IBM Splits Into 2 Companies But Won't Impact Indian Operations, Says CEO Arvind Krishna

As IBM splits into two companies globally, separating the heritage IT infrastructure-managed services business from the futuristic hybrid cloud and AI piece, Arvind Krishna, Indian-born chief executive officer (CEO) of the technology major, has said the split will have “no material impact” on its Indian operations and structure while it unlocks enough potential in the country in both the spaces.

The separation, he said, would come into force in the second quarter of 2021, creating two companies globally as well as in India with different heads.

We will have two entities in India but it will take a year to play out. I expect most people to find a place in one or the other (company),” said Krishna, who succeeded Ginni Rometty as CEO in January this year.

“We have not done the full employee split but close to 100 per cent of our clients get touched by our infrastructure-managed services employees. Maybe about one-third to one-fourth of our India employees will be part of the new company.”

Unlike many global technology companies, IBM is uniquely positioned in India, which is not only a large market for the Big Blue but also houses a big chunk of its global employee base.

Over 33 per cent of IBM’s global workforce of around 380,000 are estimated to be located out of India. The technology major, which reported revenues of Rs 26,542 crore from the Indian market in FY19, counts several large banks including the State Bank of India (SBI) and Bank of Baroda, and telcos such as Bharti Airtel and Vodafone among its clients.

Krishna said the company saw huge opportunities in the hybrid cloud space, where the company is uniquely positioned as compared with Microsoft and AWS.

Two of the largest telecom operators in the country, including Airtel and Vodafone, he said, are using its platform while SBI has partnered it for the cloud transformation of its banking app Yono.

“People have to work in an environment that involves both public and private clouds, and we believe that we have the best answer (for that) that is based on open technology. It allows you to run (your data) anywhere and when you run across multiple environments,” said Krishna, who graduated from IIT-Kanpur and has a PhD from University of Illinois. He has been with IBM since 1990.

The CEO said he expected the firm’s India footprint to grow stronger both in its services as well as software and R&D business.

“As our business expands in services, there will be opportunities for employment, promotions, skills, and interactions with university and all of that.”

With the separation of two businesses, IBM expects the hybrid cloud and AI-focused company would target $1 trillion while managed infrastructure will also continue to grow with a $500 billion market opportunity.

Toyota Kirloskar Motor Employees Come Together to Express Gratitude to Healthcare Warriors

Continuing its efforts to motivate and encourage employees to partake in social causes, Toyota Kirloskar Motor, today, conducted its 18th ICARE activity, in Bangalore, spreading the message of respect and care for all human beings. Staying true to the company’s key social values of sustained community development, this time around, 380 employees came together to make personalized thank you e-cards for our indomitable frontline warriors in the fight against Covid pandemic. These e-cards will be distributed to the healthcare workers who are at the forefront which includes doctors, nurses and support staff from hospitals namely Victoria Hospital, KC General Hospital and CV Raman Hospital in Bangalore.

As a part of this activity, TKM employees came together virtually through an e-enabled platform to make more than 500 personalized thank you e-cards for the healthcare warriors for their selfless contribution to save lives. This initiative acted as a platform for the volunteers to engage with each other and shower gratitude to healthcare warriors.

Sharing his thoughts on this activity, Mr. Vikram Gulati, Country Head & Senior Vice President, Toyota Kirloskar Motor said, “At TKM, we have been constantly striving for holistic and sustainable development of the local community through our CSR initiatives. Through ICARE platform we share our creative and best practices with the society and work towards bringing about a positive change in the community we live. We are happy to see the active participation of our employees in each of the ICARE activities. This platform has helped us connect together as one Toyota family and further amplify our CSR efforts to cover a wider spectrum, reaching out to more communities and inspiring more employees to work for the betterment of the society.”

‘ICARE’– an employee voluntary initiative, is an effort aligned with the company’s commitment to sustained community development.  TKM believes that it is important for the employees to align with our morals and principles to make key contributions to the nation and society at large. This drive actively involves the employees and strives to enhance their understanding on various societal issues, contributing to address vital needs within TKM’s CSR framework. Since its launch in 2017, ICARE has grown manifold and managed to create a large impact in the society which benefited more than 45,000 lives. Currently, more than 800 employees have been registered under TKM’s ICARE initiative. So far, TKM has implemented 18 ICARE activities in the area of Education, Environment, Road Safety, Skill Development, Disaster Management and supporting special children by creating massive transformation in the society and providing enriching experience to employees every time.

Toyota Kirloskar Motor will further continue its various CSR activities keeping the development perspective of socio-economic structure of the society, providing aids to many individual’s lives to make a difference in their livelihood.

TECNO CAMON 16 Set to Redefine Photography with 64 MP Camera and Pioneering Eye Auto Focus

* Priced at INR 10,999, CAMON 16 becomes the first and only smartphone to feature 64MP Quad camera & Eye Auto focus under 11K

* TECNO CAMON 16 will be available on Flipkart’s Big Billion Days Sale (https://rb.gy/jjp5mr)  starting 16th October 2020

TECNO, the global premium smartphone brand that has a track record of introducing innovative products with premium features in the mid-budget segment, today launched the TECNO CAMON 16 with a 64 MP Quad camera set-up and the game-changing Eye Auto Focus feature to provide a stellar photography experience to category consumers. The smartphone will effectively allow photography enthusiasts to take pro-quality photographs. The smartphone’s excellent camera ability will allow TECNO to gain a firm foothold in India’s mid-budget smartphone market and command substantial market share in the Aspirational Bharat. 

The introduction of TECNO CAMON 16 will further redefine the mid-budget smartphone segment. The new camera modules supplemented by the automatic eye- focusing technology will bring unprecedented clear photography experiences for users. TECNO’s CAMON 2020 smartphone range earmark the era of higher camera pixels, premium AI-enabled Ultra Night lens powered by TAIVOS™ (TECNO AI Vision Optimization Solution) technology and human eye tracking feature for sharper focus at an incredibly affordable price points that will set new standards for competition in the segment.

Commenting on the launch, Mr. Arijeet Talapatra, CEO, TRANSSION India said, “With TECNO’s CAMON portfolio, we are constantly pushing the boundary to make cutting-edge mobile camera technology available to everyone at a competitive price. Our CAMON products seek to constantly transform users photography experience. CAMON 16 launch continues to be part of our “For India” approach that aims to disrupt the mid-budget segment with products customized to cater to Indian sensibilities in a better way.  We are launching this product in India first before other countries. Designed for young millennials and Gen Z consumers, TECNO CAMON 16 pioneers the most affordable ‘64MP Quad cam with Auto Eye Focus feature in the under-11K segment. We are confident that with this new festive product portfolio, we will amaze the consumer and consolidate our brand position in the Indian smartphone market.”

TECNO CAMON 16 Will be Available in Two Colour Variants: Cloud White and Purist Blue.

Key USP’s of CAMON 16:

* Segment first 64MP AI Quad Rear Camera with Eye Auto Focus

The CAMON 16 features a Quad Rear Camera setup with a 64 MP Primary Lens, 2 MP Blurred Depth of Field Lens, 2 MP Macro Lens and an AI Lens with Penta Flash. Explore pro photography modes such as Night Portrait, Macro, Body-shaping, 10x Zoom, etc or shoot perfect Slow-motion, video Bokeh or 2K QHD videos for a memorable experience. While the unique Eye Auto focus feature, found on a few high end smartphones and mostly DSLR cameras, enables one to stabilize focus around the eyes and makes the portraits sharp.

-Super Night Shot powered by TAIVOS

Equipped with world's exclusive trademark TAIVOS™ (TECNO AI Vision Optimization Solution) technology, that filters image noise and better optimizes photo and video output quality. The powerful match of software and hardware together support unimaginable clear and smooth photography experiences. The TAIVOS Technology along with an aperture of f/1.79, 1/2" sensor, YUV Encoding, 4-in-1 pixel binning and 7 flash lights in total enabling one to capture super clear night shots with vivid colors.

* 16 MP Dot-In-Selfie camera – All eyes will be on your selfie

The CAMON 16 sports a 6.8” HD + Dot-In-Display that seemly integrates the front camera, & light sensor that boasts an 89.1% screen-to-body ratio, super wide view, and a much more efficient display of information. It comes with 16MP AI Selfie Camera with Built in Eye Autofocus technique for brilliant portraits. Bright night selfies with the Super Night Shot and professional video modes including 2K QHD recording, Video Bokeh, video beauty and short videos makes it an ultimate choice for Selfie Lovers. Click all day every day.

- Power your game with Helio G70 SoC Processor

Now enjoy seamless mobile experience on your CAMON 16 that is powered by MediaTek Helio G70 SoC processor which is a Hyper Engine Fast AI performer that is great for gaming and daily robust usage. Multiply your delight with 4GB RAM and 64GB ROM internal storage that will make you a smooth multi-tasker!

* Massive 5000 mAh Battery with fast charge

The CAMON 16 houses a powerful 5000 mAh battery which provides a standby time of 29 days, 34 hours calling time, 16 hours web browsing, 22 hours video playback, 15 hours game playing and 180 hours music playback. The CAMON 16 also comes with an 18W Fast Charging support enabling the device to get fully charged in approx. 2 hours.

* HiOS 7.0 based on Android 10

The CAMON 16 runs on Hios 7.0 based on Android 10, which is loaded with new features like Video Caller ringtone, Smart Scanner, Auto Ear Pickup, Gesture Flashlight and Photo Compressor, altogether providing for a seamless, premium smartphone experience.

Future Generali India Insurance to Roll Out “Total Health Score” on World Mental Health Day

Considering the higher incidence of mental health issues in India, especially during the on-going pandemic, Future Generali India Insurance Company Limited (FGII), announced the launch of an online mental health assessment test – “Total Health Score”. This unique self-assessment will enable an individual to evaluate the quality of one’s mental well-being. FGII encourages everyone to take their mental health seriously and emphasises that one’s mental health is as important as physical health to be healthy inside out.  

The Total Health Score is a questionnaire & API based assessment that is designed by practicing therapists and counsellors who understand the early signs of potential mental health issues. Once the individual completes the assessment s/he will be attributed a score that outlines the current state of his/her mental health. In addition, s/he will have access to self-care content to understand & manage various mental health issues like stress, anxiety, depression and other related concerns. The self-care content is developed by mental health experts specially for Future Generali.  

Anup Rau, MD & CEO, Future Generali India Insurance said, “Our objective is to be a lifetime partner for our customers and demonstrate expertise with a human touch. We can only achieve this if we truly understand India's cultural norms & constraints and enable some difficult conversations. We all know that mental health is considered a taboo. As a brand, we want to steer healthy conversations around mental well-being and change people’s approach towards it. The starting point of this mindset change is to get people to understand that mental health is as important as physical health and give them quantifiable ways to measure it.  Hence, we created the Total Health Score, a simple questionnaire and API based score that helps quantify your mental health at the time of taking the test.” 

Anyone interested in knowing their health score can take this assessment on FGII’s website or use the FG Insure app.  

Link: http://healthinsideout.futuregenerali.in/ (Live from October 10, 2020) 

About Future Generali India Insurance Company Limited 

Future Generali India Insurance Company Limited is a joint venture between Future Group – the game changers in Retail Trade in India and Generali – a 189 years old global insurance group featuring among the world’s 60 largest companies*. The Company was incorporated in September 2007 with the objective of providing retail, commercial, personal and rural insurance solutions to individuals and corporates to help them manage and mitigate risks. 

Future Generali India has been aptly benefitting from the global Insurance expertise in diverse classes of products of Generali Group and the Indian retail game-changer Future Group. Having firmly established its credentials in this segment and effectively leveraging on the skill set of both its JV partners, Future Generali India has evolved to become a Total Insurance Solutions Company. 

*As per Fortune Global 500 Ranking (2017) 

*Future Generali India Insurance is certified ‘Great Place to Work’ (December2019-November 2020) 

About Generali Group 

Generali is an independent, Italian insurance Group, with a strong international presence. Established in 1831, it is one of the largest global insurance providers present in over 60 countries with total premium income exceeding €68 billion in 2017. With nearly 71,000 employees in the world and 57 million customers, the Group has a leading position in Western Europe and an increasingly significant presence in Central and Eastern Europe as well as in Asia.  

‘Mann Talks’ Launched to Provide Free Counselling for their Mental Health in India

This World Mental Health Day, commemorated on 10th October, sees the launch of Mann Talks, an initiative to empower individuals, from underserved sections of the society, to take charge of their mental health by offering free and holistic tech-enabled mental health solutions. The initiative is founded on the belief that mental health is an integral and essential component of health. By democratizing access to information, strengthening support systems and providing quality services, Mann Talks hopes to transform lives.

It is estimated that 1 in 7 Indians suffer from poor mental health[1]. Common mental health disorders such as depression and anxiety go undiagnosed or untreated due to lack of public understanding, stigma, and the dearth of trained mental health professionals. Amidst a global pandemic, the situation has only worsened due to various intersectional factors, including forced isolation, unemployment and inability to access previously available services.

Mann Talks believes in taking a collaborative approach and has partnered with pioneering organizations in the social sector including Dasra, iCALL and White Swan Foundation for mental health. Mann Talks has a three-pronged approach, a helpline, a digital portal and on-ground activations. The helpline (8686 139 139) will assist in free and confidential, emotional and psychological consultation through a team of trained mental health professionals. The helpline has standardized protocols in adherence to the best practices in the sector. The digital portal will impart simplified, medically vetted knowledge on mental health in regional languages. It will also include information for care-givers to enable them to help their loved ones. Lastly, for on-ground activations, Mann Talks will be exploring high-impact pilots to integrate mental health services into existing government and community systems.

Individuals looking for support can access ‘Mann Talks’ and speak to a counsellor by simply calling 8686139139 between 9 am to 6 pm on all days of the week. For further information, individuals can log on to www.manntalks.org.

Mann Talks is an initiative of the Shantilal Shanghvi Foundation, the family foundation of Mr. Dilip Shanghvi.

Zendesk and Enterprise Strategy Group Report Shows Customer-Centric Leadership is the New Growth Indicator

Zendesk, Inc. (NYSE: ZEN) today released new research in partnership with Enterprise Strategy Group (ESG) that shows how companies investing in customer experience (CX) are reaping the benefits. The global study found there is a clear link between organizations with more mature customer experience capabilities, and improved business success in areas such as market share, increased customer spend, and pivoting processes over the last six months. 

The new report, CX Champions: How CX Leaders who raise their game are driving business success, surveyed more than 1,000 CX managers and leaders in North America, Europe, Asia Pacific and Latin America to better understand their investments in CX. From the research, ESG developed a CX Maturity Scale that segments organizations into three tiers of customer service maturity, based on seven key characteristics that cover how organizations use their support teams, technology and data to drive better performance. ESG then classified businesses into three maturity categories: Starters, which exhibit zero to three of the seven characteristics; Risers, which have four to five of the characteristics; and Champions, which have at least six of the characteristics in place. 

The research also found that, as companies around the world adapt to new ways of remote working and ongoing uncertainty in 2020, more than three quarters of midsize and enterprise businesses (78%) and nearly two thirds of small businesses (65%) said that customer-centric agility has increased in importance as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

“Organizations are under increasing pressure to rise above the competition and grow their businesses - that’s even more of a challenge as companies adjust to the impact of a global pandemic, and the associated uncertainty that lies ahead,” said Colleen Berube, Chief Information Officer and SVP of Operations at Zendesk. “In working with ESG, we set out to confirm the link between an organization’s ability to deliver a high quality experience and better business results. The relationship is clear. We hope these insights on the connection between a focus on customer experience and business success can help companies learn from those that are ahead on the CX scale.”

Some key findings from the report show that companies that invest in CX yield significant benefits, including: 

Faster growth: Even during the pandemic, midsize and enterprise Champions were found to be 8.7 times more likely than Starters to have significantly grown customer spend. For small business Champions, this figure increases to 9.2 times.

Increased market share: Mid-size and enterprise Champions were 3.3 times more likely to have grown their customer base over the past six months. Small business Champions experienced similar growth, being 3.6 times more likely to have grown their customer base in the same period. 

Senior-level support: Champions also secured greater investment and support from senior leadership within their organization. For example, senior leaders at midsize and enterprise Champions were 3.8 times more likely to see customer service as a differentiator. 

“Our research identified a clear connection between CX excellence and business growth. Companies that are at the Champion stage of the scale not only see better outcomes in traditional service metrics, such as resolution time and CSAT, but they’re also experiencing positive business outcomes in customer spend, retention, and board-level support of CX as a business priority,” said Adam DeMattia, Director of Custom Research at ESG. 

Only a quarter of companies are at the top of their game

While nearly all respondents agreed that CX stagnation will lead to business disruption, the research found that companies were at varying stages in their own CX maturity. While most organizations are identified as Starters or Risers, with significant room for improvement in their customer experience, larger organizations are generally further ahead in their maturity, with 29% of midsize and enterprise businesses identified as Champions. For small businesses, this figure drops to 22%, while nearly half of small businesses (47%) are at the Starter phase, compared to 36% of midsize and enterprise businesses. 

Performing under pressure (and in a pandemic)

Reflecting on the first half of 2020, when companies globally had to rapidly transition to remote working, nearly three quarters of CX leaders surveyed agreed that agility matters more in a post-COVID-19 world. At the same time, Champions fared best during the pandemic: midsize and enterprise Champions were 4.9 times more successful in pivoting to remote work; while SMB Champions were 7.8 times more successful. 

“Results show that CX Champions were better positioned to transition to remote working and manage surges in customer requests,” added Berube. “Companies that already invested in technology to not only deliver a good customer experience, but also support customer service agents with flexible and scalable operations, were able to successfully pivot their businesses quickly. While an atmosphere of uncertainty and change becomes the norm, it’s important to know companies still have the opportunity to focus on agility, continue to invest in CX, and prepare for constantly changing customer needs.”

CX teams are also experiencing a lasting impact as the pandemic changes the way businesses work. Among those who said their organization had enacted more flexible remote work policies, 70% are considering making these changes permanent. 

Five lessons from Customer Champions

For businesses aspiring to move to the next stage of the CX Maturity Scale, the research calls out five trends that are consistent among Champions: 

Building a culture focused on CX, driven from the top down: Champions agreed more strongly that CX is a critical business priority. They also have greater involvement from senior business leaders with 33% of midsize and enterprise and 42% of small business Champions reviewing CX Metrics with C-Suite executives on a daily basis. 

Don’t forget your people: Service and support continue to be an area of focus among leaders, with agents at midsize and enterprise Champions receiving an average of two and a half additional days of training per year than Starters. 

Data-centric support delivers: Champions place a focus on KPIs and metrics to guide their support decisions. Nearly two thirds of midsize and enterprise Champions (63%) state their KPIs can be reported in real-time. 

Automation and AI is making an impact: Responding to the increased volume of data and rising customer expectations, Champions make use of automated methods of building and updating cross-channel customer profiles. AI tools, such as automated chatbots, are also making an impact on support performance. 

Investing in CX success: When asked about plans for the next 12 months, nearly three-fifths (57%) of midsize and enterprise Champions and half (50%) of small business Champions expect their organization’s spend on CX tools and technology to increase significantly, versus just 9% of midsize and enterprise Starters and 6% of small business Starters. 

“As we see the trend that Champions are taking the steps to invest more in their tools, team and processes for CX success, Starters not only have the challenge of catching up to their competition in customer service, but also ensuring the gap doesn’t widen,” added DeMattia. “To make these gains, it will be critical for leaders at lagging organizations to make the most of their budgets by learning from their more mature peers and investing in the areas that can drive the greatest impact on their CX maturity.” 

Additional Resources

For more information, download the report, CX Champions: How CX Leaders who raise their game are driving business success, here 

Check out the livestream, “Go From CX Starter to CX Champion” with ESG here

Read the blog content series on how businesses can achieve CX maturity here

Find out if your organization is a Starter, Riser or Champion by taking the quiz here

Methodology 

To gather data for this report, ESG conducted a comprehensive survey of business decision makers responsible for ensuring and enhancing customer service and support at their organizations. Organizations represented spanned the globe, including North America (N=256), Europe (N=250), Asia (N=250), and Latin America (N=256). Organizations represented were split between SMBs (those with <100 employees, N=500), midmarket organizations (those with 100-999 employees, N=255), and enterprises (those with 1,000 or more employees, N=257). The survey was fielded between July 14, 2020 and August 8, 2020.      

On World Mental Health Day, Mpower Urges People to Take the Pledge #BeKindtoTheMind

Ahead of World Mental Health Day on 10th October, Mpower - a pioneer in Indian Mental Healthcare, has announced a call to action for people, urging them to take the pledge #BeKindtoTheMind. This is primarily to drive awareness around mental health issues facing people today and pushing them to speak up and seek help if something does not feel right.

Post the onslaught of the Covid-19 pandemic, Mpower has seen a rise in new cases of mental health concerns such as anxiety, depression, sleep disturbances, adjustment and relationship issues. The initiative #BeKindtoTheMind encourages everyone to look out for themselves and their loved ones. It emphasizes on how “it is okay not to be okay, but it is not okay not to seek help.”

Addressing the state of mental health in India, Neerja Birla, Founder and Chairperson, Mpower, said, “While we have come a long way in dealing with mental health issues, the stigma still persists and there’s a long way to go. Our objective with #BeKindtoTheMind is to reach out to people who don’t have access to mental health services otherwise. We would like to extend our help to those suffering from mental health issues and provide them with a reassurance that we are here to help them in whatever way we can. We hope that we can create a positive difference for everyone going through these challenging times.”

In order to stamp out the stigma and make mental health care accessible to all, Mpower has organised #EarForYou Sessions – These are free 20 Minute Online Counselling Sessions on World Mental Health Day i.e. 10th of October 2020. People from any part of the country who need mental health support and counselling via Zoom Calls can connect with therapists (Psychiatrists/Psychologists) at Mpower.

About Mpower:

Backed by Aditya Birla Education Trust, Mpower is a holistic mental health care initiative, which has become the pioneer of mental health awareness in the country. Since its inception, Mpower aims to create an ecosystem where people with mental health concerns and their caregivers receive professional support, care and acceptance to facilitate their recovery, without facing discrimination or shame. With the help of holistic care, interventions and treatments that are world-class and multi-disciplinary, Mpower is dedicated to ending the stigma associated with mental health. Mpower hopes to help in bringing about change in the public perception of coping with mental health concerns. Currently, Mpower's clinical footprint is in Mumbai, Bengaluru, Goa and Pilani.

Exclusive Offers on Your Favourite Huawei Products, on the ‘Flipkart Big Billion Days 2020’

* Enjoy exclusive deals on Huawei devices during the Flipkart Big Billion Days 2020. Sale starts from October 16th and concludes on October 21st 2020

* New and exciting offers will be available on Huawei Wearables and tablets during the Sale

Get the most out of this festive season. Exciting deals and offers on Huawei’s Wearable Devices and Tablets, starting October 16th to 21st , 2020, on the ‘Flipkart Big Billion Days 2020’. Huawei India today announced a  fantastic line-up of offers and discounts, on the Huawei Watch GT 2, Huawei Watch GT 2e, Huawei Band 4 and Huawei MediaPad M5 lite 10.

The Huawei Watch GT 2e will be available at an exciting price of only INR 9,990. and the Huawei Watch GT 2 will be available at a price of INR 12,990 during the Big Billion Day sale festival on Flipkart

Buyers can also get the Huawei Band 4, an ergonomically designed fitness device at a discounted price of INR 1,799. The stylish and elegant Huawei MediaPad M5 lite 10, 64 GB, will also be available at a discounted price of INR 18,990.

Interested customers can check these enthralling deals on Flipkart starting October 16th to 21st 2020 and enjoy the upcoming festive weeks filled with offers, discounts and gifts.  Flipkart Plus customers will get early access to The Big Billion Days sale deals and offers on October 15, 2020

Huawei Watch GT 2 Smartwatches - Price, Full Specifications ...HUAWEI WATCH GT 2

The Huawei Watch GT2 comes with 2 weeks of battery life after one charge, supports Bluetooth calling, in-device music and capacity to store and play 500 songs. The new Huawei Watch GT-2 will have Super AMOLED display with 3D glass screen.

It is compatible with 15 sports including eight outdoor sports (running, walking, climbing, hiking trail running, cycling, open water, triathlon) and seven indoor sports (walking, running, cycling, swimming pool, free training, elliptical machine, rowing machine). In terms of heart rate monitoring, the user will be notified if heart rate is above 100bpm or below 50bpm for more than 10 minutes. The watch is equipped with Huawei’s proprietary Kirin A1 Chipset to improve on battery life.

HUAWEI WATCH GT 2e, Long Battery Life, Sports Watch | HUAWEI GlobalHUAWEI WATCH GT 2E

The HUAWEI WATCH GT 2e comes with a spectacular design, inspiring an active lifestyle. HUAWEI WATCH GT 2e is powered with a massive battery life of two weeks. The Huawei Watch GT series now has an important health parameter measuring application - the SpO2 feature. With the feature, users can monitor the oxygen levels in blood easily. HUAWEI WATCH GT 2e boasts of a 1.39-inch AMOLED high precision touch display supporting a Retina-grade resolution. The vibrant display assists clear viewing even in strong sunlight during summers.

HUAWEI Band 4, heart rate monitoring, smart wearable | HUAWEI GlobalHUAWEI BAND 4

The Huawei Band 4 features a built-in USB plug that helps to charge the device without requiring a specific cable or charger. The fitness tracker promises upto 9 days of power on a single charge. Unlike other fitness bands available in the market, the band 4 has a 24/7 Continuous Heart Rate Monitor and its scientific sleep mode detector can identify 6 most common sleep-related issues, providing over 200 potential solutions and suggestions, designed to help you sleep better. The Huawei Band 4’s 8 built-in colourful and customizable watch faces make it a unique choice for the consumers.

HUAWEI MEDIAPAD M5 LITE 10

This premium Huawei tablet comes with a ClariVu 5.0 10.1-inch full-HD IPS multi-touch display with 1,920×1,200 pixels resolution. Huawei MediaPad M5 Lite 10 packs inbuilt Harman Kardon quad speakers that offer Omni-directional sound technology. The device has a smooth metallic unibody with a 2.5D curved glass edge which gives it a premium look. It is powered by HiSilicon Kirin 659 Octa-Core processor coupled with GB RAM with 64GB of storage. The internal storage is expandable and can be expanded up to 256GB using a microSD card. It runs on Android 8 and houses a 7,500mAH battery that claims to support 13 hours of video playback and is augmented with HUAWEI QuickCharge technology and comes with a 9V / 2A 18W charger.

Call for Award Applicants: J&J Seeks Female Researchers Working in Science, Tech, Engg, Math, Manu and Design

* The Women in STEM2D (WiSTEM2D) Scholars Award honors female scholars with $150,000 grant and three years of mentorship

* Deadline for applications is Oct. 15, 2020

Johnson & Johnson announced that it is accepting applications for its 2021 Women in STEM2D (WiSTEM2D) Scholars Award, aimed at supporting assistant or associate academic professors in the disciplines of Science, Technology, Engineering, Math, Manufacturing and Design. For three years, each recipient will receive mentorship from leaders at Johnson & Johnson and a total $150,000 ($50,000 each year). The deadline for applications is Oct. 15, 2020 at 9 a.m. HST, and guidelines and additional details are available here: https://www.jnj.com/wistem2d-university-scholars

Launched in June 2017, the Johnson & Johnson WiSTEM2D Scholars Award aspires to fuel development of female STEM2D leaders, and inspire career paths in STEM2D, by supporting the research of the awarded women in their respective STEM2D fields.

Dr. Naama Geva-Zatorsky, one of the 2019 winners of the Johnson & Johnson WiSTEM2D Scholars Award, along with her team of researchers at the Technion - Israel Institute of Technology, have developed what they describe as a simple, efficient COVID-19 testing kit where results can be obtained in less than one hour.

“COVID-19 has impacted global communities in so many different ways – in fact, data shows that it has already disproportionately impacted communities of color and women in varying ways, and without strong action it can impede progress on girls and women of all backgrounds entering STEM fields,” said Cat Oyler, Vice President, Vice President, Strategic Initiatives, Janssen Global Services, LLC and WiSTEM2D University Sponsor. “Now more than ever, we remain committed to helping combat this by fostering and supporting female innovators like Dr. Geva-Zatorsky who will lead STEM2D breakthroughs and help change the trajectory of health for humanity.”

An independent External Advisory Board will select the 2021 winners, each of whom will represent one of the STEM2D disciplines. Last year, more than 500 highly qualified applicants from across the world applied for the award.

In order to apply for the 2021 WiSTEM2D Scholars Award, the applicant must:

Submit a university or school department head letter of recommendation (Each University / Institution can support one applicant per STEM2D discipline; 6 applicants in total).

Write 1,000 words detailing the proposed area of research. One additional page can be added for images, or references.

Submit her resume (three pages, font size 11), including a list of publications, presentations, abstracts, current financial support already obtained, other folio work and two references.

Submit a brief outline of the budget for proposed research.

For more information and to apply for the 2021 Awards, visit: https://www.jnj.com/wistem2d-university-scholars

About Johnson & Johnson WiSTEM2D

Building a diverse STEM2D community is one approach Johnson & Johnson is taking as part of a broader effort to accelerate the development of women leaders and support women at all stages of their life to improve global health and well-being and drive sustainable economic growth. Johnson & Johnson launched the WiSTEM2D (Women in Science, Technology, Math, Manufacturing and Design) program in 2015 to increase the representation of women in science and technical fields. The program’s multifaceted approach is designed to engage females at three pivotal development stages in their lives:

Youth Programs (Ages 5 to 18 years): Johnson & Johnson is partnering with organizations to align curriculum in schools, augment program-based learning and engage Johnson & Johnson employees around the world as mentors to students.

University Talent: Johnson & Johnson is partnering with leading academic institutions to develop high-impact strategies for increasing the number of women enrolling in and graduating with STEM2D programs and degrees. At the graduate level, Johnson & Johnson has implemented to STEM2D Scholars Award to increase the number of women pursuing research in STEM2D fields.

Professionals: Johnson & Johnson is identifying and implementing best practices for attracting and retaining the world’s best technical female talent in STEM2D careers.

About Johnson & Johnson

At Johnson & Johnson, we believe good health is the foundation of vibrant lives, thriving communities and forward progress. That’s why for more than 130 years, we have aimed to keep people well at every age and every stage of life. Today, as the world’s largest and most broadly-based healthcare company, we are committed to using our reach and size for good. We strive to improve access and affordability, create healthier communities, and put a healthy mind, body and environment within reach of everyone, everywhere. We are blending our heart, science and ingenuity to profoundly change the trajectory of health for humanity. Learn more at www.jnj.com. Follow us at @JNJNews.

DST Collaborates with IBM to Build STEM Career Opportunities for Girl Students

 

* The current Vigyan Jyoti Programme in 58 districts will be strengthened and expanded to promote STEM among girls 

* Interactive learning platform ‘Engage With Science’ to be built on top of the

India Science OTT Channel platform to attract school students to consume more science video content from India Science.

The Department of Science & Technology (DST) and IBM India today announced two collaborations, both aimed at promoting STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) learning among students and to inspire them towards STEM careers. The first collaboration involves the DST’s Vigyan Jyoti programme, which aims at creating a level-playing field for meritorious girls from grade 9 to 12 to pursue STEM in their higher education. The second collaboration is with Vigyan Prasar, an autonomous organization of DST, which will build and run ‘Engage With Science’ – a technology-driven interactivity platform, which shall work in tandem with the India Science OTT channel. Engage With Science will aim at creating excitement and involvement among school students through tools like gamification and help increase consumption of science and technology content from India Science and make STEM look aspirational for their future careers.

"It's a historic moment as DST and IBM start a unique Public-Private Partnership model on two different programmes - STEM Learning for Girls and Engage With Science. IBM is one of the companies that bring a positive disruption to the industry. This partnership will leverage technology to reach out to students and give them an experience of interactive learning. The new learning platform will supplement classroom teaching and help students in deriving insights from it and implementing them to solve real-world problems. It will also help address the learning needs of both students and teachers in this post-Covid19 scenario. The programmes will also give an opportunity for rural students to help understand and plan their journey from school to college, do research and build a career of choice in the field of science and technology. We hope to see at least 1/3rd representation of women in the top technology schools of the country 5 years from now and eventually increasing the participation of girl students in our programme to at least 50,000." said Prof Ashutosh Sharma, Secretary, Department of Science & Technology, Govt of India.

The Vigyan Jyoti programme was launched by DST in 2019 to inspire girl students to pursue higher education and career in STEM fields. The program provides a scholarship, visit to nearby scientific institutions, science camps, lectures from eminent women scientists and career counselling.   The program is currently implemented by Jawahar Navodaya Vidalaya (JNV) in 58 districts with participation of about 2900 students.  The partnership with IBM India will strengthen the current activities and expanded to include more schools in future. Furthermore, the women tech experts working at IBM India will also interact and be a role model for inspiring girl students to plan for a career in STEM under the program. This will strengthen the Department of Science and Technology’s initiative to increase the number of women in technology fields.  

Sandip Patel, MD, IBM India/South Asia said, “India leads in providing the world with top-class scientist and engineers, but the percentage of women in that segment is still small. It’s the need of the hour to promote gender diversity in STEM education and to create new avenues for cultivating diverse talent. The collaboration with DST will expand our STEM program to girl students pursuing 10+2 courses. It’s a testimony of IBM’s commitment to putting Good Tech in action and support the government achieve its vision of a Skilled India and Aatmanirbhar Bharat.”

DST and IBM India aim to create a robust STEM ecosystem that nurtures critical thinkers, problem-solvers, and next-generation innovators through Inspire Awards-MANAK (Million Minds Augmenting National Aspirations and Knowledge) – a program targeting to build one million ideas rooted in science from school students. DST and IBM India will work together to further integrate and develop Science & Technology in the education ecosystem with short term courses, workshops, mentoring, and online science content communication for teachers and students in India.

In another collaboration launched alongside, IBM will work with Vigyan Prasar – an autonomous body under the DST to help India’s science popularization agenda through several strategic initiatives, including ‘Engage With Science’.  This is an interactive platform that will be built on top of the India Science Over-The-Top (OTT) platform to encourage and inspire high school students to pursue Science & Technology (S&T) for a career. As part of the collaboration, IBM will run the day-to-day activities of the program, including student workshops, seminars and leverage its expertise to mentor the students. The platform will make students interact, participate and get involved with the sampling and active consumption of S&T content, including Cloud, Big Data, etc. through usage of gamification tools and AI/ML components.

‘Engage With Science’ will actively engage with schools, shoot interactive programmes in the school premises, provide windows of recognition and glorification to select teachers of S&T subjects.  The programmes, when aired on India Science channel, shall, in turn, create a fan following and community creation around teachers and schools.

Hero Motocorp Introduces a 24x7 Road-Side Assistance Program

In keeping with its highly customer-centric approach, Hero MotoCorp, the world’s largest manufacturer of motorcycles and scooters, has introduced a 24x7 Roadside Assistance (RSA) program for its valued-customers.

Hero MotoCorp is constantly engaged in providing superior value to its customers through its products and services. With this latest convenience service, Hero customers will be able to ride across the country without any worries.

The RSA program will provide 24x7 assistance to customers all across India. Customer will be able to easily access the RSA through the toll-free number or through the Hero Customer App.  Customers will get the following benefits from the RSA program -

•            On-call Support

•            Repair on spot

•            Tow to the nearest Hero workshop

•            Fuel Delivery in case of fuel run-out

•            Flat tyre Support

•            Battery Jump Start

•            Accidental Assistance (on demand)

•            Key Retrieval Support

Customer can enroll themselves for the RSA program through their nearest Hero MotoCorp authorized channel-partner at the attractive inaugural price of Rs 350/- for an annual subscription.

On the Company’s premium range of motorcycles - Xtreme 160R, Xtreme 200S & XPulse 200 – the RSA will be complimentary for a period of one-year.  This scheme is effective from October 1, 2020.

Hero MotoCorp is also organizing a Mega Service Carnival for its customers across the country.

This initiative is being organized at authorized Hero customer touch points at more than 6000+ locations across the country till October 10, 2020.

As part of the carnival, customers will get the following benefits 

•            Discount on Service Labour Charges

•            Free washing / Polishing / Nitrogen filling

•            Annual Maintenance Contract Package (Joyride)

•            Attractive Exchange offers upto Rs 3000 on new vehicle purchase

•            Additional points for GoodLife customers

The carnival reaffirms Hero MotoCorp’s commitment to offer a delightful customer experience. Customers can visit their nearest Hero Authorized dealership to know more about the carnival.

COVID-19 Must Not Divert Attention from Climate Crisis’ Impact to Protect a Generation, Says PwC-Save the Children Study

 

●        More than 70% of the respondents across three disaster prone states in India agreed that the temperature in their respective regions had increased over the past five years

●        More than 50% of the respondents reported that extreme weather events like floods, cyclones and erosions had become more hazardous and frequent in the last 10 years

●        More than half the houses in the study areas were observed to be kutcha houses

●        Adaptive strategies to create positive climate action and mainstreaming them in public policy can create a climate resilient future

The growing instances of extreme weather events like floods, cyclones, erosions in disaster prone areas increases the socio economic and psychosocial vulnerabilities of children living in these geographies and threatens their fundamental rights, says PwC India - Save the Children India study on ‘Protect a Generation: Climate security for India’s children’. The COVID-19 pandemic has further increased the risks.

The report, based on a year-long study across three states of Uttarakhand, Madhya Pradesh and West Bengal, covering three different hazard-prone ecosystems – floods, droughts and cyclones, aims to understand the impact of climate change on children, identify risk and mitigation strategies and develop a roadmap for a climate resilient future. To raise awareness and discourse around the impacts of climate change on children, the #RedAlertOnClimate  campaign has also been launched on social media.

Some of the other key findings of the study include:

1.       Three in four households in most districts said that rainfall had decreased

2.       At least 60% of the households said climate crises impacted their economic situation

3.       Up to 90% saw a negative impact of climate crises on drinking water

4.       Up to 75% of the households saw their houses damaged by climate crisis-related events

5.       Up to 14% of the respondents knew at least one family member that migrated because of a climate-related disaster. In some areas, up to 20% of the respondents intended to migrate

6.       Depending on the region, up to 58% of the respondents said that their children faced health issues such as dehydration, skin diseases and allergies due to rising temperatures

7.       In several districts, more than 50% said that children could not play outside due to the heat.

Further, the report also suggests adaptive measures which includes leveraging child welfare schemes, enabling healthcare delivery, climate proofing of infrastructure, using climate smart agriculture , sustainable water management and ensuring child protection during any disaster to create a climate resilient future. Mainstreaming these strategies into existing policy decisions could go a long way in mitigating the impact of climate change on children.

Jaivir Singh, Vice Chairman PwC India Foundation said, “Through this research, we have tried to voice the challenges faced by vulnerable children and have sought to provide a series of practical and feasible strategies that are essential to building resilience in the face of increasingly frequent and complex climate change induced disasters. We hope that this report forms the basis for further evidence generation, informed advocacy and policymaking to create a sustainable change in the lives of children in India and beyond.”

Sudarshan Suchi, CEO, Save the Children said, “The climate and environmental crisis is an intergenerational child rights crisis that threatens children’s survival, learning and protection around the world today and tomorrow with the most marginalised and deprived children at greatest risk. The report highlights the impact of such disasters on marginalised and vulnerable children.”

The study found that vulnerable families and children bear the maximum exposure and brunt of climate crises, which is coupled with poor adaptation strategies and resilience. Families reported children suffered from dehydration, skin diseases and allergies due to rising heat and a lack of drinking water. Children missed out on school as families had to temporarily flee their area after climate related disasters struck and schools were hard to reach. Families also reported a lack of health care in the aftermath of disasters, as hospitals were damaged or hard to reach. 

Climate crises are a reality, the report informed, given an increase in frequency and intensity of hazards -- and this leads to enhanced risk/impact on livelihood, health, nutrition and Child Rights. The report, also aimed at identifying mitigation measures to support families who face the consequences of the changing climate, is a strong call for the implementation of child-focused adaptation strategies to support future generations and the authorities in coping with the impact of the crisis.

Against the background of multiplying vulnerabilities for children in many states of India over the last few years, the report sought to improve their understanding of the direct and indirect impact of climate crises on children, especially in rural India.

A detailed vulnerability, risk and impact assessment was carried out in three states with varying geographies (Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal and Uttarakhand), with the aim of providing insights into hazards, exposure and vulnerabilities of children, adaptation practices of the community and the effectiveness of the mitigation practices employed by various CSOs. The states were selected based on their distinctiveness in terms of the geo-climatic zones as well as exposure and extent to climate hazards. A detailed survey using quantitative and qualitative methods and analysis were conducted to explain the impact of multiple climate change induced insecurities related to livelihood, health, hygiene, nutrition and education, etc., on children.

Children bear the brunt of climate change as it affects their fundamental right to survival, development, protection and participation. They are particularly susceptible to injuries during extreme weather events due to their lack of capacity to understand and respond well to danger. They face emotional distress in the aftermath of climate-related disasters due to high rates of sleep disturbance, loss of life and property, and other psychosocial issues. They are also more susceptible to water- and vector-borne diseases. Further, their education and academic performances get affected due to climate-related disasters. In some cases, indebtedness of households due to poor agricultural productivity has led to children dropping out of schools.

Decrease in groundwater levels has affected the availability of drinking water and dehydration was observed among children. It was also observed that children faced difficulties in availing medical treatment post a climate-related disaster due to inaccessibility of hospitals in some regions. This was in addition to the difficulties they faced in navigating their way to schools. In some poor families, the education of children was a low priority as families migrated out of their villages in search of subsistence livelihoods.

To help communities build up resilience, the report urges authorities and other actors to strengthen childcare and welfare schemes, and train frontline workers such as health professionals and teachers to identify households in distress. Also, the government is asked to roll out apps with health information in disaster prone areas, which should be user-friendly for semi-literate people.

During and after crisis, child-friendly spaces where children can recover and share their experiences, need to be made available, together with children’s collectives in which children can help each other cope. Infrastructure must be adapted to withstand climate impacts, and some areas need to be equipped with early warning systems against rain-induced landslides. Special programmes can help communities to set up or strengthen alternative livelihoods, so communities do not need to move elsewhere to be able to survive.

Climate change is one of the most significant issues affecting not just the lives of children, but also the timely accomplishment of Sustainable Development Goals, as set by the United Nations (UN).

Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas Announces Launch of the Second Cohort of Prarambh, India’s First LegalTech Incubator

 India’s leading law firm, Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas, today announced the launch of the second cohort of India’s first LegalTech incubator – Prarambh. Launched in February 2019 as a part of Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas’ focus on innovation and technology, Prarambh is recognised for supporting the domestic talent in developing quality LegalTech products, and significantly enhancing the interest in adoption of technology amongst the legal fraternity.

Announcing the launch of the Prarambh Cohort 2, Mr. Cyril Shroff, Managing Partner, CAM, said, “Extraordinary times call for great innovations. For businesses, this year is a story to tell, partly because how businesses have realised the need for transformation, especially with respect to use of technology. Riding on this learning is the second innings of Prarambh. The first cohort of Prarambh concluded on a high note and we believe second edition of Prarambh will lay foundation for development of LegalTech solutions for India’s legal sector that is set for a huge technology led transformation.”

Keeping with the times, Prarambh Cohort 2 is designed as a 10-weeks virtual incubation programme, with focus on mentoring existing startups in the LegalTech space, to develop solutions that align with the practical requirements of law firms, corporate legal departments, judiciary and independent practitioners. Hence, the applications are invited from startups that are in the ‘development and/or ready to scale stage’ for the 10-weeks virtual incubation programme. 3-4 high potential startups will be selected basis a comprehensive evaluation process, and they will be mentored by a panel of leading international innovators, industry experts, and lawyers from Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas.

Talking about Firm’s focus on Innovation, Mr. Shroff said, “Innovation is one of the cornerstones of CAM’s foundation and we believe it is key to success in the post-covid world. With remote working emerging as the new normal, it has become integral for legal industry along with other industries to take a step towards technological upgradation and innovation. After implementing methods that use artificial intelligence and machine learning, we are already halfway through and will only go forward from here.”

The focus of this cohort is to build technology-driven business solutions that are relevant for the post-covid world and will improve access to justice, law firm operations, litigation competencies, increase transactional efficiencies, access to government programs and reforms, and enable smooth functioning of remote workforce.

The experts will work closely with the startups in enhancing and testing their products and will also focus on other skills which will help them sharpen their business acumen.

Mr. Rishabh Shroff, Partner, Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas, said, “As we move along in the Covid era, the workplaces are going to be increasingly digitally enabled, involving expanding scope and role of technology. Covid was a wake-up call for many law firms and corporations. With the courts themselves going online, the Indian legal sector is realising the need to embrace technology to improve how law firms and corporate legal teams operate. With our detailed program, vision, and expertise, we hope to mentor these startups to become problem solvers for the Industry. It makes us proud to be leading this revolution to transform the law industry for better.”

Leegality, LegalMind, and JRTC Intern formed a part of Prarambh’ s first cohort that concluded on April 30, 2020. These startups were housed at CAM’s Delhi office.

Talking about Prarambh, Ms. Komal Gupta, Head of Innovation, Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas, said, “Prarambh is a result of a noble vision and intention.  We have spent significant hours in deliberating and planning a detailed incubation programme for entrepreneurs that are working on long term sustainable and impactful ideas. The first cohort received a record 51 applications. We are expecting a similar response in the second cohort with the increase in awareness and encouragement the domestic LegalTech market has received since the launch of Prarambh.”

With the second cohort being virtual, we hope to reach out to a larger number of startups across the country, enable them to perfect their products in the ten weeks at Prarambh and empower them to transform the legal industry. Our Firm has been focused on innovation and is a leader in adopting and implementing technology.  We therefore want to contribute and give back to the fraternity by sharing our learnings and experience.”

Prarambh Cohort 2 Highlights

Applications open: 12 October, 2020

Applications close: 25 October, 2020

Duration of the cohort: 10 weeks 

Eligibility: Startups in the “development and/or ready to scale stage.”

Key Focus Areas:

• Improving Access to Justice

• Increasing Transactional Efficiencies

• Improving Law firm operations

• Improving Litigation Competencies

• Accessing government programs and reforms

• Enabling remote workforce operations

• Other 

Prarambh Cohort I Winners:

• Leegality

• LegalMind

• JRTC Intern

Important Links:  

- CAM Innovation Lab

- FAQs

Zeta Develops an e-Commerce Authentication Platform that Clocks More than 1 Million Transactions Per Second

Zeta, India’s leading banking tech company providing a full-stack, cloud-native, API first platform for banks and fintechs, recently showcased its Access Control Server (ACS) solution - Cipher’s capability to process more than one million transactions per second. The payment processor’s capability is up to 6X higher than the global per second transactions throughput which currently stands at 1,50,000 transactions per second. 

Cipher provides elasticity and scalability at low-cost. It has the ability to successfully process large volumes of transactions as per the demand. Thus, even during high sales periods such as the festive season, banks can confidently expect a significantly higher payment success rate. 

Talking about Cipher and its usage, Murali Nair, President- Banking, Zeta said, “Cipher is a future ready and scalable ACS solution with best in class payment success rates. It is EMV 3DS certified and also equipped to manage high volume transactions. When the customer demand is high especially during festive season sales, banks and e-commerce companies can use Cipher’s platform to seamlessly manage large volumes of transactions with higher speed and lower transaction declines in a cost effective way. This will help the companies to increase their profitability with better user experience for the customers.”

Cipher is a second-factor authentication product that provides a card issuing bank the facility to authenticate and verify the user’s identity while performing online payments. These authentication methods include various mobile friendly features like Swipe2Pay, SuperPin, powerful APIs, SDKs, risk-based authentication as well as the commonly used SMS and email OTP. Cipher is a fully secure ACS solution that is PCI-DSS and PCI-3DS certified.

About Zeta

Zeta® is a leading banking tech company  providing technologically advanced solutions for banks and fintechs. It provides a full-stack, cloud-native API first platform including a digital core and a payment engine for issuance of credit, debit, and prepaid products that enable legacy banks and new-age fintech institutions to launch modern retail and corporate fintech products. Co-founded by Bhavin Turakhia (CEO) and Ramki Gaddipati (CTO), Zeta currently provides its platform and products in India, Asia, Europe, and LATAM. In India, Zeta has entered a strategic partnership with Sodexo to provide employee benefits such as meals and gifts to corporates. Zeta is a SOC 2, ISO 27001, ISO 9008, PCI DSS certified company. Zeta has over 450 employees and clocks over 1 million transactions per day.

Fortis National Mental Health Program and myUpchar Join Hands to Launch “Mind U” - Mental Health Podcast in Hinglish

Fortis National Mental Health Program and myUpchar today announced the launch of India’s first of its kind mental health podcast in Hinglish “Mind U”, where leading experts under the aegis of Dr Samir Parikh, Director-Department of Mental Health and Behavioral Sciences, will take listeners through crucial aspects of psychological well-being in 20 minutes or less.

Fortis Healthcare runs one of the biggest and most comprehensive mental health programmes in the country under the leadership of Dr Parikh, and myUpchar is India’s biggest healthtech startup.

“Mind U” is a first-of-its-kind deep-dive into mental health and wellness in a language that is accessible to most of us in India and to many Indians living abroad: Hinglish. With a refreshing range of topics from clinical disorders like depression, deepdive into parenting and topics related to youth such as social media, relationships and sexualtiy, the podcast has something for everyone.

Fittingly, the first episode of “Mind U” will drop on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Castbox, YouTube, HubHopper, JioSaavn—anywhere you get your podcasts—at 8 am on Saturday, 10 October 2020, World Mental Health Day 2020. (The theme of this year’s World Mental Health Day is “Mental Health for All | Greater Investment Greater Access. Everyone, everywhere.”) Subsequent episodes will drop on Mondays.

“We created ‘Mind U’ with Dr Parikh and a team of experts from Fortis to make mental health topics accessible without watering them down,” said Dr Manuj Garg, co-founder of myUpchar. “myUpchar works a lot in the Hindi and regional content space, and we could find nothing substantial on mental health in these languages. That gap bothered us,” he added.

Along with Dr Parikh, the experts featured in the podcast include Kamna Chhibber, Mimansa Singh, Divya Jain, Aditi Kaul, NishthaNarula, Keshav Sharma and others.

Each episode of “Mind U” unfolds as a conversation where experts answer a series of questions on the topic du jour. And the topics range from parenting 101 to breaking up without breaking down. In each episode, listeners can expect a discussion about things we can all relate to, like navigating social media and maintaining healthy relationships even as our lives become busier and busier. Throughout the series, experts will guide listeners to see the connection between the things we do every day and our mental health.

Take the example of the pilot episode on depression. Many of us think of depression as sadness, as something that doesn’t necessarily touch our own lives. But the fact is that depression is a mental illness that affects one in 20 Indians according to the latest available National Mental Health Survey.

“Indeed, listeners should tune in to this episode for tips on how to recognise the signs of depression in themselves or in a loved one and how to seek help for it. Like the pilot, each subsequent episode of the podcast will serve as a mind-you notice to listeners for positive thinking, building themselves and loved-ones up and seeking help for mental health problems in the same way that they take care of their body”, said Dr Parikh.

SABIC Enables Less Privileged Children to Pursue Education by Addressing Infra Needs & Vision Related Challenges

 

SABIC, a global leader in diversified chemicals has come forward to support children from underprivileged backgrounds through its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) efforts in the areas of Education and Healthcare. These flagship programs aim to provide vision treatment for children unable to pursue education due to vision challenges. The programs have been running successfully across Bengaluru Rural and have positively benefitted more than 50,000 children so far.

SABIC, through a tri-partite partnership with Bengaluru South Rotary Trust and the State Government of Karnataka, runs a program towards upgradation and restoration of government schools. Children in rural areas attend schools, which are in need for upgradation in terms of teaching as well as physical infrastructure. SABIC, South Rotary and State Government are working towards equipping the schools with modern infrastructure - equipped to cater the evolving needs. These efforts have helped in renovating and restoring school infrastructure in communities around SABIC site and attracting children back to the classroom. The program has been implemented in more than 40 villages and 18 schools in Karnataka with more than 3500 children benefiting in 2020 itself.

In addition, SABIC as part of its “They See, They Learn” initiative has also worked towards addressing vision related issues among less privileged children. Vision related challenges often prompt a number of students particularly girls to drop out of schools. SABIC, in partnership with Mission for Vision has been reaching out to the less privileged students across Government schools to conduct regular eye checks and distribute free of cost spectacles to children in need. In addition, the company also directs children to partner eye hospitals in case they require further treatment. Combined with SABIC’s school upgradation & restoration program, it has led to an increase in retention rate in Government schools, leading to more children pursuing education.

Janardhanan Ramanujalu, Vice President & Regional Head, SABIC South Asia & ANZ said, “Our unique tri-partite partnership with Bangalore South Rotary Trust and the State Government of Karnataka aims to benefit less privileged children to help them overcome their challenges and enhance quality of education. We believe children should not be dropping out due to correctible vision deficiencies or school infrastructure.”

Rajeshwer Dongara, Site Head, SABIC Technology Center said, “It is our responsibility to serve the communities we operate in and improve the quality of life. Our CSR programs in Karnataka are designed to help the most important part of our community – our children. Through strategic interventions in education and eye-care, we are trying to encourage children to pursue their education by removing obstacles in their way.” 

The company has invested more Rs. 2.5 Crore to help implement these programs in Karnataka. In recent times, SABIC also extended support to the state Government as well as contributed to the social welfare during COVID 19 pandemic.

Microsoft, Red Hat Announce General Availability of Azure Red Hat OpenShift in India

* Co-engineered with Red Hat, the solution brings industry's leading enterprise Kubernetes platform on Microsoft Azure

* A jointly managed Red Hat OpenShift offering in the public cloud running on the scale and power of Azure

* To support organizations with speed, agility, confidence, scalability and choice of infrastructure with lower IT operations costs

Underlining a mutual commitment to enable true hybrid cloud computing in India, Microsoft and Red Hat today announced the general availability of Azure Red Hat OpenShift in the country. Jointly managed with Red Hat, Azure Red Hat OpenShift brings an enterprise-grade Kubernetes solution built on Red Hat Enterprise Linux - the world’s leading enterprise Linux platform - to Microsoft’s public cloud, Microsoft Azure.

Azure Red Hat OpenShift provides a powerful on-ramp to hybrid cloud computing, enabling IT organizations to use Red Hat OpenShift in their datacenters and more seamlessly extend these workloads to use the power and scale of Azure services. Businesses can expand resources with public cloud infrastructure while maintaining existing on-premises investments.  The two companies are jointly hosting exclusive learning focused webinars and deep dive sessions for IT Pros and developers across the country.

According to Venkatesh Krishnan, Executive Director, Commercial Partners, Microsoft India, “Hybrid cloud technologies are the future of enterprise computing.  Through our collaboration with Red Hat, we provide a production-ready public cloud foundation. This offering reiterates our common goal to provide a powerful, supported and trusted choice for developing and deploying hybrid cloud workloads. It will empower enterprises in India to create a hybrid environment that meets their current as well future business needs -  providing them the much required agility, scalability and efficiency as they rebuild their businesses.”

Neeraj Bhatia, Senior Director, Sales, Red Hat India and SAARC said, “Red Hat and Microsoft have been working together extensively in bringing forth services and co-developed products to customers across the world. Azure Red Hat OpenShift will lean on the strengths of both the parties, enabling customers to expand container innovation, deploy mission-critical apps with greater confidence and more easily manage and orchestrate cloud-native workloads across a hybrid cloud environment.

Azure Red Hat OpenShift is jointly engineered, operated, and supported by Microsoft and Red Hat. Customers will receive an integrated experience, including unified sign-up, on-boarding, service management and technical support. Additionally, Azure Red Hat OpenShift offers:

·         Fully managed clusters with master, infrastructure and application nodes managed by Microsoft and Red Hat without the need of virtual machines .Patching, upgrading, repair, disaster recovery and proactive 24/7 management are all included

·         Regulatory compliance certifications similar to other Azure services

·         Enhanced flexibility to more freely move applications from on-premise environments to the Azure public cloud via the consistent foundation of Red Hat OpenShift.

·         Greater speed to connect to Azure services to leverage other Azure capabilities from the customer's OpenShift cluster

·         Ability to scale on your own terms: Use on-demand pricing, or reserved instances, whichever best meets the need of your workload and business and scale globally.

·         The Microsoft ecosystem of GISV partners:  an ecosystem of ISV partners at a global scale, breaking down cost barriers to enterprise-class solutions.

·         Extended productivity with easier access to Azure public cloud services such as Azure Cosmos DB, Azure Machine Learning and Azure SQL DB for building the next-generation of cloud-native enterprise applications.

Amazon Prime Video to Globally Premiere 9 Highly-Anticipated Movies Across 5 Indian Languages Directly on its Service

Amazon Prime Video today announced a brand new slate of 9 highly-anticipated movies that will premiere directly on the streaming service. Spanning five Indian languages, the diverse line-up features titles such as Coolie No. 1 starring Varun Dhawan (Judwaa 2, Street Dancer 3D) and Sara Ali Khan (Simmba), Chhalaang starring Rajkummar Rao (Trapped, Stree) and Nushrat Bharucha (Sonu Ke Titu Ki Sweety), Durgavati starring Bhumi Pednekar (Shubh Mangal Savdhaan, Toilet: Ek Prem Katha), Bheema Sena Nala Maharaja (Kannada) starring Aravinnd Iyer, Middle Class Melodies (Telugu) starring Anand Devarakonda, Maara (Tamil) starring R Madhavan, and  Manne Number 13 (Kannada) starring Varsha Bollamma (Bigil), Chetan Gandharva (Melody) along with previously announced Zakariya Mohammed’s Halal Love Story (Malayalam)and Suriya starrer Soorarai Pottru (Tamil). The movies will premiere exclusively on Prime Video within 2020 and will be available in more than 200 countries and territories worldwide.

The new slate follows the successful launch of the first wave of direct-to-service premieres of 10 films across 5 languages, which led to Amazon Prime Video expanding its footprint in India with viewership for these movies coming from over 4000 cities and towns, across the country. Viewership titles in languages such Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam received more than 50 percent viewership from customers outside the home states, with customers from Lucknow, Kolkata, Pune and beyond streaming Penguin, Ponmagal Vandhal, Law, French Biriyani, Sufiyum Sujatayum, CU Soon V and Nishabdham. The movies were also streamed and enjoyed by TV audiences in 180 countries and territories, allowing Indian filmmakers to reach a wider audience through Prime Video’s global presence. Hindi titles Gulabo Sitabo & Shakuntala Devi emerged as the two most watched movies since the launch of Prime Video in India. Gulabo Sitabo and Shakuntala Devi were also the most watched Hindi movie on Prime Video globally!

“Gripping content transcends geographical boundaries. The audience are always on the look-out for great entertainment, and good content will always find an audience. The resounding success of our first wave of direct-to-service movie premieres is a testament to that. This further reinforces our commitment to offering our customers a selection of riveting movies, cinematically produced, across a wide range of genres and languages,” Vijay Subramaniam, Director and Head, Content, Amazon Prime Video, India, said, “Our previous direct-to-service launches were watched in over 180 countries. We are buoyed by the tremendous response we received and are excited to up the ante with another 9 eagerly-awaited direct-to-service premieres, spanning 5 languages, to entertain our customers through this festive season.”

“The disruptive, pioneering format of Direct to Digital movie premieres has, in many ways, been a game changer in the way films are watched in India. Amazon Prime Video is playing a key role of not only expanding the reach & viewership of these films across the country, but also providing global customers across 200+ countries and territories access to world-class films originating from India”, said Gaurav Gandhi, Director and Country General Manager, Amazon Prime Video India. “The fact that more than 50 percent of viewership of our Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam Direct to Digital titles came from outside of the respective home states is representative of how digital distribution can expand the audience for great content. We are super excited to present our new slate and are confident that it will delight our customers in India and around the world”

Amazon Prime Video’s direct-to-service slate:

Halal Love Story (Malayalam), which is scheduled to premiere on 15th October on Amazon Prime Video

Halal Love Story is an upcoming Malayalam comedy film directed by Zakariya Mohammed and stars Indrajith Sukumaran, Joju George, Sharaf U Dheen, Grace Antony and Soubin Shahir in lead roles along with Parvathy Thiruvothu.

Bheema Sena Nalamaharaja (Kannada), which is scheduled to premiere on 29th of October on Amazon Prime Video

Bheema is an upcoming Kannada family entertainer directed by Karthik Saragur. The movie stars Aravinnd Iyer, Aarohi Narayan, Priyanka Thimmesh, Achyuth Kumar and Aadya in leading roles

Soorarai Pottru (Tamil), which is scheduled to premiere on 30th of October on Amazon Prime Video

Soorarai Pottru is an upcoming Tamil language Action/Drama film directed by Sudha Kongara, Staring Suriya in the lead with Aparna Balamurali, Paresh Rawal and Mohan Babu in pivotal roles. The film is produced by Suriya’s 2D Entertainment and Co-Produced by Guneet Monga’s Sikhya Entertainment. This film is a fictionalised version of the book “Simply Fly” written on the life of Air Deccan founder Capt. G. R. Gopinath.

Chhalaang (Hindi), which is scheduled to premiere on 13th of November on Amazon Prime Video

Chhalaang is an inspirational social comedy starring Rajkummar Rao, Nushratt Baruchaa and directed by Hansal Mehta. It is presented by Bhushan Kumar and produced by Ajay Devgn, Luv Ranjan and Ankur Garg.

Manne Number 13 (Kannada), which is scheduled to premiere on 19th of November on Amazon Prime Video

Maane Number 13 is an upcoming horror thriller directed by Vivy Kathiresan. Produced by Krishna Chaitanya’s Sri Swarnalatha Productions, the film stars Varsha Bollamma, Aiswarya Gowda, Praveen Prem, Chetan Gandharva, Ramana and Sanjeiv.

Middle Class Melodies (Telugu), which is scheduled to premiere on 20th of November on Amazon Prime Video

Starring Anand Deverakonda and Varsha Bollamma, Middle class melodies is a humour packed whimsical tale depicting the congenial lives of the middle class in the village where a young man dreams of owning a hotel in a town. The film is directed by Vinod Anantoju.

Durgavati (Hindi), which is scheduled to premiere on 11th of December on Amazon Prime Video

Directed by Ashok and starring Bhumi Pednekar, Durgavati is a thrilling, scary ride that tells the story of an innocent Government officer who is made the victim of a major conspiracy involving powerful forces. The film is presented by T-Series and Cape of Good Films and is an Abundantia Entertainment production.

Maara (Tamil), which is scheduled to premiere on 17th of December on Amazon Prime Video

Maara is an upcoming Tamil language romantic drama film directed by Dhilip Kumar. Produced by Prateek Chakravorty and Shruti Nallappa of Pramod Films. The film stars Madhavan and Shraddha Srinath in lead roles.

Coolie No. 1 (Hindi), which is scheduled to premiere on 25th of December on Amazon Prime Video

Coolie No. 1 is a family comedy based on the popular franchise from Pooja Entertainment and is directed by the king of comedy David Dhawan. The film stars Varun Dhawan, Sara Ali Khan, Paresh Rawal, Javed Jaffrey, Johnny Lever, Rajpal Yadav amongst others and is produced by Vashu Bhagnani, Jackky Bhagnani and Deepshikha Deshmukh.

The new releases will join the thousands of TV shows and movies from Hollywood and Bollywood in the Prime Video catalog. These include Indian films Gulabo Sitabo, Shakuntala Devi, Ponmagal Vandhal, LAW, French Biriyani, Sufiyum Sujatayum, C U Soon, V, and Penguin along with Indian-produced Amazon Original series like Bandish Bandits, Breathe: Into The Shadows, Paatal Lok, The Forgotten Army – Azaadi Ke Liye, Four More Shots Please S1 and 2, The Family Man, Mirzapur, Inside Edge S1, and S2, and Made In Heaven and the award-winning and critically acclaimed global Amazon Original series like Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan, The Boys, Hunters, Fleabag, and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. All this is available at no extra cost for Amazon Prime members. The service includes titles in Hindi, Marathi, Gujarati, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, Punjabi, and Bengali.

Prime members will be able to watch these new releases anywhere and anytime on the Prime Video app for smart TVs, mobile devices, Fire TV, Fire TV stick, Fire tablets, Apple TV, etc. In the Prime Video app, Prime members can download episodes on their mobile devices and tablets and watch anywhere offline at no additional cost.

Prime Video is available in India to Prime members for just ₹999 annually or ₹129 monthly, new customers can find out more at www.amazon.in/prime and subscribe to a free 30-day trial.

Tata Motors Rolls Out the 3,00,000th Tiago from its Sanand Plant

Tata Motors, India’s leading automotive brand, today rolled out the 3,00,000th Tiago from its Sanand facility in Gujarat. Launched in 2016, the Tata Tiago has been lauded in most quarters for its groundbreaking design, technology and driving dynamics. It was the first product under the IMPACT design philosophy and brought to the market a host of segment first features at the time of it launch.

Adding to its laurels, the Tiago is not only Tata Motors’ most awarded car but it also became the highest selling hatchback in the country in August 2018. Earlier this year, the Company launched the BS6 version of the car as a part of Tata Motors’ New Forever range, which also became the recipient of the 4-star adult safety rating, awarded by the Global NCAP, adding another feather to its cap. Equipped with best in class safety features such as Dual Air Bags, Anti-lock Braking System (ABS) with Corner Stability Control (CSC) & Electronic Brakeforce Distribution, Rear Parking Assist and much more as standard across variants, the Tiago is undoubtedly the safest car in its segment.

The Tiago 2020 sports a more confident, mature design while being young, premium and fun. Available in both manual and AMT options, it comes fitted with the company’s all new Revotron 1.2 Litre BS6 petrol engine.

For more details, please visit https://cars.tatamotors.com/cars/tiago.

About Tata Motors

Tata Motors Limited (BSE: TATAMOTORS), a USD 45 billion organisation, is a leading global automobile manufacturer of cars, utility vehicles, buses, trucks and defence vehicles. Part of the USD 100 billion Tata group, Tata Motors is India’s largest and the only OEM offering extensive range of integrated, smart and e-mobility solutions. Tata Motors has operations in the UK, South Korea, Thailand, South Africa, and Indonesia through a strong global network of 109 subsidiary and associate companies, including Jaguar Land Rover in the UK and Tata Daewoo in South Korea.

With a focus on engineering and tech enabled automotive solutions catering to the future of mobility, Tata Motors is India’s market leader in commercial vehicles and amongst the top four in the passenger vehicles market. With ‘Connecting Aspirations’ at the core of its brand promise, the company’s innovation efforts are focused to develop pioneering technologies that are sustainable as well as suited to evolving aspirations of the market and the customers. Tata Motors strives to bring new products that fire the imagination of GenNext customers, fueled by state of the art design and R&D centers located in India, the UK, Italy and Korea. Internationally, Tata commercial and passenger vehicles are marketed in countries, spread across Europe, Africa, the Middle East, South Asia, South East Asia, South America, Australia, CIS, and Russia.

All New CRETA Records Landmark Bookings of Over 1,15,000 from May-Sep 2020

* All New CRETA continues to be the Brand of Choice for Indian customers topping sales charts in the SUV segment from May September 2020

* 60 % customers opt for Diesel powered variants of All New CRETA

* Hyundai records strong Market Share of 26 % in SUV Segment for CY Jan ~ Sept 2020

* Achieved a sales milestone of over 5 20 000 units since its launch in 2015

Hyundai Motor India Ltd. (HMIL), country’s First Smart Mobility Solutions provider and largest exporter since inception, today announced Landmark Bookings of over 1 15 000 for The Ultimate SUV - All New CRETA, showcasing customer’s love for Brand Hyundai SUVs. 

Commenting on the milestone, Mr. Tarun Garg, Director - Sales, Marketing & Service, Hyundai Motor India Ltd., said, “It is indeed a moment of pride for Hyundai as All New CRETA has emerged as the customer’s Brand of Choice when considering SUVs. The overwhelming response reiterates trust and love of the Indian customers in the CRETA brand name. Reaffirming a legacy of leadership in the SUV segment, Hyundai CRETA has set another benchmark in the industry with over 5 20 000 sales mark since its launch in 2015. Through our strong customer centric products, Hyundai continues to drive delight and convenience, ensuring a happy life for our customers.”

He further added, “Owing to the blockbuster success of our super performing brands, Hyundai’s passenger vehicle market share in Jan ~ Sept 2020 stood at 17.6 %. Further, All New CRETA recorded sale of 12 325 units in September 2020, continuing to top sales charts in its segment.” 

The demand for All New CRETA has witnessed phenomenal response since its launch in March 2020, propelling Hyundai’s Market Share in the SUV segment to 26 % in CY Jan ~ Sept 2020. The contribution of Diesel in the All New CRETA continues to soar at 60 % since its launch. All New CRETA is also the most researched model on India’s First and Most Comprehensive End-to-end Car Buying Platform ‘Click to Buy’ with over 1 100 bookings. The Blue Link enabled variants of All New CRETA also received remarkable response with over 25 000 customers opting for connected SUVs.  

The All New CRETA also offers a thrilling drive, powered by Hyundai’s new 1.4 l Kappa Turbo GDi Petrol (BS6) engine with 7DCT (Dual Clutch Transmission) that is gaining immense popularity among buyers. All New CRETA gives customers complete peace of mind with WONDER Warranty Options - 3 Years/unlimited kms or 4 years/60 000 kms or 5 years/50 000 kms.