Biotech Testing Services (BTS) Laboratory Certifies Livinguard Masks Effective Against “Black Fungus”

Biotech Testing Services (BTS) laboratory in Mumbai certifies Livinguard Masks as effective against black fungus (Mucormycosis). Switzerland based hygiene technology company, Livinguard AG launched its antiviral face masks in India in 2020 which is noted to be a one-of-a-kind mask that can destroy bacteria and viruses, including SARS-CoV-2 /COVID-19 virus. 

With the surge of Covid cases in the country, Mucormycosis (Black Fungus) has quickly emerged as the next big threat to the country  with India reporting over 28,252 cases of black fungus (data on 7th June); Out of the 28,252 Mucormycosis cases, the Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said 86% of infections have a history of Covid-19 and 62.3% a history of diabetes. In light of this, the Indian Government has also urged states to declare black fungus (Mucormycosis) an epidemic, thereby making it a notifiable disease under the Epidemic Diseases Act 1897. 

Mr. Sanjeev Swamy, Founder, Inventor & CEO, Livinguard AGstated, “Our mission has always been to provide hygiene suited for the modern world. Hence when we learnt about the rise of Mucormycosis cases in India, we quickly tested our Livinguard treated masks at the Biotech Testing Services (BTS) laboratory and the results showcased strong efficacy against the black fungus. We are happy with the results, and strongly believe in the unique characteristics of Livinguard masks that will provide users with an unprecedented level of security. People, having comorbidities and who have just recovered from COVID can wear the masks to keep themselves protected against the deadly fungus.” 

One of the most respected science leaders of India, Padma Vibhushan, Dr Raghunath Mashelkar stated, “It is a huge relief for immuno-compromised patients living with serious diabetes, HIV/AIDS, Cancer or those that have just recovered from COVID to wear a Livinguard mask and know that they will be protected from Mucormycosis. This scientific breakthrough of deactivating Mucormycosis on contact with the mask, is a global game changer; Wearing the Livinguard PRO or ULTRA mask can save lives, control prolonged infection in COVID patients and allow them to return to normalcy much quicker.” 

Dr S Nair, PhD Microbiology, Quality Manager at Biotech Testing Services (BTS) laboratory commented, “We have tested Livinguard’s masks in our laboratory and the results showed that the masks are effective against the black fungus.”  

It has been further confirmed by testing carried out by Mrs. Shradha Dongre from The Synthetic & Art Silk Mills' Research Association (SASMIRA laboratories), in Mumbai, that Livinguard mask is found to be very effective against Black fungus.The outer layer of the mask exhibited complete resistance against Mucor racemosus ATCC 42467  when tested as per a modified Antifungal test  AATCC-30. 

Livinguard products are ISO 9001:2015 certified for the scope of Design, Research & Development of Self Disinfecting Products like Face Masks, T-Shirts, Filtration Candles, Medical Clothes, Hand Gloves, Sanitary Pads. Livinguard’s current focus is to apply this Technology to solutions that lessen the health risk and economic impact of the crisis by enabling people to protect themselves, return to work, and take back their lives. Livinguard masks have been proven effective against a wide range of bacteria and viruses, and now with its proven efficacy against the black fungus, it is sure to be instrumental in the multifaceted fight against COVID-19 and related health problems. 

About Livinguard AG: 

Livinguard is an environmentally friendly hygiene technology platform based in Zug, Switzerland. It is the first company in the world to empower textiles and other materials with self-disinfecting properties, it licenses its patented technologies to companies from various industries to improve the health and wellbeing of consumers. Livinguard AG operates in Switzerland, Germany, USA, Singapore, Japan, India, and South Africa. The ever-increasing levels of pollution, global travel, shared mobility, and the prevalence of drug resistant microbes have led to growing threats of infectious disease. The company sees its solutions as essential safeguards that can offer enhanced safety and better health to billions of people. Livinguard believes that our future is tied to sustainable solutions that treat our world kindly. Their commitment is to develop highly effective technologies that also minimize waste and use of resources. The company views personal and planetary health as inseparable imperatives and the foundational base of everything that they do. Livinguard is a member of the World Economic Forum’s Innovators Community. 

Equitas Bank Goes Beyond Banking In Transforming Lives Of People Through Social Initiatives

* An inspiring journey from being a pavement dweller to a proud independent parent 

Equitas Small Finance Bank has launched a new web series on their social media platforms, called ’Circle of Life’ that features real life transformation stories of bravery, sacrifice and compassion, the bank aims to reach a wider audience with the series to inspire and give hope to Indians in times of uncertainty. 

‘Circle of Life’ series signifies a way of taking and giving back to the society and showcases the lives of people who have gone through a transformative journey.  

Equitas invests the money that people save with the bank back in communities thus making money a force for good in contributing for a sustainable social change. While you choose to bank with Equitas, you just don’t earn rewarding interest, you also contribute to build a better society.Each story reflects positive impact beyond banking and how Equitas Small Finance Bank helps in changing lives of people through micro lending and social initiatives. 

The First story, titled “Identity”, is a transformative journey of Mrs. Shanthi from being a pavement dweller to a proud independent parent. ¬Shanthi, now a contract worker for Indian Railways, shares her inspiring journey towards earning her identity in the society and showcases gratitude towards Equitas Small Finance Bank for being her pillar of strength. She even calls the bank her “mother’s home” which presented her with an opportunity to live a respectable life. 

Equitas through its Bird’s Nest – Pavement Dweller Rehabilitation program, provided housing, food security, healthcare, livelihood skill development, and supplemental education to ultra-poor families over an 18-month period – ultimately placing them on the path to self-sufficiency. The bank has transformed lives of over 2000+ pavement dwellers in Chennai. 

The small finance bank is known for its ideology and belief in giving back to the community they serve and uplift them in a sustainable manner. Through the video, the bank shows a glimpse of the successful transformation of a one such community member, Shanthi. 

India Power's PAT Rises 60% To Rs 26.66 Crore In FY21; Customer Base Increases By 52%

India Power Corporation Limited ("India Power"), one of the most efficient power distribution companies in the country, has reported a profit after tax ("PAT") of Rs 26.66 crore in the financial year 2020-21 ("FY21") as compared to Rs 16.69 crore a year earlier, registering a growth of 60%.

Accelerated sales growth, procuring power at competitive prices and upgradation of conventional infrastructure to smart utility infrastructure (SCADA, IOT, smart meters, etc.) aided the company's earnings in an otherwise challenging year marked by the global coronavirus pandemic.

India Power's customer base expanded by 52%. The company's sales increased by 2 million units in FY21 despite the impact of pandemic and lockdown during the first two quarters of the financial year. Total income for the year was at Rs 518.37 crore.

Load increased by 10% in FY21 from a year ago, while India Power maintained the AT&C losses at 3%, one of the lowest in the industry, despite adding new domestic connections.

India Power purchased 12.1% of renewable energy in FY21 and plans to increase it to 35% by financial year 2022-23.

Commenting on the results, Mr. Somesh Dasgupta, Whole-time Director, India Power, said: "FY21 has been both challenging and exciting for India Power. We were able to overcome the setback of coronavirus pandemic by adding large number of consumers across voltage levels, which resulted in accelerated sales growth from second quarter onwards. Our ability to procure power at competitive prices led to cost savings and further improved our earnings.

Going forward, India Power plans to add industrial consumers across voltage levels from large industries to SMEs and exponentially increase its domestic consumer base by expanding and strengthening network across license area. The company expects over 40% increase in its sales volume during the current financial year."

About India Power Corporation Limited ("India Power"):

India Power Corporation Limited ("India Power"), formerly known as DPSC Limited, incorporated in 1919, is a holistic, integrated power utility headquartered in Kolkata, West Bengal. The company holds a distribution license spread across 618 square kilometres in Asansol-Ranigunj region of West Bengal and contributes immensely to the growth and prosperity of its industrial, commercial and domestic consumers. With strong expertise in distribution management and engineering, the company has developed a diversified, pan-India portfolio, which includes power distribution, smart metering, digital transformation, renewable and conventional modes of power generation.

Honeywell Establishes Critical Care Centre In Bowring Hospital For COVID-19 Patients In Bengaluru

* Well-equipped ICU for COVID-19 patients in Bowring Hospital handed over to State Government

* 200 oxygen concentrators, N95 respirators, and PPE kits donated for distribution across Karnataka

Honeywell has announced that it has established a critical care center at Bowring Hospital to treat COVID-19 patients in the city. The company has also donated essential medical supplies including oxygen concentrators, N95 respirators and personal protective equipment (PPE) for hospitals in the state of Karnataka. 

The 10-bed ICU center at Bowring Hospital in Shivaji Nagar features necessary equipment to support critical COVID-19 patients. These include Class I ventilators, Fowler beds, BiPAP machines, multipara monitors with and without capnometers, a portable X-ray machine, an ECG machine, an infusion pump, and a laryngoscope set.  Additionally, Honeywell is providing N95 respirators and kits to the center.

The company has also handed over 200 oxygen concentrators, N95 respirators, and PPE kits to the State Government for distribution across Karnataka.

“It is heartening to see companies like Honeywell stepping forward to augment health infrastructure in the city,” said Dr. C.N. Ashwathnarayan, Deputy Chief Minister, Karnataka. “This ICU facility will not only serve citizens during the pandemic, but also encourage more such social investments by the private sector,” he added.

“We are thankful to Honeywell for establishing a critical care center for COVID patients in Bengaluru. This is an excellent example of a public-private partnership to enhance healthcare capacities to deal with the pandemic,” said Uma Mahadevan, Principal Secretary PR & Member, Committee to Coordinate with CSOs, NGOs, Private Sectors and International Organisations on COVID Response, Government of Karnataka.

“Honeywell is committed to helping the country deal with this humanitarian crisis and has pledged $3M since the start of the pandemic for COVID relief,” said Dr. Akshay Bellare, President, Honeywell India.

“We are partnering with state and local governments to enhance healthcare capacities across multiple states, including setting up COVID care centers and critical care centers. We are also donating essential medical supplies such as oxygen concentrators, ventilators, N95 respirators, and PPE kits,” he added.

In the first phase, Honeywell established 20-bed COVID care centers in Delhi, Pune, Gurugram, Nainital. These centers will be run by the respective local and state governments and are equipped with beds, oxygen supply, PPE kits, medical consumables, and basic medical infrastructure to treat non-critical patients. Another 10-bed ICU facility, similar to the one in Bengaluru, is planned in Mumbai.

As a committed corporate citizen, Honeywell has extended support to communities across the globe, including India, to address the pandemic and provide relief. 

About Honeywell India

Honeywell (www.honeywell.com) is a Fortune 100 technology company that delivers industry-specific solutions that include aerospace products and services; control technologies for buildings and industry; and performance materials globally. Our technologies help everything from aircraft, buildings, manufacturing plants, supply chains, and workers become more connected to make our world smarter, safer, and more sustainable. All of Honeywell’s global businesses have a strong legacy in India, built over the last eight decades. Honeywell’s India commitment is evident in three state-of-the-art manufacturing and engineering operations, and four global centers of excellence for technology development and innovation. Honeywell employs ~13,000 people across different locations including Bengaluru, Chennai, Dehradun, Gurugram, Hyderabad, Madurai, and Pune.

Infogain Announces Ownership Transition From ChrysCapital To The Apax Funds

* The Apax Fund’s investment will accelerate Infogain’s expansion

Infogain, a Silicon Valley-based leader in human-centered digital platform and software engineering services, today announced its PE ownership will change hands, from ChrysCapital to funds advised by Apax (the “Apax Funds”). Apax is a leading global private equity advisory firm with significant experience investing in technology companies. ChrysCapital is a leading Indian private equity advisory firm with a successful track record of investing in information technology and business services. The new ownership will enable Infogain to broaden its solution offerings, pursue strategic acquisitions, expand into new geographies, and accelerate the expansion of its employee base.

Infogain’s Chief Operating Officer, Ayan Mukerji, will become Chief Executive Officer. Ayan joined Infogain in 2018 and will assume CEO position.

Sunil Bhatia, outgoing CEO of Infogain, said, “It was a great pleasure to have built an organization that is recognized among the Global Top 50 engineering services providers.1 It has been a privilege to work alongside a world-class team to serve our customers, without whom none of this would have been possible. I wish Ayan and Infogain all the very best for the future.”

“I’d like to thank Sunil for his leadership during his tenure as CEO, and it was also great being part of the platform ChrysCapital built out over the past few years,” said Ayan. “We welcome our new relationship with Apax to support Infogain’s growth strategy.”

He continued, “Apax’s support will help supercharge our growth, organically and through new strategic acquisitions. We will leverage opportunities to deepen and diversify our service offerings to support our clients’ – and our own – transformation journeys.”

“We are grateful for the opportunity we had to build a fast-growing cutting edge digital platform services organization. Infogain was ChrysCapital’s pioneering initiative in the US that got bolstered with multiple strategic acquisitions. I wish Apax all the best in their future with Infogain,” said Akshat Babbar, Vice President at ChrysCapital.

Shashank Singh, Partner at Apax, said, “Digital engineering and technological excellence continue to be key competitive advantages across industries, and Infogain, with its platform strategy and highly talented team, is exceptionally well placed to help drive innovation and support its customers in developing differentiated human-centered solutions. We are excited to partner with Ayan and the team to support them and their customers in this next phase of growth.”

Rohan Haldea, Partner at Apax, added, “Digital transformation and software engineering services have been key areas of focus for the Apax Funds over the last decade, underpinned by multiple successful investments. We’re excited to bring our experience in the space to the team at Infogain and to accelerate their expansion and investment in capabilities that enhance their global platform, delivering ever greater value for customers.”

By helping customers achieve human-centered digital platform success through its Value Delivery Framework, Infogain has more than doubled its revenue in the last three years. Its global team now numbers close to 5,000. The company has upgraded its engineering expertise and added significant digital capabilities in cloud, experience design, and analytics.

Infogain’s Chief Delivery Officer, Eddie Chandhok added, “Our success continues to be driven by our team members, who work on mission critical projects that enable customer success and help deliver significant value to our clients on a global scale. The company is especially focused on delivery excellence, a testament to which is its 73% net promoter score achieved in the previous fiscal year.”

Infogain was advised by Credit Suisse (financial advisor). Wilson, Sonsini, Goodrich & Rosati served as the legal counsel to Infogain in the United States, Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co. as the legal counsel in India, and E&Y as the financial and tax advisor.

CyberArk Expands Availability Of Identity Security Offerings On AWS Marketplace

* CyberArk and Amazon Web Services Help Customers Rapidly Reduce Cybersecurity Risk from the Endpoint to the Cloud and Across Remote Workforces

CyberArk (NASDAQ: CYBR), the global leader in Identity Security, today announced the availability of CyberArk Cloud Entitlements Manager, CyberArk Endpoint Privilege Manager and CyberArk Workforce Identity on Amazon Web Services Marketplace (AWS Marketplace). CyberArk now offers least privilege controls that span from the endpoint to the cloud on AWS Marketplace. and CyberArk Workforce Identity on Amazon Web Services Marketplace (AWS Marketplace). CyberArk now offers least privilege controls that span from the endpoint to the cloud on AWS Marketplace.

Migrating workloads to the cloud is a top priority for many organizations. This trend, coupled with the need to securely support increasingly remote workforces, has created new challenges – particularly for protecting against increasingly identity-centric attacks. AWS customers can now easily access even more of CyberArk’s Identity Security SaaS-based offerings, which deliver greater deployment flexibility and simplicity, along with rapid time to value and risk reduction.

CyberArk’s Identity Security offerings allow AWS customers to remove excessive privileges and permissions on endpoint devices, servers and throughout their cloud environments. Removing unnecessary privileges helps organizations disrupt the attack path by limiting lateral movement and stopping privilege escalation. Specifically:

CyberArk Cloud Entitlements Manager is the industry’s first privilege-based, artificial intelligence-powered service designed to strengthen the security of cloud environments by identifying and removing excessive cloud permissions, and mitigating the risks related to permission sprawl or privilege abuse. Additionally, Cloud Entitlements Manager recently introduced capabilities allowing customers to onboard and analyze IAM permissions across their entire AWS Organizations service. Cloud Entitlements Manager customers can now easily connect accounts and organizational units within their AWS Organizations to identify and remediate excessive IAM permissions in specific AWS accounts.

CyberArk Endpoint Privilege Manager is a critical component for securing endpoints, especially in modern remote work models. It removes barriers to enforcing least privilege and allows organizations to block and contain attacks at the endpoint to reduce the risk of information being stolen or encrypted and held for ransom.

CyberArk Workforce Identity helps secure remote workforces by proactively protecting users' access to cloud and on-premises applications, endpoints, VPNs and other critical resources. Workforce Identity features Single Sign-On, adaptive Multi-Factor Authentication and Lifecycle Management capabilities.

“Embracing cloud, remote work and other digital transformation initiatives cannot be a tradeoff with security,” said Clarence Hinton, chief strategy officer, CyberArk. “There are clear use cases here that organizations need to address, and they need the tools that allow them to securely meet their business objectives. With expanded access to CyberArk Identity Security solutions, AWS customers can move forward with confidence, reducing excessive permissions and containing threats before they negatively impact the business.”

CyberArk offerings already on AWS Marketplace include CyberArk Privileged Access Manager, CyberArk Privilege Cloud, CyberArk Conjur Open Source and CyberArk Privileged Access Manager for GovCloud (US). 

Tata Motors Bags Order Of 115 Ambulances From Government Of Gujarat; Supplies First Lot Of 25 Vehicles

* Ceremonial event held in the presence of Deputy Chief Minister of Gujarat, Health Minister of Gujarat and other dignitaries

* The entire order consists of 25 basic life support ambulances and 90 ambulance shells

Tata Motors, India’s largest commercial vehicle manufacturer, has supplied 25 Tata Winger Ambulances to the Health Department of Gujarat, as a part of the larger order of 115 ambulances. The official vehicle inducting ceremony, which was held in Gandhinagar, was graced by various notable dignitaries from the Gujarat State Cabinet including Deputy Chief Minister of Gujarat – Shri Nitin Patel, Health Minister of Gujarat – Shri Kishor Kanani, Principle Secretary – Health and Family welfare department – Dr. Jayanti S. Ravi, IAS Commissioner- Health & Family welfare department – Shri Jai Prakash Shivhare, IAS COO GVK EMRI Gujarat – Shri Jashvant Prajapati and other dignitaries from Govt. of Gujarat. The 25 Tata Winger Ambulances are equipped with basic life support and will be deployed for the aid of patients in the city. Tata Motors won the bid for the order under the Government e-Marketplace, and the vehicles are designed for patient transport as per AIS 125 Part 1. Tata Motors will phase-wise supply the remaining 90 ambulance shells, as per the contract.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Vinay Pathak, Vice President, Product Line, SCV, Tata Motors, said, “The Tata Winger ambulance is designed keeping in focus the need of the patient and the healthcare system. The Winger ambulance has proven to be a trusted partner to healthcare organisations and has saved countless lives as a result of its ergonomic, efficient design and performance. Tata Motors’ thorough understanding of customer requirements for different applications and ability to design the vehicle basis these requirements is what sets the brand apart from its competitors. Tata Motors is firmly committed to bringing top-notch healthcare mobility solutions to hospitals and healthcare facilities in the country and support the governments in their fight against this pandemic.”

The Tata Motors Winger Ambulance is designed and can be adapted to cater to all type of patient transportation, including Basic Life Support and Advanced Life Support range. The ambulance is engineered specially for COVID-19 patient transportation, with a driver partition. Its modular underpinnings and monocoque chassis, in addition to the independent suspension, offer a smooth driving experience, which is extremely critical for the swift transportation of patients. Tata Motors offers the most comprehensive range of ambulances from Magic Express Ambulance, Winger Ambulance and LP410 Ambulance, with double stretcher.

About Tata Motors

Tata Motors Limited (NYSE: TTM; BSE: 500570 and 570001; NSE: TATAMOTORS and TATAMTRDVR), a USD 44 billion organization, is a leading global automobile manufacturer of cars, utility vehicles, pick-ups, trucks and buses. Part of the USD 110 billion Tata group, Tata Motors is India’s largest and the only OEM offering extensive range of integrated, smart and e-mobility solutions. It has operations in India, the UK, South Korea, Thailand, South Africa, and Indonesia through a strong global network of 134 subsidiaries, associate companies and joint ventures, 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, fuelled by state of the art design and R&D centres located in India, UK, US, Italy and South Korea. Internationally, Tata commercial and passenger vehicles are marketed in countries, spread across Africa, the Middle East, South Asia, South East Asia, South America, Australia, CIS, and Russia.

Syska Expands Partnership With Flipkart; Launches Its Smartwatch Syska Bolt SW200

The highly customizable smartwatch to be available on Flipkart from 11th June 2021

o Comes with a sleek circular dial and a full 1.28” Touch Display

o 100+ cloud & customizable watch faces available in the app for sporting a new look everyday

o Available in three color variants – Spectra Blue, Space Black, and Ocean Green

o Compatible with all versions of Android and iOS

o SpO2 monitoring feature to measure blood oxygen level

o Launched on Flipkart on 11th June 2021, 12pm

Syska Group, the leading FMEG brand in India today announced the expansion of its partnership with India’s homegrown e-commerce marketplace Flipkart with the launch of Syska Bolt SW200 smartwatch. This comes on the back of Syska’s foray into the fast-growing smartwatch segment last year with Flipkart to cater to the growing demand for fitness essentials across the country.

Syska Bolt Smartwatch has been designed keeping in mind the current situation caused due to the pandemic and ensures in-depth focus on health and wellness for users through its innovative features. The smartwatch is slim, casual and comfortable to wear round-the-clock as it is designed with a super light geometric case and is an upgrade to last year’s SW100.

Commenting on the launch of the Syska SW200 Bolt Smartwatch, Mr. Gurumukh Uttamchandani, Executive Director, Syska Group said, “The Syska Group is a diversified organization operating into various segments to ease the daily lives of our customers. Our venture into the smartwatch segment last year met with great success which encouraged us to launch the Syska Bolt SW200 with improved functionalities to cater to the health and wellness needs of our customers. In this journey, Flipkart has been a great partner in taking Syska’s offerings to every household and helping us better understand the customer needs with years of its experience serving millions of its users across the country”.

Smartwatches have been a fast-growing segment in the wearable space as an increasing number of customers prioritize their health and wellness. According to market research firm International Data Corporation (IDC), the Indian wearable market (including smartwatches) grew 144.3 percent year-over-year (YoY) in 2020 making India the only country in the top 20 to have triple digit growth.

Rakesh Krishnan, Senior Director at Electronics, Flipkart said, “As one of the fastest growing markets for wearables, particularly smartwatches, in the world, Flipkart understands  the evolving requirements of our customers and closely works with our brand partners to bring the best-in-class technology solutions to our customers’ doorstep. The pandemic has significantly altered the customer purchase patterns and we are proud to be at the forefront of fulfilling these nuanced requirements in a safe and hygienic manner. Syska has been a natural ally in this endeavour and we are happy to witness our long-standing partnership expand into newer segments and create a shared value for all the stakeholders, including customers”.

Innovative features of the Syska SW200 Smartwatch –

* Female Health Tracking – With an aim to support wellbeing of women, Syska Bolt has added an innovative feature for female health tracking which let females track and monitor their menstrual cycle, ovulation period, pregnancy period and much more.

* 100+ versatile cloud watch faces – Personalize your watch according to your mood. With over 100+ fancy cloud watch faces offered by the Syska Bolt Smartwatch, you can choose to adorn a new style each day depending upon the occasion and mood. A quick switch from classic to modern and back is easily possible. You can also choose any image from your phone gallery to create a custom watch face.

* Hand Sanitization Reminder – Considering the ongoing pandemic, Syska has added an innovative feature through a hand sanitization reminder in the smartwatch, which reminds you to sanitize your hands on regular intervals and keep you alert if you touch an unknown surface.

* Weather Report – Syska Bolt SW200 Smartwatch has added yet another interesting feature that showcases weather status such as temperature and also updates you on weather condition such as rainy, cloudy or sunny.

* Water Reminder – Drinking adequate amount of water throughout the day is very crucial. With Syska Bolt water reminder feature, you can keep a track of your daily water intake and stay hydrated.

* Spo2 Monitoring – Syska believes in supporting consumers in taking utmost care of their health and has added the Spo2 monitoring feature to measure blood oxygen level.

* Music and Camera Control – The smartwatch allows you to take control of your playlist from your wrist with just a tap to play, pause or stop. Not just that, you can also use your watch to click a picture with your watch as it enables camera control feature.

* Sedentary Alert – Syska Bolt provides timely alerts that put you back on track with your active lifestyle through our sedentary movement alert feature.

* Health Tracking - The new SW200 watch comes with an improved heart rate monitor which can help you keep a track of it anytime on the go.

* Multi-Sports Mode – Get your gear on as the new Syska Bolt comes with pre-loaded sports modes such as cricket, badminton, swimming, running, cycling, hiking and much more for you to accurately track your favorite sport and stay active and fit.

* Smart Notifications – With the smart notification feature, you can get an easy access to calls, messages, emails and other notifications on the go on your all new Syska Bolt. All you need to do is switch on the ‘Notification Reminder’ on your Syska Fit Bolt App to never miss an update.

Syska SW200 smartwatch has been developed to enable consumers in prioritizing their health and wellbeing, using the watch features such as tracking sleep to monitoring steps, blood oxygen levels, heart rate and much more. Syska Bolt SW200 comes in three colors – Black, blue and green. The MRP of the product is INR 5,499 but it will be available at an attractive offer of INR 2,499 on Flipkart.

Nutanix, HPE Announce Expanded Partnership To Accelerate Hybrid Cloud And Multicloud Adoption With New Database As A Service

* New Solution Deploys Databases in Minutes with Nutanix Era, a Database Operations and Management Solution, Delivered Through HPE GreenLake Cloud Services 

Nutanix (NASDAQ: NTNX) and Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE: HPE) today announced an expanded partnership to accelerate hybrid cloud and multicloud adoption by offering Nutanix Era™, a multi-database operations and management solution, bundled with HPE ProLiant servers, as a service through HPE GreenLake. The fully managed cloud service enables customers to deploy applications and databases in minutes and benefit from the agile, elastic, and pay-per-use capabilities of the cloud while gaining the governance, visibility and compliance of an on-premises environment.

“Customers want to simplify database operations and management to move away from IT siloes that can often lead to higher maintenance costs, security risks, and lack of flexibility to deploy and run solutions,” said Keith White, senior vice president and general manager, HPE GreenLake Cloud Services at Hewlett Packard Enterprise. “By building on our successful collaboration with Nutanix, together the HPE GreenLake and the Nutanix Era database operations and management software solution will increase agility, simplify operations and cut costs by delivering a fully managed cloud offering.”

Customers using Nutanix Era reported a positive experience in increasing speed of database provisioning by 97%, reducing unplanned downtime to avoid average losses of $35,000 per hour, decreasing storage requirements for copies and backups by 60%, and reducing database administrators’ overtime work by 50%. By combining Nutanix Era on HPE ProLiant servers, the world’s most trusted servers offering high-performance, scalability and versatility to run a range of workloads, and delivering the solution as a cloud service through HPE GreenLake, customers can transform database management with one cloud-ready platform. The solutions will allow customers to modernize, consolidate, and automate tasks across their databases and gain support for multi-database operations management, including Oracle Database, Microsoft SQL Server, MySQL, PostgresSQL, and MariaDB.

“We continue to see tremendous success in our partnership, and HPE GreenLake with Nutanix Era for databases provides one more opportunity to strengthen our joint offerings and further serve customers,” said Tarkan Maner, Chief Commercial Officer at Nutanix. “As customers are looking for solutions to help them in their journey to hybrid and multicloud, HPE and Nutanix deliver strong, integrated solutions to support them on their journey by providing performance, control, and security available as a full breadth of portfolio whether it’s solely using HPE ProLiant DX series of servers for private clouds or combining with HPE GreenLake cloud services to run this environment as a managed cloud.”

This latest collaboration between HPE and Nutanix demonstrates the continued momentum and success of HPE Greenlake with Nutanix to provide customers with managed hybrid cloud services. HPE and Nutanix have seen an approximate 80% year-on-year increase in ACV bookings during the first calendar quarter of 2021, including wins for HPE ProLiant DX servers, and HPE GreenLake with Nutanix. 

“We were looking for a solution that would quickly scale performance and capacity to adapt to our customers’ business demands and HPE GreenLake with Nutanix delivered a performant and reliable solution with lower up-front costs and day to day management overhead,” said Chris Lillie, Head of Cloud Operations, at CDW ServiceWorks.

HPE GreenLake 

HPE GreenLake cloud services provide customers with a powerful foundation to drive digital transformation through an elastic as-a-Service platform that can run on premises, at the edge, or in a colocation facility. HPE GreenLake combines the simplicity and agility of the cloud with the governance, compliance, and visibility that comes with hybrid IT. HPE GreenLake offers a range of cloud services that accelerate innovation, including cloud services for bare metal, compute, container management, data protection, HCI, HPC, machine learning operations, networking, SAP HANA, storage, VDI, and VMs. The HPE GreenLake Cloud Services business is rapidly growing with over $4.8 billion USD in total contract value and more than 900 partners selling HPE GreenLake. Today, HPE GreenLake has more than 1,200 enterprise customers across 50 countries in all industry sectors and sizes including Fortune 500 companies, government and public sector organizations, and small and midmarket enterprises.

Availability 

HPE GreenLake with Nutanix Era for databases is currently available to customers, with metering billing capabilities available in July. More information on this solution, and other HPE GreenLake with Nutanix offerings, can be found here.

About Nutanix

Nutanix is a global leader in cloud software and a pioneer in hyperconverged infrastructure solutions, making computing invisible anywhere. Organizations around the world use Nutanix software to leverage a single platform to manage any app at any location at any scale for their private, hybrid and multi-cloud environments. 

About Hewlett Packard Enterprise

Hewlett Packard Enterprise is the global edge-to-cloud platform as-a-service company that helps organizations accelerate outcomes by unlocking value from all of their data, everywhere. Built on decades of reimagining the future and innovating to advance the way people live and work, HPE delivers unique, open and intelligent technology solutions, with a consistent experience across all clouds and edges, to help customers develop new business models, engage in new ways, and increase operational performance.

Accenture Launches myNav Green Cloud Advisor To Help Companies Realize Sustainability Goals Through The Cloud

* Accenture Cloud First advisors to collaborate with experts from academia to advise clients on sustainable cloud migrations and a framework to certify carbon emission reductions

Accenture has launched Green Cloud Advisor, a new capability for the Accenture myNav platform that enables enterprises to operate more sustainable and efficient cloud environments.

myNav Green Cloud Advisor helps companies design cloud solutions that reduce carbon emissions and lay a foundation for responsible innovation. First, Green Cloud Advisor establishes a baseline of existing data center energy consumption, computing requirements and sustainability goals. It then uses proprietary algorithms to quantify the “greenness” of potential cloud solution options, based on a range of information, such as the cloud service providers’ carbon emissions goals, locations, energy sources and readiness to transition to clean energy.

Research from Accenture has found that shifting from on-premise data centers to the public cloud can reduce an enterprise’s energy usage by 65% and cut carbon emissions by more than 84%. Migrating existing private workloads to a public cloud could reduce global CO2 emissions by nearly 60 million tons annually — equivalent to taking 22 million gasoline-powered cars off the road.

Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC), Canada’s national housing agency, has dramatically reduced the carbon footprint of its IT operations. CMHC has undertaken, with Accenture, a major IT transformation, including a transition to the cloud, that has resulted in a reduction of its IT-related CO2 emissions by more than 80%.

“Every company now needs to master change at speed and scale to benefit not only shareholders and employees but also our communities and planet,” said Kishore Durg, who leads Accenture Cloud First Global Services. “As companies accelerate cloud adoption, myNav Green Cloud Advisor can help them simultaneously address one of their most pressing challenges, which is to reduce emissions and waste with greener IT practices.”

To help organizations measure carbon emissions against industry peers, Accenture is teaming with an applied research team at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) to establish a carbon emissions scoring system and certification for green cloud solutions. In order to help clients design, implement and operate the most sustainable cloud environments, Accenture is also working with CMU on a new cloud training program to upskill its Cloud First professionals to help organizations achieve a balance of cloud innovation and green computing practices.

“Energy usage and carbon emissions are becoming part of the design requirements of future technology solutions,” said Majd Sakr, teaching professor in the Computer Science Department at CMU’s School of Computer Science. “Institutions will have to build capacity and leverage innovative green IT tools to better measure, optimize and report their energy usage and carbon emissions.”

Additionally, Accenture has teamed up with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Sloan School of Management to create a training program for Accenture Cloud First leaders that delves deeper into the cloud’s role in enhancing speed to market, cost management, flexibility of operations, business resilience and innovation capabilities. The Green Cloud Advisors Program is a three-day virtual course where participants will learn about opportunities associated with cloud solutions, from energy efficiency and carbon reduction to new business models and product and service innovations.

Announced in November 2019, the Accenture myNav platform helps organizations navigate the cloud with confidence by selecting the optimal cloud architecture and solution, executing cloud migration, and managing and optimizing the cloud estate. myNav helps companies manage the human, technology and business dimensions of cloud change. Green Cloud Advisor is one of the many modules within the myNav platform designed to address the complexities of cloud for digital transformation.

Big Little Book Award Announces Call For The Nomination For 2021

* Aashti Mudnani, founder of children’s bookstore, Lightroom in Bengaluru, and Thejaswi Shivanand, teacher at Center for Learning near Bengaluru, part of this year’s jury for the illustrator category

* Malayalam chosen as the author category language for the year. Entries open from today till July 9th, 2021

Big Little Book Award (BLBA), the first-of-its-kind award by the Parag initiative of Tata Trusts, is all set to open entries for its sixth edition this year. Instituted with an intent to celebrate and recognise notable work in children’s literature, BLBA chooses one language every year for the author category, while the illustrators’ evaluation and selection remains language-agnostic. Malayalam is the chosen language for 2021 and authors with significant contribution are eligible. Nominations are open from today and will continue until July 09, 2021.

Ms. Swaha Sahoo, Head of Parag Initiative, Tata Trusts says, “Recognising and strengthening children’s literature in regional languages is one of the aims of BLBA. With Malayalam as the author language of 2021, we hope to identify authors with a great body of work. Selected work of winners and shortlisted candidates will be translated into other Indian languages in the future, thus enabling children across India to read the best of Malayali children’s literature.”

Paul Zachariah, distinguished Fellow of the Kerala Sahitya Akademi and BLBA 2021 jury member, added, "In the BLBA award process, inviting for readers' nominations is an excellent idea. It makes the award process democratic, transparent and inclusive".

The Process - From nominations till winner announcement

Nomination: One can send in their entries in two ways –

Fill in the online form and submit directly

Download the form, fill and email to us at hello@biglittlebookaward.in

Self-nomination is not accepted. The award invites public nomination where anyone can nominate. Nomination forms are filled and submitted online only and a maximum of three authors and three illustrators can be nominated by each person.

Selection: After the nomination closes, a longlist is drawn in consultation with the jury members. Publishers are requested for copies of the books of authors and illustrators. Over a period of two or three months, the jury members independently shortlist authors and illustrators. The winners are then chosen by the jury after exhaustive deliberations.

Winners: After the evaluation process, winners will be announced in December by the Parag Initiative, Tata Trusts.  

This year’s jury for the authors’ category comprises of Greystroke, a veteran writer and illustrator of children’s books for over 25 years, Dr. M. M Basheer recipient of the Kerala Sahitya Parishath Award in 2017 and author of 50 Malayalam books, Paul Zacharia who has published over 50 works of fiction and non-fiction, Sherylene Rafeeque, ex-editorial team member of The English Express, a series of English textbooks for the lower and middle grades in India; and Classic Folktales from Around the World, a 12-volume special edition, and Suneetha Balakrishnan, author of two novellas, one poetry anthology, and five translations including the Malayalam translation of Jhumpa Lahiri’s “Interpreter of Maladies”. Jury for illustrators include, Aashti Mudnani, illustration lover and founder of Lightroom, a bookstore for children’s books in Bengaluru, Proiti Roy, illustrator and designer with a background in advertising, Rani Dharker, author and artist whose first novel ‘The Virgin Syndrome’ made it to the shortlist for the Commonwealth Prize, Sunandini Banerjee, Senior Editor and Senior Graphic Designer at Seagull Books, and Thejaswi Shivanand, teacher at Center for Learning near Bengaluru and a consultant for library programmes and a faculty at the Library Educators Course (English), run by Bookworm, Goa.

BLBA, since its inception, has awarded distinguished work across Hindi, Marathi, Bengali, Kannada and English. Prolific English children’s book writer Ms. Subhadra Sen Gupta, whom we unfortunately lost this year, and Mr. Rajiv Eipe, were the winners of Big Little Book Award, 2020. Erstwhile winners in the author category have included Madhuri Purandare (in Marathi in 2016), Nabaneeta Dev Sen (in Bengali in 2017), Nagesh Hegde (in Kannada in 2018), Prabhat (in Hindi in 2019) along with illustrators, Atanu Roy (2016), Proiti Roy (2017), Nina Sabnani (2018) and Priya Kuriyan (2019).

BLBA is Parag Initiative’s endeavour to shine the spotlight on authors and illustrators’ literary work that has helped simplify children’s navigation through a multicultural and multilingual environment. Striking a balance between the traditional and the contemporary, these authors and illustrators have given India books that address sensitive topics with the finesse of creative narration coupled with illustrations that are inclusive, humorous and defiant of gender and caste stereotypes. As a platform for young readers, parents, schools, publishers and other stakeholders to congregate and share their love for reading, BLBA also collaborates with literary festivals, children’s bookstores to advocate for literature in Indian languages.

For more information, head to  https://www.paragreads.in/blba-2021/

About Tata Trusts

Since inception in 1892, Tata Trusts, India’s oldest philanthropic organisation, has played a pioneering role in bringing about an enduring difference in the lives of the communities it serves. Guided by the principles and the vision of proactive philanthropy of the Founder, Jamsetji Tata, the Trusts’ purpose is to catalyse development in the areas of health, nutrition, education, water, sanitation and hygiene, livelihood, digital transformation, migration and urban habitat, social justice and inclusion, environment and energy, skill development, sports, and arts and culture. The Trusts’ programmes, achieved through direct implementation, partnerships and grant making, are marked by innovations, relevant to the country.

COAI Announces Its Leadership For The Year 2021-22 at The AGM

COAI, the apex industry association representing leading Telecom, Internet, Technology and Digital Services companies, concluded its Annual General Body Meeting for the Financial Year 2020-21, with the announcement of its leadership for the term 2021-22.

Mr. Ajai Puri, Chief Operating Officer (India and South Asia), Bharti Airtel Limited, will once again hold the position of Chairman while Mr. Pramod Kumar Mittal, President, Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited, will be the Vice Chairman of the Association.

Mr. Ajai Puri has been with Bharti Airtel since 2004, and has held several senior leadership positions including Director – Market Operations and Director and CEO – DTH. Prior to joining Bharti Airtel, Mr. Puri served as the Business Head - Foods at Cargill Foods India. He began his career with VST India Ltd, an associate company of British American Tobacco (UK).  

Mr. Pramod Kumar Mittal comes with a rich experience of 42 years in telecommunications.  Before joining India‘s largest telecom operator, Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd. as President, Mr. Mittal served in the Department of Telecommunications, Government of India, for over 37 years. Since the year 2000, he served as Deputy Director General (DDG) and then as Senior DDG, working in the telecommunication policy formulation and implementation, licensing and regulatory   wings of the DoT. During his tenure, he was responsible for the liberalization of Basic services, opening of National Long-Distance Services and   International Long-Distance Services, introduction and implementation of Unified Access Service Licence and the Unified Licence regime.

Lt. Gen. Dr. SP Kochhar, Director General, COAI, expressed his appreciation for Mr. Ajai Puri and Mr. Pramod K Mittal's support and their leadership. The past year has been one of the most eventful and also the most challenging for the Indian telecom industry. The AGR ruling of the Honorable Supreme court added to the challenges posed by the pandemic, the nationwide lock-downs, and the multiple cyclones that battered India. Despite these challenges the industry has continued to serve the nation as an essential service.

COAI is optimistic about the future of the industry and the opportunities ahead, as 5G and allied technologies get closer to commercial deployment.

Mr. Ajai Puri, Chief Operating Officer, India and South Asia, Bharti Airtel Limited and Chairman, COAI, commented, “The digital communications industry has once again risen to serve India and has kept the nation connected during this unprecedented phase. On behalf of the industry, I would like to reiterate our commitment to support the government’s efforts to connect and digitise the country at large as we emerge from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. We are thankful to the DoT, Central and State Governments as well as the Telecom Regulator for supporting and encouraging the industry to achieve the role envisioned for it.”

Mr. Pramod Kumar Mittal, President, Reliance Jio Infocomm and Vice Chairman, COAI, said, “It’s a pleasure for me to once again take the responsibility as Vice Chairman of COAI and continue to work with the industry to bring about the next level of reforms in order to uplift and strengthen the sector while initiating measures for the benefit of end consumers.”

Lt. Gen. Dr. SP Kochhar, Director General, COAI, said “We would like to thank our leadership for their guidance and support during this challenging time and further express confidence in their ability to steer the Association and the sector towards long term health and stability. We are pleased to share that the digital communications industry, with the support of the government has emerged as the economic and social backbone of the Nation, keeping the citizens connected and enabling the economy to function during the crisis period of COVID-19 and cyclones. As the industry continues to play its critical role, the future has a lot in store for us with the ecosystem gearing up for 5G. We are committed to play an even greater role in achieving the Digital India vision.

About COAI:

COAI, was constituted in 1995 as a registered, non-governmental society. COAI’s vision is to establish India as the global leader of mobile communications infrastructure, products and services and achieving a national tele-density of 100 percent, including broadband. The association is also dedicated to the advancement of modern communication and towards delivering the benefits of innovative and affordable mobile communication services to the people of India.

10,000 Hairstylists, Beauticians And Salon Staff Across India To Get COVID-19 Vaccination By Godrej Professional

Godrej Professional, a professional brand with products across hair colour, care, styling and keratin from Godrej Consumer Products Limited (GCPL), announced Suraksha Salon 2.0, an industry-first initiative focussing on the health, wellness and protection of salon community. In its first edition introduced in 2020, Suraksha Salon focussed on helping salon community with necessary hygiene solutions, education on safety and hygiene for salon infrastructure and services, and back-to-business support.

Through Suraksha Salon 2.0, Godrej Professional will be providing priority vaccination to 10,000 hairstylists, beauticians and salon staff across India. They need to register on www.cowin.gov.in and follow the Godrej Professional Instagram handle to get updates about the drive in their respective cities. The Instagram handle shares city specific links for the drives, to sign up. Post sharing details, the team at Godrej Professional will get in touch in person to verify and share the vaccination slots. Suraksha Salon 2.0 will provide all the necessary guidance, resources and updates to salon owners to ensure safety and well-being of their staff and customers. This free of cost vaccination drive will be conducted by Godrej Professional across cities like Mumbai, Pune, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Delhi, Kolkata, Guwahati, Vadodara, Chandigarh, and Ludhiana. This initiative will be further expanded to more cities.

Speaking about the initiative, Sunil Kataria CEO – India and SAARC, Godrej Consumer Products Limited (GCPL), said, “Godrej Professional is committed to empower and uplift the Indian salon industry. After a strong outreach of Suraksha Salon last year, the second edition encourages the salon community to get vaccinated and provide them the necessary mental support. COVID-19 has already heavily impacted the salon industry leading to a complete halt of operations for over five months during the first wave of the pandemic.  The second ongoing wave made it more difficult for salons as this also led to complete shutdown. Hairstylists, beauticians and salon staff work in close proximity with their clients and it becomes critical for this workforce to be vaccinated at the earliest. Vaccination will not only make sure they are safe but are also empowered to return to their work as soon as salons are opening up.”

Appreciating the initiative, Vikram Bhatt, Founder, Enrich Salon, said, “Firstly, we would like to express our heartfelt gratitude for Godrej Professional to come up with such a great initiative for the hair & beauty industry - It will go a long way. Registration was done flawlessly and slots were allocated with personal messages to individuals. On the day of vaccination everything was well organised. Right from the senior members in the team to the one volunteering at the venue, all were hands-on and helping every possible way. Would like to make a special mention to the backend team who were proactive and ensuring we utilize all the slots effectively.”

“Godrej Professional Suraksha Salon Program is a great initiative supporting the salon industry during these testing times. Along with other activities, priority vaccination is a remarkable step taken as part of the program. This is very important as salons are opening up again and the salon professionals working in them will need protection against the virus. This also ensures customers who visit the salon are safe as well”, added, S Arvind kumar, VP - Operations (AP/ Orissa and Telangana, Naturals Salon & Spa.

Godrej Professional has also partnered with Fortis Hospitals Mumbai for a dedicated helpline – 6366528566, which will provide free guidance for all coronavirus related queries. Additionally, live sessions will be conducted by Dr Manjeet Singh Arora, Consultant-General Medicine & Community Health Expert, Fortis Hospital, Mulund; Dr Rajesh Parikh, neuropsychiatrist and the author of the first book on vaccine ‘The Vaccine Book‘; & Director of Medical Research, Jaslok Hospital on myth busting, guide to vaccination and other COVID-19 related issues to spread awareness and curb misinformation.

Godrej Professional also tied up with Mindhouse-who are building the World's Largest Wellness Platform, to conduct mental wellness programme for the salon professionals.

The first edition of Suraksha Salon saw Godrej Professional supporting 10,000+ salons, donating 15,000 litres of sanitizers and 10,000 re-usable masks to stylists. In addition, Godrej Professional supported salons with disposable kits as well. ‘Suraksha Guidelines’, a comprehensive module on safety and hygiene, were curated by health experts for the safety of the salon community. The guidelines covered all aspects including salon sanitization, employee safety, client safety, hair services, and skin and make-up services. The whitepaper is available in English, Hindi and 7 regional languages such Marathi, Gujarati, Punjabi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Bengali for salon owners and stylists across all parts of the country to easily understand.

A Lot Has Changed In Marketing By Biswajit Das, Co-Founder Of Brandintelle

The spokesperson Mr. Biswajit Das, Co-Founder, Brandintelle

 2015

It was during an ideation session in May 2015 that we realised that the sheer range of options for marketing has multiplied geometrically - addressing different consumer behaviour across various target groups & markets. 

And with digitisation on the rise, the consumers’ awareness of their choices had gone up exponentially. 

All this had led to greater competition. Which had made brands become more serious about their marketing investments - to stay ahead of the competition. 

It was clear that like the rest of the world, marketing has become infinitely more complex.

No one can deny that saying ahead of the competition has certainly become more complex!

Unified Processes for Marketing

Despite being a significant investment of the corporate world, marketing never got its unified processes automated unlike the other critical functions. 

Most organisations even then, had well-defined finance processes enforced through a Finance module. Production & distribution platforms were equally structured, with activities being monitored through dedicated software modules. But when it came to Marketing, there was no cohesive, unified process for all Marketing activities across the enterprise. 

Assuming that Marketing & Promotions consumed an average of 10% of the topline of any business, this was nothing short of astounding!

Already, Marketing involves too many diverse activities from digital to multiple media, to activation, events, influencers & ambassadors, promotion schemes … along with tracking, monitoring, auditing & market research. 

Further, all these activities were spread across the various stakeholders at the brand owner’s end - from Corporate Communications to Central Marketing, Marketing Planning  to Brand Marketing to Product Management to Regional Marketing, Dealers/Franchisees to Sales to Procurement, Finance,  Distribution, etc.

And to add to the complications, over 90% of marketing activities were outsourced to multiple vendors, in piecemeal. (A little over a decade ago, practically every Marketing activity was routed through a single, trusted advertising agency!)

A Case for Central Marketing Platform

How do you orchestrate all the numerous marketing activities across the enterprise without synchronised process automation was impossible! That’s why marketing activities seemed opaque to other departments & marketing investments were looked at as “not well accounted for.”

In reality, the CMO designate did not have a real time view of marketing investments & activities across the enterprise - simply because the sheer width of activities & spread of markets, semi-manual processes & people dependencies made marketing data almost invisible to the enterprise. 

What’s needed is unified & integrated process automation for all aspects of marketing operations - media, digital, BTL - with dedicated processes for central & regional workflows as well as incentive-based marketing. 

Howsoever useful that may be, if that were the limited objective of a Central Marketing Platform, then it would rightfully not justify too much attention.

Financial Control, Improve Efficiency & Track Effectiveness

The real objective of a Central Marketing Platform must be threefold:

Better financial Controls

Higher Efficiency & 

Track Effectiveness

Unified, integrated marketing processes across the enterprise ensures tight financial control by way of 

Adherence to budgets

Selective data visibility 

As far as efficiency of marketing teams goes, we may note that marketing teams are traditionally miniscule in size compared to the marketing investments that they manage.  This make the need to outsource most activities very clear.  

Now, outsourcing & virtual collaboration went hand in hand - even before the pandemic. So, the workflow automation must be based on virtual collaboration, which is integrated with the transactions processing. 

Coming to tracking marketing effectiveness, this need was always clear. But this is where the overall process faltered.  

Here are 3 ways in which a Central Marketing Platform  can help achieve this:

It can be extended to a marketing data lake  which could be the repository for all sales, marketing & competition data. 

It could ensure data visible via dashboards for insights.  

Further, the ready data could be used for frequent analytics exercises which could be converted into deep insights via custom dashboards.

Finally, another way of looking at a Central Marketing Platform is an enabler which helps Marketing to transition from a jerky, stepwise process of Planning - Operations & Insights to a continuous, seamless, process.

Tata Motors Urges The Indian Youth To Be ‘Atmanirbhar’ With Its New Ace Gold TVC

 

* The campaign focusses on the growth of the youth of the country and promotes self-reliance and hard work

Tata Motors, India’s largest commercial vehicle manufacturer, launched its latest Ace Gold TVC paying tribute to India’s business owners and showcasing the opportunities for the youth of India in the last-mile delivery segment. The campaign embodies Ace’s spirit of self-employment and entrepreneurship with an inspiring message of taking charge of one’s future. The campaign features Bollywood actor and Tata Motors’ commercial vehicle segment brand ambassador, Akshay Kumar and banks on ‘Aatmanirbharta’ sentiment.

Building on the brand proposition of “Kamyabi, Kal, Aaj Aur Kal”, the film is set against the backdrop of a difficult economic situation and growing unemployment among the youth further encouraging the youngsters of India to work hard and look for opportunities as entrepreneurs. Establishing Ace Gold as the first step in the journey to success, the film features young and prosperous logistics business owner, Vijay, who traces his success back to his first Ace Gold. He passes on a stirring message to the new generation, who are underqualified in a highly competitive corporate environment and feel left behind. The film ends with Vijay attributing his accomplishments to Tata Ace Gold, a reliable partner in his journey.

Conceptualised and developed by Rediffusion, the campaign was rolled out today across multiple channels as various digital platforms. It’s an extension of the brand’s philosophy, focused on showcasing the youth of India as change-makers and architects India – economically and socially.

Tata Ace has earned the reputation of an iconic vehicle since its launch in 2005, where it pioneered the small commercial vehicle (SCV) category in the country. The company recognised their SCV customers’ aspirations to become their own bosses and engineered Ace Gold to become the ‘Entrepreneurship Vehicle. Since its inception, Tata Ace has been the trusted partner of more than 23 lakh entrepreneurs and is the single largest commercial vehicle brand in the country.

Speaking on the launch, Mr. Rajesh Kaul, Vice President, Sales & Marketing, Commercial Vehicle Business Unit, Tata Motors, said, “Tata Motors has always played an active role in supporting its customers’ business growth and their aspirations. The Ace product line has always embodied the spirit of entrepreneurship and atmanirbharta, having created over 23 lakh entrepreneurs across the years. With Ace Gold, India’s future entrepreneurs are given an affordable means to begin their self-employment journey and help create a successful livelihood for themselves. The campaign intends to and encourages financial independence in the country’s youth by showing continuity and triumph over arduous days. We hope our campaign becomes the catalyst for many budding entrepreneurs, inspiring them to overcome difficulties and drive towards success”.

Tata Ace comes with the petrol, diesel, and CNG variants with the advanced BS6 technology, which continues to offer a superior value proposition to customers. Tata Ace Gold is engineered with the ’Power of 6’ philosophy, that promises superior profitability, vehicle performance, driving comfort, convenience, and connectivity, along with safety – all with a lower total cost of ownership (TCO) making it the obvious choice for consumers. Additionally, being a Tata Motors vehicle the company’s various vehicle care programs, fleet management solutions, annual maintenance packages, and resale for commercial vehicles under the Sampoorna Seva 2.0 initiative are extended to Ace Gold. Furthermore, the company also offers Tata Alert offering 24×7 roadside assistance for all vehicles under warranty, Tata Kavach ensures that all accidental vehicles insured under Tata Motors Insurance are repaired within 15 days, and a service turnaround time guarantee under Tata Zippy to ensure maximum uptime.

Link to the Ace Gold TVC - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hYytadoBPwo

About Tata Motors

Tata Motors Limited (NYSE: TTM; BSE: 500570 and 570001; NSE: TATAMOTORS and TATAMTRDVR), a USD 35 billion organization, is a leading global automobile manufacturer of cars, utility vehicles, pick-ups, trucks and buses. Part of the USD 113 billion Tata group, Tata Motors is India’s largest and the only OEM offering extensive range of integrated, smart and e-mobility solutions. It has operations in India, the UK, South Korea, Thailand, South Africa, and Indonesia through a strong global network of 103 subsidiaries, 10 associate companies, 3 joint ventures and 2 joint operations as on March 31, 2020.

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, UK, US, Italy and South Korea. Internationally, Tata commercial and passenger vehicles are marketed in countries, spread across Africa, the Middle East, South Asia, South East Asia, South America, Australia, CIS, and Russia.

Tata Motors Rolls Out The 2,00,000th Nexon In Ranjangaon, Pune

* India's 1st GNCAP 5 Star rated car surges ahead with increasing demand every month

Adhering to Covid 19 safety protocols and hygiene norms, Tata Motors, India’s leading automotive brand, today rolled out the 2,00,000th Nexon from its Ranjangaon facility in Pune. Since the 150K roll out in November 2020, the last 50K units have been recorded in less than 6 months, with demand outpacing supply and production limited due to the pandemic. The Nexon is among the top 3 highest selling compact SUVs, in India and the company celebrates a new milestone in the brand’s journey as it grows in its popularity every month.

The Nexon is the first car in India to receive a full 5-star adult safety rating by Global NCAP, an internationally renowned automotive safety accreditation body and is much acclaimed for its class-leading safety, design and driving pleasure. Customer bookings have been growing and in March 2021, Nexon sales set a new record of 8,683 units in a month, further strengthening the Company’s leadership position in the C-SUV segment.

Since its launch in 2017, Tata Motors has constantly upgraded the Nexon for safety, GNCAP certification, design, regulations, emissions, aspirational and segment defining feature additions. It is now available in 20 variants offering customers an exciting product proposition at different price points. The range includes 12 variants in petrol and 8 variants in diesel with automatic and manual transmission options. In keeping with its brand promise of ‘New Forever,’ the Company has constantly refreshed its product portfolio, to meet the evolving needs of customers.

The Nexon has been the flagbearer of Tata Motors’ commitment to safety as it has paved way for other cars from Tata Motors like the Altroz, Tiago and Tigor to establish new benchmarks in car safety in each of their respective segments. It is one of the most successful products from the New Forever range of Tata Motors’ portfolio.

To know more, visit the nearest Tata Motors showroom or view https://cars.tatamotors.com/suv/nexon. Customers can also enquire, request a test drive, make bookings and choose from a range of attractive financing options from the comfort and safety of their homes via ‘Click to Drive’, an end-to-end online sales platform by Tata Motors.

First Ever CREDAI Report: 95% Developers Fear Project Delays Due To 2nd COVID Wave; Industry Seeks Urgent Relief For Recovery

* A total of 4,813 developers from 217 cities across India participated in one of the most extensive real estate surveys conducted as yet.

* 90% developers feel that second wave is more devastating on the business than the first.

* Labour shortage, financial constraints, approval delays, increased construction costs, and weakening customer demand are key challenges highlighted by the developers.

The Confederation of Real Estate Developers' Associations of India released findings of its first ever industry survey conducted across North, East, West and South zones between 24th May and 3rd June, 2021, to assess the impact of second wave of COVID-19 on real estate sector in India. Conducted with stratified sampling method, the exploratory survey witnessed a first-of-its-kind extensive participation of 4,813 developers from 217 cities, providing crucial insights on the industry sentiment and the range of challenges faced by the real estate sector.

According to the survey report, over 95% developers feel inevitable project delays if no urgent relief measures are injected in the sector by the Government and RBI. These delays are attributed to a range of factors, with 92% developers experiencing labor shortage at sites, 83% developers are working with less than half the workforce, and over 82% of developers are facing project approval delays.

Remarking on the study outcomes, Mr. Harsh Vardhan Patodia, President, CREDAI National said, “The real estate sector showed tremendous resilience in bouncing back on a cautious recovery path post the first wave, despite little relief measures. However, the second wave has prompted us to reflect and re-evaluate the growth path of the industry, and we felt it was vital to assess the challenges faced by the customers and industry partners in light of the recent developments. The findings reveal that the second wave has had a more debilitating impact on the real estate sector than the first wave.”

Added factors such as recent spike in construction materials including steel, cement etc have contributed to more than 10% increase in construction cost for more than 88% developers. Various financial constraints and liquidity crunch are further adding to the problem, with 77% developers experiencing issues in servicing of existing loans, 85% developers facing disruptions in planned collection, and 69% are facing issues in disbursement of customer home loans.

The survey findings by the apex body of real estate developers also puts spotlight on changing consumer behaviour, resulting in slowing of demand due to decrease in enquires and site visits. A staggering 98% developers are facing reduced customer enquiries and 42% developers are experiencing a 75% decline in customer enquiries. Furthermore, the report reveals that the second wave has caused 95% of customers to postpone their purchase decisions.

CREDAI’s Covid Impact Analysis Report is probably India’s most comprehensive and credible Real Estate Survey as it comes straight from developers across the nation and projects the ground reality. The impact analysis report will be shared with the concerned ministries and all relevant stakeholders.

“We have made a representation to the government citing the current survey and requesting the government to infuse urgent financial stimulus and initiate quick progressive measures to assist  recovery. As a part of our presentations, we have requested for liquidity infusion, one-time restructuring of loans, across the board 6 months extension of completion date by Rera, stamp duty reduction or waiver, moratorium extension on principal & interest for 6 months, and freezing of SMA classification for another year. We are hopeful that the government will consider our appeal and will make urgent interventions this time.” Mr. Harsh Vardhan Patodia, President, CREDAI National added.

The apex developers’ body also feels that reducing cost of construction materials, implementing single window clearances for project approvals and work commencement, and allowing input tax credit for all sectors will help the business. 

CREDAI deems that continued and adequate policy support is critical for the revival of Indian economy, as the real estate sector accounts for 6–7% of GDP, is the second largest employer, and is a business generator for over 270 ancillary industries in the country.

About CREDAI:

Established in 1999, The Confederation of Real Estate Developers’ Association of India, is the apex body for private real estate developers in India, representing over 13,000 developers through 21 states and 217 city chapters across the country. CREDAI has worked hard to make the industry more organized and progressive by networking closely with government representatives, policymakers, investors. CREDAI works towards the improvement of ethical standards & business practices in real estate. CREDAI is well-recognized by the Central and State Governments in all its endeavours.

UN Recognised ECOSTP Technologies To Showcase Its Patented Innovation At Museum Of Design Atlanta (MODA)

* ECOSTP will be the only startup from Asia to showcase their innovation at MODA’s annual exhibition

Bengaluru-based ECOSTP Technologies, have been chosen as the only startup from Asia by Museum of Design, Atlanta (MODA) to showcase their biomimicry STP solution at their annual exhibition ‘Full Circle: Design without End’ later this year. The exhibition will showcase the work of designers who are using and experimenting with regenerative approaches to realize works ranging from large-scale architectural projects to everyday products; and provide real-world actions that everyone can take to address the climate change challenge we are facing. ECOSTP Technologies, mentored by Brigade REAP, has been chosen for their innovation which treats sewage in a decentralised, self-sustainable way in underground chambers without power, chemicals, or human intervention. Using biomimicry, regenerative innovation inspired by nature, ECOSTP mimics the functional working of micro-organisms and ecosystems found in a cow’s stomach.

Commenting on the development, Tharun Kumar, Co-Founder and CEO, ECOSTP Technologies Private Limited said, “We have been selected by MODA for our “Zero Power Zero Operator” Sewage Treatment Technology that has no moving parts when compared to conventional STPs which use energy hogging motors, exhaust fans, pumps, and blowers. Since inception, we have saved 196 million litres of water and have saved 208 MW of power which is equivalent to powering 31 villages for a year. We also implemented the 'Toilet to Tap' - Waste water to Drinking Quality for Coevolve Estates, Bengaluru, which was rated the greenest building in Asiapac by WGBC. Our association with Brigade REAP as mentors has taken us a long way in sourcing funds, fine tuning our business strategy and implementing our go to market strategy.”

ECOSTP addresses six UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and has been earlier selected as a Best Practice case study for the United Nations ESCAP SDG Sustainability Asia Pac report. ECOSTP Technologies’ solutions are currently deployed across 15 states in India and the company plans to expand its footprint to Indonesia, Africa, and Bangladesh to begin with, in the near future. 

International Cancer Consortium To Strengthen Global Cancer Research Leadership In Collaboration With MAHE

The Indo-American Cancer Consortium (IACC) is the first collaborative initiative involving multiple tertiary cancer centers from India and the United States. The consortium is expected to generate infrastructure and strengthen global cancer research leadership and mentorship. Participating institutes include- Manipal Academy of Higher Education (MAHE), Saroj Gupta Cancer Centre and Research Institute and Tata Memorial Centre in India, and the Mayo Clinic Cancer Center plus University of Kentucky Markey Cancer Center in the U.S.

Lt. Gen. (Dr.) M. D. Venkatesh, Vice-Chancellor of MAHE says “the initiative will create a global transdisciplinary team of basic cancer researchers, oncologists, epidemiologists, and surveillance experts. The consortium will build infrastructure, expand capacity, and strengthen global cancer research leadership and healthcare”.

Dr. Mahadev Rao, Professor, and Head of Department of Pharmacy Practice and Coordinator of Center for Translational Research who is coordinating IACC says “The goal of this consortium is to foster significant cooperation between cancer center faculties. Over 30 faculty members with active research programs in basic science, clinical and translational research and public health sciences relevant to cancer are included”. The consortium offers online courses in basic cancer biology, translational oncology, and epidemiology. The consortium has also been hosting events like faculty and student research presentations. Students at partnered cancer centers in India are unable to attend their usual lectures due to the current outbreak. These consortium activities offer them a way to continue their learning process. So far, the consortium has conducted several online sessions.

Dr. Naveen S Salins, Coordinator, Manipal Comprehensive Cancer Care Centre, says that such a collaborative approach is especially important in cancer care, where, for example, intricate details about genetic mutations in a patient's tumor necessitate the combined expertise of basic and translation scientists as well as clinicians to not only select the precise treatment for the patient but also to ensure that the patient receives the best possible outcome. However, he adds that the thrill of collaborating across continents to advance global cancer research and training is counterbalanced by the hurdles of securing financial funding for the consortium's ambitious programs. Given the benefits of inter-institutional collaborative projects that create infrastructure, boost capacity, and improve the research fervor and overall cancer care environment in participating countries, such financing is expected from public, commercial, or charitable sources.

Inter-institutional collaboration efforts, according to Dr. Sharath K Rao, Dean, Kasturba Medical College, MAHE are urgently needed, particularly in India, to enable the construction of cooperative infrastructure projects and ensure the continuity of cancer patient care in participating hospitals. Dr. C. Mallikarjuna Rao, Principal of Manipal College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, MAHE stressed the importance of the consortium exhibiting its commitment to cross-disciplinary collaboration to improve the quality of care for cancer patients.

Virtusa Appoints Santosh Thomas As The New Chief Executive Officer

Virtusa Corporation, a global provider of digital strategy, digital engineering and IT services and solutions that help clients change and disrupt markets through innovation engineering, today announced the appointment of Santosh Thomas as its new Chief Executive Officer (CEO).

Virtusa’s Board of Directors appointed Santosh as successor to the company’s founder, Kris Canekeratne, who announced his transition from the business in May 2021. Santosh joins Virtusa during a time of significant growth and follows the recent appointment of Sander van‘t Noordende to the position of Chairman of the Board of Directors.

Santosh brings more than 20 years of leadership and industry experience to Virtusa. Most recently Santosh served as President of Global Growth Markets at Cognizant where he managed a business with revenues over $4 billion and built multiple billion-dollar businesses in Europe and Asia Pacific in Banking, CommTech and Products & Resources.  In his new role, Santosh will help Virtusa drive growth in key markets and continue to be recognized as an employer of choice.

“On behalf of the entire company and the Board of Directors, I would like to thank Kris for his more than two decades of leadership,” said Sander van‘t Noordende. “I would also like to welcome Santosh who brings a stellar track record of client service, leadership, and proven success. Santosh has the vision and experience to take Virtusa’s deep heritage in digital engineering to new levels of growth.”

“I am deeply onoured to join Virtusa at this exciting time for our employees, clients and partners,” said Santosh Thomas. “I have admired Kris and Virtusa for fostering a culture of innovation and distinguishing itself as a global leader in helping customers tackle their unique digital transformation challenges. Virtusa has a great brand reputation, an impressive roster of strategic partners, and is well positioned for sustained growth.”

“When I founded Virtusa 25 years ago I had a vision to build a global powerhouse in digital engineering services. And we did just that,” said Kris Canekeratne. “I leave with the confidence that the company and its leadership team have never been stronger and its opportunities have never been greater. I welcome Santosh Thomas to the CEO role and wish him the best in his efforts to lead Virtusa through its next phase of growth.”

Also announced today, Denise Warren has joined Virtusa’s Board of Directors and has been appointed Chairperson of its Audit Committee. Ms. Warren recently retired from her position as Chief Operating Officer (COO) of WakeMed Health & Hospitals, and serves on the boards of Brookdale Senior Living, Computer Programs & Systems Inc., and Rockroom Insurance Group. 

New Jaguar F-PACE Introduced Priced At ₹ 69.99 Lakh Across India

* The award winning Jaguar F-PACE gets a complete makeover with enhanced exterior design, an all-new interior, advanced connectivity and efficient powertrains

* The new Jaguar F-PACE is available for the first time in India in the R-Dynamic S trim on Ingenium 2.0 l petrol and diesel powertrains

* Introduction of next generation 2.0 l, four-cylinder, turbocharged Ingenium diesel engine

* Enhanced exterior with new super-slim all-LED headlights, grille, rear lights and bumper give the new F-PACE a more assertive presence

* All-new interior colorways introduced in Mars Red and Siena Tan

* The new Jaguar F-PACE is priced at ₹ 69.99 Lakh, ex-showroom in India

* Customers can book the new Jaguar F-PACE online by visiting www.findmeacar.in from the safety of their homes

Jaguar Land Rover India today announced that it has begun deliveries of the new Jaguar F-PACE in India. The new F-PACE is available for the first time in the R-Dynamic S trim on Ingenium 2.0 l petrol and diesel powertrains. The 2.0 l petrol engine delivers a power of 184 kW and 365 Nm of torque and the 2.0 l diesel engine delivers a power of 150 kW and 430 Nm of torque. The new Jaguar F-PACE is priced at ₹ 69.99 Lakh, ex-showroom in India.

Rohit Suri, President & Managing Director, Jaguar Land Rover India, said, “The New Jaguar F-PACE sets a new benchmark in aesthetic and luxury appeal. It’s enhanced and stunning looks are bound to attract existing and new customers who will also get a superior connected-car experience from this iconic luxury performance SUV.”

Exterior Design

The new exterior design gives the award-winning Jaguar F-PACE a cleaner and more assured presence that features a new sculpted bonnet with a wider power bulge. The enlarged grille features Jaguar’s heritage logo-inspired ‘diamond’ detailing, while the side fender vents feature the iconic Leaper emblem. A new front bumper with redesigned air intakes and dark mesh details visually widen the new F-PACE, for a more assured dynamic presence. New super slim all-LED quad headlights with ‘Double J’ Daytime Running Light (DRL) signatures deliver increased resolution and brightness. At the rear, new slimline lights feature Jaguar’s double chicane graphic, first previewed on the all-electric I-PACE, to accentuate the width of the vehicle. The new bumper design and sculpted new tailgate also add visual drama and deliver a more confident appearance.

In R-Dynamic specification, the new F-PACE features a series of distinct design elements for a more performance-focused look.

Interior Design

The F-PACE has an all-new interior with heightened luxury, enhanced connectivity and greater refinement. Two new colorways have been introduced in Mars Red and Siena Tan for a unique, sporty and luxurious feel. The new cockpit design is bolder, more dynamic and with greater focus on the driver. A new center console sweeps up to the instrument panel and incorporates wireless device charging feature. Authentic aluminium finisher in beautifully formed shapes such as the upper door insert and full width ‘Piano lid’ that is formed across the width of the instrument panel.

The new Drive Selector, just one of the many beautiful details in the new F-PACE, features an upper section finished with ‘cricket-ball’ stitching, the lower part being made of precision-engineered metal for enhanced tactility. New door casings, featuring a 360-degree grab handle, provide easier access and increased storage for bottles and other items.

Other key features include Row 2 Seat with Power Recline, Four Zone Climate Control, Interactive Driver Display and Fixed Panoramic Roof.

Technology

The new Jaguar F-PACE features a range of new technologies to ensure that the vehicle is always connected and always up to date. The latest Pivi Pro infotainment technology is accessed through the all-new 28.95 cm (11.4) curved glass HD touchscreen. Its key benefits include enhanced clarity and simplified menu structure that allow customers to access or view up to 90 per cent of common tasks from the home-screen in two taps or less. Cabin Air Ionisation improves interior air quality through Nanoe technology, which removes allergens and unpleasant odors. The system now also features PM2.5 filtration, which captures ultra-fine particles including PM2.5 particulates to improve occupant health and wellbeing. 

The new F-PACE also has exciting features such as the 3D Surround Camera, Meridian Audio System, Smartphone Pack and Remote (with e-call and b-call functionality).

To know more about the new Jaguar F-PACE, kindly visit www.jaguar.in.

Jaguar Product Portfolio in India

The Jaguar range in India includes XE (starting at ₹ 46.64 Lakh), XF (starting at ₹ 55.67 Lakh),  I-PACE (starting at ₹ 105.9 Lakh) and F-TYPE (starting at ₹ 97.97 Lakh). All prices mentioned are ex-showroom in India.

Jaguar Land Rover Retailer Network in India

Jaguar Land Rover vehicles are available in India in 24 cities, through 28 authorized outlets in Ahmedabad, Aurangabad, Bengaluru (3), Bhubaneswar, Chandigarh, Chennai (2), Coimbatore, Delhi, Gurgaon, Hyderabad, Indore, Jaipur, Kolkata, Kochi, Karnal, Lucknow, Ludhiana, Mangalore, Mumbai (2) , Noida, Pune, Raipur, Surat and Vijayawada.