the same for various schemes for the disabled.

In India approximately 200,000 people are estimated to have MS. MSSI has over 4000 persons with MS registered across its 8 chapters (Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Indore, Kolkata, Mumbai, and Pune). We, at the Bengaluru Chapter have about 200 Persons with MS registered from all over Karnataka and we support them with free medicines, physiotherapy, and equipments.

Rehabilitation Department organised an awareness program on MS at the PMSSY seminar hall at Victoria Hospital. The program focused on how to work collaboratively to create a better world for people affected with MS. Panel discussion was held on topic Creating a better world for persons with MS - on various questions being answered by Smt. Geetha Patil, Sri Umesh Chandrashekhar, Dr. Rajesh Iyer, Dr. Praveen Kumar, Dr. Archana, and Dr. Karthik.

New Nanoparticle Can Turn Carbon Emissions into Fuel, Sustainability

In future, carbon dioxide emissions could be captured and converted to fuel, thanks to new nanoparticles.

Imagine a futuristic power plant. Instead of stacks that pump carbon emissions into the atmosphere, the plant captures all its carbon dioxide, converting it into fuel that can actually power the plant: A carbon-neutral closed loop.

Researchers at the University of Southern California Viterbi School of Engineering, collaborating with the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), are working to bring this closer to reality. The team has discovered a metal carbide nanoparticle (a compound of carbon and metal) that can convert CO2 into fuel; a particle that for the first time, can be produced sustainably at low temperature.

This means that the particles can be produced at an industrial scale at a low cost, and with minimal environmental impact, providing a vital pathway toward reducing the world’s greenhouse emissions.

Noah Malmstadt, professor in the University of Southern California Mork Family Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, is one of the authors of the research, in collaboration with Frederick G. Baddour from NREL and Richard Brutchey, professor of Chemistry at USC. Their work was published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society.

Malmstadt said that the aim of the project was to capture carbon emissions from an emission source, such as a flue, and then to convert it into usable fuels, with the nanoparticles functioning as a catalyst to enable the reaction.

“Basically what we're doing is we're turning the carbon dioxide from carbon oxygen bonds to carbon hydrogen bonds. So, we’re turning carbon dioxide back into hydrocarbons,” Malmstadt said.

“Hydrocarbons are basic fuel stock. You can either turn them into fuel stock chemicals such as methane or propane. Or you can use them as the basis for chemical synthesis so they can be building blocks for making more complex chemicals,” Malmstadt said.

He said that hydrocarbons were also “feedstock” chemicals that could potentially be used to create other carbon-based material, so carbon emissions could be converted into material to make consumer products as well as hydrocarbon fuel.

Malmstadt said that until now, the process for creating the catalyst particles has been very energy intensive, making it an impractical solution for converting carbon emissions. The carbides are created using a process where they are heated to temperatures higher than 600 degrees centigrade, a process that makes it difficult to control the size of the particles, which impacts on their effectiveness as catalysts.

He said that in contrast, the team’s discovery uses a millifluidic reactor process, a very small- scale chemical reactor system, which has a minimal environmental footprint. This means the particles can be produced at temperatures as low as 300 degrees centigrade, resulting in smaller, more uniform particles, which make them ideal for converting CO2 to hydrocarbons.

“We are producing the particles sustainably, using green chemistry methods,” Malmstadt said.

“The chemical reactor system operates in channels that are less than a millimeter across, which offers a ton of advantages over traditional reactors, particularly in terms of making materials that are very uniform and very high quality,” he said.

Malmstadt said that the resulting nanoparticles have a very high surface area to mass ratio.

“So for each amount of metal that you have in the catalyst, you get more active surface area that can do chemistry,” he said.

Malmstadt said that the reaction process could be compared to the way that supercomputers have evolved over time; how they were housed in large laboratories and required giant memory banks and energy-intensive cooling systems. Whereas present day distributed or cloud-based supercomputer systems are simply a grid of standard computers that run in parallel and share resources.

“So it would be the same way of thinking for this approach to scaling chemical production,” Malmstadt said. “Instead of using a large chemical reactor, instead you use a bunch of these millifluidic reactors, and you just operate them all in parallel.”

Malmstadt said that this process also offered significant cost savings over larger scale chemical reactor production of carbide nanoparticles.

“This offers an easy route to scale the chemistry, and from the point of view of sustainability in terms of energy use, and the amount of personnel hours that go into producing the materials, it's much lower for these millifluidic routes than it is for traditional approaches to manufacturing the chemicals,” Malmstadt said.

Land Rover Enhances the New Discovery Sport with Added Refinement and Versatility

Highlights

* Transformed interior, bold new exteriors and new enabling technologies increase the appeal of the New Discovery Sport
* Elevating the bold exterior design, the New Discovery Sport, now includes the all-new premium LED headlights with Daytime Running Lights, rear LED lights and Animated Directional Indicators
* Elevated levels of craftsmanship augment the versatility quotient on the New Discovery Sport with its 5+2 seating and an advanced and responsive 26.08 cm (10.2) Touch Pro screen with Apple CarPlay® and Android Auto™ 
* Technology highlights include Clear Sight Interior Rear View Mirror as well as the Terrain Response 2 technology to automatically detect and adjust as per the surface being driven on, a 31.24 cm (12.3) Interactive Driver Display, wireless charging, 4G Wi-Fi hotspot and more
* Powered by BS-VI compliant Ingenium Powertrains, the New Discovery Sport is available with a choice of 2.0 l (litre) Turbocharged Petrol with a 48-volt mild hybrid system, producing 183 kW and 365 Nm of torque or a 2.0 l (litre) Turbocharged Diesel producing 132 kW and 430 Nm of torque
* Delivery of the diesel powered New Land Rover Discovery Sport has now begun, and is priced at ₹ 57.06 Lakh for the S derivative and ₹ 60.89 Lakh for the R-Dynamic SE trim. Start of deliveries of petrol powered Discovery Sport will be subsequent to start of diesel and will be announced separately

Jaguar Land Rover India, today announced the launch of the New Model Year 2020 Discovery Sport - the more intuitive, practical and modern SUV. Available in the S & R-Dynamic SE derivatives, the New Discovery Sport is offered with BS-VI compliant 183 kW Ingenium Turbocharged Petrol powertrain and 132 kW Ingenium Turbocharged Diesel powertrain options.

Rohit Suri, President & Managing Director, Jaguar Land Rover India Ltd (JLRIL), said:
The New Discovery Sport is a bold evolution of the original design, incorporating the latest in technological advancements. Fuelling the spirit of adventure, the vehicle consists of improved features that not only enhance the capability of the vehicle but also elevate the complete driving experience. It further strengthens the distinctive design and versatility that has made the Discovery Sport one of the leading models in the Land Rover portfolio.”

DISTINCTIVE DESIGN

The well-proportioned body and purposeful stance of the Discovery Sport is enhanced with new premium LED headlights with Daytime Running Lights and rear LED lights. The desirability of the exterior design continues into the cabin. The refined interiors lend a sense of calm, as one enters the vehicle. The interior delivers elevated levels of comfort, enhanced stowage space and a new SportShift gear Selector crafted from premium materials which have been responsibly sourced. The bold horizontal and vertical lines coupled with the fixed panoramic roof, further enhance the engaging interiors.

TECHNOLOGY AND INFOTAINMENT

The new display screen and centre console transforms the interior of the Discovery Sport to create a practical, high quality space with added sophistication. The Cabin Air Ionization technology enhances the well-being of both the driver and passengers alike.

Advanced and responsive Land Rover InControl® Touch Pro™ infotainment, fitted standard, is available with Apple CarPlay® and Android Auto™. Furthermore, Smart Settings use artificial intelligence algorithms to learn driver preferences, adjusting massage and seat positions, music and climate settings and steering column positioning to suit each driver. Wireless charging for compatible mobile devices is also introduced for the first time within the lower center console, along with 4G Wi-Fi hotspot. Infotainment is taken a notch higher with Meridian™ Audio providing state-of-the-art entertainment. InControl Remote & Protect App allows you to interact with your Discovery Sport from anywhere. You can see your vehicle’s data remotely – from fuel level to door and window status, emergency call (eCall) and breakdown call (bCall) facility and more.

The ‘ClearSight Rear View Mirror’ is now available on the Discovery Sport, transforming the rear view mirror into an HD video screen at the touch of a button. It displays a rear-facing camera feed onto the mirror, ensuring the driver’s view remains unrestricted by passengers or large items in the back.

VERSATILITY AND CAPABILITY

Built on the new Land Rover Premium Transverse Architecture (PTA), the Discovery Sport provides greater capability. The Discovery Sport has All Wheel Drive and Hill Descent Control to make the hardest of drives seem effortless and with All Terrain Progress Control (ATPC), you can maintain a steady speed in the most challenging conditions. The ATPC works seamlessly alongside the standard Terrain Response 2, All Wheel Drive (AWD) traction and braking systems. Every All Wheel Drive Discovery Sport uses Torque Vectoring by Braking (TVBB) system which maximizes control and handling even through the tightest of corners. All this while retaining a class leading wading depth of 600 mm.

Further details on the New Land Rover Discovery Sport are available on the Land Rover India website www.landrover.in

Land Rover Product Portfolio in India

The Land Rover range in India includes the Range Rover Evoque (starting at ₹ 54.94 Lakh),  Discovery Sport (starting at ₹ 57.06 Lakh), the Range Rover Velar (priced at ₹ 71.87 Lakh),  Discovery (starting at ₹ 75.60 Lakh), Range Rover Sport (starting at ₹ 87.02 Lakh) and Range Rover (starting at ₹ 182.25 Lakh). All prices mentioned are ex-showroom prices in India.

Jaguar Land Rover Retailer Network in India

Jaguar Land Rover vehicles are available in India in 24 cities, through 27 authorized outlets in Ahmedabad, Aurangabad, Bengaluru, Bhubaneswar, Chandigarh, Chennai, Coimbatore, Delhi ,Gurgaon, Hyderabad, Indore, Jaipur, Kolkata, Kochi, Karnal, Lucknow, Ludhiana, Mangalore, Mumbai , Noida, Pune, Raipur, Surat and Vijayawada.

Mobil and Raftaar Trend Nationwide with ‘Aage Chal’ Music Video

Mobil and Raftaar announced their collaboration to launch the story of Raftaar’s journey in a new single titled ‘Aage Chal’.

Speaking of the collaboration, Deepankar Banerjee, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of ExxonMobil’s lubricants business in India said, “Raftaar’s journey is inspiring to many young Indians embarking on their own journeys. As an automobile engine oil brand, Mobil is naturally connected to these journeys; and with Raftaar being a long time user of our products, we could together, tell an authentic story about pursuing one’s dreams.”

“Aage Chal was composed back when I was a struggling artist. I was determined to move forward regardless of the circumstances and conquer my dreams. A lot has changed since and with the love of the people, I have become what I am today. I hope to inspire others with this track and encourage them to keep moving forward irrespective of challenges. I am thrilled to collaborate with Mobil and share my journey. While I have changed my vehicles over time, Mobil has been a constant companion.” Raftaar added.

In recent times, the rap industry has taken spotlight with its radical language and references that relate to the youth. Raftaar, formerly a member of the urban music group ‘Mafia Mundeer’, shot to fame with the 2014 smash hit ‘Swag Mera Desi’, also featuring Manj Music. He has also been associated with a host of reality TV shows such as MTV Hustle, Roadies and Dance India Dance.

The new album was launched on February 10, 2020 and is live across all popular streaming apps.

Crayon Software Experts Joins with CRY to Restore Children's Rights

To build a strong foundation for future generations, Crayon has joined hands with - Child Rights and You (CRY), the non-governmental organization. Under the umbrella of CRY, Crayon launched a project called 'Sparsha' - An initiative that aims to remove hurdles that stand in the way of a child's right to education. Crayon has adopted Sparsha Center in Sion Koliwada, Mumbai. Crayon will be taking care of quality education of over 100 students from nursery to senior secondary school.

"At Crayon, we sincerely attempt to address serious social concerns in every possible way. With this initiative, we wanted to ensure that these kids' study in a school, which has all facilities including library, laboratory and sports ground. We are thankful to CRY for letting us contribute to make a positive impact on society and young minds," said Vikas Bhonsle, CEO at Crayon India.

Apart from Sparsha, Crayon also organises various events to encourage corporates, businesses, employees to support children in any way possible. Last month the CRY-Crayon duo organised a theme-based event across all its India offices, where the employees were encouraged to show their support for children by becoming a YellowFellow.

"It was heart-warming to conclude YellowFellow event successfully last month. The main objective was to encourage more and more businesses to support children and their right to a happy childhood. We must say, we got too many Yellow Fellows to rely on," said Vikas.

"All of us spend an incredible amount of our time and attention in ensuring that we are 'raising our children right' by giving them the right education and preparing them for a better tomorrow. While all of this is definitely important, the most important thing we can do for our kids is really quite simple, "Just Make them happy" and our association with CRY has given me an opportunity to reach out to children who deserve to be happy," said Melody Lopez, CHRO at Crayon India

By spearheading such corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives, Crayon continues to impact lives and contribute to the development of the education sector. While Crayon as a company continues to support such causes, they also encourage employees and communities around them to volunteer in social causes such as blood donations, minimizing carbon footprints, reducing waste, and many more.

Atlassian to Double Employees Headcount and Strengthen Advanced Cloud Solutions in Indian Market

By Manu Sharma

Atlassian Corporation, a leading provider of team collaboration and productivity software is likely to double its headcount to 1000 in India by June 2021. Established in 2018, the technology firm plans to grow the Bengaluru office into a world-class R&D and customer support center, and has already hired more than 300 employees locally and will add another 200 additional employees to reach 500 by June 2020 and than double a year later in Bengaluru.

Speaking to the media, Vandana Abraham, Head of Design, India, Atlassian says, "Bengaluru has some of the brightest tech talent in the world, and within our first year in market, we’ve hired incredible talented work force and whose work has had a direct impact on our global customer base. Going forward, I'm sure we will we able to find more such talented workforce to touch 500 by June this year and double the number to 1,000 by next year."

Atlassian plans to expand further in Bengaluru the coming months by adding a number of engineering, design, product management, recruitment, and customer support roles. Atlassian's new office is located in RMZ Ecoworld, and has room to grow to more than 700 employees.

Archana Rao, Chief Information Officer (CIO), Altassian Global says, "The country's exceptional technical talent, leadership and business infrastructure naturally aligns with our long term company goals."

Atlassian is the maker of products such as Jira, Confluence, Bitbucket, and Trello that are used by over 144,000 customers worldwide, including Ola Cabs, Reliance, Walmart Labs, and Flipkart in the Indian market. "R&D has been key to Atlassian’s growth and innovation all along, and we don't invest in marketing," adds Vandana.

Atlassian Strengthens Advanced Cloud Solutions in India

Atlassian is also a leading provider of team collaboration and productivity software and the market of Jira, Confluence, Bitbucket and Trello products has commitment to deliver on its cloud solution offering for the Indian market. As per a recent Nasscom report, with India witnessing a huge uptake in cloud adoption, and with the cloud market expected to grow approximately 3X times to $7.1 billion by 2022, tech firms like Atlassian are building products to cater to this demand and also provide Indian customers access to its innovative new cloud offerings to customers like Ola, Reliance, Walmart Labs, Flipkart among others.

To achieve this, Atlassian is aiming to double its headcount by next year. The employees will help support the growth of the research and development (R&D) centre in Bengaluru set up in 2018. The company has surpassed $1 billion in lifetime revenues on the marketplace and posted total revenues of approx $409 million from Q2 2020, up 37% year-over-year.

Cloud has been the key driver of Atlassian's growth and innovation, with overall subscription revenues, which is primarily cloud driven, growing at 50% yearly. The company has aggressively invested in India on the cloud front with cloud security being the prime focus for its customers. Archana Rao, CIO, Atlassian Global says, "With India embracing digitization across industries and enterprises accelerating cloud adoption, our solutions are uniquely placed to serve the Indian customers looking at leverage the immense benefits of cloud. We have announced new programs and tools that will aid existing customers in their transition from our self-managed, on-premise, offering to the cloud and in tern giving our customers the access to the latest security, reliability, privacy and compliance road-map for our products and services."

The company announced enterprise-grade controls and security features, with data privacy upgrades to its underlying cloud platform. The company has also said new integrations, allowing customers to integrate Atlassian cloud products with Microsoft Active Directory Federation Services (ADS) for SSO. Google Cloud Identity for SSO and user provisioning and cloud security offering include data residency for customers who want greater control over where their data is located and data encryption at rest and in transit to help guard against unauthorized access. 

McAfee and Samsung Extend Partnership to Protect Personal Data and Information

McAfee announced its extension of the long-standing partnership with Samsung to protect consumers personal data and information from online threats. Through this partnership, Samsung smartphones, including the Galaxy S Series, Galaxy S20 and Galaxy Fold, will come pre-installed with anti-malware protection powered by McAfee. In addition to mobile, the partnership expands to better protect Samsung PCs and laptops users, where it matters.

The digital landscape for consumers is constantly evolving, with more consumers living an online life. There are now roughly four billion consumers connected online for an average of over six hours a day, from sharing photos to socializing with friends to completing bank transactions. Consumers expect to be able to do what they desire online- whenever and wherever they want- without worrying about the potential risks that might be lurking online. According to McAfee Labs, 504 threats are discovered every minute- showcasing just how important it is that consumers are vigilant when connecting online.

“Consumers are connected more than ever, and McAfee is dedicated to protecting them online when they shop, bank, share and journey across the internet,” said Terry Hicks, executive vice president, consumer business group, McAfee. "Our partnership with Samsung continues our mission to give consumers peace of mind that their personal data, as well as their families and friends, won't be jeopardized online."

Smartphones

Samsung announced that the new Galaxy S Series, Galaxy S20 and Galaxy Fold will come pre-installed with anti-malware protection powered by McAfee. These join the existing Samsung Galaxy lineup, including Samsung Galaxy S10 and Galaxy S9, that has McAfee VirusScan protection.

PCs and Laptops

Samsung announced that their PCs and laptops, including Samsung Galaxy Book Flex, Samsung Galaxy Book Ion, and Galaxy Book S will come pre-installed with McAfee LiveSafe. Consumers will benefit from added protection against viruses, online threats and ransomware with online and offline protection. All Samsung laptop users are able to enjoy to a 60-day free trial and will receive special discounts after the trial period is over.

Collaboration & Convergence, Sustainability will be the Growth Engines of Indian Chemical Industry

Highlights

* Chemicals Industry in India covers more than 80,000 commercial products and it is expected to double its size at USD 300 billion by 2025.
* The Indian Chemical Industry will focus on creating a new ecosystem through which they will move closer to customers
* The Indian Chemical Industry is increasingly focusing on sustainability and safety

With the growing challenges like environmental sustainability, climate change and trade flow restrictions and trade wars, the Indian Chemical Industry is bringing in meaningful solutions in order to address these multifaceted challenges. Indian Chemical Council, the apex national body dedicated for the growth and development of chemical industry, outlined vision 2025 for the chemical industry. The key trends identified were digitalization, global mergers and acquisitions, and focus on downstream speciality chemicals.

The chemical industry is an industry-of-industries with a combined turnover of USD 160 billion growing at 100 basis points faster than India’s GDP, making it an important sector to propel the growth of the nation’s economy. Being one of the most diversified industries, the chemical industry in India covers more than 80,000 commercial products and is expected to double its size at USD 300 billion by 2025.

Speaking at the conference, Mr. Vijay Sankar, President, Indian Chemical Council, said “The use of chemicals in our modern life is indispensable, now more than ever, with most modern industries being deeply dependent on the chemical industry, ranging from soaps to automobiles. It is one of the most diversified industries, and India has observed high growth in the past decade while holding substantial potential for future growth as well.”

“Sustainability and Safety is a key focus ICC has been advocating though its Nicer Globe and Responsible Care initiatives. It is now imperative to create a new ecosystem for the Indian Chemical Industry moving closer to customer needs with collaboration and convergence as the new mantra of growth.” adds Mr. Sankar

About Indian Chemical Council

INDIAN CHEMICAL COUNCIL (ICC) the apex national body representing all branches of the Chemical Industry in India such as Organic & Inorganic Chemicals, Plastics & Petrochemicals & Petroleum Refineries, Dyestuffs & Dye-intermediates, Fertilizers & Pesticides, Specialty Chemicals, Paints etc.

The Indian Chemical Council is dedicated to the growth of the Indian Chemical Industry. Established in 1938, ICC has over the years grown its functions and offerings to cater to the varying needs of the Indian Chemical Industry.

91% Indian Singles Look for Love in Matrimony: BharatMatrimony Valentine’s Day Survey

Of the 8058 members who participated in a BharatMatrimony survey recently, a whopping 91% of singles ready to marry said that they’re actually looking for the “love of their life” on BharatMatrimony, not just a life partner.

Interestingly, 86% participants said they’d celebrate Valentine’s Day with spouse. 58% women and 45% men opined that celebrating the day “helps strengthen marital bonds” while 31% women and 48% men said that it was a “special day to express love.” Among those who said they may not celebrate the day post marriage, 31% women and 41% men reasoned that “anniversaries and birthdays are more important days,” while 35% women and 29% men said Valentine’s Day was “just a marketing gimmick.”

When asked how they wanted their partner to express love on Valentine’s Day, interestingly 54% women wished that their partner expressed love to them by saying “I found my equal'”. Only 22% women opined that they wanted a gift. 32% men, however, said they’d express love to spouse by “Gifting her something she loves”, 25% by “Saying I found my equal,” 21% by going out on a romantic dinner and 15% by holidaying.

When posed “What’s the best day of the year to express love post marriage?” 47% women and 42% men said “Wedding anniversary” while 34% women and 31% men felt “Partner's birthday” and 17% women and 23% men preferred Valentine’s Day as the day to express love to partner. In response to “Who should plan for Valentine’s Day after marriage, 27% said the husband, while 23% opined the wife should do the honours.

In response to “How important is it to gift spouse on Valentine’s Day?” 61% men said “they can’t forget to gift her on this day”, while interestingly a whopping 83% women said, “it was not important” and 17% women humorously said, “it won’t be a good day if he forgets it”.

“We’re pretty close to our customers, constantly studying their changing aspirations with regard to relationships and matrimony. Our current survey proves that young singles are not merely seeking a life partner but rather “the love of their life”. Matrimony.com’s widest choice of over 4.5 Million bride and groom profiles, detailed information about the members including their interests, features like secure chat and the option to directly call matches one likes, help members discover their love that leads to a happy marriage, says Rajasekar KS, GM – Marketing at Matrimony.com.

Columbia Pacific Communities Celebrates ‘#ExpressionOfLove’ this Valentine’s Day

Beyond the fences of age, love knows no boundaries and only grows stronger with time. To celebrate love in in all its myriad forms and glory, Columbia Pacific Communities, India's largest provider of services and care to senior living communities took a unique initiative this Valentine’s Day titled ‘#ExpressionsOfLove’.

Often seniors in society are associated with various labels and celebrating love and being romantic is considered an impractical idea for seniors.

As a brand, Columbia Pacific Communities has always stood against ageism, and attempted to break age-related stereotypes, whether it is through our campaign RELEARN or through initiatives such as organising south India’s first senior citizens flash mob.

Through a unique Valentine’s Day experience for its senior residents, the brand takes the conversation of “positive ageing” forward.

Drawing parallels between food and relationships, Columbia Pacific Communities believes that both come with their own unique flavours, and both need time and patience to be nurtured. #ExpressionsOfLove is a symbol of acknowledgment that love is ageless and selfless. It focuses on the fact that food often is an individual’s first love, and the love for food often builds lasting, loving relationships. Nothing spells ‘love’ more than a platter of delicious fare.

Commenting on the initiative, Piali Dasgupta, VP - Marketing, Columbia Pacific Communities, said, “Popular culture and mass media, for long, has associated Valentine’s Day with the youth. But what’s love and its many expressions, including romanticism, got to do with age? Through “Expressions of Love”, we once again break this stereotype, and help our senior residents to celebrate the day of love with their special one. That special someone could be your spouse or partner, you friend, colleague, dog or anyone else that you truly love.”

Turn this Valentine’s Day into Galentine’s Day with your Gal-Pals

Who says Valentine’s Day is a day only couples celebrate? Its a day about celebrating love -  love for family, friends, colleagues and so on. This year, why not turn Valentine’s Day into a celebration of your valuable relationship with your favorite girls!? These girlfriends are your best shopping dates, 4 AM chat buddies, your best motivator as well as critique and so much more. So, here are some simple yet great ways of enjoying your Galentines’ day to the fullest with your girlfriends and make your bond grow even stronger!

Weekend Trip: 2020 has been kind enough and 14th February is a Friday! So you can plan a long weekend getaway with your girlfriends to a nearby location and enjoy some therapeutic girl time! Depending on your location you can plan a beach getaway or a hill station and soak up some sun. All you need is your phone to make bookings via apps like Make My Trip for flights, Uber to sort your nearby travel, OYO to book accommodation at the tap of a button. Its as simple as that! In case you are worried about safety, you can use apps like Safetipin to know more about your surroundings and take safer decisions

Book a Spa Day or a Salon appointment! What better excuse than this to indulge in some pampering with your gal-pals! Pamper yourselves with a good spa or salon experience and de-stress yourselves. With a plethora of options like O2 Spa and several luxury resort spas in India you can either indulge or sit back at home and simply book an UrbanClap service. Don’t just refresh, rejuvenate!

Weekend of Positivity: In our busy lives we tend to forget to take a deep breath and relax. This is the time to take a step back and do it with your closest friends by your side. Book yourself and your friends a weekend yoga or meditation retreat and learn the art of mindfulness. What better way to spend time than learning and spreading some positivity!

Time for F.R.I.E.N.D.S: Stream your favourite shows and binge on scrumptious meals at the same time in the comfort of your home. Let’s say technology has really made things easier for us. While Netflix or Amazon Prime will let you snuggle in bed and enjoy a movie marathon, Swiggy, or Zomato will get you food at your doorstep. So, you literally have to do nothing but just operate few apps and relax with your girlfriends

Shopping Fiesta: Your gang can also indulge in some crazy shopping this weekend with some great sales going on. If you are not amongst the ones who like offline retail therapy, indulge in online shopping with e-commerce platforms like Myntra, Amazon and the likes offering great discounts. Be each other’s not-so-secret Santa, who cares if it’s February on the calendar!

This special day is about loved ones, so spend it with the ones who are really special to you! Happy Valentine’s Day!

GitHub Expands International Operations to India, Home of its Third Largest Developer Community

GitHub Inc., world’s leading software development platform, has announced the opening of its subsidiary, GitHub India Private Limited, with the aim to better serve the developer community and GitHub’s enterprise customers in the country. India is home to GitHub’s third largest community of developers, growing 22 percent over the past year, adding to an already significant base.

Speaking at the NASSCOM Technology and Leadership Forum 2020, Erica Brescia, Chief Operating Officer, GitHub, said, “As the third largest group of active developers on GitHub, Indian developers are truly building the future of software. Over the past year, the number of public repositories in India has grown 75 percent, demonstrating a sharp increase in collaboration across the Indian developer community. In building out a local team in India, our goal is to create stronger relationships with developers and support open source development across developers, maintainers, and enterprises.”

GitHub’s growth strategy in the country will be spearheaded by Maneesh Sharma, General Manager of GitHub India. Over the next few months, GitHub will build a team across all functions—including community, engineering, sales, support, marketing and services—to enable customers to adopt DevOps best practices at scale and collaborate with over 40 million developers across more than 100 million projects.

Along with support for a thriving open source community in India, GitHub is also working with organizations across industries to help them deliver winning customer experiences using a modern software supply chain and industry best-practices.

A growing number of companies in India, including Swiggy  and ArisGlobal are collaborating and building the software that powers their businesses on GitHub Enterprise.

GitHub is also expanding its channel partner program to support GitHub Enterprise customers in running their software development operations effectively, and enable them to achieve their digital transformation ambitions. 

India is also home to one of the largest communities of student developers in the world. GitHub is committed to supporting the next generation of developers and helping more student communities come together to learn and build on GitHub. As part of the efforts to empower student developers, GitHub Education is extending its popular GitHub Hackathon Grant program to students in India, supporting student hackathons with up to $1,000 in grants.

About GitHub
GitHub is the developer company. We make it easier for developers to be developers: to work together, to solve challenging problems, to create the world’s most important technologies. As the home of the world’s largest community of developers and their code, we foster a collaborative community that can come together—as individuals and in teams—to create the future of software and make a difference in the world.

Routematic Commits To A Greener Future. Reduced 2.56 Lac Tonnes Of Carbon In 2019

Routematic witnessed solid progress towards sustainability targets in the year 2019, emphasising the importance of collaboration with sustainable vendor partners across the value chain. From launching electric vehicles for India’s largest IT services company, to powering a million trips every month for over 80 customers, Routematic achieved several milestones in the year 2019.

As was its pledge towards environment, Routematic reduced 2.56 lac tonnes of carbon, covered distance of over 167 million kilometres that saved around 33.26 million litres of fuel and powered over 42,000 shared trips equivalent to planting 6250 trees.

Routematic ended the year with a bang by winning Nasscom Emerge League of 10. The product was awarded best in the logistics’ category in 2019. This win further validated Routematic’s commitment towards developing a sustainable product that will disrupt employee transportation for the corporates.

Commenting on the developments, Co-Founder & CEO Surajit Das said, “Routematic has emerged as a game changer for MNCs and is a true role model for environmental leadership. Employee transportation is the third highest cost for organizations that comes with even bigger responsibilities towards both- employee safety and the environment. We feel proud that we could achieve 100% successful and safe trips while reducing carbon footprints of over 1.5lacs employees every month.

“Good news is companies in India have started to align their employee transportation goals with our vision. A-List companies know sustainability presents an exciting race to the top. Hence providing safe and sustainable transportation facilities to their employees have started to rank higher in the company agendas. Employee transportation is an undeniable business risk that companies need to mitigate to only trusted partners,” added Surajit.

About Routematic

Routematic is an urban mobility solution to daily office commute, helping companies with round the clock employee shifts, augment their transport service experiences. Routematic signifies one-stop automated and integrated tech platform that harnesses both demand and supply-side capabilities to deliver unmatched safety, reliability, cost operations, on-time performance, and 100% compliance.

Tech Skills will Dominate in 2020 While Communication and Design will be the Most In-Demand

The market is transforming at a breakneck pace. Amidst rapid technological adoption across organizations, several conventional job roles are becoming redundant and are being displaced by newer profiles with evolved skills requirements. The solution for job seekers and professionals in this environment is the continuous acquisition of industry-relevant skills. With a firm finger on the pulse of the fast-changing business ecosystem, Shine.com, India’s 2nd largest job search platform, has mapped the top skills that recruiters will look for in 2020.

According to the Shine.com jobs data, emerging skills such as Machine Learning and Data Analytics are set to dominate the skills landscape in 2020. Traditional technical skills such as Java, SQL, C/C++, CSS, Linux/Unix, .Net, Sap, Cloud/Azure, HTML, AJAX, and Autocad will also continue to be in demand during the year. However, while organizations continue to gear up for a digital-first future by acquiring tech talent, recruiters will also look for soft skills such as communication, behavioral training and project management in prospective hires. Further, conventional skills such as marketing and advertising which are crucial for brand success will also remain relevant in 2020.

Speaking on the findings, Zairus Master, CEO, Shine.com, said, “India is standing at the cusp of a technological revolution. Organizations across industries are adopting innovations such as AI, Machine Learning, Cloud Computing, and Data Analytics, among others. It is no surprise, then, that some of the most in-demand hard skills of 2020 are projected to be tech skills. That being said, we do not see the importance of soft skills such as communication, creativity, emotional intelligence, teamwork, etc. phasing out anytime soon.”

He added, “Our latest report highlights some of the most important skills that recruiters will be looking for in 2020. Job seekers can utilize this information to upskill themselves accordingly and plot a lucrative career path.”

In a region-wise analysis, the platform found that Bangalore, the IT hub of the country, will witness the continued demand for skills in SQL, Java, C/C++, etc. along with allied skills such as design and communication. Mumbai, the Financial Capital of the country, is expected to see an increased demand for marketing and communications skills along with Java and MIS. Interestingly, tier-2 cities such as Pune and Ahmedabad are also projected to register an increased demand for technical skills such as SQL, Python and Data structures.     

Bengaluru is India’s Next Lighthouse City for Shared, Clean, and Citizen-Centric Mobility

Bengaluru is India’s next lighthouse city for shared, clean, and citizen-centric mobility. In Bengaluru, Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI) and Micelio are partnering with the Directorate of Urban Land Transport (DULT), Invest Karnataka Forum, and Department of Industries and Commerce (DIC) to host the Urban Mobility Lab, a platform, which supports Indian cities to identify, develop, and implement mobility solutions that transform how people and goods move. Since 2017, when NITI Aayog launched the initiative, RMI has partnered with the Delhi Government and Pune Municipal Corporation to cohost the Lab in Delhi and Pune.

An initiative led by RMI, the Urban Mobility Lab will aim to further accelerate Bengaluru’s  transition to shared, clean, and citizen-centric mobility by serving as a forum for open discussion and a platform for action through facilitated multistakeholder convenings and ongoing collaborative work.

On partnership with RMI and Micelio, Ponnuraj,  DULT’s commissioner said, “We are happy to host the Urban Mobility Lab. This initiative can support our current mobility initiatives and increase sustainable mobility options in Bengaluru.”

To inaugurate the Lab, DULT, DIC, RMI, and Micelio are hosting a multistakeholder workshop on February 19–20. At the workshop, over 120 participants from across the mobility ecosystem will work together to address system-level barriers and develop implementation plans for mobility solutions. The workshop is organized around six thematic areas—charging and battery swapping infrastructure, data-based solutions, electric vehicle (EV) manufacturing, first and last-mile connectivity, public transit, and urban final-mile delivery.

While discussing the workshop, Shreyas Shibulal, Micelio’s founder and director said, “We are excited to partner with DULT, DIC, and RMI. We believe a collaborative process that brings together the government, private sector, and civil society can support the development and implementation of real-world mobility solutions.”

Akshima Ghate, RMI’s, Principal, said, “Bringing all stakeholders together under one roof, encourages integration and can accelerate work on existing and new solutions that support Bengaluru’s mobility goals such as efficient and sustainable transportation.”

The Urban Mobility Lab is designed to catalyze Bengaluru’s transition to shared, clean, and citizen-centric mobility. After the inaugural workshop, RMI and Micelio, in coordination with system stakeholders, will continue to support the implementation of action plans generated at the workshop and also identify new opportunities that can help enable change. The lessons learned and successes realized can guide the scaling of mobility solutions in Bengaluru and beyond.

Manipal Hospitals Whitefield Performs Path-Breaking Surgery Using a Novel Procedure “Arthroscopic Latarjet”

Manipal Hospitals Whitefield performed “Arthroscopic Latarjet” surgery for the first time in Bangalore. This novel and minimally invasive procedure was used to give new lease of life to 3 patients - 29 year old Mr. Paras, 40 year old Mr. NM Pradeep and 25 year old Mr. Muzammil who were suffering from recurrent and multiple shoulder dislocation. Dr. Ayyappan V Nair, Shoulder Specialist and  Orthopedic Surgeon at Manipal Hospitals Whitefield performed the surgery through a keyhole camera with minimal incisions. So far 9 patients have been successfully treated using this novel procedure.

Shoulder dislocation is a condition where the shoulder joint slips and the bones of the shoulder loose contact with each other. Shoulder is the most common joint to get dislocated. Once dislocated chances of repeat dislocation is more when the patient is young. This incidence decreases with age. Usually this kind of shoulder instability is treated with a keyhole surgery called Bankart surgery where the ligaments, which are torn in the shoulder, are required back. However in patients with multiple dislocations this ligament repair procedure will not suffice due to extensive bone loss of the ball and socket and hence Latarjet procedure is done.

The case of 29-year-old Mr. Paras was heart-warming as he came with a history of multiple dislocations of right shoulder. To correct the same, in the last 3 years he underwent two failed surgeries at other hospitals. Despite both the surgeries, he continued to experience dislocations. Fortunately, when he came to Manipal Hospitals, Dr. Ayyappan V Nair performed Arthroscopic Latarjet surgery that showed great signs of recovery and he was able to resume his normal routine in just six months. Similarly, 40 year old Mr. BM Pradeep came with history of four Dislocations in four months. However, post undergoing Arthroscopic Latarjet at Manipal Hospitals Whitefield 3 months ago followed by regular physiotherapy, he too has resumed his daily routine. The third case was of 25-year-old Mr. Muzammil, who came with a history of over 50 dislocations and post Arthroscopic Latarjet which was performed 6 weeks ago, he is on his recovery road and is undergoing rehabilitation.

Sharing details on the case and Arthroscopic Latarjet, Dr. Ayyappan V Nair, shoulder specialist and orthopedic surgeon Manipal Hospitals Whitefield said, “All the three patients had a bad history of multiple shoulder dislocations and one of the patient had undergone 2 failed surgeries with no respite. Shoulder is a ball and socket joint, with multiple dislocations there is significant bone loss in the socket part of the joint due to repeated denting of the glenoid by the dislocating humeral head which causes bone defect and needs to be filled. The process of filling the defect in the socket is called as a bone block procedure ‘latarjet’. Here a piece of bone called coracoid, which is next to the shoulder joint is cut, rotated and fixed on to the side of socket this technique is usually done as an open procedure with an extensive surgical incision.”

“Unlike the open procedure, Arthroscopic Latarjet gives excellent precision in positioning the bone block and the blood loss is also minimized. Infact the procedure further reduces complications and hospital stay with great clinical outcomes. Since the procedure is technically demanding, it is done by only few surgeons worldwide and in India” he added.

Sharing his thoughts on the success of three surgeries, Mr. Arnab Mondal, Hospital Director, Manipal Hospitals Whitefield said, “This is indeed a great milestone for Manipal Hospitals Whitefield. I congratulate Dr. Ayyappan V Nair and his team for their dedication and commitment as all the three cases were extremely challenging. With our expert pool of doctors and state of the art infrastructure, we aim to provide quality and affordable healthcare services and will continue our efforts of offering cutting edge healthcare solutions to people.”

 Sharing his happiness, Mr. Paras Solanki , Patient said, “ Having undergone 2 surgeries earlier and almost 19 doctor consultations I had almost lost hope. Fortunately  Dr. Ayyappan V Nair assured me that my dislocation can be completely cured using a novel procedure which is Arthroscopic Latarjet surgery. Today 3 months post the surgery my life is back on track as now I have resumed my regular routine. I also go for swimming and do regular exercise, really thankful to the doctor who has given me a new lease of life.”

About Manipal Hospitals:

As a pioneer in healthcare, Manipal Hospitals is among the largest hospital network in India serving over 2 million patients annually .Its focus is to develop an affordable tertiary care multispecialty healthcare framework through its entire multispecialty delivery spectrum and further extend it to homecare. With its flagship quaternary care facility located in Bangalore, India, 8 tertiary care, 7 secondary care and 2 primary care clinics spread across India and abroad, today Manipal Hospitals successfully operates and manages 5,200+ beds. Manipal Hospitals provides comprehensive curative and preventive care for a multitude of patients from across the globe. Manipal Hospitals is first in India to be awarded accreditation by the AAHRPP for ethical standards in clinical research activities. It is also NABL, NABH and ISO certified. Manipal Hospitals is also the most respected hospital company in India and the most patient recommended hospital in India by consumer survey.

Arcserve Exhibits Unified Data Protection Suite for Stock Brokers; Participates in ANMI Stocktech Event

Arcserve, LLC, the world's most experienced data protection provider, recently participated in ANMI Stocktech event held at the BSE International Convection Hall, Mumbai. Arcserve exhibited its industry-rich Unified Data Protection (UDP) suite for stock brokering community. AMNI was established in 1996 is a PAN India body, compromising of around 900 active stock brokers who are trading members of NSE, BSE and MSE. Stocktech event offers a significant platform to showcase cutting-edge technology solutions for stock broking community. This year, ANMI Stocktech event witnessed a huge number of attendees, including IT leaders, C - level executives and decision makers from the Indian financial and trading industry.

Increase in the financial and online trading activities over digital platforms, intensified the risk of protecting the valuable investor information which is abundantly exposed to cyber threats. There is a copious amount of sensitive investor data and account information out in the cyberspace. Arcserve's UDP Appliance offers a holistic approach to IT resilience by offering every data protection capability a company needs while eliminating the complexities of managing their data protection processes. Arcserve's UDP was developed by the most experienced teams among data protection industry, aiming to deliver a consumer-grade user experience. With its robust capabilities, IT teams can manage the data with a few clicks on a single interface from anywhere in the world.

Arcserve received a 150 plus foot fall at the stall. Speaking at the event, Mr. Nikhil Korgaonkar, Regional Director - India & SAARC at Arcserve said, "Past two decades witnessed an exponential increase in online trading. The advent of digital technologies, digital platforms and digital applications has not only created a spike in the trading volume, but also in investor data and account information out in cyberspace. This sensitive & critical data explosion maximizes the risk of cyber attacks, data loss and widens data threat landscape."

He further added, "To mitigate these risks, Arcserve has come up with the range of data protection solutions. Arcserve's 9000 series Appliances is the first & only means to neutralize ransomware attacks combined with Sophos Intercept X and deliver effective disaster recovery (DR) solutions. With Arcserve UDP, trading community can safeguard their business-critical investor data in real-time."

Mr. Sumeet Jansari, Account Manager at Arcserve said, "Stocktech event has provided a great platform for exhibitors to showcase their latest technology products available in the market and connect with different experts to gain more insights about the changing environment of stockbroking market.  We had a great time having knowledge exchange sessions with the brokerage industry experts and thought leaders. The highlight was the brainstorming session on the extensiveness of digitization in the stockbroking industry. The event helped us in understanding the ever changing demands of the industry and how we can customize our offerings as per industry requirements. Overall, AMNI offered a great medium for networking."

Mr. Parwinder Singh, Principal Consultant - India West Region at Arcserve said, "Stocktech event offered us a great platform to network with stock brokers. At the event, we at Arcserve provided inside glimpse to the stockbroking community on how data can be secured from cyber-attacks by deploying Arcserve's latest UDP platform and restore their business critical data on demand to the platform of their choice."

Xoxoday Appoints an IBM Senior Executive Ben O'Sullivan as Sales Director for the UK and Europe Market

Xoxoday, a SaaS Commerce company, that helps mid & large enterprises to manage rewards and incentives announced the appointment of Mr Ben O'Sullivan as Sales Director for the UK and Europe Market. The platform caters to employees, sales partners, and the Gig workforce.

Ben will spearhead business performance and strategy in the UK and the European market. In his current role, he will focus on building synergies for expansion of the existing businesses in Europe as well as, develop new engines of growth in European markets.

“Xoxoday welcomes Ben O'Sullivan on-board and we are confident that he will use his vast experience to energise some of our key initiatives. His understanding of scaling business, recognizing trends at an early stage, a comprehensive grasp of the customers’ needs, and transformative leadership is critical in driving the next phase of growth for the company”, said Kushal Agrawal, Chief Strategy Officer, Xoxoday.

“Xoxoday’s strong vision of helping businesses to optimise employees, sales partner and gig workforce engagement embody the spirit of the future workforce. I am honoured to be a part of this exciting organisation”, said Mr. Ben O'Sullivan.

Prior to assuming his current role, Ben worked with IBM Europe where he led a sales team deploying Cloud and AI solutions in commercial and enterprise sectors across Europe.

He has also been in the role of a Senior Deal Analyst at NEMEA and started his career at Intel. Ben holds a bachelor's degree in applied physics from Dublin City University and an ACCA Diploma certification on Financial Management from Dublin Business School. 

Star Health Launches Outpatient Care (OP) Policy Across India

Leading health insurance company Star Health, has launched a  plan specific only for outpatient procedures (OP).The all-new Star Outpatient Care policy is a standalone product that pays for all outpatient consultation, which starts with doctor fees and covers Diagnostic tests, Pharmacy Bills, Physiotherapy, Non-Allopathic Treatments, Dental Treatments and other therapeutic procedures.

Mr. Anand Roy, Managing Director, Star Health and Allied Insurance Co Ltd explained, “There are ailments that don’t require in- patient hospitalisation and these come under outpatient care. In India, mostly, costs incurred for treating such ailments are paid by the people from their own pocket. Since such costs can be substantial at times, we, at Star Health, have introduced Star Outpatient Care Insurance Policy, which is one of its kind in the market.”

Customers in age group of 18-50 years are eligible to apply for this policy. In addition, dependent children upto 25 years age, who are economically dependent on their parents, can be covered. The maximum family size is six members.

The policy term is for  one-year duration,  and available on Individual plan as well as family Floater plans. There are multiple variants offered like Platinum, Gold, and Silver; and OP sum insured options are available upto Rs. 1,00,000.

The coverage for the policy is applicable for all outpatient consultation expenses, incurred at any medical facility registered with Star Health network in India. This includes non-allopathic treatment expenses such as Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani Sidha and Homeopathy systems of medicines in any institute recognised by the Indian government and/or accredited by the quality Council of India/National Accreditation Board on Health.

The  new policy also covers Diagnostics, Physiotherapy and Pharmacy expenses as well as Ophthalmic treatment expenses arising out of accidental injuries incurred by an outpatient at any Star Health-registered medical facility in India.

About Star Health and Allied Insurance Co. Ltd

Star Health and Allied Insurance Co Ltd commenced its operations in 2006 as India’s first Standalone Health Insurance Company with business interests in Health, Personal Accident and Overseas Travel Insurance. We use our vast resources to focus on service excellence, and product innovation to deliver the best to our customers. Star Health has been providing innovative health insurance products to individuals, families, and corporates directly and through various channels – agents, brokers, online etc., Star Health is also a prominent Bancassurance player with long standing relationship with various Banks. In FY 2019 Star Health has procured a gross written premium of Rs.5412 Crore and built a promising path with a net worth of Rs.1480 Crore as on 31-03-2019. Star Health currently has 10600+ employees with 500+ branch offices all over India.

CitiusTech Announces Partnership with Google Cloud to Accelerate Digital Transformation for Healthcare Organizations

CitiusTech, a leading provider of healthcare technology services and solutions, today announced a partnership with Google Cloud to accelerate digital transformation and cloud adoption across healthcare organizations.

As a Google Cloud partner, CitiusTech will enable medical technology companies, providers, payers, and life sciences organizations to modernize their mission-critical IT by integrating digital solutions on Google Cloud Platform (GCP).

CitiusTech now has a practice focused on GCP that empowers healthcare companies to undertake enterprise-wide digital transformation. The partnership with Google Cloud further strengthens CitiusTech’s capabilities to help healthcare organizations tackle their data interoperability challenges, modernize healthcare applications, implement advanced analytics and undertake cloud migration at scale.

“Bringing together Google Cloud’s technology and CitiusTech’s proven understanding of the complex healthcare environment, our partnership will support healthcare organizations through digital transformation in key areas such as data analytics, artificial intelligence, machine learning and hybrid cloud.”, said Manish Sharma, Sr. Vice President, Strategy & Partnerships at CitiusTech. “Our combined technology will empower payers and providers to drive better outcomes and improve care quality.”

Microsoft's February 2020 Patch Tuesday Addresses 99 CVEs Including Internet Explorer Zero-Day

Microsoft addresses a staggering 99 CVEs in the February 2020 Patch Tuesday release. This update contains 17 remote code execution flaws and 12 vulnerabilities rated as critical. This month's updates include patches for Microsoft Windows, Microsoft Office, Microsoft Edge, Internet Explorer, Microsoft Exchange Server, Microsoft SQL Server, Microsoft Office Service and Web Apps, Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool and Windows Surface Hub.

Commenting on this Satnam Narang, Senior Research Engineer at Tenable said "This month's Patch Tuesday release contains updates for a staggering 99 CVEs, 12 of which are rated as critical. This is one of the largest Patch Tuesday releases we've seen in recent times. Microsoft released a patch for CVE-2020-0674, a memory corruption vulnerability in Internet Explorer that Microsoft issued an advisory for in January, cautioning that the flaw had been exploited in the wild. At the time, Microsoft only provided mitigation instructions and did not release an out-of-band patch. Details about the in-the-wild exploitation of the flaw are still not known, but it is important for organizations to apply these patches as soon as possible.

Additionally, multiple vulnerabilities in Remote Desktop were patched, including two remote code execution vulnerabilities that are likely to be exploited, according to Microsoft. These flaws, identified as CVE-2020-0681 and CVE-2020-0734, exist in Remote Desktop Client. Exploitation of these requires an attacker to either persuade their victim into connecting to a vulnerable Remote Desktop Server operated by the attacker or plant malicious code on a compromised Remote Desktop Server and wait for the vulnerable user to connect to it.

Microsoft also patched CVE-2020-0688, a memory corruption vulnerability in Microsoft Exchange. To exploit this vulnerability, an attacker would need to send a specially crafted email to a vulnerable Exchange server. Exploitation of the flaw would lead to arbitrary code execution in the context of the System user, granting an attacker the ability to create a new account, install programs, and view, change or delete data."

Nutanix Commissions Bangalore Facility as New India Headquarters

Enterprise cloud OS leader, Nutanix, has officially commissioned its new India headquarters as the company continues investment and reconfirms India as a key Centre of Innovation for customers, globally.

The new over 200,000 square feet Bangalore HQ is situated in the midst of the city’s thriving IT hub. The facility brings together the sales, engineering, R&D, service and support functions under one roof, and boasts a modern, open plan and engaging workplace, with multiple collaborative and creative spaces as well as an in-house gym, sleep pods, and gaming zones.

The new campus also has a fully catered canteen facility providing a full breakfast, lunch and dinner menu service for staff.

The state-of-the-art facility has been developed to maximise the Nutanix presence in the city, attract more engineering and support staff, and further showcase the company’s expansive portfolio of enterprise solutions - to grow its regional client base.

This move enables Nutanix to expand its innovation ecosystem and grow its investment in talent within the country and continue to nurture a strong internship and incubation programme with the support of local colleges.

Commenting on the announcement, Sankalp Saxena, Senior Vice President and Managing Director - Operations, India, Nutanix, said: “We’re excited by our new home and the opportunities it provides us. India is integral to delivering the best solutions and service to our global customers and this facility marks yet another step in our ongoing commitment to the country,”

Bangalore is one of 10 Nutanix Customer Support Centres of Excellence globally, 5 of which are Asia based. The Beijing, Sydney, Tokyo, Pune and Bangalore centres highlight the rising importance Asia plays in respect of the enterprise cloud leader’s regional and global ambitions.

The Bangalore headquarters is part of a continuing expansion for Nutanix in India, and follows recent moves into tier 2 cities and the recent appointments of Balakrishnan Anantharaman as Vice President and Managing Director of Sales for India and SAARC.