Drone Technology Start-Up AUS Signs INR 3.75 Crore Lease Financing Deal With Grip

* Grip and AUS have entered a first-of-its-kind deal that allows retail investors to invest in India’s growing drone market

* Enabled through Lease Financing options on Grip’s Alternative Investment platform

* Under this deal, Grip will enable AUS to build new revenue streams by leveraging lease financing and facilitating more than 50 drones.

Grip, an alternative investment platform, has announced that it has become India’s first company to provide lease financing opportunities in drones, to retail investors. Grip and Aarav Unmanned Systems (AUS) entered into a first-of-its-kind unique lease financial deal worth INR 3.75 crore that paves the way for retail investors to invest in the growing drone ecosystem in India. Further, Grip also unlocks a new revenue stream for promising businesses in India’s drone segment by leveraging lease financing options. 

AUS is the first Indian company to develop professional drone solutions for enterprises and get a small category (> 2kg weight) drone certification from the DGCA, India. The company was established in 2013 and has so far, mapped more than 5 million acres, 15000 villages and 35 cities. It has further covered more than 250 mines and 350 stockyards for mining, metal, and power companies like Tata Steel, Hindalco, and Coal India, etc. Under this deal, Grip will enable AUS to build new revenue streams by leveraging lease financing for more than 50 drones.

Commenting on the announcement, Nikhil Aggarwal, CEO & Founder, Grip, said, “India's commercial drone market has grown leaps and bounds in the past few years witnessing growing adoption across several verticals such as mining, filming & photography, and agriculture in the country. We’re super excited to facilitate a first-of-its-kind lease financing deal to help scale India’s drone segment. AUS is a leading company in drone manufacturing and provides services like surveying, mining, mapping, etc. We are committed to establishing Grip as a platform that provides alternative sources of capital for high-growth companies like AUS.”

AUS offers end-to-end integrated solutions for drone applications, providing the drone, an operator and a cloud platform for data analysis. The company is profitable and has seen tremendous growth in revenue - 250% annually for the past 3 years.  It is currently the leading player with the highest market share in the commercial drone market in India. It is one of the three companies whose product has been shortlisted to map India’s 6 lakh villages by the Government of India.

Commenting on the partnership with Grip, Vipul Singh, CEO & Co-founder, AUS, said, “Drones are fast becoming a vehicle of development and financial inclusion in India. Our drones are making an impact on some of the largest mining & metal brands and large-scale infrastructure players in India, including Tata Steel, Hindalco, NTPC, Coal India, and others. We are also a key player for the SVAMITVA scheme of the Ministry of Panchayati Raj, for the digitization of land records in rural India. The drone sector is growing in leaps and bounds, and we are happy to partner with Grip to provide this investment opportunity to retail investors.”

The development comes on the heels of the honorable Finance Minister emphasizing the positive role being played by the drones in the Digital India vision and further announced the launch of the Drone Shakti program to promote the development, usage, and impact of drone technology on primarily Rural India.

India’s drone segment is projected to grow at a CAGR of 12.4% by 2025 and reach a value of $5Bn. Mapping & surveying holds the majority of revenue share due to the high accuracy and quality provided by such drones with relatively less manpower and low cost. Additionally, government initiatives such as the Make in India, which promotes the domestic manufacturing of drones, are fuelling the growth of the commercial drone market in India.

About AUS:

AUS has been leading the drone technology evolution in India for commercial application since its inception at IIT Kanpur in the year 2013. AUS was the first start-up to build and deploy PPK GPS-based Survey grade fully autonomous drones in India. AUS is also the first company to get a small category drone certified by DGCA. Apart from pushing the technology benchmarks and boundaries for enterprise-grade drones, AUS has intensively worked upon data collection, processing, and analytics techniques to increase the meaningful impact and value addition of the data collected by the survey-grade drones. AUS is backed by some of the well-known early-stage deep tech investors like the Auxano Capital, KARSEMVEN fund, StartupXseed Ventures, 3one4 Capital, GrowX ventures, 500 Durians, and Ashok Atluri (MD of Zen Technologies), etc.

About Grip Invest:

Grip is building a new category of investment options for the new-age Indians. Millennials don’t communicate, shop, pay, entertain or work as the previous generation - then why should they invest the same way?

Started in June 2020, Grip has seen a 35% month-on-month growth to become one of India’s fastest-growing destinations for nonmarket-linked investments. Today, Grip offers a unique investment option of leasing assets to some of India’s most disruptive businesses like Udaan, Stanza Living, Furlenco, Bounce, Blue Tokai, Everest Fleet, IPLElectric, FabAlley, and LetsTransport.

Grip was founded by Nikhil Aggarwal, Vivek Gulati, and Aashish Jindal. Prior to Grip, Nikhil co-founded and served as COO of Chalo, India’s leading mobility startup for city buses. He started his career at HSBC and then worked for 6 years with the Investment Banking team at Morgan Stanley, India. Nikhil also currently serves as a Consultant to the Transport Practice at the World Bank. Vivek was previously part of the business development team at Chalo and led business development for the expansion team for OYO Hotel’s domestic and international operations. Aashish Jindal previously worked in product and project management roles with ICICI Bank, Pepperfry, and Chalo.  

TCS Bags Contract From Singapore Exchange To Run Trading At NSE IFSC

* Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), which controls over 40 per cent of the capital markets infrastructure solutions, has won a contract from Singapore Stock Exchange to run trading and settlement platforms for the upcoming SGX Nifty Exchange at International Financial Services Centre in Gandhinagar.

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), which controls over 40 per cent of the capital markets infrastructure solutions, has won a contract from Singapore Stock Exchange to run trading and settlement platforms for the upcoming SGX Nifty Exchange at International Financial Services Centre in Gandhinagar.

NSE IFSC-SGX Phase 1 will be operationalised in April 2022. The full program on which TCS is engaged, will go live about 3-4 months from then i.e beginning of the second half of the calendar year.

Nifty derivatives contracts on the SGX are among the most traded, as they are used by global investors to hedge their exposure to India. SGX Nifty is a joint venture of NSE and Singapore exchange.

The contract from SGX is for five years, and is a "significantly large order in terms of contractual value", R Vivekanand, global head of BFSI platforms & products at TCS said on Wednesday without quantifying the contractual value.

TCS will provide the foundational platform for Gift Data Connect Programme, he said, adding the platform will be run on its BaNCS Securities Trading solution, on which over 40 per cent of domestic trades are executed now.

The order also involves providing maintenance services, covering the front office, risk management, back-office clearing and settlement modules, he noted.

SGX has formed a special purpose vehicle -- SGX India Connect IFSC or SGX ICI --to run NSE IFSC, which will go a long way in getting liquidity into the market, Vivekanand said, adding the bourse will act as an executing-cum-clearing broker with trading and clearing membership of NSE IFSC.

While SGX Connect will be managed through a special purpose vehicle, traders will continue to do the same way of trading as they used to do when the SGX platform was based in Singapore, and the only difference will be that trades will originate and terminate on TCS solutions and then go to the exchange solution at Gift City now, Vivekanand explained.

He said the platform can handle 2 lakh trades daily from 12 very large institutional brokers of SGX. But this does not mean it cannot handle more volume, as TCS software on which NSE runs, handles millions of trade volume, he added.

Vivekanand said for TCS, BFSI is the largest business and revenue vertical, contributing over 40 per cent of the topline. In FY21 the BFSI vertical chipped in with $8.864 billion annual revenue. Within BFSI, insurance leads with around 40 per cent of income and margin shares, followed by capital markets and banking with 30 per cent each, he said, adding in Q3 of FY22, the vertical topline clipped 18 per cent.

As much as 40 per cent of the volume of the domestic market in terms of order management and trading solutions/settlement are done on the TCS platform, while globally its software runs as many as 32 exchanges, including London metal exchange, Europe Clear, TMX Canada, most of the MENA markets and South African bourses, Singaporean and Manila bourses, among others, making TCS the world's largest independent market infrastructure solutions provider.

TCS has been testing and training the SGX members from early this month in Singapore and will begin mock trading on the NSE ISFC post-regulatory approvals in place, which is expected in the middle of this year.

The project is important given the fact the Prime Minister's Office is monitoring the launch process of the exchange, as its success is critical to meet the government objective of creating a larger pool of liquidity in the onshore market. Better liquidity in the NSE IFSC means Nifty contracts getting traded onshore and the revenue remaining within the country.

Some of its notable global clients include LCH London, TMX Canada, Nasdaq Dubai, Euroclear, New Zealand exchange, Strate South Africa, Philippines Depository and Kuwait Clearing Company.

NSE IFSC International Exchange Physically Settled US Stocks For The First Time

* Settlement was completed flawlessly in all symbols which had been launched for trading. This marks a historic moment for NSE IFSC as it marks the beginning of physical settlement of US Stocks (in the form of Unsponsored Depository Receipts) in GIFT IFSC

NSE International Exchange (NSEIFSC) launched trading in NSE IFSC Receipts (unsponsored depository receipts on US Stocks under IFSCA’s regulatory sandbox framework) on March 3rd, 2022. The product offers Indian retail investors to trade in global stocks using the Liberalized Remittance Scheme (LRS) route. To start with, NSE IFSC commenced trading in major US stocks (Apple, Alphabet, Amazon, Microsoft, Meta Platforms, Tesla) to be settled on a rolling T+3 day basis through its Clearing Corporation Ltd (NICCL). 

NSE IFSC and NICCL announced that the first physical settlement of NSE IFSC Receipts has been completed on March 8, 2022. According to their press release, “settlement was completed flawlessly in all symbols which had been launched for trading. This marks a historic moment for NSE IFSC as it marks the beginning of physical settlement of US Stocks (in the form of Unsponsored Depository Receipts) in GIFT IFSC."

Wordle was developed by a Brooklyn-based software engineer, Josh Wardle. It is a website-only word game played on mobile phones and tablets

As per the press release, this is the first time when the trading, settlement, as well as Demat holding related to an investment in US Stocks, has been facilitated in GIFT IFSC through the international depository. It added that the first Indian retail investor to trade at NSE IFSC using the LRS route on 3rd March, 2022 was Satish Agarwal, a client of Globe Capital (IFSC) Limited.

The entire trading, clearing, settlement and holding of US Stocks will be under the regulatory structure of IFSC Authority.

As per NSE IFSC’s press release in August 2021, this route makes the entire process of investment internationally easy and at a low cost for Indian retail investors. Investors will be provided with an option to trade in fractional quantity / value when compared to the underlying shares traded in US markets making it affordable to them.

Indian retail investors can trade in select US stocks via NSE-IFSC platform

The trading in unsponsored depositary receipts -- NSE IFSC Receipts -- has been launched in association with HDFC Bank, under the regulatory sandbox framework prescribed by the IFSCA

NSE IFSC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the National Stock Exchange of India, on Thursday said it has launched trading in unsponsored depositary receipts, which will offer Indian retail investors an opportunity to invest in the US stocks listed on bourses like NYSE and NASDAQ in an easy and affordable way.

The trading in unsponsored depositary receipts -- NSE IFSC Receipts -- has been launched in association with HDFC Bank, under the regulatory sandbox framework prescribed by the IFSCA, according to a statement.

Following this launch, Indian retail investors will be able to transact on the NSE IFSC platform under the liberalised remittance scheme (LRS) prescribed by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

NSE IFSC Receipts are an innovative first-of-its-kind product offering to Indian retail investors, by providing them with an opportunity to diversify their investment in top-performing companies of global economies.

These receipts will make the entire process of investment in global stocks seamless and at a low cost. Investors will be provided with an option to trade in fractional quantity when compared to the underlying shares traded in global markets.

Starting with US stocks, NSE IFSC will soon widen its offering to other global markets, the statement noted.

HDFC Bank's IFSC Banking Unit in the GIFT City (HDFC Bank-IBU) in its role of NSE IFSC Receipts Custodian to this newly launched UDR programme will issue the NSE IFSC Receipts. The bank will undertake related activities besides opening the depositary accounts of investors as a depository participant registered with IFSCA registered depositaries.

Further, NSE IFSC Clearing Corporation Limited will offer its robust risk management framework, facilitate the clearing, and settlement of all trades in depositary receipts and provide the settlement guarantee with respect to all trades executed on the NSE IFSC platform.

Moreover, all the trades will also be covered under the investor protection framework at NSE IFSC. Investors will be able to hold the NSE IFSC Receipts in their own demat accounts opened in GIFT City and will be entitled to receive corporate action benefits pertaining to the underlying stock.

"Today's launch of trading in NSE IFSC Receipts is a good initiative to attract retail participation under the liberalised remittance scheme of the RBI and develop a vibrant capital market ecosystem in India's sole International Financial Services Centre (IFSC) at GIFT City," IFSCA Chairman Injeti Srinivas said.

According to him, this innovative offering from NSE IFSC enables retail resident investors to transact in select US stocks through the NSE IFSC platform initially under the regulatory sandbox framework and eventually as a regular product on the exchange for all international and domestic investors.

"With this launch, we have unlocked significant value to Indian retail investors and brokers, and we look forward to building on our position as an Integral and Innovative International IFSC exchange," NSE Managing Director and CEO Vikram Limaye said.

HDFC Bank Executive Director Kaizad Bharucha said the bank has been a pioneer and has been playing a catalytic role in transforming the Indian financial services space.

The NSE IFSC Receipts framework will also make these investments affordable and transparent, thereby paving way for retail participation, he added.

Glance Active User Base Surges To 173 Million In Q4 2021; Further Boost Expected In 2022 From New OEM Deals

* Glance active users grew 24% from 140 million in Q1 2021 to reach 173 million in Q4 2021

* Two-thirds of newly launched smartphones in Q4 2021 had Glance lockscreen platform preinstalled

* The company entered agreements with realme and Jio Platforms for integration of its lockscreen platform with their phones

* The $150-$250 price band continued to be the largest for Glance active users

Glance’s active user base in India surged to 173 million in Q4 2021, according to Counterpoint Research’s Quarterly Mobile Application Tracker. The platform added 33 million total active users to grow 24% from Q1 2021 to Q4 2021.

Counterpoint Research Glance Active User Base, Q1 to Q4 2021

Commenting on Glance’s performance, Research Analyst Arushi Chawla said, “Pioneering the use of the smartphone lockscreen, Glance has become the first touchpoint for users interacting with their devices, removing barriers such as search and multiple app downloads. This has uniquely positioned Glance for growth driven by high engagement. In addition, the AI capabilities of Glance have been helping users discover relevant content, further increasing stickiness to the platform.”

On the content strategy, Chawla noted, “Glance has been diversifying across genres and languages. Glance has accumulated content from top creators and developers across categories including sports, fashion, gaming, fitness, commerce and entertainment to enhance the experience for users. Glance has also made a foray into the live interactive content category, further diversifying its offerings. This is becoming even more relevant, as content consumption and creation on smartphones are on the rise.”

In terms of OEMs, Glance has been expanding its partnerships with top brands and devices across price segments. In October 2021, Glance partnered with the third-largest smartphone brand in India – realme. Further, as of Q4 2021, two-thirds of the newly launched smartphones in India had the Glance lockscreen platform preinstalled.

In terms of share across price bands, $150-$250 continued to be the largest segment for Glance. Close to two-thirds of Glance’s active user base falls in the $150 and above price band. The average selling price of smartphones in India is increasing. Penetration in the higher price segments positions Glance well to capture the increasing replacement demand in the Indian smartphone market in the future.

Counterpoint Research Price Band Split for Glance Active Users, Q4 2021

Looking forward, Glance will continue to expand its OEM partnerships in India. It has signed an agreement to raise $200 million from Jio Platforms. Concurrent with this funding deal, Glance has entered a partnership with Reliance Retail Ventures under which Glance’s lockscreen platform’ will be integrated into Jio’s Pragati OS (the JioPhone Next operating system). This will further expand its market reach. Glance will also seek to strengthen user touchpoints and expand to key international markets beyond Asia.

Methodology

Glance’s mobile application presence is calculated from our panel database of over a million smartphone active users. Model-level Glance penetration data and active user ratios were extrapolated to our monthly smartphone installed base data using various parameters such as brand, model, and price band to predict Glance’s active user base. We expect the results to have a statistical precision of +/- 5% at the confidence interval of 90%.

Happiest Minds Partners With OutSystems, A Global Leader In Low-Code Application Development

Happiest Minds Technologies Limited (NSE: HAPPSTMNDS), a ‘Born Digital. Born Agile’ digital transformation and IT solutions company, announced a strategic partnership with OutSystems, a pioneer and leader in the low-code application development market.

Happiest Minds and OutSystems share the vision to transform how enterprise software is delivered to their customers. This partnership will add a world-class, low-code platform to Happiest Minds' portfolio, enabling companies to develop, deploy, and manage omnichannel enterprise applications that run in the cloud, on-premise, or hybrid environments.

Mr. Ram Mohan C, Executive Board Member, CEO, Infrastructure Management & Security Services, Happiest Minds Technologies, said, "Happiest Minds Technologies has always had a customer-centric business approach. We continually equip ourselves with digital tools to meet the ever-changing demands of our 'digital-first' customers. This partnership is a major step towards providing enterprises with end-to-end automation and powerful low-code application development without the complexity and unproductive time spent on manual processes and hand-coding."

This partnership with OutSystems enables Happiest Minds’ customers to

* Streamline internal operations and optimize front-office and back-office processes

* Deliver robust web and mobile workforce apps, employee portals, workflows, and operational dashboards to support any process, regardless of its complexity.

* Integrate existing systems with a smooth user interface, and manage through constant software change with ease and speed.

“This is a really exciting time for us as we continue to grow our footprint in APAC. Together, OutSystems and Happiest Minds can offer enterprises the freedom to think big and innovate with no limits. Our platform addresses critical issues like increasing demand for new enterprise applications, aging legacy systems that need to be modernized or replaced, field services, and omnichannel digital customer experience.”, said Mr. Saravanan Subramaniam,RVP, APAC Channels & Alliances, OutSystems.

Mr. Sundar Ramaswamy, SVP & Head of Digital Process Automation CoE, Happiest Minds Technologies,  said, “Happiest Minds has always been at the forefront of bringing the latest and best technologies to help our clients get the most out of their Digital Transformation investments. Leveraging the OutSystems platform, we will be able to help our clients modernize their core legacy applications, build applications quickly to serve new business needs, as well as simplify operations & maintenance of all their applications.”

Mr. Dinesh Ramachandran, SVP & Head of Global Alliances, Happiest Minds Technologies, said, “The OutSystems partnership is aligned with our focus on emerging, disruptive technologies. This alliance brings together the power of a leading low-code platform along with Happiest Minds’ services track record with Fortune 1000 clients, to help us tap into this growing market opportunity”.

About Happiest Minds Technologies:

Happiest Minds’ Technologies Limited (NSE: HAPPSTMNDS), a Mindful IT Company, enables digital transformation for enterprises and technology providers by delivering seamless customer experiences, business efficiency and actionable insights. We do this by leveraging a spectrum of disruptive technologies such as artificial intelligence, blockchain, cloud, digital process automation, internet of things, robotics/drones, security, virtual/augmented reality, and more. Positioned as ‘Born Digital. Born Agile’, our capabilities span digital solutions, infrastructure, product engineering and security. We deliver these services across industry sectors such as automotive, BFSI, consumer packaged goods, e-commerce, edutech, engineering R&D, hi-tech, manufacturing, retail, and travel/transportation/hospitality.

A Great Place to Work-Certified™ company, Happiest Minds is headquartered in Bangalore, India, with operations in the U.S., UK, Canada, Australia, and the Middle East.

Bitbns Partners With QuantInsti To Launch Online Education Platform – Bitbns Academy

* Aims to introduce 50 mn Indians to crypto investing by FY25

Bitbns, the country’s leading cryptocurrency exchange, has partnered with QuantInsti to launch Bitbns Academy, an all-new dedicated online education platform that offers scholastic tutorials, resources and educational content on Cryptocurrency and Blockchain. 

A comprehensive digital education platform, Bitbns Academy offers globally accredited certified courses that not just teaches the fundamentals of crypto but help candidates to develop an in-depth understanding of the subject. The coherent content has been carefully curated to serve users across the board, inclusive of beginners, enthusiasts as well as mature investors. The current program is offered under four distinct modules – ‘Introduction to Crypto’, ‘Risk Management’, ‘Margin Trading’ and ‘Technical Analysis. Each module entailing a series of chapters that has been specifically designed to enable the user to progress through the course in terms of his knowledge and understanding.

To ensure a seamless and quality learning experience, Bitbns has tied up with QuantInsti, a leading ed-tech platform that specialises in offering quantitative-based learning courses since a decade. A pioneer Algorithmic Trading Research and Training Institute, QuantInsti conducts professional programs in the contemporary fields of Algorithmic and Quantitative Trading.

Commenting on this development, Gaurav Dahake, Founder & CEO, Bitbns, said, “India has been one of the fastest growing markets of cryptocurrency trading. Besides a rapidly growing base of mature investors, our country is home to a massive chunk of the young and tech-savvy population who are increasingly adopting crypto as an alternative asset class. However, the technical nature and non-tangibility of the asset class has restricted its adoption among retail investors. Bitbns Academy offers a robust curriculum that has been tailored to decrypt several technical concepts while offering an in-depth understanding on Cryptocurrency and Blockchain technology. It aims to strengthen the country’s digital economy through an educational revolution by building trust among new entrants and enabling mature investors to grow their portfolio through knowledge-driven and informed decision making.”

Commenting on the development, Nitesh Khandelwal, CEO, QuantInsti, said, “In lines with our mission to up-skill investors and traders, we are excited to partner with Bitbns to empower crypto enthusiasts with the essential knowledge required to make smart trading decisions. Quantra learning management system (LMS) brings a unique combination of learning by doing and implementation using seamlessly integrated paper trading and backtesting platform, which allows learners to apply learned concepts in real-life trading experiences.”

The course has been designed and curated in such a way that it highlights the best practices involved in crypto trading while offering a step-by-step guide in building in-depth understanding around the subject. The modules offered under the program encompasses infographics, articles, tutorial videos and other content that suits the needs of users at all levels.

Catering to beginners’, crypto enthusiasts and seasoned traders the modules will have three different states - beginner, intermediate and advanced. Starting from as basic as Understanding crypto to learning complex Python APKs the courses would serve as a complete go to guide for crypto investment.

The academy is open to all the users on the Bitbns platform who can seamlessly avail the certified courses for free. Additionally, Bitbns Academy aims to add new certification courses and more resourceful content under the program in the future. To ensure optimum outreach the courses have been provided for free post a simple registration with Bitbns platform.

Bitbns is known for providing unique offerings and safest way to carry crypto transactions and bringing exclusive benefits to its customers, as it constantly endeavors to improve the overall user experience. With this feature, Bitbns aims to create more and more informed crypto investors beyond the urban areas.

About Bitbns

Bitbns is India's most versatile exchange. With over 4 million users, it is today a one-stop shop for a diverse suite of crypto-based products and services. With varied products such as Bitdroplet, SIP in bitcoin, FIP which is fixed deposit for crypto, the exchange caters to a wide variety of audiences inclusive of traders and long-term mature investors among others. The exchange also offers advanced trading capabilities like margin trading which can be leveraged by sophisticated traders and automated trading options through API for users. Bitbns has Bitbns Quick Swap which offers over 400 cryptocurrencies which can be traded - the highest in India. Founded in 2017, Bitbns is the fastest and easiest way to buy & sell Bitcoin (BTC) at the lowest trading fee.

https://bitbns.com/

https://learn.bitbns.com/

NSDC, LetsEndorse Announce Strategic Partnership To Create Micro/Nano Entrepreneurs Across India

* Enabling over 50,000 micro/ nano entrepreneurs in the next three years

With an aim to support Skill India Mission, National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) and LetsEndorse have entered a strategic partnership to create a mass and rapid micro/ nano-entrepreneurship movement across India through a tech-and-touch model developed by the latter. 

The collaboration will impact the lives of rural and urban individuals looking to set up new enterprises or scale-up their existing ventures in more than 165 segments, across manufacturing, services, trading and new-age digital entrepreneurship. LetsEndorse’s Udyamita model, which has shown promising results in enabling micro/ nano entrepreneurs till the last mile through its 100-day intervention, will be leveraged in this partnership as well. The tech-enabled model assures scalability and provides end-to-end support to foster enterprise success and sustainable income, from idea building, business plan creation, enabling affordable credit under various government schemes and Reserve Bank of India (RBI) norms to mentorship after the enterprise is set-up.

The two organisations will work towards the goal of boosting entrepreneurial capacities, enabling access to affordable Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise (MSME) capital and ensuring overall micro-enterprise success at scale pan-India.

Announcing the partnership, Ved Mani Tiwari, Chief Operating Officer (& Officiating CEO), National Skill Development Corporation said, "This partnership is aligned to the objectives of Skill India to create a skilled workforce, empowering them to become entrepreneurs. It is our constant endeavour to skill manpower from across the country and enable sustainable livelihoods. Entrepreneurship is one of the crucial pillars in that journey. NSDC's collaboration with LetsEndorse will create an impactful framework and democratize micro-entrepreneurship till the last mile.”

Monika Shukla, Co-founder & CEO, LetsEndorse Development said, “We believe that India has an opportunity to end poverty by 2030 in line with the Sustainable Development Goals, and building sustainable livelihoods is a powerful way to achieve that goal. Solving for livelihoods has a trickle-down impact on social challenges such as education, health, nutrition, sanitation, housing, among others. And creating impact at scale requires shifting the dynamics from a philanthropic/ welfare-led approach to a market-led approach where people develop the paying capacities for products and services. We are passionate about building sustainable livelihoods through micro-entrepreneurship and are excited to partner with NSDC to scale-up the reach of the model. We are looking at enabling over a million micro/nano entrepreneurs by 2027 and ten million entrepreneurs by 2030. UDITI, our horizontal platform solution for driving and delivering the Udyamita model has been developed over the last two years and we are looking at integrating it with DESH-Stack as well.” 

Honasa Consumer - Mamaearth - Appoints Anuja Mishra As The New Chief Marketing Officer

Honasa Consumer Pvt. Ltd. (HCPL), parent company of Mamaearth, and The Derma Co., and the fastest growing House of Brands for personal care, appointed Ms. Anuja Mishra as Chief Marketing Officer. In her new capacity, Ms. Mishra will oversee the marketing strategy for Honasa Consumer group brands – Mamaearth, The Derma Co., andBblunt. 

Anuja has been recognized amongst the Top 100 Marketers (20-21) and awarded the “Pitch Best CMO'20-21 and brings with herself over 17 years of experience across Marketing and Sales. She has led Brand Management, Innovation Strategy and Sales across 3 of the largest blue- chip FMCG organizations and some of the world's most loved brands. As the CMO of Honasa Consumer, she will be responsible for accelerating the brands awareness and growth across the D2C ecosystem.  

Speaking on her role, Ms. Anuja Mishra said, “I am absolutely thrilled and honored to join Honasa Consumer in its exciting journey of becoming a powerful house of brands. Honasa has proven to be a trailblazer across the D2C landscape, and I have tremendous respect for the organization’s ability to innovate disruptively and meaningfully.I look forward to joining this talented team and contributing to the growth mission.”

Commenting on this crucial onboarding, Mr. Varun Ghazal, Co-Founder and CEO, Honasa Consumer Pvt. Ltd. said, “Honasa has emerged as the fastest growing D2C brand and being a digital first brand, it is critical to constantly innovate and stay ahead of others in this excessivelydynamic digital ecosystem. Anuja comes with extensive experience in managing millennial brands and she joins us at a time when the group has attained a great milestone and with her expertise, she will elevate and support the strategy to the next one. We are excited to have a seasoned professional like heron board and look forward to growing the organization with her.”

Along with being a seasoned marketing professional, Anuja is an avid sportsperson who enjoys marathons, adventure sports, kickboxing and indulges in reading in her leisure time. 

Ms. Anuja Mishra will be taking the baton from Mr. Sambit Dash, who has been elevated to head Brand Factory Team where he will be responsible for crafting, launching, and building new brands business for Honasa. She will be based out of the Honasa Consumer head office in Gurgaon.  

TKM- MoRTH Propagates The FCEV Mirai During Pilot Study In Delhi

India's leading automobile company Toyota has unveiled the much-awaited 'Mirai' during the pilot study which is taking place at Delhi. The Minister of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) Mr. Nitin Gadkari, unveiled the vehicle in Delhi yesterday. 

“We at Toyota are committed towards achieving carbon neutrality by 2050. Our key goal is to achieve net zero carbon (CO2) emission throughout the entire lifecycle that goes well beyond vehicles, addressing our entire value-chain including manufacturing activities. Further, we have adopted a holistic approach, and are actively engaged in sustainable initiatives that covers shift to renewable energy, promoting a recycling-based society, reduction in water consumption and nature conservation activities. Thus, reinforcing our commitment to build a better, smarter, future, creating a net positive impact on the planet and society.

Given India’s energy mix and unique consumer needs, we believe carbon neutral and electrified vehicle technologies are required to achieve practical and sustainable reduction in fossil fuel consumption and CO2 emissions. Based on Toyota’s business philosophy and belief in multiple technology pathways, our practice has always been to study and evaluate advanced powertrain technologies in a sustainable manner to meet the diverse consumer needs and usage conditions across countries.

It is also necessary to work in collaboration with various stakeholders including government, testing & research agencies, and industry associations. We have entered into an MoU with the Government automotive testing agency, iCAT (International Centre for Automotive Technology), to study and evaluate the world’s most advanced fuel cell electric vehicle (FCEV) Mirai which runs on hydrogen, on Indian roads and climatic conditions.

We are very excited & grateful that Hon’ble Minister of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) has kindly consented to propagate the FCEV Mirai during this pilot study which is taking place at Delhi. We strongly believe that this will provide great encouragement and tremendous boost to all the stakeholders who are beginning to work towards hydrogen-based society in support of our national goals and are confident that India can lead in this direction in future. We applaud the Indian government’s relentless efforts towards promoting carbon neutral and electrified technologies and remain fully committed to supporting the national objectives.”

Lava Probuds 21 TWS With 45-Hour Battery Life Launched In India

* Currently available at an introductory price of Rs 1299

* 3 months of free Gaana Plus subscription

Lava International Ltd, a leading Indian mobile phone company announces the launch of its new true wireless earphones–Probuds 21. This latest addition in the brand’s TWS portfolio comes with a trendy stem design and 3 months of free Gaana Plus subscription. The TWS is the first in its segment to offer up to 9 hours of playback time in a single charge with the biggest ever 60mAh buds battery capacity. Additionally, the sleek storage case of the earphones comes with 500mAh battery that can charge the device up to 5 times, providing the overall playback time of more than 45 hours. Under the hood, the TWS houses 12mm dynamic drivers that deliver high definition sound with thumping bass. The new Lava Probuds 21 TWS are priced at Rs 1499. However, they are currently listed for an introductory price of just Rs 1299 on Lava e-store and Amazon. This special introductory price is only valid till 24th March*.

Probuds 21 is ergonomically designed to fit every ear contour which provides sound isolation, enabling users to experience uninterrupted audio bliss. Another remarkable feature of Probuds 21 is its quick charge technology which provides 200 minutes of playtime in just 20 minutes charge. The buds are equipped with latest Bluetooth version 5.1 and Wake & Pair technology which offers seamless instant connectivity. The TWS are designed for strong wireless performance and come with touch control voice assistance for more efficient interaction with Google and Siri.

Speaking about the new launch, Mr. Tejinder Singh, Head-Product, Lava International said, “We are thrilled to add another powerful yet affordable product to our TWS portfolio. Probuds 21 are compact, lightweight and equipped with a long battery life which will definitely appeal to the explorer spirit of our customers. We have often seen heavy TWS users complaining about the frequent need to charge their buds. With the launch of Probuds 21, we are confident that we will be able address this pain-point in the budget TWS segment."

Lava Probuds 21 are equipped with music controls on the buds to provide the user with easy manoeuvring. The users can also receive or reject calls by simply tapping the buds a few times.  These compact buds are IPX4 rated for water & sweat resistance and come with one year warranty.

Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/3tcJjq7

About Lava International Limited

#ProudlyIndian l Made in India, Made for India

Lava International Limited is a leading Indian Mobile Handset Company with operations in 20+ countries. In the international markets the company is growing rapidly and is already among the top players in many of these countries it operates in.

Lava has always been at the forefront of Govt. of India’s ‘Make in India’ initiative. Lava was the first mobile brand to take a lead in support of this important nation building program and had set up a design team in India, becoming the first brand to design phones in the country. With this ‘Design in India’ initiative, Lava is now the only Mobile handset company that makes truly ‘Made in India’ phones with complete control on design and manufacturing within the country.

With the vision to “Empower people to do more, to be more” the company was established in 2009. Lava International Limited is headquartered in Noida, Uttar Pradesh. The company has its manufacturing facilities and a repair factory in an approximately 300,000 square feet area in Noida. The manufacturing plants have a capacity of manufacturing 40 million phones per annum.

*Offer Valid till stock lasts

JustMyRoots Becomes India’s First Brand To Start Same-Day Intercity Delivery Of Perishable Food

* With this game changer idea, JustMyRoots will facilitate ‘Order at breakfast from your favourite restaurant in the country, get food delivered by dinner’

* To begin with, customers from Delhi & Mumbai will be able to order in their favourite dishes* from Kolkata, Pune, Indore, Amritsar, Jaipur, Agra, Lucknow

With another novel concept JustMyRoots has become India’s first food delivery brand to commence intercity delivery of perishable food items, within 13 hours. Pioneering with intercity delivery of perishable food, JustMyRoots has paved way for other industry players to follow.

In the pilot phase, customers from Delhi and Mumbai will be able to order their favourite food (select dishes from select restaurants) on the JustMyRoots app from across Kolkata, Pune, Indore, Amritsar, Jaipur, Agra, Lucknow and Mumbai & Delhi. With a robust supply chain and innovative packaging at the backbone of the concept, JustMyRoots will ensure delivery of freshly cooked food within 13 hours (order placed at breakfast by 8am from any of the 8 locations mentioned will be delivered by dinner, 9:00pm). Customers simply need to login and choose from available options to get their favorite dish delivered at their doorstep within a day across cities.

On the occasion, Samiran Sengupta, CEO and Co-Founder, JustMyRoots, “Our objective at JustMyRoots has been to deliver happiness in the form of favorite food of our customers from across the country, without restricting food delivery within any geographical boundaries. Intercity delivery of perishable food within a 13 hour window is yet another step in ensuring that customers don’t restrict themselves when it comes to ordering food from their favorite place across any part of the country”.

An addition to a series of game changing solutions developed & introduced by JustMyRoots, intercity delivery of perishable food is yet another milestone in the food delivery ecosystem. 

JustMyRoots is India’s first intercity home delivery service that facilitates delivery of perishable cooked food/others across cities with packaging that keeps the food fresh for more than 26 hours. Over a period of three years JustMyRoots has been delivering cooked meals, unique & authentic to a particular region across the country to customers in over 25 cities.

*Service available for select dishes from select restaurants.

Second Life: Jaguar-Pace Batteries Power Zero-Emission Energy Storage Unit

 

* Jaguar powers energy storage unit: Mobile Battery Energy Storage System (ESS) from Pramac developed using second-life Jaguar I-PACE batteries 

* Renewable electricity utilised: ESS is charged using solar panels  

* Race-team proven technology: Unit trialled by Jaguar TCS Racing in testing for 2022 ABB FIA Formula E World Championship demonstrating race-to-road-to-race         * cyclical technology transfer 

* Sustainable and efficient: Jaguar I-PACE batteries suitable for second- and third-life applications thanks to advanced engineering 

Jaguar’s engineering team have worked with Pramac to develop a zero-emission energy storage unit powered by second-life Jaguar I-PACE batteries, taken from prototype and engineering test vehicles. 

Called the Off Grid Battery Energy Storage System (ESS), Pramac’s technology – which features lithium-ion cells from one-and-a-half second-life Jaguar I-PACE batteries, supplies zero-emission power where access to the mains supply is limited or unavailable. To showcase its capability, the unit helped Jaguar TCS Racing prepare for the 2022 ABB FIA Formula E World Championship during testing in the UK and Spain, where it was used to run the team’s cutting-edge diagnostic equipment analysing the race cars’ track performance, and to supply auxiliary power to the Jaguar pit garage. 

The testing and validation of the Off Grid Battery ESS by Jaguar TCS Racing is demonstration of race-to-road-to-race cyclical technology transfer. Learnings from Jaguar TCS Racing have previously informed a software-over-the-air (SOTA) update for I-PACE customers that delivered a real-world range increase of up to 20 km – and now further use cases for the Off Grid Battery ESS around the racing team’s programme are being assessed. The lights go green for rounds four and five of the Formula E World Championship in Rome on 09 and 10 April. 

The flagship ESS system has a capacity of up to 125 kWh – more than enough to fully charge Jaguar’s multi-award-winning all-electric I-PACE performance SUV, or to power a regular family home for a week*. Charged from solar panels, the unit is a self-contained solution that consists of a battery system linked to a bi-directional converter and the associated control management systems. Available for commercial hire, the units are fitted with Type 2 Electric Vehicle (EV) charge connections with dynamic control and rated at up to 22 kW AC to allow electric vehicle charging. 

Finding a second life for batteries after they have been removed from vehicles can avoid premature recycling and help create a secure supply of rare materials. The state-of-the-art 90 kWh Lithium-ion battery in the Jaguar I-PACE delivers up to 294 kW and 696 Nm of instant torque enabling acceleration from 0-100 Km/h in just 4.8 seconds. The battery was also developed for the durability to match its outstanding performance and efficiency, and I-PACE customers benefit from a battery warranty of 8-years or 160 000 km, during which it must maintain at least 70 per cent State of Health. 

This advanced engineering makes the I-PACE battery perfect for second-life, and even third-life, applications in low-energy situations once battery health falls below the stringent requirements of an electric vehicle. Once the battery does finally come to the end of its usable life, it is 95 per cent recyclable. 

As well as collaborating with industry leaders such as Pramac, Jaguar TCS Racing has committed its long-term future to the Gen3 era of Formula E. The team will further help Jaguar Land Rover develop new sustainable technologies, set new benchmarks in quality with its partners and support Jaguar’s renaissance as an all-electric luxury brand from 2025. 

Andrew Whitworth, Battery Manager, Circular Economy Team at Jaguar Land Rover, said: “This announcement is a great example of how we will collaborate with industry leaders to deliver our sustainable future and achieve a truly circular economy. We’re delighted to be working with Pramac to use Jaguar I-PACE second-life batteries to provide portable zero-emissions power and supporting Jaguar TCS Racing this season was an excellent opportunity to demonstrate what these units are capable of.” 

James Barclay, Team Principal, Jaguar TCS Racing said: “Formula E is the world’s first net carbon zero sport since inception. Jaguar TCS Racing is always looking at improving our carbon footprint and using the storage system provides us with an innovative renewable energy solution for testing. To use second-life Jaguar I-PACE batteries completes this sustainable circle and showcases the team’s Race To Innovate mission.” 

Danny Jones, Director, Pramac, said: “We have been privileged to work so closely with Jaguar Land Rover who are a hugely supportive partner in our journey to successfully build a robust product and a commercially viable business case using second-life EV modules.  This brings a new element to the sustainability story as a manufacturer of energy efficient and carbon reducing technology. We look forward to continuing the journey with Jaguar Land Rover and providing innovative charging infrastructure solutions to support the electrification of their class-leading vehicles.” 

oOh!media Goes Live On Ramco Global Payroll & HR At Australia, New Zealand

Leading global payroll software provider, Ramco Systems announced that it has successfully implemented its Global Payroll & HR solution at oOh!media, Australia and New Zealand’s leading Out of Home media company, thereby digitally transforming oOh!’s HR and payroll operations of 800+ employees.

Ramco’s Global Payroll & HR software replaces oOh!’s legacy HR and payroll systems with a single application platform, enabling oOh! to transition from outsourcing their payroll operations to managing them in-house. With modules for Core HR, Leave & Payroll together with ESS and MSS, Ramco Global Payroll is bundled with a next-gen innovative mobile application and chatbot, enabling employees to carry out most HR transactions without having to log into an application. The solution also integrates with multiple other applications using REST APIs thereby delivering secure and seamless data flow. Importantly, oOh! also goes live with Single Touch Payroll (Phase 2) well ahead of the cut-off set by the Australian Taxation Office (ATO).

David Leahy, Group Director Corporate Services at oOh! said: “At oOh!, we feel passionately about the power of technology to optimise our processes and enhance our employee experience. We originally selected Ramco’s Global Payroll and HRIS solution to replace, consolidate and transform multiple legacy solutions borne out of prior business acquisitions.  Following a recent successful go-live, Ramco has helped us realise the vision of a single standardised view of payroll across our business as well as a single source of truth for employee information. We look forward to continuing to realise further benefits in ongoing process improvement and utilisation of better employee insights with Ramco.”

Rohit Mathur, Head – Ramco Global Payroll Solution, Ramco Systems, said, “Ramco's track record of delivering successful payroll transformations globally has enabled us to replace multiple legacy systems and streamline manual processes for companies of all sizes. Offering a Single Touch Payroll (Phase 2) compliant Payroll software bundled with next-gen innovations reaffirms our credibility with our clients. We look forward to a long and fruitful journey with oOh!media.” 

Complete with mobile, chatbots, voice, and facial recognition-based workforce management, organizations can deploy Ramco Global Payroll & HR on-cloud, on premise or leverage as a managed service. The multi-tenant architecture with embedded intelligence, device agnostics features and API integration now serves more than 500+ customers worldwide. With innovative concepts of Artificial Intelligence & Machine learning, Context-sensitive Pop-ups and Chatbots to carry out self-service, and Voice based transactions on Google Assistant & Alexa, Ramco has been setting the benchmark for Innovation in this segment. With statutory compliance across 60+ countries covering U.S., ANZ, Asia (including Japan & China), Middle-East & Africa, UK and Ireland, Ramco’s Global Payroll is available in English, Japanese, Mandarin, Bahasa, Thai, Malay, and Arabic among others.

About Ramco Systems

Ramco is a next-gen enterprise software player disrupting the market with its multi-tenant cloud and mobile-based enterprise software in HR and Global Payroll, ERP and M&E MRO for Aviation. Part of the USD 1 billion Ramco Group, Ramco Systems focuses on Innovation and Culture to differentiate itself in the marketplace. On the Innovation front, Ramco has been focusing on moving towards Active ERP leveraging Artificial Intelligence and  Machine Learning by building features such as Talk It - which allows transactions to be carried out by simple voice commands, Bot it – which allows users to complete transactions using natural conversations; Mail It – transact with the application by just sending an email; HUB It - a one screen does it all concept built to address all activities of a user; Thumb It – mobility where the system presents users with option to choose rather than type values and Prompt It – a cognitive ability which will let the system complete the transaction and prompts the user for approval. 

Rivigo Appoints McKinsey Partner Prabhav Sharma As Chief Executive Officer Of Its Full Truck Load Business

* Formerly a partner with McKinsey Asia, Prabhav brings 15 years of experience in the area of productivity improvement for organisations 

Rivigo, India’s leading tech company in the logistics sector that is revolutionizing goods mobility in India and is a crowned unicorn, announced the appointment of Prabhav Sharma as its new Chief Executive Officer (CEO) for its Full Truck Load (FTL) business, effective March 16, 2022. His appointment will provide leadership and strategic direction to scale Rivigo’s asset-light relay-as-a-service model to solve the challenges in India’s logistics sector.  

Since 2014, Rivigo aims to lead the transformation of the logistics sector in India with its global-first relay trucking model and a strong interplay of technology, data, culture and operations excellence to consistently deliver unparalleled delivery times and reliability. The unique relay model also ensures that every truck driver, who is referred to as a pilot, now spends less time away from his family, thereby leading a life of meaning, dignity and respect. 

Commenting on the appointment, Deepak Garg, Founder & CEO, Rivigo said, “It gives me immense pleasure to welcome a talented leader like Prabhav to our team. With Prabhav’s global experience in handling the supply chain industry across countries and expertise in improving productivity through technology-led solutions, he is best suited to lead Rivigo’s mission to transform the full truckload segment of the Indian logistics sector. With the success of the asset-light relay-as-a-service approach, I am bullish about implementing relay at scale, and I believe that we’ll be able to drive 100,000 trucks on relay while uplifting the lives of 100,000 pilots, with Prabhav at the helm.” 

The full truckload segment has gone through a tough period in the last few years and is expected to do very well in the next few years on the back of changing market dynamics. Rivigo’s platform helps stitch the gaps by providing better truck economics to small operators, reliable supply to customers, and a more dignified life for truck pilots.   

Expressing his enthusiasm, Prabhav Sharma, CEO-FTL, Rivigo said, “Rivigo’s mission to transform India’s logistics sector by making it human has always resonated with me at a deeper level. I’m thrilled to join this team of committed professionals who want to leverage technology and innovation to drive better truck utilisations while improving the lives of thousands of truck drivers. I hope together we can bring about the change this industry needs to fuel the country’s economic boom.” 

A thought leader in the supply chain industry, Prabhav brings 15 years of experience and has also led the supply chain and logistics practice globally for the energy and materials sector, and has pioneered in the development of technology-led solutions to solve problems of network optimisation, end to end supply chain optimisation, and tactical S&OP optimisation, through data analytics and lean management principles. He has been the world's foremost thinker on the stochastic theory of constraints to debottleneck complex integrated value chains, where he consistently brought about significant uplift in the delivery of production performance. 

Prior to joining Rivigo, Sharma led the digital consulting practice for McKinsey Asia. He has an MBA from IIM Lucknow with a specialisation in operations and finance and is a B.Tech in Aerospace Engineering from IIT Mumbai. 

About Rivigo

Rivigo is a technology company that is revolutionizing logistics & goods mobility in India with its unique, global-first relay trucking model. With over 250 processing units and more than 70 pit stops, they provide the largest network service coverage, spanning over 30,000 pin codes in India.

Simple Energy Details Its Patented BMS Which Enables Industry-Leading 95% Efficiency

 

India’s leading electric vehicle and clean energy start-up Simple Energy today shared more information on its proprietary Battery Management System (BMS). Designed, built, and developed by the talented engineers of the company, this BMS has been designed specifically for high-performance electric vehicles and will debut on the flagship scooter called ONE.

This BMS enables the electric powertrain to achieve a staggering 95% efficiency — which is the highest in the industry. Combined with a powerful 72 Nm motor and 4.8 kWh battery, Simple ONE can achieve 200+ km of range on a single charge in Eco mode.

Speaking on this announcement, Suhas Rajkumar, Founder and CEO, Simple Energy, said “Engineering and incremental innovation are the pillars of everything we do at Simple Energy. Developing a BMS from scratch was one of the best decisions we made, enabling us to have an unparalleled degree of vertical integration on the ONE — allowing us to eke out more range and performance than any other EV in the market. This move will also make developing future products by Simple easier.”

The one-of-a-kind battery management system is incredibly compact for a 10 kW solution, leaving more headroom for other vehicle applications and more space for other components such as a larger battery. Even with that size, it is extremely accurate and can detect changes as minuscule as 0.6 mV, which in turn provides precise state of charge (remaining battery and range) estimations. 

As a technology leader, Simple Energy paid close attention to creating a system that maximizes battery health and longevity. A patented intelligent charging protocol was developed to allow for fast charging without degrading the battery pack. There are additional algorithms in place to optimal and safe charging and discharging, sustained peak performance without heating, overall better thermal management, advanced regenerative braking for improved riding dynamics and range, and smart cell balancing and derating. 

The entire system is designed to support the ISO 26262 safety system. These steps will give users added peace of mind around common EV concerns around charging and battery replacement.  

Other benefits of Simple’s BMS include systematic telemetry capturing to understand how users ride and charge their vehicles. This data can then be used to further improve efficiency via OTA updates. Furthermore, the modular solution can also be scaled up or down as per the application, for new form factors. This is also the first time interchanging of battery modules has been achieved without a master module, further reducing costs and errors.  

Simple ONE deliveries begin in June, with the scooter being priced at Rs 1,09,999 (ex-showroom) for the standard variant with a real-world range of 203 km (up to 236 km in ideal conditions), and Rs 1,44,999 (ex-showroom) for the long-range configuration with over 300 km of range via an additional battery pack. It can be pre-booked at Rs 1,947 on simpleenergy.in. 

With more products in the pipeline and the core focus on R&D, Simple Energy eyes to be at the forefront of the ongoing global transition to green mobility. Its flagship product, Simple ONE, will be produced at a state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in Hosur, Tamil Nadu. Alongside this, it has also commissioned a second plant in Dharmapuri, Tamil Nadu, which will spread across 600 acres and have a capacity of 12.5 million units annually — making Simple Energy the largest electric two-wheeler manufacturer in the world.

About Simple Energy

Founded in 2019, Simple Energy is amongst India’s top three premium, smart electric vehicle companies. The Bangalore-based electric vehicle (EV) and clean energy start-up aims to redefine electric mobility in the country by making e-mobility solutions more accessible, accessible, secure, and comfortable to the end-customer. The brand believes in innovating and developing everything in-house while adhering to high standards of integrity, quality, and transparency. From surface design to chassis design, battery development to motor development, the Company has developed comprehensive, ‘Made in India’ e-mobility products that address three major concerns: range anxiety, charging time, and affordability. The brand is dedicated to advancing the country's sustainability goals, thereby contributing to a greener and cleaner future.

L&T Technology Services Establishes Digital Twin Practice In Collaboration With Microsoft And Bentley Systems

* New Center of Excellence will address and accelerate transformational emerging opportunities in Digital Twin ecosystem

L&T Technology Services Limited (BSE: 540115, NSE: LTTS), a leading global pure-play engineering services company, announced that it has launched a next-generation IoT-based engineering practice on Digital Twins for the manufacturing and industrial sectors. LTTS has collaborated with Microsoft and Bentley Systems to establish a Center of Excellence (CoE) that will address and accelerate the Digital Twin and Digital Thread requirements of new-age manufacturing companies.

Microsoft Azure’s scalable and secure platform provides the tech backbone to support global organizations seeking innovative, cloud-based solutions. Azure Digital Twins uses IoT spatial intelligence to create a digital representation of physical environments, thereby gaining insight to drive better products, optimize operations and costs as well as create greater customer experiences. 

By combining mechanical 3D simulation models with real control system logic, LTTS has been able to devise and create highly interconnected and dynamic digital twins for many manufacturers across the globe. The CoE, based in Chennai, India, will provide an opportunity for global customers to experience, experiment and build a digital replica of their physical entities in the Manufacturing, Automotive, Industrial & Consumer Products, Medical & Healthcare, Plant Engineering, and Aerospace segments, all of which are at the forefront of leveraging digital twin capabilities. It will utilize new-age digital engineering driven technologies such as AI & ML, Multiphysics Simulation, Data Analytics, and physical assets.

Bentley Systems, a leader in engineering software that supports organizations to design, build, and operate critical infrastructure assets, offers engineering applications across industries, such as roads, buildings, plants for the manufacturing sector. Bentley’s iTwin platform provides an open, secure and scalable platform-as-a-services. The Bentley iTwin platform will serve as the foundation for LTTS to develop robust infrastructure digital twin solutions. Bentley is committed to the development of an ecosystem of software application providers developing solutions that are open and interoperable with both Bentley technology and third-party offerings.

Abhishek Sinha, Chief Operating Officer and Member of the Board at L&T Technology Services said, “Using simulation and digital twins, LTTS has been helping manufacturers infuse smartness in their critical day-to-day operations. With our engineering capabilities, we support companies to review, assess, and map the performance of their operational model and identify areas to improve efficiency and automation. The establishment of a dedicated Digital Twin practice in collaboration with Microsoft and Bentley Systems emphasizes our steadfast commitment to bridge the gap between virtual and physical worlds.”

Venkat Krishnan, Executive Director, Global Partner Solutions, Microsoft India said, “We are pleased to collaborate with an engineering services leader like LTTS for their newly established Digital Twin Center of Excellence, utilizing Microsoft Azure along with Bentley Systems. This collaboration is important to the success of our joint vision of building intelligent enterprises and accelerating innovation, while reducing operating costs with advanced predictive monitoring and analytics.”

Adam Klatzkin, Vice President, iTwin platform, at Bentley Systems said, “We are pleased to partner with LTTS as they build a digital twin practice with the Bentley iTwin platform at its core. In doing so, LTTS joins a growing ecosystem of developers building digital twin applications on the Bentley iTwin platform, showcasing what they have built, and offering professional services to support clients with their development efforts.”

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 57 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 20,100 employees spread across 17 global design centers, 28 global sales offices and 79 innovation labs as of December 31, 2021. For more information please visit https://www.ltts.com/

TVS Eurogrip’s Second Edition Of Brunch & Biking Witnesses A Resounding Response In Bengaluru

*BTVS Eurogrip the bike tyre specialist brings together riders to spread awareness on Covid vaccination through the Brunch & Biking event flagged off on Sunday, from Pebbles Lounge, Palace Grounds, Bengaluru 

The second edition of Brunch & Biking from TVS Eurogrip, India’s leading 2&3 wheeler tyre company, received a rousing response in Bengaluru with more than 90 bike riders spreading awareness on Covid vaccination. The first edition of Brunch & Biking was successfully held in Bhubaneswar in November 2021. 

It was a 45 km ride, from Pebbles Lounge, Palace Ground to Nandi Hills, the two-hour ride, through Yelahanka, was an attempt to bring the city’s riding community together to drive awareness on importance of vaccination and in the process also promote the joy of riding.  

Speaking on the occasion, P Madhavan, EVP, Sales and Marketing, TVS Srichakra Ltd said, “Brunch & Biking is an ideal opportunity for us to engage with the thriving biking community at ground level and we are delighted to have successfully completed the second edition of this initiative in Bengaluru. Itineraries are specially curated for every such edition to provide an exciting motoring experience for the adventure-spirited riders coming together for a greater cause.” 

In the coming months, TVS Eurogrip intends to organize similar editions in different cities. For the safety and convenience of the riders, the trip would be accompanied by a motorbike mechanic, doctor on call, first aid kits, and service support.  

About TVS Srichakra Ltd. 

TVS Srichakra Limited, makers of TVS Eurogrip brand of tyres is one of India’s leading manufacturers and exporters of Two, Three-Wheeler tyres and Off-Highway tyres. Incorporated in 1982, it is one of the flagship companies of the USD 8.5 Billion TVS Group which is India’s largest Auto Ancillary conglomerate.  With global research and development capabilities and cutting-edge technology, TVS Srichakra produces industry leading tyres for the automotive sector in India and worldwide. Headquartered in Madurai, TVS Srichakra has manufacturing facilities in Madurai (Tamil Nadu) and Rudrapur (Uttarakhand) with a production capacity of over 3 million tyres a month. The company has a design centre in Milan, Italy supporting the R&D centre in Madurai and the tyres are tested in Indian, European, and Japanese road conditions. TVS Srichakra’s products are available in over 85 countries across the world. In India, the company enjoys a significant market share amongst the original equipment manufacturers and replacement markets and has a comprehensive network of distributors and dealers giving it a robust presence. For more information, visit https://www.tvseurogrip.com.  

Photo Caption ;  The second edition of TVS Eurogrip's Brunch & Biking was flagged off from Pebbles Lounge, Palace Grounds, Bengaluru. The participants rode up to Nandi Hills to create awareness on the importance of vaccination. 

Manipal Hospitals, Yeshwanthpur Felicitates 27 Covid-19 Warriors For Fighting Mucormycosis

* The patients from tier-II cities had stepped up to fight the fatal disease through a series of surgeries

In an event today, Manipal Hospitals, Yeshwanthpur, felicitated Covid warriors, aged between 30 and 67, who won their fight against Mucormycosis.  Mucormycosis or Black Fungus is a rare fungal infection, which leads to a massive disuniformity of facial features, and it is highly fatal across all stages. Among all the outlets of Manipal Hospitals, the Yeshwanthpur unit excelled in treating and healing the highest number of patients with Mucormycosis. During the event held on March 15, Manipal Hospitals, Yashwanthpur, applauded all 27 patients who, through their commitment, endurance, and never-say-die spirit, managed to get back to normal or near-normal lives once again.

During the course of treatment of these patients at Manipal Hospitals, Yeshwanthpur, doctors not only conducted reconstructive surgeries on them to develop normal facial structures but also hand-held them through a multi-disciplinary rehabilitation program to help boost their confidence. Thanks to this line of treatment by Manipal Hospitals, Yeshwanthpur, all 27 patients have now been fully restored to good health and are going about their lives.

The surgeries began in mid-May 2020 and lasted till September 2021. Even though all the procedures were completed by September, doctors at Manipal Hospitals had to wait a while to see if the surgeries had the desired effect and benefited the patients.

All of these 27 patients had suffered various types of damages to their faces. Before being brought to Manipal Hospitals, they were treated in multiple ways, including through the use of steroids. But all that did not help. For these patients, the only way to move to normal life was to undergo multiple surgeries. Dr Sreenivasa Murthy TM, Consultant ENT Surgeon, Manipal Hospital Yeshwanthpur, Bengaluru and Dr Anjan Kumar Shah, Consultant Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeon, Manipal Hospital Yeshwanthpur, Bengaluru conducted a series of surgeries for the 27 patients, along with Dr Swathi and Dr Shruthi who are Maxillofacial surgeons. Today, the above-mentioned doctors came together to highlight the positive outcomes through the multidisciplinary clinical approach, and reconstructive procedures that built the confidence for patients to lead a normal life post-treatment.

The majority of these patients hailed from Tier-II cities and were diabetics, which exposed them to Mucormycosis. A few patients hailed from Bangalore too.

A heart-wrenching story among the 27 patients was of 66-year-old Krishna Bai from Yelahanka, who desperately sought effective treatment at various hospitals but to no avail. When Krishna Bai was brought to Manipal Hospitals, Yeshwanthpur, the base of her skull had started falling apart and one of her eyes had dissolved. This senior citizen belongs to a lower-middle-class family, which is financially supported by her working daughter.

Initially, doctors fretted whether they would be able to save this lady’s face or even her life. However, after four consecutive surgeries, she survived the onslaught of the virus which nearly managed to reach her brain. She lives a near-normal life now, though she lost one eye (replaced by a prosthetic eye) and a cheek.

Another inspiring story is that of 30-year-old Shivram, from Mandya, who lost both his jaws to the infection. That hurt the abilities of his teeth, rendering him unable to eat or speak. However, through reconstructive surgery, the upper jaw was replaced on both sides. Now, thanks to the well-functioning jaw, he is able to talk, eat and conduct all other functions required of the jaw, properly.

At Manipal Hospitals, the treatment accorded to these patients included plastic surgeries, which transformed their lives for the better, helping them face the real world once again with confidence.

“We are happy to see so many patients surviving this mutilating disease, thanks to consistent medical attention. We are greatly satisfied at the work done in this regard at Manipal Hospitals, Yeswanthpur,” said Dr. Sreenivasa Murthy TM, Consultant ENT Surgeon, Manipal Hospital Yeshwanthpur, Bengaluru

ABB Predicts Key Trends That Will Change Robotic Automation In 2022

* Post-pandemic acceleration continues for robots in new sectors like

* logistics and retail, and speeds up for EV production

* Adoption of robots driving demand for new skills that require education and training

* Marc Segura, ABB’s new Robotics Division President, outlines the key 2022 robotic trends

With demand for robots growing as companies in multiple sectors look for new ways to enhance their productivity and competitiveness post-pandemic, ABB has compiled a set of growth predictions, looking at key trends driving demand for robots in the coming year.

"The pandemic accelerated far-reaching global mega trends – from labor shortages and supply chain uncertainty, to the individualized consumer and growing pressure to operate sustainably and resiliently – leading new businesses to look to robotic automation,” says Marc Segura, ABB’s newly appointed Robotics Division President. “As technology opens new opportunities for meeting customer demands, new trends will continue to emerge that will further drive demand in areas where robots have traditionally not been used.” 

Based on customer conversations, market research and a global survey of 250 companies across multiple industries, ABB has identified three key trends that will shape the demand for robots in 2022.

Trend 1 – The EV revolution is bringing wholesale changes for automotive manufacturing

With many countries restricting and phasing out the production of combustion engine vehicles over the next decade, the race towards electric cars has accelerated. Manufacturers and their supply chains must tackle the complexity of diversifying into EVs alongside combustion-engine vehicles, to meet varying regulatory frameworks governing EV adoption across the globe. The speed and added flexibility needed will see new and established manufacturers move away from traditional linear manufacturing, towards modular, flexible production.

Segura said: “EV is not about a change only in the powertrain, but a larger transformation to a digitized car. This transition will also see the growing uptake of robots in combination with other technologies, including Autonomous Mobile Robots (AMR’s). This will enable manufacturers to optimize the delivery of components across facilities and enable integrated scalable, modular production cells – methods traditionally associated with e-commerce and consumer goods, but now required in automotive to ensure the necessary flexibility to meet varying levels of demand.”

Another major shift will see battery manufacturing brought closer to vehicle assembly, to meet sustainability and regional requirements, which in most cases requires all-new facilities.

Trend 2 – The E-commerce boom will accelerate

Consumer behavior and expectations are driving companies to find new ways to satisfy demand, developing new channels through omnichannel retailing and adapting their production lines and distribution processes to enable personalization of both products and delivery. Fulfilling these requirements has seen thousands of robots installed worldwide where they were not used just five years ago, and this rapid rate of automation will continue in 2022 driven by a combination of consumer trends and a growing shortage of labor. 

“This trend will see the growth of lighter, smaller robotic applications, enabling the expansion of automation into new areas of warehousing and distribution operations. As Artificial Intelligence in robotics matures and learning robots become mainstream, expect to see these technologies deployed alongside AMR technologies, orchestrated and managed by intelligent software to provide enhanced flexibility, speed and efficiency,” Segura continued.

Trend 3 – More robots will appear in more places – and workers will need new skills

Smaller, more affordable, and easy-to-use robots, such as ABB’s YuMi®, GoFa™ and SWIFTI™ cobots, are helping to remove many of the barriers previously preventing companies from investing in robots. This is seeing an acceleration of robots in general industry and small and medium-sized enterprises as companies seek new ways to automate different tasks. 

Segura continued: “As we look beyond 2022, we see an ever-greater emphasis on connectivity and data acquisition as key enablers of future manufacturing. Data collected from intelligently automated processes will be analyzed by producers to make more informed decisions. At the same time, more advanced and responsive simulation and programming software tools, such as those in ABB’s RobotStudio®, will cover the entire life cycle of robotic applications – from commissioning to onstream productivity – using AR and VR tools to simplify automation for customers.”

The enhanced ability of robots to work directly alongside humans, share tasks and learn through AI is also making it easier for companies to adopt intelligent automation in new environments, such as construction, healthcare laboratories and restaurants and retail. 

In a future with a high prevalence of robots in workplaces, engineers and staff will need to be retrained and more robotic training will be demanded in schools, colleges and universities, for the skills to program, operate and maintain robots for an automated future.

A decade of change

The trends outlined for 2022 are the latest chapter in the ongoing transformation of robotic automation which is seeing a rapid acceleration and adoption of robots across industry.

“While automation has always been about productivity and quality – scaling up, doing more – the shifts we’re witnessing today (the greatest in a generation) mean that flexibility and simplicity are key to success,” concludes Marc Segura. “Today, flexibility is essential – it is a strategic need, essential across the entire value chain: from manufacturing and logistics through to the point of consumption. Robotic automation is a vital enabler of this flexibility.

“ABB’s goal is to help our customers achieve this flexibility and add value to their businesses by driving innovation to create new possibilities with robotics, mobile robotics and machine automation, supported by the digital services and training they need to get the most from their investment.”

ABB (ABBN: SIX Swiss Ex) is a leading global technology company that energizes the transformation of society and industry to achieve a more productive, sustainable future. By connecting software to its electrification, robotics, automation and motion portfolio, ABB pushes the boundaries of technology to drive performance to new levels. With a history of excellence stretching back more than 130 years, ABB’s success is driven by about 105,000 talented employees in over 100 countries. www.abb.com

ABB Robotics & Discrete Automation is a pioneer in robotics, machine automation and digital services, providing innovative solutions for a diverse range of industries, from automotive to electronics to logistics. As one of the world’s leading robotics and machine automation suppliers, we have shipped more than 500,000 robot solutions. We help our customers of all sizes to increase productivity, flexibility and simplicity and to improve output quality. We support their transition towards the connected and collaborative factory of the future. ABB Robotics & Discrete Automation employs more than 11,000 people at over 100 locations in more than 53 countries. go.abb/robotics

Simpl Fortifies Its Data Science Team; Appoints Robin As The New Principal Data Scientist

Simpl, the market leader in 1-tap checkout, today announced the appointment of Robin as Principal Data Scientist. Robin has served as a Lead Scientist - Analytics Science in his previous role at FICO USA.

His new role at Simpl includes creating high-impact Data Science and anti-fraud projects in close coordination with other stakeholders. He will be working as a technical consultant to product managers from different departments.

Robin comes with over 14 years of robust experience in building AI solutions for a range of industries. During his time at FICO, he was instrumental in developing the FICO Cognitive Analytics toolkit using advanced machine learning algorithms. Robin’s areas of expertise include developing anti-fraud solutions for insurance claims, credit cards, and other applications. He has also worked on Clinical Decision Support and Identity Proofing projects.

Commenting on the key appointment, Nitya Sharma, CEO & Co-Founder – Simpl, said, “In the fintech payments industry it is imperative to continuously innovate by deploying new-age technologies. We believe that AI, ML, IoT, blockchain technology, data analytics and other technologies will help us in delivering powerful products and deliver better user experience to customers.  And having seasoned technologists will help us to fast track our product development. In this regard, we are excited to on-board Robin as Principal Data Scientist. He will be instrumental in spearheading anti-fraud initiatives at Simpl.”

Robin, Principal Data Scientist– Simpl, stated, “I’m thrilled to be a part of Simpl’s journey in innovating the digital payments ecosystem and ensuring consumer data protection. I look forward to design and develop a suit of solutions utilizing advanced machine learning algorithms at Simpl and contribute towards Simpl’s commitment of making payment experience simple, safe, and secure for customers.”

Simpl will continue to seek out the best and brightest in the industry in hiring, promotion, and business practices. Simpl is committed to the simplification and democratization of digital transformation in the payments space in India.

About Simpl

Co-founded in 2015 by Nitya Sharma, Simpl is India’s fastest-growing Buy Now, Pay Later platform meant to make payments invisible and money intelligent. Simpl is on a mission to empower merchants to build trusted relationships with customers, one transaction at a time. With more than 10,000 available merchants and 25 million-plus users pan-India, Simpl envisions creating an inclusive digital payments experience for India that empowers and fosters trust between merchants and their customers.

Simpl is the leading Pay-Later platform in India, providing a full-stack solution for e-commerce conversion. It enables merchants to give customers 1-tap  checkout, buyer protection and a pay-later facility to allow them to feel safe and trusted when shopping online. Through Simpl, merchants can provide consumers with an easy, safe and intuitive user experience.

Vitamin C: Bridging The Immunity Gap For Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs)

* Alongside good nutrition and diet, increasing the intake of micronutrients such as vitamin C can enhance health outcomes and boost immunity

* Vitamin C is vital for patients with NCDs like diabetes or hypertension, as it can protect end organ damage and improve vascular function[i]

* Additionally, it alleviates seasonal infections[ii] that exacerbate their conditions

The last two years have reinforced the importance of good health and immunity, which is essential not just now but in the longer-term for both seasonal infections and non-communicable diseases (NCDs). NCD prevalence in India is rising at an alarming rate, with morbidity increasing by 83% in the last three decades.[iii] Cardiovascular diseases, cancer, respiratory diseases and diabetes form the leading NCDs affecting Indians, associated with the highest mortality rates.[iv] Two thirds of Indians affected by NCDs fall in the most productive age group (26 to 59 years), as per a 2021 ASSOCHAM report.[v] Of these, diabetes and hypertension have particularly high associated burdens, with a prevalence of 2.9% and 3.6% respectively, across India.

Alongside good diet and nutrition to enable better NCD management, there is a clear need for self-care solutions to maintain optimal health. While a healthy, balanced diet is essential for good nutrition, the country’s nutritional consumption is inadequate on its own, with people’s existing diets contributing to malnutrition and rising NCD incidence.[vi] Vitamin C (or ascorbic acid) remains an essential micronutrient in humans, playing a crucial role in supporting various aspects of the immune system.[vii] As a powerful antioxidant, it also strengthens the body’s natural defences.[viii] 

Dr. Aravinda J, Dr Aravinds Diabetes centre, Bengaluru commented, “Vitamin C is an essential nutrient to boost immunity. It is observed that patients with common NCDs, like diabetes and hypertension, require more vitamin C than others, owing to the high oxidative stress seen in these patients. Specifically, patients with diabetes have 30% lower vitamin C concentrations than non-diabetics. Individuals can boost their regular nutritional intake through vitamin C supplementation, in addition to a rich, balanced diet, comprising citrus foods and tomatoes.”

Dr. Parag Sheth, Director, Global Medical Affairs, Abbott commented, “Vitamin C offers impressive health benefits, such as boosting immunity and antioxidant levels. Abbott is committed to raising awareness on the importance of vitamin C, thereby encouraging adequate daily intake, which can benefit immunity and promotes overall health and well-being. By providing trusted, quality solutions to meet specific local needs, we aim to help people benefit from good health and live better, fuller lives.”

Vitamin C deficiency has been observed across the country, with an estimated 74% and 46% prevalence amongst adults of North India and South India respectively. [ix] The deficiency is commonly observed in people suffering from NCDs, resulting in lower immunity levels to manage their conditions. Common risk factors for vitamin C deficiency include increased age (specifically the geriatric population), malnutrition, exposure to pollution or pollutants like smoke, biomass fuels and high tobacco usage, many of which commonly affect Indians.[x]

Vitamin C also plays a role in alleviating seasonal infections, like cold and flu, during the winter season especially in people suffering from NCDs.[xi] In cardiovascular diseases or hypertension patients, the nutrient can protect end organ damage and improve vascular endothelial function, which helps regulate blood clotting.[xii]

To ensure adequate intake of the micronutrient and benefit from its positive outcomes on one’s overall health, vitamin C supplementation can be beneficial.