Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham Will Hold Global Conference On Cybersecurity - ShaktiCon From April 9, 2021

* In the run-up to the event, a 36-hour, women-only Capture the Flag (CTF) contest would be held from April 3-5, 2021 

The focus of the Conference is fixing the gender gap in cybersecurity and showcase the next generation of offensive and defensive security technologies 

More than 3,000 women hackers from India and around the world are expected to attend Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham’s three-day global conference on cybersecurity called ShaktiCon that begins on April 9, 2021. In the run-up to the event, a 36-hour, women-only Capture the Flag (CTF) contest would be held from April 3-5, 2021, in which contestants will face challenges from the fields of cryptography, reversing, forensics, Pwn and web exploitation.  

ShaktiCon is a completely free global conference focused on inspiring, training, and upskilling women in the field of cybersecurity. It offers training programmes to nurture women talent in the field, a global cyber-security conference with talks and panel discussions by leading women professionals in cyber-security, and a women-only CTF hacking contest to showcase talent and win prizes and scholarships. The event is organized by Team Shakti, India's first and top-ranked women-only CTF team of Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham. 

The pre-conference global cybersecurity contest held in December 2020 attracted more than 1,500 women hackers with 828 teams from five continents. The participants, which have now grown to more than 3,000 women, received free access to premium learning platforms such as TryHackMe and PentesterLabs, practice challenges and training videos. They will be attending the upcoming ShaktiCon conference and participating in the CTF hacking contest.  

Said Prof. Vipin Pavithran, Assistant Professor, Amrita Center for Cybersecurity Systems & Networks, Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, who is the organizer of ShaktiCon: “Cybersecurity is considered a masculine domain and most women don’t see it as a viable career path. The cybersecurity industry needs more women, and alsohas to open up for them. Demand is outstripping supply in this field. In the next five years, the number of jobs in cybersecurity will triple. Over 3.5 million new cybersecurity jobs would be created in 2021 alone. Despite this, women comprise only 20% of the total workforce in cybersecurity, and only 1% of them are in top leadership positions. The future of the cybersecurity industry depends on its ability to attract, retain and promote women, who represent a skilled and under-tapped resource.” 

He added: “The focus of our annual conference ShaktiCon is advancing the leadership and professional development of women in the field of cybersecurity and showcase the next generation of offensive and defensive security technologies. ShaktiCon offers a platform for female researchers and hackers from around the world to close the skills gap with men and help fix the gender gap in cybersecurity.” 

The keynote address at the ShaktiCon would be delivered by Rinki Sethi, VP and Chief Information Security Officer at Twitter Inc., followed by talks and training by eminent women cybersecurity experts such as Sung Lee from VMware, Sanju Misra from Linde, Mina Sheikhalishahi from Eindhoven University of Technology, Allison Marie Naaktgeboren from Portland State University, Bhavna Soman from Microsoft and SreepriyaChalakkal from Siemens. 

Team Shakti is India's first and only women CTF team consisting of budding young female minds who want to make a difference in the field of cyber-security and fix the gender gap. The team participates in “Capture The Flag” competitions and provides training to school and university students, conducts CTFs, develops cybersecurity tools and participates in bug bounties. “Team Shakti has become one of the leading women-only CTF teams in India within just two years” said Prof. Vipin Pavithran, the founder and mentor of Team Shakti. The Club, based at the varsity’s Amritapuri campus, is run by the students themselves with the help of research scholars, alumni, and faculty members. 

About Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham 

Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham is a multi-campus, multidisciplinary Institution of Eminence accredited by NAAC and ranked the 4th Best Overall University in India in the 2020 National Institution Ranking Framework (NIRF). The university is currently spread across six campuses in three states of India—Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Karnataka—with the institution’s headquarters at Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu. Amrita partners with academic, industry, and governmental institutions across the world to accomplish human-centered, translational, and groundbreaking research. To date, Amrita has more than 500 collaborations from more than 200 signed Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs). Some of Amrita’s partners include Harvard University, Columbia University, King’s College London, KTH - Royal Institute of Technology, VU Amsterdam, the British Geological Society, University of Oxford, Italian National Research Council, Deakin University and the University of Tokyo. Sri Mata Amritanandamayi Devi (Amma) is the founder and Chancellor of Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham. A world-renowned humanitarian leader, Amma is the guiding light of Amrita. Amma’s words, thoughts, and vision for education and research have shaped the university’s mission and vision. 

Apollo LogiSolutions Signs Partnership With Indigo Airlines, StaTwig For India’s First Vaccine Platform Solution

* Collaborates with supply chain’s major players for transparency and better tracking and tracing of Covid-19 vaccines 

The platform is expected to bring vial level visibility on track and trace, chain of custody management and temperature continuity  

Apollo LogiSolutions (ALS), an Integrated Logistics solutions provider, has announced that it is collaborating with leading players across technology, cold chain warehousing, pharmaceutical, healthcare, airline and airport sectors for its new ‘integrated vaccine delivery platform’. Apollo LogiSolutions aims to enhance the current Covid-19 vaccine distribution model in India with its new solution and has already onboarded UNICEF backed blockchain technology firm StaTwig for technology capabilities; Coldman, Kool Solutions and other major companies for effective cold chain warehousing of 70,000+ pallet capacity at 10 locations in India and GMR-Hyderabad airport and Indigo airlines for air transportation.  

IndiGo, India’s leading airline is amongst fastest growing low-cost carriers in the world which has been playing a pivotal role in India’s inoculation drive by transporting vaccines within the country. By collaborating with IndiGo, Apollo LogiSolutions plans to bolster its initiative of contributing towards world's largest vaccination drive. 

Apollo LogiSolutions’ ‘integrated vaccine platform solution’ is designed to address the end-to-end supply-chain related challenges and bring more transparency and effective tracking for effective Covid-19 vaccine distribution in the country. 

Announcing the new solution, Raaja Kanwar, Vice chairman and Managing Director, Apollo LogiSolutions said, “It’s a proud moment for everyone at Apollo LogiSolutions to have been able to build a solution that will help India in its mission to immunize its people against Covid-19. We have already partnered with some of the most trusted names in the industry and will continue to add more to make the platform more robust as part of our commitment in creating an effective end-to-end distribution platform for the Covid-19 vaccine.” 

He added, “As India grows, the logistics segment will need to scale, adapt and transform itself to the needs of businesses and consumers. Apollo LogiSolutions is aggressively working towards introducing innovative technologies, tools and operational excellence to streamline the fragmented sector, make it future ready and drive better efficiency.” 

Sid Chakravarthy, founder of StaTwig mentioned that “India manufacturers 60% of global vaccines by volume. With this integrated solution that ensures quality and safety of the vaccines both in domestic and international supply chains, we can make Indian vaccines market much more resilient and sustainable.” 

In addition to the current partners, Apollo LogiSolutions is also engaging with major players in the healthcare and pharma sector alongside various local and central government authorities and ministries to get them on-board.  

About Apollo LogiSolutions 

Apollo LogiSolutions as one of India’s leading end-to-end, logistics service provider. The company has Pan India presence with services across transportation, warehousing and distribution. The company controls a warehousing space of 1.5 mn sqft at 30 locations, a fleet of 600+ vehicles and owns dry port and CFSs at key container ports in India. 

Aegon Life Introduces Work From Anywhere (WFA) Policy For All Its Employees

* Extending the benefit of working from a safe and comfortable environment 

Aegon Life, India’s leading digital life insurance company, is leaning in to the new normal by introducing a “Work from Anywhere (WFA)” policy effective April 2021. With the introduction of this practice, all Aegon Life employees will have the flexibility and convenience to work from anywhere in India and contribute to organisational growth.  

Sunita Rath, Chief People Officer at Aegon Life shares, “We have always held the belief that people are our key assets and emphasized the need for the right practices that can empower our people. The WFA policy that we have introduced upholds this belief.”  

She further adds, “We have constantly redefined the sector in which we operate, right from being the pioneers of online term plans in India, to becoming the leading digital-only life insurance company in the country. We are not only the first life insurance company but are amongst the first organisations in the country to formally adopt a fully WFA work policy. Needless to say, we will still have our office space to enable employees to meet, brainstorm, connect and collaborate. With WFA as our new normal, we will adopt other suitable digital tools and solutions to engender a culture of agile policies and proactive support.” 

This holistic and well-thought-out approach to work is designed to protect people interests and provide necessary leverage to achieve organisational goals. Salient features of this practice include: 

Flexibility: Work from home, or from any location within India, on an ongoing basis, irrespective of the location of work mentioned in the terms of employment. 

Introduction of core working hours: To help strike an optimal work-life balance, we have brought in the concept of core working hours. All managers and teams are encouraged to plan e-meetings and con-calls at specific times during the day to ensure that hours outside of these timeslots are used to balance their family and work commitments.  

Introduction of a ‘No Meetings Day’: The second Wednesday of every month has been designated as ‘No Meetings Day’, with no prescheduled calls and meetings. This will enable uninterrupted work and focus on projects. 

Support to enable WFA / Home Office: A one-time reimbursement for setting up one’s home-office. Further, necessary technology will be made available to all employees to enable a seamless and secure working environment.  

Focus on emotional well-being: Recognising the challenges that one can face while working from home, employees have been requested “not to be apologetic” for inevitable disturbances (of being at home) during official meetings/calls. Further, regular online wellness sessions are organised to support mental and emotional well-being. 

About Aegon Life :  Aegon Life, India’s leading digital life insurance company, was the first life insurance company to launch Online Term Insurance Plans in India. By focusing on innovative digital-first solutions, its vision is to enable customers to lead tension free lives and be the most recommended new age Life Insurance Company. The company’s Direct to Customer focus establishes a direct dialogue with the customers enabling  greater clarity and transparency. Being the online protection specialists, Aegon Life has a dedicated customer service team that is geared to provide superior customer experience.  

Paytm Achieves Over 1.4 Billion Transactions In March, Leads Digital Payments With Wallet, UPI, Cards & Net-Banking Services

 

- Establishes itself as the largest enabler of digital payments in the country with over 20 million merchants on its platform, aims at 50 million merchants over the next few years

- Maintains the highest market share in offline merchant payments with 15% M-o-M growth recording the most number of transactions among all digital payment platforms

- Leads offline payments as more retail stores adopt IoT based payment devices such as All-in-One QR, All-in-One POS and Android Smart POS

- Planned deployment of over 5 million IoT based payment devices for the benefit of merchants in smaller cities & towns

India's leading digital financial services platform Paytm today announced that it has achieved over 1.4 billion monthly transactions in March, led by the massive growth in offline payments and financial services. With over 20 million merchant partners on board, the company maintains the highest market share in offline payments and continues to register 15% M-o-M growth. It is the only platform in the country that promotes all digital payments services including Paytm Wallet, UPI, Paytm Postpaid, cards & net-banking. Paytm is aiming to enable 50 million merchants with IoT-based payment devices including All-in-One QR, All-in-One POS, Android Smart POS, and Soundbox over the next few years.

Paytm which is on a mission to empower businesses with digital payments & reconciliation services continues to lead with the highest market share in offline merchant payments with 15% M-o-M growth. It is aiming to equip 5 million businesses with Paytm Soundbox 2.0, Paytm All-in-One EDC devices as well as its newly launched innovative Paytm Smart POS for Android phones that transforms a smartphone into a device that accepts debit & credit card payments just like a normal card swiping machine.

The company empowers users with multiple services including Paytm Payments Bank, Paytm Payments Gateway, Paytm Payout, Paytm Money for democratizing wealth creation, Paytm Insurance, Paytm Postpaid, Paytm Credit Cards as well as utility bill payments, offline merchant payments, content & gaming services.

Narendra Yadav, Vice President Paytm said, "Paytm is the only company that provides the widest range of options to both merchants and customers which has helped us to achieve over 1.4 billion monthly transactions. Consumers can pay from Paytm wallet, UPI, Paytm postpaid, credit or debit cards, and bank accounts. Similarly, merchants can accept payments into their wallet or in any bank account. Paytm has the widest network of merchants in the country with over 20 million merchants partners. We want to serve all spectrum of merchants, from street vendors to large retailers as we continue our efforts to enable them with IoT-based digital payments services. " 

Amit Chadha Takes Charge As CEO & MD Of L&T Technology Services

Amit Chadha has taken over as CEO & Managing Director of L&T Technology Services (NSE: LTTS) effective April 1, in line with previous disclosures made to stock exchanges dated October 19, 2020. Prior to his elevation, he was serving the company as Deputy CEO & Whole-Time Board Member. 

Amit joined LTTS in 2009 and has been a core member of LTTS’ executive management team, closely involved in the company’s listing on stock exchanges in 2016. Subsequently, he progressed to assume charge as President, Sales and Business Development, where he was responsible for helping global R&D customers and Fortune 500 companies leverage LTTS’ digital engineering offerings for their strategic differentiation and product development.

On his appointment, Amit commented, “The ER&D services sector is poised to play a critical role over the next decade as confluence of engineering and technology reshapes the products and services of the near-future. Against this backdrop, the multi-vertical engineering expertise that LTTS has demonstrated makes it stand apart as a leader in pure-play ER&D services. I see it as a big responsibility to lead the pack of over 16,000 bright and committed LTTSites. I am confident that together we will make the company reach newer heights and milestones.”    

Amit’s overall career spans over two decades in core engineering & information technology outsourcing. He has managed P&L for multiple business units, spearheaded organization-wide strategic initiatives and led business development and relationship management activities worldwide.

Amit is an electrical & electronics engineer who has done his Global Business Leadership Executive Program with Harvard Business Publishing. He has also done an Advanced Management Program in Business Leadership from INSEAD, France. Amit is currently based in Washington DC.

About L&T Technology Services Ltd

L&T Technology Services Limited (LTTS) is a listed subsidiary of Larsen & Toubro Limited focused on Engineering and R&D (ER&D) services. We offer consultancy, design, development and testing services across the product and process development life cycle. Our customer base includes 69 Fortune 500 companies and 53 of the world’s top ER&D companies, across industrial products, medical devices, transportation, telecom & hi-tech, and the process industries. Headquartered in India, we have over 16,000 employees spread across 17 global design centers, 28 global sales offices and 62 innovation labs as of December 31, 2020. 

HCL To Modernize And Transform “Tenneco’s Technology Landscape”

HCL Technologies (HCL), a leading global technology company, today announced an agreement with Tenneco Inc. (NYSE: TEN), a leading Fortune 500 global tier-1 automotive supplier and manufacturer, for a multi-year, integrated application development, modernization, and operations services contract. As part of this engagement, HCL will help Tenneco enhance their IT simplification, modernization and transformation journey while helping to reduce technical complexities and support the global IT application portfolio. 

Tenneco has strategically worked to consolidate its global IT Service vendors to improve user experience by creating a more agile and nimble IT support organization that works on reducing technical costs and IT complexities. 

HCL Technologies’ application modernization approach will be part of the initial acceleration of Tenneco’s application rationalization and modernization initiative. HCL will use its FENIX 2.0 offering, an industry-aligned execution framework that helps organizations reprogram their enterprise architecture and build a roadmap for initiatives for digital transformation objectives. To further transform Tenneco’s operations, HCL will bring in automation through DRYiCE, a suite of organic automation and AI-based transformation products and platforms.  

“We are delighted to have the opportunity to work so closely with Tenneco as it embarks on this strategic journey of transforming its IT landscape,” said Ajay Bahl, EVP, HCL Technologies. “This deal is a great endorsement of HCL’s next-generation application services and ability to drive major transformations. We look forward to providing value to this relationship, driving critical technology transformation and helping Tenneco realize business success.” 

About HCL Technologies  

HCL Technologies (HCL) empowers global enterprises with technology for the next decade, today. HCL’s Mode 1- 2-3 strategy, based on its deep-domain industry expertise, customer-centricity and entrepreneurial culture of Ideapreneurship™, enables businesses to transform into next-gen enterprises. HCL offers its services and products through three business units: IT and Business Services (ITBS), Engineering and R&D Services (ERS) and Products & Platforms (P&P). ITBS enables global enterprises to transform their businesses through offerings in the areas of applications, infrastructure, digital process operations and next generational digital transformation solutions. ERS offers engineering services and solutions in all aspects of product development and platform engineering. P&P provides modernized software products to global clients for their technology and industry specific requirements. Through its cutting-edge co-innovation labs, global delivery capabilities and broad global network, HCL delivers holistic services in various industry verticals, categorized as Financial Services, Manufacturing, Technology & Services, Telecom & Media, Retail & CPG, Life Sciences & Healthcare and Public Services. As a leading global technology company, HCL takes pride in its diversity, social responsibility, sustainability and education initiatives. For the 12 months ended December 31, 2020 HCL had consolidated revenue of US$ 10.02 billion. Its 159,682 ideapreneurs operate out of 50 countries. 

QNET To Sponsor CHAIROS Hockey Cup To Support A Good Cause

 -Sponsored by QNET 

-Organised by CCC Association, under the aegis of Hockey Karnataka  

-Proceeds of sponsorship will be donated to Cheshire Homes India, Bengaluru 

QNET Ltd., the leading e-commerce enabled direct selling company is all set to sponsor the CHAIROS Hockey Cup, organised by Coorg Challengers Chickpet Association, Bengaluru under the aegis of Hockey Karnataka. This is the 5th edition of the super blazing, high speed 5-A-Side hockey tournament. The spectacular event will be held from 2nd to 4th April at FM Cariappa Hockey Arena turf ground, Shanthi Nagar, Bangalore. Dr. AB Subbaiah, Olympian, Arjun Awardee and current Secretary, Hockey India, will be inaugurating the tournament that brings together 23 of the best state level teams from Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu. This hockey tournament will be a big boost for upcoming sportsmen from these states and to propagate India’s national sport. 

The teams will include an array of world-class players who have represented India at global hockey tournaments and many of them have been a part of the world’s biggest sporting stage, the Olympics. The icons from yesteryear like VR Raghunath (Double Olympian and Arjun Awardee), Nikkin Thimmaiah (Olympian and Asia cup winner), Arjun Halappa (Olympian and World cupper), Bharath Chethri (Olympian and Dhyan Chand Awardee), Vikram Kanth (Asia cup winner), and other great players like Nithin Thimmaia, MG Poonacha, Pradan Somanna, Md Rafeel, MB Aiyappa, BJ Cariappa, KD Ganapathy, KM Somanna, KK Santhosh, MB Somaiah,  will be playing at the hockey turf in this tournament. 

An exhibition match will be played before the finals on April 4th comprising of players who are sports icons from yesteryear and ex-Olympians, such as, Dhanraj Pillay, Jude Philix, C S Poonacha, Anil Aldrin, Sabu Varghese, Ravi Naiker, Sandeep Somesh, Bharath Chethri and KK Poonacha.  

While several people associate ‘Coorg’ as a tourist hotspot, most of us do not know that this small hill station is also a cradle for hockey game in India. Comprising of 14 families with 40 individuals, Coorg Challengers Chickpet Association holds the vision to support and promote hockey. Courtesy, the key sponsor QNET, India, the proceeds generated from the tournament will be donated to Cheshire Homes India, Bangalore. 

Considering Covid precautions, all teams will follow strict protocols for safety and sanitization and will be PCR tested. Social distancing norms will also be strictly implemented to ensure safety of those who attend the games as spectators.  

The winner will be awarded the 'CHAIROS Hockey Cup' by QNET.   

About QNET 

QNET is one of Asia's leading e-commerce enabled direct selling companies offering a wide range of health, wellness, and lifestyle products. QNET's business model pivoting upon technology and e-commerce has helped empower millions of entrepreneurs in more than 100 countries worldwide. 

QNET is headquartered in Hong Kong and has a presence in more than 25 countries around the world through subsidiaries, branch offices, agency partnerships, and franchisees. 

QNET is a member of the Direct Selling Association in several countries, as well as the Hong Kong Health Food Association and the Health Supplements Industry Association of Singapore, among others. In India, QNET operates through its sub-franchisee Vihaan Direct Selling (India) Pvt Ltd and is a member of the Health Foods and Dietary Supplements Association (HADSA), ASSOCHAM, and CII. 

QNET is also active in sports sponsorships around the world. Some of the more prominent partnerships include being the Direct Selling Partner of Manchester City Football Club and the African Club League Championships of CAF.  

Honda Sells Total Of 411,037 Units During March’21 Across India

Building on the demand momentum despite renewed COVID challenges, Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India Pvt. Ltd. closed March 2021 on a positive note.

Honda’s domestic sales in the month of March grew from 245,716 units last year to 395,037 units in March’21. With 16,000 units exported during the month, Honda total sales (domestic + export) closed at 411,037 units in the month.

Overall, Honda closed FY2020-21 (April’20 to March’21) with total sales of 4,073,182 two-wheelers. This includes domestic sales of 3,865,872 units and exports of 207,310 units.

Honda 2Wheelers India closed Q4 of FY’2020-21 with 31% growth, contributing the maximum - that is nearly every 3rd incremental two-wheeler sold in India.

Giving an overview of fiscal year 2020-21, Mr. Yadvinder Singh Guleria, Director – Sales & Marketing, Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India Pvt. Ltd. said,

“FY’2020-21 was a year of Unprecedented Uncertainties. Honda resiliently overcame challenges from lockdowns to unlocks; while continuing to create many new firsts. India became the epicentre of Honda’s 2 global unveils (H’ness CB 350, CB350 RS) and followed this with the scintillating Indian debut of CB500X & CB 650R. Noteworthy, that leading the recovery as Highest Growth driver of two-wheeler industry in Q4, 2021 has started on an optimistic note for Honda.”

Key Highlights in FY2020-2021:

Silver Wing à Honda’s Premium Motorcycle Business

-   5 model launches in mid-size motorcycle segment: Honda 2Wheelers India rose to the world map with the global unveils of all-new H’ness CB350 and CB350 RS. Parallely, Honda’s mid-size ambitions were further beefed up with the Indian debut of CB500X, CB650R in addition to the 2021 CBR 650R.

-   3 model launches in 1000cc+ segments further amplified the GoRiding! Spirit across super-sports (CBR1000RR-R Fireblade and Fireblade SP) and adventure (2021 Africa Twin Adventure Sports).

-   Supporting this line-up availability, the differentiated Silver Wings expanded from its first Gurgaon showroom ending FY’20 to 50+ BigWing touchpoints ending March 31st, 2021, across both BigWing Topline (for entire premium motorcycle range from 300cc to 1800cc) and BigWing (exclusively for mid-size motorcycle segment) retail formats.

Honda’s Red Wing business across scooters & motorcycles

-   In the domestic lineup, Honda made a big splash in the 180-200cc segment with the successful introduction of Hornet 2.0.

-   Parallely, Honda’s BS-VI line-up became more robust across segments with the introduction of Grazia 125 BS-VI in automatic scooters and 3 BS-VI motorcycle upgrades (CD 110 Dream, Livo BS-VI, X-Blade)

-   Creating special joy for Honda fans were 4 Limited editions – Repsol Honda editions of Hornet 2.0 & Dio, the 20th Anniversary edition of Activa 6G and the 125cc Sports edition of Grazia.

Business & Sales Milestone

-   ‘Activa’ rewrote history as the 1st scooter brand in India to reach 2.5 crore customers’ mark in just 20 years!

-   Parallely, Honda’s 125cc motorcycle Shine crossed the 90 Lac cumulative customers’ mark in December.

-   In premium motorcycle business, H’ness CB350 touched 10,000 sales mark in just 3 months.

-   Across regions, brand Honda scaled new heights of trust and acceptability. Honda’s cumulative sales crossed the momentous 1.5 crore customers’ milestone in Southern region, breached 70 lac in North India and crossed the 35 lac sales milestone in Uttar Pradesh.

Strategic Leadership Change

-   Strategically stewarding the brand leadership, Mr. Atsushi Ogata assumed responsibility as the new President, CEO & Managing Director of Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India Pvt. Ltd.

Motorsports DNA of Honda:

-   2021 Dakar Rally saw Honda’s factory team Monster Energy Honda Team triumph with the first 1-2 victory since 1987 fuelled by riders Kevin Benavides and Ricky Brabec finish 1st and 2nd. 

-  Beginning with its first world grand prix race in 1961, Honda achieved the unprecedented 800th FIM World Championship Grand Prix victory.

-    On domestic front, ENEOS Honda Erula Racing Team completed 2020 Indian National Motorcycle Racing Championship (PS 165cc) with 10 podiums including 3 victories.

Corporate Social Responsibility

-   Honda India Foundation pledged Rs. 11 crore aid for Covid-19 providing high-pressure backpack sprayers, ambulances for medical emergencies among other arrangements.

Honda educates nearly 40 lac people on Road Safety

-   Honda digital road safety initiative ‘Honda Road Safety E-Gurukul’ launched in May’20 successfully sensitized over 3 lac individuals in the new Normal.

-   Spreading road safety education with focus on learner licence applicants and traffic rule violators, Honda inaugurated 3 new Safety Education Driving Centers (SDEC) in Guwahati, Vizag and Bengaluru.

News Aggregation App ‘News That Matters’ With Multiple Keyword-Based Searches From 1000 Curated News Sites Launched

* Free Platinum services for one year for registrations before 22nd April 2021

News That Matters, an android exclusive news aggregation app, providing multiple keyword news searches aggregated from nearly 1000 curated online websites was launched today. The app addresses a key challenge that online news consumers face in being unable to create multiple keywords alerts in a single platform. The keywords alerts can be edited on-the-go, and an unlimited number of keywords and news are available for Platinum subscribers. The app is available free-to-download on Google Playstore, and the Platinum subscription is being offered free for one year for all downloads till 22nd April, 2021.

Deepak Rai, Product Lead, News That Matters, said, “The app is aimed at increasing news consumption for the young generation from curated and authentic sources as a counter to generic search engine results which yield results from all sources, authentic or not. News That Matters is verifies genuine online news sites before these are made a part of its search list. By redirecting the user to the online news websites, the app will help content creators to garner more user traffic also.”

News consumers have constantly changing needs in the type of news they consume, and the speed of news updates can be critical in many cases. ‘News That Matters’ focuses on such critical needs of the news consumers empowering them to choose the news they consumer. Subscribers can change their keywords at will and news updating frequency is up to 30 times a day. Apart from the specific news consumer, there are eighteen sector-based news also covered, making this app invaluable to journalists, newsmakers, corporate communications, research, organizations, public relations agencies, and others who need to keep up with sector trends.

“Further, news consumption patterns are extremely personal, and a research by the company shows that that only specific news types are of interest at any given time. News consumption patterns change depending on changes in personal interests, happenings in the world, interest in personalities or companies, events, etc.  While new technologies are changing the way news is consumed, they have remained static when it comes to user needs and interests providing them with only the news they choose, without cluttering them with other unwanted content”, Rai added.

Hero Motocorp Sells 5.77 Lakh Units Of Two-Wheelers In March 2021

Capping off the FY’21 on a positive note, Hero MotoCorp Ltd., the world's largest two-wheeler manufacturer sold 576,957 units of motorcycles and scooters in March 2021, registering a growth of 72% over the corresponding month in the previous year. The company had sold 334,647 units in March 2020.

In March last year, sales were adversely impacted due to the impending transition to BSVI from April 2020, in addition to the nationwide lockdown towards the latter half of the month due to coronavirus pandemic.

Significantly, the Company registered its highest-ever sales in Global Business (GB) in a single month by clocking 32,617 units in the month of March, a growth of 82% over the corresponding month in 2020 when it had sold 17,962 units in its global markets.

Mr. Sanjay Bhan, Head – Global Business, Hero MotoCorp said, “Hero MotoCorp’s global business has been gaining traction and we are optimistic of maintaining the healthy growth trajectory across geographies in the coming months. The recovery in consumer demand and efficient collaboration with our global distributors has enabled us to achieve these numbers. While the coronavirus pandemic continues to impact the global auto industry, we are witnessing strong preference for the wide range of motorcycles and scooters – including the premium motorcycles Xpulse and Hunk 160R - across markets, especially in Latin America.”

In FY’21, the auto industry witnessed significant disruptions triggered by the Coronavirus pandemic, restricting customer movement. Despite these challenges, Hero MotoCorp sold 57,91,539 units of two-wheelers in the fiscal year (April 2020-March 2021).

Mr. Naveen Chauhan, Head – Sales and After-Sales, Hero MotoCorp said, “The financial year 2020-21 for us has been a period of sharp revival and setting new milestones, despite the backdrop of a significant downturn in the automotive market. During the fiscal, we surpassed the monumental milestone of 100 million units in cumulative sales since our inception. We are currently offering the broadest-ever range of scooters and motorcycles, each with its own distinctive personality that resonates with our customers. In keeping with our vision to ‘Be the Future of Mobility’, Hero MotoCorp will be launching a host of new motorcycles and scooters over the next five years.”

Nissan India And ExxonMobil Join Hands To Supply Lubricants For The Passenger Vehicles Business

* The new range of engine oils is suitable for India’s latest BS-VI standards and is compatible with older generation BS-III or BS-IV Nissan models

* All-new range of engine oils from ExxonMobil enables Nissan vehicles to achieve optimal performance reliability and potential fuel economy benefits

ExxonMobil Lubricants Pvt. Ltd. today announced that it has signed an agreement with Nissan Motor India to supply lubricants for the passenger vehicles (PV) aftermarket business.

Commencing in April 2021, ExxonMobil will supply an extensive range of engine oils to Nissan India that is suitable for India’s BS-VI standards, while remaining compatible with older generation BS-III or BS-IV Nissan passenger vehicles. This partnership provides Nissan car owners access to advanced lubricant technology that meets the latest specifications for optimal performance reliability and potential fuel economy benefits.

Speaking on the development, Deepankar Banerjee, CEO, ExxonMobil Lubricants Pvt. Ltd., says, “We are delighted to be Nissan’s trusted partner to provide the latest lubricant technology that helps protect Nissan engines and allows them to run more efficiently. We are honored to be working closely with Nissan’s team to optimize the latest range of engine oils for their specific design needs and offer an excellent experience to their customers. This partnership adds to our continuous efforts to provide consumers with technologically superior and advanced formulated lubricants for their vehicles to keep them performing at their best.”

“We are pleased to be partnering with ExxonMobil, as both companies have core strength areas in their respective fields. This collaboration reiterates our commitment of providing the most advanced technologies to our discerning Indian customers. At Nissan our emphasis has always been to provide customer delight, fill unmet needs, bring innovative technologies for a better future and mutually grow business. The partnership with ExxonMobil is a major step in our effort towards this journey,” says Rakesh Srivastava, MD, Nissan Motor India.

The all-new range of engine oils – Nissan Genuine Parts Motor Oil SAE 0W-20, 5W-30, 10W-30, 10W-40 – includes synthetic and semi-synthetic PV products that were developed by ExxonMobil’s global research and development center through trials and tests to deliver optimum engine performance in different conditions.

Made with ExxonMobil’s proprietary formulation, the latest range of engine oils meets the latest International Lubricant Standardization and Approval Committee (ILSAC) and American Petroleum Institute (API) standards, and also comes with features such as emissions system compatibility, oxidation stability, deposit control along with sludge and varnish protection, engine durability, wear protection for idle-stop and low-speed pre ignition minimization. The co-developed engine oils will be available through the Nissan service network for all variants of Nissan models.

About ExxonMobil in India

ExxonMobil’s downstream business engages in the distribution, sales and marketing of Mobil branded lubricants and specialties. The chemicals business provides market development support, analytical and reporting services. It also conducts chemical product application support services and product testing support at its technology center in Bengaluru. The upstream business provides consulting and LNG market development support services for other ExxonMobil upstream affiliates. The Global Business Center/Technical Center provides a range of support services for ExxonMobil’s operations around the globe. ExxonMobil contributes to programs in India that support education, health and the community. 

About Nissan Motor India Pvt. Ltd.

Nissan Motor India Private Ltd. (NMIPL) is a 100 percent subsidiary of Nissan Motor Co. Ltd. Japan. The company was incorporated in 2005 and offers innovative and exciting products across the hatchback, MUV, SUV and sedan segments in India. Nissan together with its global alliance partner Renault set up a manufacturing plant and a Research & Development Centre near Chennai. Nissan in India has a portfolio of two brands, Nissan and Datsun. 

VMware Cloud Accelerates App Modernization Through Modular, Multi-Cloud Services

For more than 20 years, VMware has powered essential business applications around the world. More than 300,000 organizations have built and run more than 85 million workloads on VMware, and more than five million developers build apps on VMware technology. VMware, Incs helping customers unlock the power of multi-cloud and deliver modern applications at the speed of business with the unveiling of VMware Cloud.

VMware Cloud is a distributed, multi-cloud platform that enables organizations to accelerate application modernization across the data center, edge, and any cloud. It provides distinctive advantages to both developers and IT operators who are often forced to make tradeoffs. VMware Cloud boosts developer productivity by enabling them to build and deploy to any cloud. The platform enables IT to modernize infrastructure and operations with better economics and less risk. With the launch of VMware Cloud, VMware is announcing new offerings that bring a more integrated experience to customers. These offerings include:

VMware Cloud Universal: a flexible subscription that simplifies the purchase and consumption of VMware multi-cloud infrastructure and management services.

VMware Cloud Console: a single monitoring and management environment for VMware Cloud infrastructure regardless of where it’s deployed.

VMware App Navigator: a new offering for assessing and prioritizing app transformation initiatives across an entire application estate based on the value of each app.

“We are on the cusp of the next evolution of cloud and apps. Architectures are becoming distributed and increasingly multi-cloud, while modern applications will soon outnumber traditional apps. The challenge for any CIO is to take advantage of this new innovation without introducing more complexity and risk,” said Raghu Raghuram, chief operating officer, products and cloud services, VMware. “VMware Cloud is the only cloud solution today that customers can use in the datacenter and on any cloud, accelerating their modernization journey with speed, simplicity, and better security. With VMware Cloud Universal, customers make a single purchase and gain the ability to deploy apps across any environment, then move them as business or application requirements change.”

Modular, Multi-Cloud Services for All Applications, Everywhere

Application initiatives are driving better business outcomes, an elevated customer experience, innovative digital services, and the anywhere workforce. Organizations surveyed by VMware report that 90% of app initiatives are focused on modernization(1), and 80% today deploy applications in a distributed model across data center, cloud, and edge(2).

VMware Cloud is the platform for both on-premises and cloud with unified security and operations; supporting traditional and modern applications; connecting to all native cloud services; and meeting the requirements of both developers and IT operators. With VMware Cloud, customers gain the simplicity of a single cloud operating model for their multi-cloud reality, and gain portability to help minimize to help address the challenges of single cloud silos. VMware Cloud customers can realize substantive benefits including as much as 80% better developer productivity with VMware Tanzu Application Service (3), 59% lower operational costs(4), and 46% faster cloud migration(5).

Marketing Technology News: Diving into Early Stage Accelerator Programs and their Growth in the Marketplace

With VMware Cloud, customers can deploy apps to VMware Cloud Foundation running in Amazon Web Services (AWS), Azure, Google Cloud, IBM Cloud, and Oracle Cloud; on VMware Cloud on Dell EMC; and across hundreds of VMware Cloud Verified partners. VMware Marketplace provides customers access to thousands of validated third party and open-source developer solutions. VMware Cloud customers can also deploy and operate across native public clouds, and give developers access to all native cloud services.

“Fiserv helped small businesses access the funding they needed to continue operating through the Paycheck Protection Program,” said Keith Fulton, senior vice president and CIO, Account Processing at Fiserv. “Upon the launch of the program we quickly deployed a portal to enable thousands of our financial institution clients to accept PPP applications, and as requirements evolved, we built new capabilities that helped banks assess risk levels for tens of thousands of applicants and deliver application confirmation in a matter of seconds. Utilizing VMware Cloud and with just 15 developers working on the Paycheck Protection solutions, we created more than 100,000 lines of code, using CI/CD pipelines, to deliver 436 releases to production in just 28 calendar days.”

Emirates SkyCargo Becomes First Airline Cargo Carrier To Transport Over 50 Million Doses Of COVID-19 Vaccines

In the run up to World Health Day (7 April), Emirates SkyCargo has become the first airline cargo carrier in the world to have transported more than 50 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines on its flights. The carrier has also transported more than 100 tonnes of syringes across the world to support the delivery of vaccines.

Since the start of international distribution late last year, Emirates SkyCargo has transported over 220 tonnes of COVID-19 vaccines, equivalent to more than 50 million doses, on more than 150 flights from manufacturing locations to 50 destinations on its network through Dubai. Overall, the carrier has transported six different kinds of COVD-19 vaccines.

Nabil Sultan, Emirates Divisional Senior Vice President, Cargo, said: “Emirates SkyCargo is proud to have reached the 50 million COVID-19 vaccine delivery milestone just ahead of World Health Day. As a socially responsible global air cargo carrier, our actions over the last year have always been directed at helping communities across the world, and especially those in developing nations, recover from the devastating impact of the pandemic. We have been leading the global air cargo industry’s efforts and working with our partner organisations in Dubai to rapidly distribute COVID-19 vaccines through Dubai to the rest of the world.”

Emirates SkyCargo has remained agile and dynamic throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, responding quickly to maintain international connectivity for essential goods across the world. The carrier was one of the first in the world to deploy passenger aircraft for cargo only flights in order to transport PPE, medical equipment, pharmaceuticals and food. Over one year, Emirates SkyCargo had operated more than 27,800 flights and transported over 100,000 tonnes of essential commodities.

As early as October 2020, Emirates SkyCargo set up an EU GDP certified dedicated airside hub for distribution of COVID-19 vaccines at its hub in Dubai. With its sophisticated infrastructure and extensive storage capacity, Emirates SkyCargo positioned itself to fly in large quantities of COVID-19 vaccines from manufacturing locations, store the vaccines in Dubai and then regularly replenish vaccine supplies to developing nations with limited cold chain infrastructure through its cargo flights.

In January 2021, Emirates SkyCargo joined hands with leading Dubai-based entities, DP World, International Humanitarian City and Dubai Airports to form the Dubai Vaccine Logistics Alliance to harness the strategic strengths of Dubai as a major global distribution hub for COVID-19 vaccines. In February 2021, Emirates SkyCargo signed an MoU with UNICEF to prioritise transportation of COVID-19 vaccines in support of the COVAX facility which is aimed at equitable global distribution of vaccines.

With its fleet of modern and efficient all wide-body aircraft and a network that currently spans more than 130 destinations across six continents, combined with the strategic geographic location of its state of the art GDP certified Dubai hub, Emirates SkyCargo is a key global player in the secure and rapid global distribution of COVID-19 vaccines.

Clovia Brings Online Shopping Experience Closer To Offline​​ Through Whatsapp And App Based Bra-Bot - The Online Bra Sales Assistant

Clovia, India’s leading brand for women’s innerwear, loungewear, and personal care has recently introduced Bra-Bot - an online AI-based chatbot to help you buy the right innerwear and other categories. This is part of Clovia’s continued effort to bring its online shopping experience closer to assisted offline retail experience and provide its customers technology-driven help for making the right purchase decisions in the product category which boasts of high customer engagement.

Clovia has been one of the key Branded players in the Indian direct-to-consumer space which has been scaling profitably on the back of extensive use of technology in all its business areas. The artificial intelligence-based conversational platform for assisting customers is another step in the same direction. The platform is accessible to customers not only through its site or app, but also through direct engagement via Whatsapp. 

The intent is to bring the customer to as close to an offline retail environment, scalably and in the privacy of their phones. Clovia’s customer engagement on social platforms has been extremely strong through the years. The bra-bot as it’s internally called by the team is capable of understanding the customer’s needs, and point him/her to the correct product while advising on the sizing using Clovia’s proprietary CloviaCurve ™Fit Test. This leads to a frictionless purchase experience while ensuring the customer is not blocked by surges in call traffics or site footfalls.  

The bot can handle a host of issues from helping to make a purchase, to updating you on your orders & delivery status or pointing you to policies, FAQs, or sizing suggestions. The response to the Bra-Bot has been exceptional with almost 2L customers engaging with it within 30 days of launch. The Bot is currently handling over 35% of customer queries automatically and the rest being seamlessly passed to a support executive. “The customers have shown a strong inclination to interact over Whatsapp more than they would like to call - a phenomena which is fast becoming a norm for the millennials. More importantly, the excitement of adoption of the tool from Tier 2/3 Towns is way stronger than the Tier1,” as per Clovia Founder and CEO Pankaj Vermani. The next phase of the bra-bot will see the bot speaking/suggesting differently to individual customers based on their past purchase and browsing patterns leading to a lot more targeted experience at an individual level.

About Clovia:

Clovia is India’s leading direct-to-consumer innerwear and loungewear brand focused on addressing key pain points for millennial women. The company sells 1 unit every 5 seconds on the back of a tech-driven lean supply chain and strong brand positioning. The company over time successfully extended into multiple women's lifestyle categories like activewear, shapewear, maternity, and personal care products. The brand was launched by industry veterans Pankaj Vermani, Neha Kant, and  Suman Chowdhury in 2015. Clovia sells through multiple channels including its exclusive online store www.clovia.com,  Android & iOS Apps, all major online marketplaces, a network of its exclusive retail stores across India, and also through most of the premium large formats in the country. Almost 60% of Clovia business comes through its owned channels, having served over 2Mn customers on the same. At Clovia highly skilled designers and fashion experts create exquisite, playful, and designer products, keeping up with the international designs and styles. Sophisticated, sharp, and suave, contrasted with flirty, fun, and bold prints, Clovia wants to redefine the Indian lingerie market and help customers choose beyond standard cuts, shapes, and colours. The company's proprietary technology stack ensures it has one of the most efficient supply chains in the country. Clovia is backed by Ivy Cap Ventures, Zurich-based Mountain Partners AG, and Singapore-based AT Capital.

Meitra Hospital Collaborates With MGM Healthcare For Their Multi-Organ Transplant Programme

Meitra Hospital has collaborated with Chennai-based MGM Healthcare to set up comprehensive Heart and Lung as well as Liver Transplant Programs. Mr. Faizal E Kottikollon, Chairman, Meitra Hospital and Dr. KR Balakrishnan, Director at Institute of Heart & Lung Transplant& Mechanical Circulatory Support at MGM Healthcare and Dr. Thiagarajan  Srinivasan, Director, Institute of Liver Diseases, Transplant & HPB Surgery, MGM Healthcare signed the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). Dr. Ali Faizal (Director, Meitra Hospital), and Mr. Harish Manian (CEO, MGM Healthcare) were present at the MoU Signing ceremonies.

Through the Heart and Lung Transplant Program, Meitra Hospital aims to advance its reputed Centre of Excellence for Heart and Vascular Care by offering heart and lung transplants, mechanical circulatory support devices for failing hearts and single lung retrieval and transplant. The transplant programme will be led by an expert team that does the highest number of heart and lung transplants in Asia. 

Dr. K R Balakrishnan has performed more than 375 heart and lung transplants and is credited with performing many first-of-its-kind heart surgeries in India. Dr. Thiagarajan Srinivasan has a personal experience of more than 1,700 liver transplants and a cumulative experience of more than 3,500 liver transplants.

The Liver Transplant Programme, under its Centre of Excellence for Gastro Sciences, will deliver advanced liver transplant services through a multi-disciplinary transplantation team that comprises of dedicated transplant surgeons, gastroenterologists, anaesthetists, intensivists, perfusionists, technicians and nurses.

“This is the next big step in Meitra’sjourney as a quaternary care provider. We are glad to have entered into this partnership with MGM Healthcare for heart, lung & liver transplant surgeries. Dr. K.R Balakrishnan and Dr. Thiagarajan are world renowned transplant surgeons, and it is our privilege to be associated with them for this multi-organ transplantation programme. We are certain that this initiative will help in transforming the healthcare scenario of the region,” said Mr. Faizal E. Kottikollon, Chairman, Meitra Hospital.  

“Our clinical team at MGM Healthcare will be working closely with the clinical team at Meitra Hospital to establish the heart and lung transplant and heart failure management programmes. Medical technology and treatment protocols have greatly evolved over the past few years. Ensuring that patients get the best that medical science has to offer is our primary goal.”, said Dr KR Balakrishnan, Director at Institute of Heart & Lung Transplant & Mechanical Circulatory Support at MGM Healthcare.

Meitra Hospital, a 220-bed quaternary care provider, based in Kozhikode, is already a preferred centre for live and deceased donour renal transplants as well as bone marrow transplants in the region. Through this initiative, it seeks to strengthen its position as a preferred international destination for multi-organ transplants. 

Cure.fit To Sponsor COVID-19 Vaccines For Employees And Trainers

In response to the global pandemic that is still going on, Cure.fit – India’s leading health and fitness platform – will be sponsoring COVID-19 vaccinations for all its employees and trainers.

As soon as the availability of the COVID vaccine is announced, Cure.fit will start deploying them to its entire network. This initiative will be extended to all employees across the country as many are still working from home. Trainers, whose roles are primarily customer-facing, will also be offered vaccines. The company aims to have everyone under this initiative vaccinated in two months.

With the nationwide vaccination drive already underway and many large firms gearing up to facilitate and cover vaccination costs for its employees, this move is especially important for Cure.fit. Given that the company functions in a contact-intensive industry and with offline Cult gyms having opened up across India, this step will help ensure the safety of all its employees against exposure to the COVID-19 virus.

Commenting on this, Sachin Kotangale, Leadership Team, Cure.fit, said: “The health and well-being of our teams is of paramount importance to us, more so because we operate in a contact-heavy customer-facing industry. Our employees have given us a lot in the last year despite facing difficult circumstances. We have tried our best to support everyone since the beginning of the pandemic and will continue to do so. With this decision to provide vaccinations to all our employees, we will continue to offer assistance wherever possible and remain committed to the health and well-being of the entire Cure.fit team.”

About Cure.fit

Cure.fit Healthcare Pvt Ltd is a holistic integrated healthcare platform headquartered in Bangalore. Founded in 2016 by Mukesh Bansal and Ankit Nagori, Cure.fit aims to address preventive healthcare through a combination of engagement, coaching and delivery using a mix of online and offline channels. Cure.fit caters to living a healthy life through its critical dimensions — physical fitness & wellness. Cult.fit, the fitness category, focuses on physical strength through several offline group workout centres & gyms, across top cities in India. Cure.fit is an app-based service provider and is available on Android and iOS.

Lam Research Earns Intel’s 2020 Supplier Continuous Quality Improvement (SCQI) Award

* Lam Research is one of only seven SCQI Award recipients in all of Intel’s global supply chain

Lam Research is proud to announce that it has earned the exclusive Supplier Continuous Quality Improvement (SCQI) Award with distinguished performance in supplier diversity for 2020. This award recognizes the absolute top performers in the Intel supply chain for their dedication to continuous improvement and their performance over the past year.

“Congratulations to Lam Research on receiving Intel’s highest supplier recognition, the SCQI Award. As one of only seven in this elite group in 2020, they truly define world-class performance,” said Dr. Randhir Thakur, chief supply chain officer at Intel. “During a uniquely challenging year, they have earned the Intel SCQI program’s top award through their unwavering commitment to quality, operational excellence, and their close partnership with Intel to accelerate our innovation roadmap.”

The Intel SCQI Award recognizes the highest level of achievement in the Intel SCQI Program, a multiyear road map for continuous improvement for high-performing Intel suppliers. Of the thousands of Intel suppliers around the world, only a few hundred qualify to participate in the SCQI Program.

In 2020, only seven suppliers in the entire Intel supply chain earned an Intel SCQI Award, making them truly the best of the best.

To qualify for an Intel SCQI Award, suppliers must exceed the highest expectations, meet aggressive performance goals and score 95 percent or higher on performance assessments throughout the year. Suppliers must also meet 90 percent or more of their improvement plan and demonstrate outstanding quality and business systems.

About Lam Research

Lam Research Corporation is a global supplier of innovative wafer fabrication equipment and services to the semiconductor industry. As a trusted, collaborative partner to the world’s leading semiconductor companies, we combine superior systems engineering capability, technology leadership, and unwavering commitment to customer success to accelerate innovation through enhanced device performance. In fact, today, nearly every advanced chip is built with Lam technology. Lam Research (Nasdaq: LRCX) is a FORTUNE 500® company headquartered in Fremont, Calif., with operations around the globe. Learn more at www.lamresearch.com (LRCX-P)

Caution Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

Statements made in this press release that are not of historical fact are forward-looking statements and are subject to the safe harbor provisions created by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements relate to but are not limited to: the performance of the tools we sell or service; the results that our customers can achieve when using our tools; the requirements of our customers for future innovation and the ability of our tools to meet the customers’ future requirements; and the learning that we may obtain from our installed base. These statements are based on current expectations and are subject to risks, uncertainties, and changes in condition, significance, value and effect including those risks and uncertainties that are described in the documents filed or furnished by us with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including specifically the Risk Factors described in our annual report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended June 28, 2020 and quarterly report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 27, 2020. These uncertainties and changes could materially affect the forward-looking statements and cause actual results to vary from expectations in a material way. The Company undertakes no obligation to update the information or statements made in this release.

YZF-R15 Version 3.0 Set To Adorn Indian Roads In Metallic Red Colour

 
In continuation with its brand direction, ‘The Call of the Blue’, India Yamaha Motor Pvt. Ltd. today announced another exciting update on the existing range of YZF-R15 Version 3.0. The Super Sports model will now be available in the all new enigmatic ‘Metallic Red’ color from April 1st in India. Adorning the “R series” DNA combined with the elegant Metallic Red look, YZF-R15 Version 3.0 is all set to add a new benchmark with the latest edition that translates the passion of motorcycle racing with excellent performance into stylish appearance creating an everlasting sporty impression. The Metallic Red color edition of YZF-R15 Version 3.0. is priced at Rs. 1,52,100, Ex-showroom Delhi.

Amalgamated with brand’s racing DNA of Exciting, Stylish and Sporty motorcycles, the YZF-R15 Version 3.0 in ‘Metallic Red’ will retain the standard features and specifications of the model which offers a 155 cc, liquid-cooled, 4-stroke, SOHC, 4-valve, fuel-injected engine that uses innovative technologies like Variable Valve Actuation (VVA) and Assist & Slipper (A&S) Clutch. The model is also equipped with a Side Stand Engine Cut-off Switch which prevents engine ignition till the side stand is withdrawn & ensures convenience to riders. All the models in Yamaha Line-up are now available with an in-built Side Stand Engine Cut-off Switch feature.

The BS VI enabled YZF-R15 Version 3.0 is available in 3 existing colours – Racing Blue, Thunder Grey and Darknight. Yamaha will continue to carry forward the rich legacy of the Super Sports Model - YZF-R15 Version 3.0 with such exciting upgradations, thereby enriching the overall experience of the racing enthusiasts in India. 

Creditas Solutions Unveils India’s First Holistic Digital Collections And Recoveries Platform – Ethera

* Ethera is a quantum leap in technology that helps lenders recover loans sans human intervention

Creditas Solutions, India’s leading financial technology company for delinquency management, has announced the launch of Ethera. Ethera is India’s first and only holistic digital debt collections and recoveries platform for banks and financial institutions.

The platform combines predictive and prescriptive analytics, state of the art Machine Learning algorithms and decision intelligence based marketing strategies that resolve problems traditionally faced by banks in the area of delinquency management. It offers a sophisticated customer resolution process for lenders by combining delinquency detection, financial literacy, debt collection and recovery services – all without any human intervention.

Ethera collects data from multiple sources, cleanses it, and further enriches it to understand the borrower’s financial behaviour and segments them basis their credit profiles. It then intelligently creates personalized communication campaigns for each segment by calibrating for optimal content, time, channel, frequency, and preferred language. The result – radically improves engagement rates with customers. Further, all major Indian vernacular languages are supported by the Ethera platform.

For lenders, Ethera holds the promise of new-age technology that cannot only drive up NPA resolution rates but also reduce burdens, such as complex logistics of managing field and customer service agents, manual management of multiple portfolios, and data management.

Speaking at the launch, Anshuman Panwar, Co-founder of Creditas Solutions, Given the inefficiency inherent in traditional manual collections, Creditas has developed Ethera - a fully-integrated platform for automated collections by banks. This is in line with our vision to transform the financial sector in India by deploying new-age solutions that enhance delinquency management capabilities for lenders while at the same time helping borrowers re-enter the credit mainstream in a transparent and humane fashion. The best part is that Ethera has been designed specifically to comply with the banking rules and regulations in the country and is an extremely cost-effective and scalable solution for all financial institutions”

About Creditas Solutions Pvt Ltd

Creditas is India's leading Technology Company in the field of Delinquency Management. Established 6 years ago, Creditas works with Marquee Financial Institutions such as HDFC Bank, SBI Cards, Axis Bank and HSBC to digitally empower their delinquent customer engagement. Its AI-driven solutions have helped lenders improve recovery rates significantly while simultaneously improving the brand experience and customer loyalty.

Tata Motors Registered Domestic Sales Of 182,824 Units In Q4 FY21; Grows By 21% Over Q3 FY21, 94% Over Q4 FY20

Tata Motors Limited today announced its sales in the domestic & international market, for Q4 FY21, which stood at 191,720 vehicles, compared to 101,420 units during Q4 FY20. 

Domestic Sales Performance:

Domestic - Commercial Vehicles:

Mr. Girish Wagh, President, Commercial Vehicles Business Unit, Tata Motors Ltd. said, “Commercial Vehicle domestic sale in Q4 FY21 at 98,966 units was 20% higher than the previous quarter, continuing its sequential growth. It was also higher by 59% over Q4 FY20. M&HCVs and ILCVs continued to lead the recovery growing by 48% and 34% respectively over the previous quarter on back of improved consumer sentiments, firming freight rates and higher infrastructure demand including road construction and mining.  International business grew by 19% over Q3 FY21 and 25% over Q4 FY20, as the key markets started returning to normalcy. We continue to monitor and work on the supply chain to improve availability, especially of electronic components. We are also reviewing our business continuity plans in view of the rising cases of COVID-19 in the country.”

Total MHCVs sale in Q4 FY21 including M&HCV Truck, Buses and International Business stood at 32,419 units compared to 21,295 units in Q4-FY20.

Domestic - Passenger Vehicles:

Mr. Shailesh Chandra, President, Passenger Vehicles Business Unit, Tata Motors Ltd. said, “The PV industry witnessed a strong growth in Q4FY21 on a low base with robust demand for personal mobility and new launches driving demand. Tata Motors PV Business posted its highest ever sales in 9-years, in March 21 and Q4 FY21. In FY21 the business registered its highest ever annual sales in 8 years, while posting a growth of 69% versus FY20. The company’s “New Forever” product range, including the new Tata Safari, continues to witness strong acceptance in the market. In the EV segment, the company sold 4,219 units in FY21, a threefold increase over FY20. The company also registered its highest ever monthly and quarterly sales of 705 EVs and 1,711 EVs in March 21 and Q4 FY21. Nexon EV, the highest sold EV in the country, crossed the milestone of 4,000 units, since its launch in January 2020.”

Groom With Ease From Head To Toe With Philips Multi-Groomer Series MG5000 And MG3000 In Male Grooming Category

* All new MG3000 series - MG3721/77 and MG3747/15 priced at INR 1,795 and 1,895 respectively.

* MG5000 series- MG5730/15 and MG5740/15 priced at INR 2,895 and 2,995 respectively

Royal Philips (NYSE: PHG, AEX: PHIA), a global leader in health technology, today launched its new range of Multi-groomers i.e., MG5000 & MG3000 series, thereby entering the mid-range segments with strong affordable propositions for the first time in this category. The new series in each segment offers maximum versatility to consumers, making it easy for them to style their hair, face, and body.

With increasing number of consumers taking control of their grooming regime into their own hands, the multi groomers assist and facilitate for a well-groomed body, from head to toe. They make it extremely easy for consumers to get their perfect look whether it’s that salon like haircut, an evenly trimmed beard, or a properly groomed body. The MG3000 series is a 9-in-1 grooming kit for Face, Hair and body and comes with impact resistant combs, and self-sharpening, skin-friendly blades for the perfect trim. The MG5000 series is their flagship 12-in-1 multi-groomer for face, hair and body, offering Dual Cut technology for maximum precision with 2x more blades, precision shaver to perfect the edges of cheeks, chin and neck and a detail metal trimmer to define the edges of the beard.

“Our biggest strength at Philips is our deep connection with the consumer. We carefully listen, empathize and attempt to solve consumer challenges through our innovations. Over the past year, we observed more and more consumers attempting to groom themselves at home, and we saw them explore beyond just the face. Clearly, using multiple devices at the beginning seemed like a challenge to them. In response, we crafted and are now launching our new range of multi-groomers that addresses the new age consumers’ need to have everything in the all-in-one format. It is now possible to groom different parts of the body with a single tool, and still get the perfect result that consumers trust Philips to deliver.”- said Gulbahar Taurani, Vice- President, Personal Health, Philips Indian Subcontinent.

Today, consumers are looking for grooming solutions at home thus driving the ‘Do-it-yourself’ movement. Philips is betting big on personalized care with these products, which is the perfect answer to the concern of getting salon like results with ease, in the comfort of one’s home.

The product range would be available at your nearest retail store and for online purchase starting from Rs. 1,795/

Royal Philips (NYSE: PHG, AEX: PHIA) is a leading health technology company focused on improving people's health and well-being and enabling better outcomes across the health continuum – from healthy living and prevention, to diagnosis, treatment and home care. Philips leverages advanced technology and deep clinical and consumer insights to deliver integrated solutions. Headquartered in the Netherlands, the company is a leader in diagnostic imaging, image-guided therapy, patient monitoring and health informatics, as well as in consumer health and home care. Philips generated 2020 sales of EUR 19.5 billion and employs approximately 82,000 employees with sales and services in more than 100 countries. 

Meitra Hospital Revamps Its Brand Identity To Cheer Up The World

 

Meitra Hospital revamps its brand identity & spirit with the promise of Health. Hope. Happiness; to cheer up the world. The campaign tries to strengthen the hopes of people and bring back the lost smiles of a pandemic stricken world, by celebrating happiness in the everyday moments of life.

Meitra Hospital, a tertiary care hospital from Calicut, Kerala; launches its new identity along with a host of initiatives under the Meitra Care Network, as an ode to times that have not just challenged the world but have strengthened the human spirit& brought people together for a common cause.

“The year that went by, was a mixed bag of a whole lot of emotions, questions & expectations. And everyone was looking at healthcare, hospitals, health workers across the world for a sign of reassurance. Each and everyone associated with healthcare has worked tirelessly, selflessly to bring everyone back from the agonies that one microorganism has caused to the world in the last one year. As an advanced tertiary care hospital brand in Kerala that touches millions of lives each year; it was our fundamental duty to inspire people to not give up on hope. It was our duty to remind people that happiness still waits for them in the smallest of the everyday moments of life. All they need to do is start looking for it. The purpose of the film was to bring a feeling of positivity, raise the sinking spirits and change the mood. This thinking gave rise to a whole new spirit for the hospital – Health. Hope. Happiness, and we decided to change our avatar & get more aggressive in what we do best. We knew that to pull the together, we need to push ourselves harder. And so, Meitra Hospital plans to launch an array of people initiatives under the Meitra Care Network; that will serve the people of Kerala by bringing together like-minded healthcare providers, professionals, technologies; that can work towards delivering advanced healthcare to each and everyone alike.”, said Omair Siddiqui; Lead, Brand Strategy, Meitra Hospital.

The brand’s new foundations &film has been conceptualised & written by Omair Siddiqui. Creative Monkeys, Meitra Hospital’s creative & digital partner has led the execution of the concept & turned it into an integrated campaign with presence on Outdoor, FM & Press, led by social media & digital engagement platforms. The new brand identity was conceived by Whyletz, a brand-forward identity agency based out of Kochi. The film has been directed by Senthil C Rajan, well known in the Kerala Ad Film industry along with 10 MB Stories who produced the commercial.

“Seldom do we see a hospital brand that reaches out to people, only to bring a smile on their faces. The vision of Meitra Hospital, & their unconventional approach to brand building is what any creative partner would want from a brand to work with.”, says Priyanka K V; Chief Brand Officer, Creative Monkeys.

“Health. Hope. Happiness; is a powerful thought & sums up the brand’s essence with simplicity & craft. It has been amazing being a part of the brand’s transformational journey. Team Whyletz has done a beautiful job of defining the brand’s identity extensively, something that we do not see happening very often in Kerala. Kudos to that.” said Sijo Michal John, Chief Creative Officer, Creative Monkeys

The campaign is just 1 month old, however has garnered a whole lot of attention & love on social media. Both English & Malayalam versions have been collectively viewed close to 9 Million times on Facebook & YouTube, and the engagement is only growing.

Film Links | Facebook

Malayalam:https://fb.watch/3_7xNqMpQx/

English: https://fb.watch/3_7nQU4xQc/

Pawan MUunjal Receives The First Ather 450X In The Delhi Market

Mr. Tarun Mehta, Co-founder and CEO of Ather Energy, today presented the first unit of their new electric scooter 450X in Delhi to Dr. Pawan Munjal, the Chairman and CEO, Hero MotoCorp.

Handing over the scooter to Dr. Munjal, Tarun said, "We have launched the Ather 450X across markets in the past few months and are now delighted to begin our retail operations in New Delhi. To kick-start this phase, we are happy to deliver the first vehicle in Delhi to Dr. Pawan Munjal. Not only has Dr. Munjal instilled confidence in Ather as one of our key investors but he also has been a mentor to me and Swapnil personally over the years. This is an extremely proud moment for us.”

Dr. Pawan Munjal, said, "I am truly delighted to receive Ather 450X Scooter from Tarun. Sustainability and clean energy remain at the core of Hero MotoCorp's vision - 'Be the Future of Mobility'. I congratulate Tarun, Swapnil and the entire team for developing this technologically-advanced and connected vehicle for customers in the country."

Hero MotoCorp has been a part of Ather’s growth story since 2016 and currently has nearly 35% of shareholding in the leading EV maker.

Nearly 70% Indian Consumers Increased Savings, Investments Post Pandemic: InterMiles Consumer Spending Sentiment Index

InterMiles, a leading loyalty and rewards programme, has released its maiden ‘Consumer Spending Sentiment Index Report’ showcasing payment, purchasing and personal finance trends, along with shifting consumer spending patterns. The report is based on responses received from more than 11,500 InterMilers across India.

Key Insights from the InterMiles Consumer Spending Sentiment Index:

90% Indian consumers witnessed a change in personal spending behavior since the onset of the pandemic

The pandemic has had a deep-rooted impact on the economy – not only bringing about a change in spending capacities, but also a shift in consumer priorities and renewed caution with regards to purchasing.  According to the survey by InterMiles, almost 90% Indian consumers have witnessed a change in personal spending behavior since the pandemic, with a mere 10% reporting no change in their spending behavior.

Given the uncertainty and suddenness of the global pandemic, close to 70% Indians have now placed greater emphasis on securing the future by increasing investments and savings. Investments also ensure increased cash flow in the economy, possibly aiding in quicker fiscal recovery for the nation.

Spending priorities have taken a turn, with 21% consumers increasing spends on essential products, while non-essential spending saw negligible (3%) increase post the advent of the pandemic.

Expenditure on essential goods and services like food products and healthcare saw a substantial increase by 45% and 38% respectively. Routine spending on FMCG products like household goods and personal care products remained the same as before.

On the contrary, non-essential spending saw a steep decline with consumer spends decreasing on travel (68%), entertainment (52%) and apparel (45%).

The rise of social commerce, voice-activated shopping and contactless payments 

The pandemic and the subsequently imposed lockdown triggered massive changes in consumer shopping behavior, with over 74% survey respondents stating an increase in the use of online shopping portals. This can, no doubt, be attributed to the distinct need for contactless services as consumers looked to minimize touchpoints that could lead to viral transmission.

The survey also threw light on the relatively new, but sure shift to social commerce, with as many as 40% consumers stating that they now use social media channels like Facebook and Instagram more frequently for shopping. This instant content to commerce behavior is anticipated to revolutionize the marketing ecosystem in the country, while also allowing SMMEs increased visibility at low costs. Giving us a glimpse of the future, 31% respondents said that their usage of digital voice assistants like Alexa and Google Home, for shopping, increased through the course of the pandemic.

70% consumers have changed payment preferences post the outbreak of the pandemic. Solidifying the contactless payments behavior, consumers have switched preferences from cash to either cards (26%) or UPI and e-wallets. Given the increasing penetration of smartphones and ease of usage, UPI is the clear choice for the evolved Indian consumer, with over 44% consumers stating that they’ve started using UPI services even more than cash and cards.

About the InterMiles Consumer Spending Sentiment Index:

The InterMiles Consumer Spending Sentiment Index was introduced to identify trends that matter and enrich the industry’s understanding around the always evolving consumer payment and purchasing behaviors. The programme which has a 10mn plus member base, is committed towards understanding the pulse of consumers across various travel & lifestyle categories. Data collected through these surveys will not only enable InterMiles as a programme to create unique and compelling value propositions for its members, it will also create meaningful business opportunities for its partners. 

The member base for the InterMiles Consumer Spending Sentiment Index comprises of multi demographics as well as diverse payment, lifestyle and travel preferences.

Federation of Indian Granite And Stone Industry Elects Ishwinder Singh As New President

Federation of Indian Granite and Stone Industry has elected Executive Committee Members that was held on 28 March, 2021 to elect the Office Bearers for the term 2021-23. The Office Bearers is as follows.

Sri. Ishwinder Singh, President

Sri. Manoj Kumar Singh, Vice President

Sri. G.M. Hegde, Vice President

Sri. Mahaveer Singh Rathore, Vice President

Sri. Sunil K Arora , Vice President

Sri. N. Ashoken, Vice President

Sri. Pramod Bhandari, Vice President

Sri. S. Krishna Prasad, General Secretary

Sri. Sunder Somani, Treasurer

Sri. Yeshwant Ranka, Joint Treasurer

Sri. Kalit Bhandari, Joint Secretary

Sri. Rajesh Kumar Sharda , Joint Secretary

Sri. S. Shankaranarayanan, Joint Secretary

Sri. Venkatesh Saka, Joint Secretary

Dr. Harpal Singh Yadav, Joint Secretary

Sri. Sanjeev Modi, Joint Secretary

Sri. Laxmikant Jain, Joint Secretary

Sri. Madan Lal Jangid, Joint Secretary 

We will be obliged if you can release the above list in the news item in your newspaper for the benefit of our members. Photograph of Sri. Ishwinder Singh, President and Sri. S. Krishna Prasad, General Secretary is enclosed.

‘Nourishing Minds’ Initiative By Hershey India To Build Nutrition In Underprivileged Kids With Sofit Plus

* Sofit Plus is a new plant protein drink developed for under-nourished kids based on research conducted with leading institutions like IIT- Bombay, Sion Hospital and NGO Annamrita

* The BMI results indicated an overall decrease in the percentage of both `thin’ (from 18% to 8%) and `severely thin’ (from 17% to 2%) children~

* An overall improvement in anthropometric measurements amongst underprivileged kids, possibly due to presence of high-quality soy plant protein in Sofit Plus along with other biological factors such as age, gender, their daily diet ~

* Results of blood parameters indicated significant effect of Sofit Plus on vitamin A, vitamin C, vitamin D, vitamin B12, calcium, zinc, ferritin and total protein levels in the undernourished kids~

* Recovery from deficiency of the above nutrients were close to 75% to 100%~

Hershey India Pvt Ltd, a part of The Hershey Company, a leading global snacking giant and the largest producer of quality chocolates in North America, has developed Sofit Plus, a plant protein-fortified drink exclusively for its `Nourishing Minds’ social initiative. Designed to meet the nutritional needs of underprivileged kids, the drink was developed by Hershey India in collaboration with IIT-Bombay, Sion Hospital and the NGO Annamrita.

The product is a result of an in-depth research conducted by IIT – Bombay amongst a group of underprivileged children (within the age group of 6-18 years) from suburban slums in Mumbai. The research revealed startling data such as 30% of the kids are below normal BMI of which 18% are thin, 11% are severely thin and 0.9% are underweight. It further indicated major deficiencies in the intake of carbohydrates, fats and proteins amongst children. Calcium, Vitamin C, Vitamin A, Vitamin B12, Zinc and Iron deficiencies were also highlighted through dietary recall and analysis.

Based on this study this study, Hershey India developed Sofit Plus – a special plant protein-fortified drink designed to meet the nutritional needs of underprivileged kids in India. As part of the initiative, the study focused on three main areas: a) to provide evidence of the role of nutrient supplementation in overcoming undernourishment; b) to determine the efficacy of the plant protein drink Sofit Plus and c) to understand its impact on the overall growth.

One serving (200ml) of Sofit Plus was provided to approximately 500 children twice a day, for 6 days a week, for 3 consecutive months. The research, team led by Prof Narendra Shah at IIT Bombay, meticulously monitored the field performance at the chosen schools in Mumbai.

Commenting about the initiative, Herjit Bhalla, Vice President India and AEMEA at The Hershey Company said, “The Hershey Company globally has a legacy of driving positive change through initiatives that benefit society. Keeping up with the tradition, we have developed Sofit Plus, a soy plant protein fortified drink, as a part of our initiative ‘Nourishing Minds'in partnership with Annamrita, Sion Hospital and IIT-Bombay. Designed to help meet the nutritional needs of underprivileged kids in India, this product is backed by rigorous research and development, to help address the low nutrition levels amongst the designated group of children and help contribute towards building a healthier future for them.”

Prof Narendra Shah at IIT Bombay, further commented, “Lack of nutrition among children is often the invisible problem in developing nations. India is home to millions of stunted children. A country cannot aim to attain economic and social development goals without addressing the issue of malnutrition. It is essential to focus on children’s health for inclusive growth and educational development as they will be driving the future of our country. We are happy to be a part of the Hershey India’s innovative research and development team. We are extremely encouraged by the positive results delivered by Sofit Plus in addressing the nutritional gaps in malnourished children. Sofit Plus is specially manufactured with added plant proteins and micronutrients for distribution to students of participating schools. Made with added nutrients, the product should be beneficial for the children’s overall health and growth.”

There are various forms of malnourishment and deficiencies that affect children. Childhood deficiencies include an insufficiency in protein, energy and micronutrients namely iron, vitamin A, iodine and zinc. The problem is particularly severe in India. Hershey India, in collaboration with leading research, medical and social organizations, launched the ‘Nourishing Minds’ initiative to bridge this nutrition gap.

About The Hershey Company 

The Hershey Company is headquartered in Hershey, Pa., and is an industry-leading snacks company known for bringing goodness to the world through its iconic brands, remarkable people and enduring commitment to help children succeed. Hershey has approximately 17,000 employees around the world who work every day to deliver delicious, quality products. The company has more than 90 brands around the world that drive more than $8 billion in annual revenues, including such iconic brand names as Hershey's, Reese's, Kit Kat, Jolly Rancher, Ice Breakers, SkinnyPop, and Pirate's Booty.

For more than 125 years, Hershey has been committed to operating fairly, ethically and sustainably.  Hershey founder, Milton Hershey, created the Milton Hershey School in 1909 and since then the company has focused on helping children succeed.