10 Successful Teams Get Smart Farm Grant Challenge (SFGC) - Grant

Software Technology Parks of India (STPI) distributed Rs. 5 Lakhs each to 10 shortlisted Teams under the Smart Farm Grant Challenge Programme. The grant distribution and the award ceremony were held at the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, New Delhi, where Sh. Alkesh Kumar Sharma (Secretary, MeitY) handed over the cheques to the winning teams. The award ceremony was attended by Sh. Arvind Kumar (DG, STPI), Dr Saurabh Srivastava (Chairman Emeritus TiE Delhi-NCR and former Chairman NASSCOM), Sh. Roshan Lal Tamak (Executive Director, DCM Sriram) and senior officials from the Ministry and STPI.

The 10 shortlisted teams were A2P Energy Solution Private Limited, Ag Automate Private Limited, Aigret Innovations India Pvt. Ltd, ARMS  4 AI Pvt. Ltd, Bharat Rohan Airborne Innovations Private Limited, Plaksha University, G B Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Pantnagar, Innosapien Agro Technologies Pvt Ltd, Satyukt Analytics Pvt Ltd and TFBOT PRIVATE LIMITED.

“Last-mile innovations focused on smallholder farmers are key for India's Agri & allied ecosystem and Agri #startups should develop their products keeping smallholder farmers in mind,” said Sh. Alkesh Kumar Sharma, Secretary, MeitY.

“Agriculture is one of the key economic sectors of the country & #innovation through ICT enablement for this sector will help in achieving the target of $5 trillion economy by 2025,”mentioned Sh. Arvind Kumar, DG, STPI on the occasion.

“Increasing productivity of Agriculture is a critical requirement of our farmers. Iam delighted that MeitY has come up with the SFGC which focusses on their problem statement and invite Start-ups to find solution in an innovative way and financially support them,” accentuated Dr Saurabh Srivastava, Chairman, Emeritus, TiE Delhi-NCR (former Chairman NASSCOM).

“Optimum time of Sugarcane Harvest can be predicted using technologies like AI & ML etc,” said Sh. Roshan Lal Tamak, Executive Director &CEO, DCM Shriram.

The Smart Farm Grant Challenge (SFGC) programme was launched on 9th May 2022 by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) with grant-in-aid of Rs. 2.54 Cr. STPI is the designated implementation agency with Neuron CoE at Mohali as the anchor CoE. The challenge programme was launched to identify path-breaking solutions from startups, Innovators, Entrepreneurs etc. to address the problem statements identified for sugarcane harvest. Sugarcane is an important commodity for human consumption as well as trade. Information and communication technology in agriculture (ICT in agriculture) has the potential to significantly impact the agriculture sector by utilizing ICT tools.

The programme received an overwhelming response and received a total of 474 applications.  108 applications found suitable were further screened and 25 selected were pitched before the Jury committee of members from Industry, Academia, Domain experts and stakeholders.

The Jury’s recommendation of the 10 best proposals that have shown innovation and technological acumen to predict the optimum time of sugarcane harvest in a given plot area with reasonable accuracy are being provided financial support of INR 5 Lakhs each to develop a working prototype of the proposed solution within three months duration

These 10 teams will now have to develop a working prototype of the proposed solution within three months and compete again to enter the next critical phases of the Smart-farm Grant Challenge. As part of the next phases, they will demonstrate the prototype, get selected for Stage-2, receive Rs. 20 lakh support, develop the final product and compete again for the grand award of Rs 50 lakh along-with support of INR 10 lakhs per year for next 2 years towards Operations & Maintenance. Teams having innovative approaches, solutions which are reliable, having accuracy in percentage, correlation with the real time data etc. and can cater to scalability, usability, ease of deployment & roll-out, have a great chance to progress further.

Toyota Kirloskar Motor Announces Prices of The Top Four Grades For The Much-Awaited Urban Cruiser Hyryder

* To be revealed in a phased manner, TKM competitively prices the Urban Cruiser Hyryder

Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM), today initiated the announcement of the prices of its brand-new Toyota Urban Cruiser Hyryder. To be announced in a phased manner, the top four grades of the latest offering from Toyota are competitively priced between Rs. 15,11,000 to Rs. 18,99,000.

The brand-new SUV was unveiled in early July and the bookings were also announced at the same time. As one of Toyota’s sustainable mobility offerings, the Urban Cruiser Hyryder inherits Toyota’s famed global SUV lineage with bold and sophisticated styling, along with advanced technology features making it a perfect choice for the customers.

Commenting on the significant milestone Mr. Atul Sood, Associate Vice President, Sales, and Strategic Marketing, TKM, said, “We are truly humbled and honoured to receive such an overwhelming response for the Urban Cruiser Hyryder and we are grateful that our customers have put their faith & trust in brand Toyota. Today, we have decided to announce the price of the Urban Cruiser Hyryder in a phased manner. The prices for the remaining grades will be announced shortly.

The first of its kind self-charging strong hybrid electric vehicle in the B SUV segment, the Urban Cruiser Hyryder is aimed at delivering exemplary performance, best in class fuel efficiency, quick acceleration, connected car features and is designed for a greener future. We have introduced a very competitive pricing for the Urban Cruiser Hyryder, as it is through the Hyryder that we aim to encourage widespread acceptance of environment friendly technologies, thereby creating a positive impact and enhance energy security of the country”, he concluded.

Available in two powertrains- Self-charging Strong Hybrid Electric powertrain & Neo Drive, the Self-Charging Strong Hybrid Electric Vehicle is powered by an e-drive transmission and runs 40% of the distance and 60% of the time on electric power, with engine shut-off, offering a fuel efficiency of 27.97km/l. Additionally, the Neo Drive comes with a 1.5-liter K-series engine, a five-speed manual transmission, and a six-speed automatic transmission with 2WD and 4WD options.

On World EV Day, Tata Motors Announces Expansion Of Its Portfolio To Make EVs More Accessible In India

Tata Motors remains committed towards realizing the vision of making India the EV hub of the world. The Company, Tata Passenger Electric Mobility (TPEM) has been established with TPG Rise Climate to offer new mobility solutions. TPEM aims to ride the green wave and support the government’s vision to have 30% electric vehicle penetration by 2030.

Announcing its plans on World EV Day, Mr. Shailesh Chandra, Managing Director, Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles Ltd., and Tata Passenger Electric Mobility Ltd. said, “World EV Day is indeed a special day for us, as we look back and reflect on our journey so far. We are proud to lead the EV market in India, with a lion’s share of 88%. As early entrants, we have shaped the market and seen it grow with Nexon EV and Tigor EV. We have over 40,000 Tata EVs plying on road and we are grateful to the early adopters who have shown faith in the brand. Leveraging group synergies, we have also established Tata UniEVerse, a one of its kind EV ecosystem, which is further propelling the EV adoption.

“Earlier this year, we had unveiled our 3 phased approach towards building a comprehensive EV portfolio. As we accelerate our future journey, we are committed to launch 10 EVs in different product segments, body styles and affordability levels. Today, is a momentous occasion for us, as we announce the expansion of our EV portfolio further with a new mainstream intervention from the stable of Tata Motors, the Tiago EV.  As a leader, we are now pioneering the next phase of the EV market expansion, which will bring all the EV benefits of an exciting yet easy drive, silent cabin, low cost of ownership to a more accessible level.”

Happiest Minds Technologies Achieves Select Tier Partner Status With Snowflake

Happiest Minds Technologies Limited (NSE: HAPPSTMNDS), a ‘Born Digital, Born Agile’ digital transformation and IT solutions company, today announced that it has achieved Select tier partner status from Snowflake, the Data Cloud company. As a Select partner, Happiest Minds can accelerate the digital transformation of its joint customers who can fully leverage the performance, flexibility, and near-infinite scalability of the Snowflake Data Cloud.

Happiest Minds and Snowflake are able to mobilize the world’s data with Snowflake’s Data Cloud by catering to the demand for simplified data administration through robust, cost-effective, and proven technology solutions. Happiest Minds is proud to strengthen its relationship with Snowflake and is excited to bring innovation and new capabilities to joint customers in their data journey.

The Snowflake Partner Network unlocks the potential of the Data Cloud with a broad array of tools and partners. Certified partnerships and integrations enable customers to leverage Snowflake’s flexibility, performance, and ease of use to deliver more meaningful data insights.

Ajay Agrawal, Senior VP and Head of CoE- AI/Analytics, Happiest Minds Technologies said, “As part of the data strategy and implementation, we see the sustained movement towards a cloud-native approach. The Snowflake partnership allows us to quickly build an efficient, secure, and scalable enterprise analytics platform. With Happiest Minds’ experience in building modern data platforms for our global customers, coupled with our focus on Data and AI, we see ourselves adding pace to the Snowflake adoption.”

Dinesh Ramachandran, SVP & Global Alliance Head, Happiest Minds Technologies said, “We are excited to partner with a global leader like Snowflake. Happiest Minds’ focus on next-generation, disruptive technologies & data analytics, along with Snowflake’s highly scalable platform can certainly help customers seamlessly manage large amounts of data, innovate at scale, and modernize their data infrastructure to derive valuable insights.”

Vimal Venkatram, Managing Director, Snowflake India said, “Happiest Minds’ expertise in digital transformation combined with Snowflake’s Data Cloud creates a digital modernization capability for our joint customers, further supporting our goal to mobilize the world’s data in the service of the enterprise.”

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.

RFPIO’s 3rd Annual RISE UP Conference Goes In-Person And International

*Sign up to receive a discount to attend live in North America or Europe

RFPIO, the company bringing efficiency to the revenue lifecycle, today announced the dates and locations of its RISEUP 2023 conference. Now in its third year, RISEUP is the must-attend event for sales, pre-sales, and proposal teams across all industries looking to up their game and grow as a professional, elevate their knowledge of the RFPIO platform, and enhance their organization’s ability to create revenue efficiently. The in-person event will take place in Austin, TX May 2-4, 2023 and Amsterdam, Netherlands June 20-22. 

This two-day event will feature both in person and streaming content including exclusive presentations and interactive sessions geared at resolving the inefficiencies sales and proposal teams face as they work to increase pipeline and drive growth. 

“Efficiency is critical for B2B revenue teams,” said Ganesh Sankar of RFPIO. “With RFPIO, we’re making it possible for revenue driving teams to adapt to rapidly changing expectations of key prospects and customers, and to bring efficiency to the entire revenue lifecycle in ways that no other platform can do today.”

Past events have featured keynotes from Christina Brady, Chief Strategy Officer at Sales Assembly and Steve Silvers, Vice President for the sales operations practice at Forrester. Sign-up here to be among the first to hear as details for 2023 are released as well as receive a code for $100 off registration. 

RFPIO is the response management platform of choice for organizations like Accenture, Adobe, LinkedIn, Microsoft, Visa, Zoom, Cigna, and more. To learn more about RFPIO, please visit www.rfpio.com/.  

About RFPIO

RFPIO is the market leader in response management software and the industry's first AI-enabled RFP software, trusted by some of the world's smartest companies to manage responses to RFPs, RFIs, RFQs, Security Questionnaires, and DDQs. Through robust and bi-directional integrations, with an open API, teams can connect their people and improve content quality and accessibility — enabling collaboration without boundaries. RFPIO supports response management for growing organizations of all sizes including Google, Adobe, Atlassian, Microsoft, Tenable, Zoom Video and others. For more information, visit rfpio.com or follow @rfpioinc on Twitter.

Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations Released Vehicle Retail Data For August’22

On YoY basis, total vehicle retail for the month of August’22 saw a growth of 8%.

Except tractors which decreased by -32%, all the other categories were in green. 2W, 3W, PV and CV were up by 8.5%, 83%, 6.5% and 24% respectively.

When compared with August’19, a pre-covid month, total vehicle retails continued to fall by -7%. While PV showed a double-digit healthy growth of 41%, growth in CV also turned positive by 6%. All the other categories were in red with 2W, 3W and Tractors falling by -16%, -1% and -7% respectively.

Good monsoon fails to ignite festive spirits thus impacting Ganpati festive demand.

As semi-conductor supply continues to ease, Auto Retail and PV segment especially, geared up to have the best festive season in a decade.

The Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations (FADA) released Vehicle Retail Data for August’22.

August’22 Retails

Commenting on how August’22 performed, FADA President, Mr. Manish Raj Singhania said, “Auto Retail for the month of August’22 saw an overall growth of 8%. August opens the door for festival season to kick in. While Dealers anticipated good Ganesh Chaturthi in August, the results thus far has not been encouraging. In spite of good monsoons, festive season began with a dampener during Ganpati.

When compared with August’19, a pre-covid month, total vehicle retails fell by -7%. While PV outperformed handsomely by growing 41%, CV also turned positive by growing 6% and thus came out of the covid blues. All the other segments were in red with 2W, 3W and Tractors falling by -16%, -1% and -7% respectively.

While the 2W segment has grown by 8.5% YoY, it continues to face covid blues due to underperformance of Bharat and is still not above 2019 levels. This coupled with price hikes has made the 2W product out of reach for most entry level customers. With erratic monsoon, the crop realisation has been low and flood like situation has restricted customer movement.

The 3W space continues its healthy double digit growth (grows 83% YoY) when compared YoY. It has now also equalled 2019 sales for the first time. Electrification is also the highest in this category as e-Rickshaw leading the way. There is a clear indication that customers are now preferring electric vehicles over ICE vehicles as ICE 3W continues to see double digit de-growth when compared to pre-covid levels.

The CV segment continues to witness an upswing in economic activities post monsoon and saw a growth of 24% YoY. This along with government’s infrastructure push, new launches by OEMs and better conversion in fleet operations has kept the segment in green. Apart from this, the Passenger Carrier segment is also showing good demand due to increased buying from Educational Institutions.

The PV segment continues to be on a bull run (grows 6.5% YoY) as demand for all sub categories of vehicles except entry level remained strong. This is also aided by new feature rich launches which OEMs are doing since last few months. With semi-conductor shortage slowly becoming a passe, vehicle availability has definitely improved but waiting period continues to remain due to high demand in higher feature rich variants.”

Near Term Outlook

While the month of September brings with itself Onam and Navratri, it also brings the 15-days period of Shraadh, generally considered as an inauspicious period for buying vehicles. With easing of supply, PV segment will definitely see the best ever festivities (Navratri and Diwali) in last 1 decade. Along with this, if vehicle prices continue to remain stable and there is no more health related threats, we may see an uptick in the much awaited 2W space which has not shown the required growth since last festivals.

With Government’s continuous push in infrastructure spending, we will also see an uptick in CV space.

Overall, FADA changes its stance from ‘cautiously optimistic’ to ‘optimistic’ as it enters the festive period.

Key Findings from our Online Members Survey

Inventory at the end of August’22

Average inventory for Passenger Vehicles ranges from 30 – 35 days

Average inventory for Two – Wheelers ranges from 30 – 33 days

Liquidity

Good                 47.9%

Neutral              37.2%

Bad                      14.9%

Sentiment

Good                 46.3%

Neutral               40.5%

Bad                      13.2%

Expectation from September

Growth               61.2%

Flat                      27.3%

De-growth         11.6%

Union Bank of India Launches 705 New “Union Gold Loan Points”

Union Bank of India has launched 705 new “Union Gold Loan Points”to further strengthen the Gold Loan business and customer service enrichment. Union Bank of India, now has 1221 Union Gold Loan Points across the country. 

MD & CEO of Union Bank of India, Ms. A. Manimekhalai stressed the need to explore the untapped Gold Loan business opportunity as it is secured and hassle-free mode of lending with minimum time engaged. This means easy loan in the fastest TAT. She also emphasized that Indian society has sentimental values towards their gold ornaments and Union Bank of India being a responsible banker will take utmost care to keep the trust of the customers intact with the Bank. 

Union Bank of India had announced the formation of New Gold Loan Vertical as a part of new initiative in the quarter of June 2022. This vertical has been conceptualized with a view to tap the market share under gold loan portfolio. 

The Bank had also launched their first specialized and dedicated branches “UNION GOLD LOAN POINT (UGLP)” in the year 2020. It was launched to focus on business growth in selected potential branches across the country and has 516 exclusively designed Union Gold Loan Point branches which are equipped to extend specialized Gold Loan services to the customers. 

V-Logis Announces “CHEMSTORE”, A World-Class Super Specialised Chemical Storage Facility

V-Logis, a part of V-Trans (India) Ltd, comprehensive warehousing, 3 PL solutions, and end-to-end integrated logistics provider has announced its world-class facility with the state-of-the-art technology called “CHEMSTORE”. CHEMSTORE is a super-specialized chemical storage solution that provides the best safety standards at the global level. This world-class facility is amongst the top warehouses in the country which is fully compliant with National Building Code (NBC) 2016 and National Fire Protection Association (NFPA). The facility is a state-of-the-art infrastructure with strict compatibility for storing various chemicals of various hazardous classes. As per the norms, the facility is strategically located away from the Highway, residential, school, and river body at NH-3 Mankoli-Bhiwandi. The facility accommodates a total area of 2,18,350 sq. ft to store precious haz-chems with utmost safety measures. We have partnered with VED Hospital for emergency services at the facility which is at a distance of 12kms. The fire station is located 20km from Chem Store.     

The chemical industry is engineered with high compliance standards to store all categories of hazardous chemicals comfortably and securely. The facility shelves are built with a heavy-duty racking system in a systematic arrangement to store an optimum quantity of material. The layout of the warehouse is designed with a height of 46 ft at the center efficiently utilizing the space. The side walls of the warehouse are smart insulated with ventilation for the flow of natural light & air. The warehouse is inserted with a central roof monitoring system to keep the internal temperature and to have air chances. The facility has expansive peripheral access on all four sides for fire tendering and another vehicle movement. The facility holds space of 26ft and 20ft wide canopy throughout on both sides for all weather-smooth operations. The facility has a seamless and automated dock-to-rack movement with an articulated forklift, battery-operated forklift, battery-operated pallet truck, and a hydraulic pallet truck.    

To avoid pollution by spillage of disposal from the warehouse, there is a separate containment pit with a dedicated tank of 4 Lakh litres to manage storage and spilling of disposals. The warehouse has instilled a sewage treatment plant to make it fit for safe disposal, agricultural use, or domestic use in toilets. It has a different pump room designed to utilize the natural pressure and provide a water supply with the backup motor. It has a system that provides a curtain of water for protection against internal and external “exposure” to fire, and protection of large openings. Considering the storage of chemical products, the entire periphery of the site is equipped with the Drencher. The store is infused with VESDA (Very Early Smoke Detection Apparatus) system for the best possible safety standards. 

V-Logis compliance with the storage of various types of chemicals can be incredibly complex and crucial from a safety point of view. In addition to meeting all storage requirements, such as room temperature and compatibility with other chemicals, the handling of materials can be a challenge for individuals without the right level of training and proper supervision, and emergency preparedness. In all these and many other parameters, Chem Store scores better than other warehouses and is amongst the best in the industry. 

Commenting on this, Mr. Ronak Shah, Executive Director of V-Trans (India) Ltd & CEO V-Logis said “We are happy to expand our services with CHEMSTORE, super-specialized chemical storage that provides the best safety standards on a global level. With Chemstore we have created a benchmark for safe & fully compliant storage of chemicals with safety standards in construction, design, T&D, and best practices for fire, disposal safety, and other necessary measures. Our aim is to be committed to providing safe and sewer storage of chemicals & ensuring that our clients are at the place once they have handed over their cargo to us. We seek to see what more is to come in the chemical industry in the future, that will help us adapt and contribute more toward society”.   

Toyota Kirloskar Motor Partners With UCO Bank For Value-Added Financing Solutions

* New partnership to offer innovative retail funding options from customers across the country

* Offers upto 90% on Road Funding

* Strengthens TKM’s focus of reaching customers in Tier II & III markets

Continuing its efforts towards consolidating the company’s Customer-First philosophy, Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM) today announced the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with India’s leading banking platform, the UCO Bank. Envisaged to enable more and more customers further access to Toyota’s world-class products and services, this partnership will benefit customers from not only Tier I markets, but across all States and Union Territories, and a with higher focus on Tier II & Tier III markets. 

Through its foray into the A&B-segment with new model launches like the Cool New Glanza, Urban Cruiser and the recently unveiled Urban Cruiser Hyryder, TKM has had a sustained focus on expanding its footprints across India with special focus on Tier II & III markets. This new tie-up will fortify TKM’s efforts to enhance value-added offerings for customers based in Tier II & III markets. Thereby, also ensuring customers’ easy accessibility to the complete range of vehicles sold by Toyota Kirloskar Motor in India.

Sharing his view on the tie-up, Shri. Satya Ranjan Panda, General Manager, Marketing & Wealth Management Dept., UCO Bank, said, “We are excited to collaborate with Toyota Kirloskar Motor as they are one of the leading car manufacturers. With this new partnership, we are confident in reaching out to our customer base in Tier I, II & III cities and towns through our huge network of over 3,000 branches”.

Shri. S K Sankhyan, General Manager, Retail Banking Dept., UCO Bank, stated, “We are sure the tie-up will result in a quick and seamless purchasing experience for our existing customers who plan to purchase a Toyota. It also marks the beginning of an exciting phase in the relationship between UCO Bank and Toyota Kirloskar Motor towards serving customers together”.

Talking about the new partnership, Mr. Atul Sood, Associate Vice President, Sales, and Strategic Marketing, TKM, said, “Following our successful foray into the A&B-segment, there is a great demand for Toyota vehicles in rural markets, and we are determined to meet the growing surge and improve the sales experience of our customers across the country. As a customer centric company, we have always innovated to provide unique and attractive financial schemes & offers to our customer to ensure that they enjoy easy access to our world-class line-up of Toyota vehicles in India. UCO Bank’s wide network, and database utilization will help us identify new customers and we hope to build on our individual strengths to create the best solutions for our esteemed customers, together”.

Toyota Kirloskar Motor always strives to improve customer experience throughout the life cycle by implementing timely and relevant schemes such as easy financing options. Aimed at making ownership of Toyota vehicles an easy process for customers, TKM has always explored innovate tie-ups with leading financial institutes across the country. The offers go beyond purchase of just new vehicles to cover used cars as well as service packages thus creating overall positive buying and ownership experience of Toyota cars.

IIITB Hosts Automotive Workshop For Over 50 Participants

Automotive software has currently reached astounding levels of complexity prompting automotive OEMs and their suppliers to manage a complex supply chain of semiconductors, electronics, software and systems. Entering this space and ushering in digital transformation of the automotive industry is SIG Automotive, a special interest group in IIIT Bangalore that focuses on issues of software engineering, e-mobility and sustainability in automobiles of tomorrow. The research initiated by the Group focuses on creating processes, operations, tools to develop safe cyber secure adaptive automotive grade software-intensive systems.

Given that sustainability is a key factor in any system and more so in software solutions, SIG Automotive hosted a workshop on Automotive Software and Sustainability, bringing together leading players from academia and industry on a platform to exchange ideas and thoughts on the above topics. The workshop, hosted at International Institute of Information Technology (IIITB), focused on software, E/E, e-mobility and sustainability, with presentations and panel discussions on a range of topics veering around software and sustainability. This workshop was co-convened by Prof. Roland Erik Haas and Prof. Sujit Kumar Chakrabarti, who are leading SIG Automotive at IIITB.

Leading industry participation

The workshop also included breakout sessions on education, technology transfer, the trends and challenges involved. With over 50 participants, the free workshop had leading industry presence starting from Daimler, Ashok Leyland and MathWorks. The conference was sponsored by Infineon Technologies, a world leader in semiconductors. 

Speaking on the confluence, Prof. Roland Erik Haas, IIITB said, “The focus of the workshop is on software, E/E, e-mobility and sustainable solutions. Active interactions between the participants from academia and industry was facilitated through various presentations and panel discussions. The breakout sessions on complementary topics of education, technology transfer, the various challenges involved in the same further elicit robust discussions amongst participants.”

Researching into next generation battery operated vehicles

SIG Automotive is into an important area of research involving battery electric vehicles (BEV) to bring in sustainable mobility. This is all the more relevant with many countries having passed laws to ban internal combustion engine (ICE) within the next two decades. Research explored in this segment relates to electric drive technologies, battery systems, battery and power management, charging and smart grid connectivity.

About IIIT Bangalore

IIIT Bangalore is a premier institute focused on Post-Graduate IT education and research, located in the heart of Electronic City, Bangalore. IIIT Bangalore is graded A+ by National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) and remains top 70 in the National Institutional Ranking Framework since the last four years. The institute was ranked number 1 among India's Best Technical Universities (Private) by India Today. IIIT Bangalore contains state-of-the-art infrastructure, world-class faculty, a vibrant alumni community, cutting-edge research facilities, and close industry collaborations. 

The institute’s specially designed courses make the students cognitive of the current technologies and practices, thereby equipping them with the tools and knowledge to solve contemporary real problems. Since the founding of the Institute in 1998, IIIT Bangalore has enjoyed 100% placement every year on account of the strong support of the industry and the growing base of talented alumni.

https://www.iiitb.ac.in/

Prime Minister Narendra Modi To Inaugurate IDF WDS 2022 On Sept 12

* India accounts for 23 per cent of global milk production bringing together 8 crore dairy farmers producing 210 MT annually

Narendra Modi, Prime Minister of India will inaugurate the IDF World Dairy Summit 2022, a congregation of global and Indian dairy industry leaders, experts, farmers and policy planners centering around the theme of ‘Dairy for Nutrition and Livelihood’ on Monday, September 12 in Greater Noida.

Shri Amit Shah, Hon’ble Union Minister of Home Affairs & Cooperation and Shri Parshottam Rupala, Hon’ble Union Minister of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry & Dairying will be prominent among those to address the Summit, which is being held 48 years after India hosted the International Dairy Congress in 1974.

Mr Piercristiano Brazzale, President, International Dairy Federation (IDF), Ms Caroline Emond, Director General, IDF, Shri Jatinder Nath Swain, President of the Indian National Committee of IDF (INC-IDF) & Secretary, DAHD and Shri Meenesh Shah, Secretary, INC-IDF & Chairman, NDDB will coordinate this event.

Key points:

Shri Yogi Adityanath, Hon’ble Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh and Shri Bhupendrabhai Patel, Hon’ble Chief Minister of Gujarat will grace the occasion.

The inaugural session begins with prayer – Swasti Vachan Mantra – by artists.

A walkthrough anamorphic (3D) audio visual experience zone at the summit will showcase the evolution of Indian Dairy Industry & accomplishment of the sector.

During the technical sessions organised during the event, some of the Cabinet Ministers will also preside the sessions.

India will showcase its transformational journey through a unique smallholder dairying primarily based on cooperative strategy.

The four-day long IDF WDS 22 assumes significance as a dominant majority of over 8 crore dairy farmers in India are small and marginal (having at an average 2 bovines) making it the world’s numero uno dairying nation with an output of over 210 MT annually.

A unique feature of this edition of WDS is that the conference is designed to be a carbon neutral event

The summit will have 24 sessions centred around the theme “Dairy for Nutrition and Livelihood” covering different aspects of dairying. Three parallel technical sessions would be held for which more than 150 overseas and Indian speakers have been empanelled. A poster session is also being organized with theme “Innovations across Dairy Value Chain - Aligning with UN SDGs”.

IDF WDS 2022 has received an overwhelming response from all across the world. Around 1500 participants from 50 countries have enrolled for participation in IDF WDS 2022. There are sizeable number of registrations for physical participation from the United States of America, France, Germany, Canada, The New Zealand and Belgium.

Main sponsors of the event are “AMUL (Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation)” & “Nandini (Karnataka Milk Federation)”. The event is also sponsored by Mother Dairy, Delhi (MDFVPL), a wholly owned subsidiary company of NDDB. Other sponsors include Dairy Cooperative Federations, Milk Producer Companies, Private Dairies, Dairy Equipment Manufactures etc.’

The World Dairy Summit will be a great opportunity for dairy farmers, leaders, experts, scientists, professionals. journalists and academics to learn, connect and get inspired. India’s success story will be shared with the world through the IDF World Dairy Summit, where we can see how dairy is an engine of development and women empowerment.

IDF World Dairy Summit: This summit is an annual meeting of the global dairy sector, bringing together participants from all over the world. The participants’ profile includes CEOs and employees of dairy processing companies, dairy farmers, suppliers to the dairy industry, academicians and government representatives etc.

Key features of IDF World Dairy Summit: WDS is a great way of gaining global exposure for the Indian industry which will attract attention to the smallholder milk production system of India and raise awareness. An exhibition space of over 6,900 square meter will be available to the exhibitors for showcasing activities.

About Indian Dairy sector:

India is leading the world dairy sector with a 6 per cent growth, three times the global growth along with per capita availability of 427 grams per day.

Milk is the single largest agricultural commodity in the country valued at Rs 9.32 lakh crore and accounting for 23 per cent of the global share.

In India milk production activity is mostly done by small and marginal dairy farmers with average herd size of 2-3 animals.

India has a diverse genetic pool of magnificent indigenous cattle and buffalo breeds-193 million cattle and about 110 million buffaloes, largest genetic pool in the World.

Milk Production increased by more than 44% in last 8 years.

World’s largest ever vaccination program to eradicate FMD and Brucellosis started in 2019.

Largest ever animal database created.  22 Cr animals registered and monitored on every aspect.

Milk is now the largest commodity in India surpassing combined value of cereals and pulses in terms of value of output.

Largest ever budgetary allocation to dairy sector with focus on infrastructure up gradation and expansion and Productivity enhancement.

With consistent push for GobarDhan, Dung providing additional source of income to farmers.

Appreciation of milk price paid to farmers by more than 100% in last 8 years.

Emerging SaaS Firm Kovai.co Appoints Andrew Cloke As New COO

Kovai.co- a premier enterprise software and B2B SaaS company based out of Coimbatore, India, and London, U.K has today announced the appointment of Andrew Cloke as the Chief Operating Officer (COO).

Cloke, who has a strong background in working across cross-functional teams throughout his 34-year-long career, will ensure that Kovai.co has the appropriate systems, processes, policies, and procedures in place to continue our profitable journey. He will also help in preparing and communicating budgets for various departments and helping them manage costs to stay in line with the agreed plan.

Speaking about the nature of this role, Cloke says, “For a role such as this, challenges are aplenty, they are also normal in a fast-growing business such as Kovai.co. But this is also why I was so delighted when Saravana asked me to join.” Cloke will be working out of the UK office. “Though I will work from the UK office, I plan to make regular trips to India since my first visit in August was a very rewarding experience. It's a privilege to be part of the Kovai.co family.” he said.

Having graduated from Westminister University in 1989 with a degree in Urban Estate Management, Cloke started his career as a Chartered Surveyor in Real Estate. In 1996, he joined British Telecommunications (BT plc) for commercial contract support. In the latter three years, he managed a global outsourcing contract based in Belgium, after which he travelled throughout Central and Eastern Europe and Brazil meeting BT staff and their customers until 2007.

In 2008, he joined Fidelity International, where he met the Founder and CEO of Kovai.co, Saravana Kumar, who was also working with Fidelity Investments then. Though Cloke was in the IT department, most of his work was with Finance (budgeting, forecasting, cost control) Tax (R&D Tax Credit Claims, Transfer Pricing, VAT, Corporate Tax compliance) and Commercial (para legal, commercial disputes, procurement, and supplier management).

About expanding the leadership team and appointing Andrew Cloke as the COO, Saravana Kumar, Founder and CEO of Kovai.co says, “Since I knew Andrew from our days at Fidelity, I am confident that bringing him onboard was a great decision. His focus and expert knowledge in the industry has been exemplary. As we were looking to strengthen our leadership team at Kovai.co, Andrew was the logical choice since he would help us maintain momentum and growth and build appropriate policies to keep them in place. I am pleased to welcome him into this new role.”

About Kovai.co

Kovai.co is a multi-product enterprise SaaS company based out of Coimbatore, India and London, UK. Founded in 2011 by Saravana Kumar, a Microsoft Integration Architect, the company has crossed a revenue of $10 million ARR and remains completely bootstrapped to date. With a 240+ member team, it is looking to grow its product portfolio and its revenues, with a target of $30 million by 2025.

The company has bagged multiple awards on the National stage including “Bootstrapped SaaS startup of the year” from SaaSBoomi, “The Bootstrap Champ Award” by The Economic Times in 2021 and NASSCOM Emerge 50 awards 2021 recognized their knowledge-management product Document360.

4ever Bold: The Exclusive BMW X4 ‘50 Jahre M Edition’ Launched In Indian Market

* Distinguished aura: Exclusive high-gloss black design elements and 50 Jahre M badging.

* Heightened luxury: Stunning presence and sporty interiors.

* Powerful performance: ‘Best-In-Segment’ engine output.

* Attractive design upgrade with ‘Motorsport’ and ‘Carbon’ Accessories Pack.

* #BMWM #50YearsOfBMWM #50JahreBMWM #WeAreM

Celebrating the 50th anniversary of the iconic BMW M GmbH, BMW India has launched an exclusive ‘50 Jahre M Edition’ of the BMW X4 in India today.

Locally produced at BMW Group Plant Chennai, the BMW X4 M Sport Black Edition comes in both petrol and diesel variants. The X4 is available as an exclusive ‘50 Jahre M Edition’ in limited numbers and can be booked exclusively online. Designed with a focus on dynamics, it’s tailored to suit the needs of motorsport enthusiasts.

BMW India had recently announced that it will launch 10 exclusive ‘50 Jahre M Editions’ to celebrate the M sub-brand that stands for high-performance adrenaline gushing cars.

The BMW X4 popularised the distinctive Sports Activity Coupe that embodies luxury and performance. BMW’s Sheer Driving Pleasure coupled with the sleek coupe design of the X4 offers an ultimate package. It continues to set the standard in its segment with an attractive profile with multiple technology features. Its forever bold persona makes a statement that’s impossible to forget.

The limited edition is available at an attractive ex-showroom price of -

BMW X4 30i M Sport 50 Jahre M Edition           :           INR 72,90,000

BMW X4 30d M Sport 50 Jahre M Edition          :           INR 74,90,000

*Price prevailing at the time of invoicing will be applicable. Ex-showroom prices inclusive of GST (incl. compensation cess) as applicable but excludes Road Tax, Tax Collected at Source (TCS), GST on Tax collected at source, RTO statutory taxes/fees, other local tax cess levies and insurance. Price and options are subject to change without prior notice. For further information, please contact the local authorised BMW Dealer.

The BMW X4 ‘50 Jahre M Edition’.

The distinctive sports activity coupe design of the new BMW X4 is a guaranteed head turner. The exterior reinforces the off-road look and sportiness. Sitting proudly above the BMW Kidney Grille is the iconic M Emblem along with ‘50 Years of M’ door projector inspired by the classic ‘BMW Motorsport’ logo. Visually distinct from the conventional BMW emblem, it signals passion for racing and for the roots of the BMW M brand.

The distinctive BMW mesh kidney grille has all-black mesh-inserts and frame finished in ‘M High Gloss Shadow line’. Adaptive LED Headlamps are now 10mm slimmer and flatter, creating a more focused face. They are designed in M Shadow line with black accents and have Matrix function as standard. Moving below, the front apron conveys power through the M Aerodynamic package which features components in body color in front / rear apron and side sill covers. The side profile is tremendously athletic and sporty. A visual black frame is created around the coupe-style windows with M High Gloss Shadow line. It extends from window recess cover, along the guide rail, mid pillars, to the base of the side-view mirrors and finally the roof rail. The bumper is done up in dark shadow metallic color with new anvil-shaped inlays in high gloss black and vertically arranged reflectors. The enormous width of the car is emphasized through two-part wrap-around LED rear taillights, a large automatic tailgate and wide free-form tailpipe in black color.

Another exclusive feature that enhances the sporting appeal is the 20" 699 M Jet Black alloys with M Sport Brake Callipers in Red High Gloss. The car is available in Black Sapphire and M Brooklyn Grey metallic paintworks. They are paired with Leather Vernasca upholstery with ‘Black’ decor stitching. M interior trim Aluminum Rhombicle dark with highlight trim finisher in Pearl Chrome is standard.

Customers can add sporting character to every detail with an optional M Accessories Package. The Motorsport Package gives the car a 360 makeover by providing accessories for both interior and exterior. The package includes M Performance Rear Spoiler in Matt Black, Tail fins in black in Gloss, Gear Knob in Carbon Fibre & Key fob in alacantara & Carbon Fibre. Carbon Package is for the enthusiast who wants to turn heads when on the road. It can further enhance the sporty character of the car as all the accessories are in carbon fibre material such as kidney grille, rear spoiler, mirror caps etc.

The interior boasts an exceptional level of comfort and functionality in a new sporty ambience. Together with an elevated seat position and generous proportions, it ensures first-class comfort. The interior has clearly structured surfaces and an ergonomically impeccable cockpit design that ensures the driver’s focus remains one hundred per cent on the intense driving experience. Driver and front passenger enjoy the superior flair of a premium SAC with Sports Seats which impress with numerous electrical adjustment options and memory function. Rear passengers can tilt the seats backwards by up to 9? for added comfort. The modern design of the centre console, instrument panel in Sensatec, usage of M headliner anthracite and galvanic embellisher adds to the cabin’s premiumness. M leather steering wheel with ‘Walknappa’ black with black stitching and M logo spells exclusivity. 

A relaxed and harmonious lounge atmosphere is created thanks to a large electrically operated Panorama sunroof. Ambient Lighting with six selectable light designs creates an atmosphere for every mood. Welcome Light Carpet, projected from the side sill, welcomes passengers in glamorous style. Features such as electroplated controls and 3-zone automatic climate control with extended options add to the overall luxurious feel. The boot has a capacity of 525 litres and can be expanded further to 1,430 litres by folding down the 40/20/40 split rear seat backrest.

The innovative petrol and diesel engines from the BMW EfficientDynamics family offer considerably more spirited power delivery as well as spontaneous responsiveness even at low engine speeds. Thanks to their unrivalled BMW TwinPower Turbo technology, they meld maximum power with exemplary efficiency. The three-litre six-cylinder diesel engine of the BMW X4 xDrive30d produces an output of 265 hp and a maximum torque of 620 Nm at 2,000 – 2,500 rpm, driving power to all four wheels. The car accelerates from 0 -100 km / hr in just 5.8 seconds. The two-litre four-cylinder petrol engine of BMW X4 xDrive30i produces an output of 252 hp and maximum torque of 350 Nm at 1,450 –4,800 rpm. The car accelerates from 0 -100 km / hr in just 6.6 seconds.

The 8-speed Steptronic Automatic Transmission performs smooth, almost imperceptible gear shifts. At any time, in any gear, the transmission collaborates perfectly with the engine, enabling it to develop its full power and efficiency. For even greater driving pleasure, the 8-speed Steptronic Sport transmission is available with steering wheel paddle shifters.

BMW xDrive, an intelligent all-wheel-drive system, monitors the driving situation constantly and is quick to respond. The compact, low-weight and efficient all-wheel-drive system distributes the engine’s power between the front and rear axle exactly to suit the driving situation and the surface. Electronically controlled ‘Automatic Differential Brakes/Locks (ADB-X)’, extended ‘Dynamic Traction Control (DTC)’, Hill Start Assist and Hill Descent Control help to conquer every terrain. Adaptive Suspension makes it possible to adjust the damper characteristics to suit any given driving situation, increasing comfort and driving dynamics.

A host of BMW ConnectedDrive technologies continue to break the innovation barrier in automotive industry. The modern cockpit concept BMW Live Cockpit Professional includes 3D Navigation, a 12.3-inch digital information display behind the steering wheel, a 12.3-inch Control Display and BMW Head-up Display. The occupants can operate a number of car functions simply by speaking to their BMW Virtual Assistant. Hands do the talking with BMW Gesture Control that recognizes six pre-defined hand movements for control of a number of functions. Wireless Apple CarPlay® / Android Auto ensure seamless smartphone connection with the car to access several functions. Harman Kardon Surround Sound System with 16 speakers conjures an engrossing treat for the ears.

The spread of driver assistance systems is more extensive than ever. Parking Assistant with Rear View Camera makes parking in tight spots easier. The Reversing Assistant provides unmatched support in reversing out of a parking spot or through narrow driveways.

BMW EfficientDynamics includes features such as 8-speed Steptronic Sport Automatic Transmission, Auto Start-Stop, Brake-Energy Regeneration, Electronic Power Steering, 50:50 Weight Distribution and ECO PRO mode in Driving Experience Control. BMW Safety technologies include six airbags, Attentiveness Assistance, Anti-lock Braking System (ABS) with Brake Assist, Dynamic Stability Control (DSC) including Dynamic Traction Control (DTC) and Electronic Differential Lock Control (EDLC), Cornering Brake Control (CBC), electric parking brake with auto hold, side-impact protection, electronic vehicle immobilizer and crash sensors, ISOFIX child seat mounting and emergency spare wheel.

BMW EfficientDynamics doubles ‘Sheer Driving Pleasure’ with features such as Auto Start-Stop, ECO PRO mode, Brake-Energy Regeneration, Electronic Power Steering, 50:50 Weight Distribution and many other innovative technologies. Using the Driving Experience Control switch, driver is able to choose between different driving modes (ECOPRO, COMFORT, SPORT/ SPORT+) to suit diverse driving conditions.

The BMW X4 features cutting-edge safety technologies. It provides optimal support in any situation with six airbags, Attentiveness Assistance, Dynamic Stability Control (DSC) including Cornering Brake Control (CBC), electric parking brake with auto hold, side-impact protection, electronic vehicle immobilizer and crash sensor, ISOFIX child seat mounting and integrated emergency spare wheel under the load floor.

Atlassian To Hire Over 1,500 Employees By End Of FY24 As It Doubles Down On Its Commitment To India

* The recruitment drive will target talent Pan-India allowing prospective employees to work from the home, office or a combination of both

Atlassian Corporation Plc (NASDAQ:TEAM), a leading provider of team collaboration and productivity software and the maker of Jira, Confluence, Bitbucket and Trello products, announced its plans to grow its India team to over 3,000 by the end of FY24 as part of a major recruitment drive as the organisation reinforces its commitment to the India market. 

The 20-year-old company, which established its local presence in India in 2018, employs more than 1,400 Atlassians at its world-class R&D centre in Bengaluru. To help support its plans to scale locally, the hiring will have a strong R&D focus, with roles across engineering, product and design, among others. 

Atlassian employs some of the brightest and most talented people from across India, providing them with various opportunities to grow. Employees work on some of the company's most innovative and cutting-edge technology in an environment that fosters an open work culture and favours learning and development. Some of its global marquee clients include Bank of America, Redfin, NASA, Verizon and Dropbox. In India, its customers include Ola Cabs, Reliance, Walmart Labs, and Flipkart, among others. 

As part of its ambitious growth plans, the company has set a long-term growth goal of becoming a $10 billion business, alongside a hiring goal to grow its global workforce to over 25,000 by FY26. To achieve this, the three growth markets that the company is doubling down on are - agile and DevOps, ITSM, and work management. Atlassian has a history of making bold, long-term bets - and achieving them. In 2011, the company set a goal to reach $1B by 2020 - and it achieved this 30% growth in nine years. 

With the recent emergence of remote and hybrid work models, Atlassian introduced Team Anywhere back in 2020 – a flexible work policy, which gives employees the choice to work from home, the office, or a combination of both - essentially employees get to choose what works best for them based on their work and lifestyle. This has opened up the organisation’s ability to hire across the country, and those that can’t or don’t want to be in Bangalore or commute to an office every day don’t need to. In fact, 51% of Indian employees live 2+ hours from an office. 

On the role India plays in the success of the company, Mike Cannon-Brookes, co-founder and co-CEO, Atlassian said, “India’s tech talent is world-class, and we want to hire the smartest technical minds across the country. Since opening locally in 2018, India has become home to our fastest-growing R&D site globally, and our doors are now open to talent across all of India. Our engineers are working on hard problems, and significant products for our overall strategy - it's a true R&D hub for us.” 

Dinesh Ajmera, Site Lead India, Atlassian says, “I have witnessed the incredible growth of Atlassian in India first-hand and I’m excited to be part of our next growth journey. Atlassian’s ambitions reflect its long-term view of becoming a 100-year company, where talent, innovation, and passion converge. As we rapidly grow in India, we want to hire bright and talented individuals who are excited to contribute to our goals; who value an open culture where everyone’s voice is heard; and who want to build products that continue to change how the world works.” 

Situated in the heart of Bengaluru city, Atlassian's new office is located in Sunriver Building, Embassy Golf-Links Business Park. The primary themes running through this freshly designed space are teamwork and collaboration - with the entire office designed to encourage people to work together in order to inspire new and innovative ideas.  

Atlassian has been named a ‘Best Place to Work’ by Great Place to Work Institute in every market where it has a presence, and in 2021, it was ranked in the top ‘25 World’s Best Workplaces’. Locally, it has been voted as one of ‘India's Best Companies to Work For' for the second consecutive year in 2022, and was also recognised as one of ‘India’s Best Workplaces for Women’ by the Great Place to Work Institute. 

About Atlassian 

Atlassian unleashes the potential of every team. Our team collaboration and productivity software helps teams organize, discuss, and complete shared work. Teams at more than 242,000 customers, across large and small organizations - including Bank of America, Redfin, NASA, Verizon, and Dropbox - use Atlassian’s project tracking, content creation and sharing, and service management products to work better together and deliver quality results on time. Learn more about our products, including Jira Software, Confluence, Jira Service Management, Trello, Bitbucket, and Jira Align at https://atlassian.com/. 

Covishield Vaccine Is Not Detrimental To Male Fertility Potential

* For the first time, in a pilot study, a team of Indian fertility experts at Kasturba Medical College, Manipal, looked into changes in sperm quality in men who received CovishieldTM vaccines.

* Research was published on 5th September 2022 in the official journal of UK-based Society for Reproduction and Fertility.

* Semen quality such as sperm number, motility characteristics, and structure (morphology) which are required to establish a successful pregnancy in partners were not impacted by Covishield vaccine.

* None of the subjects who received the vaccines developed abnormalities such as azoospermia (complete absence of sperm), asthenozoospermia (lack of motility) or teratozoospermia (structural defects).

A team of Indian fertility researchers at Kasturba Medical College, Manipal who looked into changes in sperm quality in vaccinated individuals found that their fertility was unaffected.  

Concern about fertility impairment after vaccination is one of the reasons for vaccine hesitancy in the population. Some men have delayed taking the COVID vaccine thinking that it would have a negative impact on their fertility and the quality of their sperm.

The research team managed to recruit 53 men who provided semen samples prior to receiving the first dose of their vaccine, after observing 2 to 7 days of abstinence. After about two months of vaccination, sperm quality was again assessed. Those who had tested positive for COVID-19 or had symptoms of the same were not included in the study. The study was reported in the official journal of UK-based Society for Reproduction and Fertility.

Of the 53 subjects who received two doses of vaccine, about half of them had semen quality below the WHO recommended value prior to vaccination which did not alter significantly post-vaccination. No significant changes in the semen characteristics were observed between baseline and follow-up samples in men who received two doses of the vaccine.

Speaking about the study Lt. Gen. (Dr) M.D Venkatesh, Vice Chancellor of Manipal Academy of Higher Education said “This is a significant step forward towards reassuring the safety of COVID vaccines which is commonly used in India. It will help in dispelling any myths associated and remove any apprehensions men may have regarding the vaccine safety”

Professor Sharath Rao, the Dean of Kasturba Medical College echoed the sentiments saying “It is obviously a wise option to get vaccinated than suffer from the complications of a COVID-19 infection. A study like this can help in reassuring people and remove any doubts they may have on whether to get vaccinated’’

“Our initial observation has demonstrated that Covishield is not detrimental to sperm fertility potential. Importantly, no true semen abnormalities such as azoospermia (complete lack of sperm), absolute asthenozoospermia (loss of motility), and teratozoospermia (altered sperm structure) were found even in a single study subject who received the vaccine’’ said Professor Satish Adiga, who lead the team that included Huidrom Yaiphaba Meitei, Shubhashree Uppangala, Vani Lakshmi and Guruprasad Kalthur. 

“Myths and unproven reports on potentially damaging effects of Covid vaccinations on male fertility have spread globally and generated fears and hesitance to accept vaccinations. It is of utmost importance that valid clinical studies are available to generate evidence-based data on site effects of the vaccines. This study is the first to report clinical outcomes on sperm parameters in men before and after receiving Covishield vaccine. The results highlight no negative effect and no reason for concern. The study presents a milestone to disprove that vaccinations have negative impact on male fertility” said Professor Stefan Schlatt, a member of WHO team which formulated the guidelines for semen analysis and the Director of the Centre of Reproductive Medicine and Andrology in Germany.

“This study provides prima facie evidence that vaccines against COVID19 do not adversely affect the semen quality. The study is really important, especially in the Indian context and also in terms of generating much-needed evidence to demonstrate that non-mRNA-based vaccines are also safe as these vaccines don’t adversely affect the reproductive potential of men.  This evidence should dispel any fears among those men who are still hesitant to get vaccinated” said Dr Geetanjali Sachdeva, Director of NIRRCH, which is the top organization for research in reproductive and child health of Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR).

Great Learning To Host A Webinar On “Upskilling With Full Stack Development And Career Opportunities " On Sept 9, 2022

Great Learning, a leading global edtech company for higher and professional education is hosting a webinar for working professionals and fresh graduates who want to broaden their horizons in Full Stack Development . The webinar will provide insights on full stack development as a domain and also how to advance career in the domain. This engaging live session will be followed by a Q/A round with Dr. Narayana D (Senior Faculty, Academics - Great Learning); where the speaker will further discuss career paths, types of jobs in Full Stack Development, and key skills required to crack them. And last but not the least, the session will throw light on  how the Advanced Certificate Program in Full Stack Software Development offered by E&ICT Academy, IIT Roorkee and Great Learning can help advance your career.

This session will be conducted from 7:00pm IST, on September 09, 2022.

Registration Link for the Webinar (Free) - https://bit.ly/3RG2geb

 About Great Learning 

Great Learning, a part of the BYJU'S group, the world’s largest edtech company, is a leading global ed-tech company for professional and higher education. It offers comprehensive, industry-relevant programs across various cutting-edge Technology, Data, and Business domains. Great Learning's programs are developed in collaboration with the world's foremost academic institutions like Deakin University, Stanford Graduate School of Business, MIT Professional Education, The University of Texas at Austin, Wharton Online, National University Singapore, University of Arizona, IIT Madras, IIT Bombay, IIT Roorkee, IIIT-Delhi, Shiv Nadar University, and Great Lakes Institute of Management and are constantly reimagined and revamped to address the dynamic needs of the industry. Great Learning provides these programs in a blended and purely online mode, relying on its vast network of expert mentors and highly qualified faculty to deliver an unmatched learning experience for learners the world over. Great Learning is on a mission to enable transformative learning and career success in the digital economy for professionals and students across the globe and to date has impacted over 5.5 million+ learners from over 170 countries.

Lighthouse Learning Releases A Heartfelt Short Film To Pay An Ode To The Teachers

Lighthouse Learning, India’s premium education company, released a heartfelt short film titled – Thank You “Lady Gabbar” on their social media platforms on the occasion of Teachers’ Day. The short film is an ode to all the teachers who play a significant role in inculcating the right values and skills in every student, and ensures that every student attains their true potential in life.

The film titled – Thank You “Lady Gabbar” narrates the story of a young man in his early 30s who has won an award - “Creative Director of the Year”. His teacher sends him a message to congratulate him, but Ankit does not recognize his teacher’s name, as they have always called and remembered her as ‘Lady Gabbar’.  She feels proud and elated looking at him achieve a big award. Ankit as a child was notorious, but at the same time he had good handwriting and was very good at drawing. And this was one thing that, Mrs. Pragya Joshi (his teacher) always praised him in class for. The film goes on to send out a strong message that whatever you have named your teacher, it’s time to call them and say thank you for making you who you are.

Prajodh Rajan, Group CEO & Co-Founder of Lighthouse Learning said, “We at Lighthouse Learning were thrilled and excited to create the #ThankYouTeacher campaign as an initiative to appreciate our teachers for their immense efforts in delivering quality education and helping the children know their capabilities. With schools reopening and everything slowly getting back to normal, teachers have evolved and continue to deliver uninterrupted learning. This film was developed to thank all the teachers who have guided us in our career paths and helped us become good human beings. We have the utmost gratitude for all those lessons that have helped shape us into who we are today!”

The campaign has already touched the hearts of many viewers across various social media assets. You can now watch the video by clicking the link below:-

1.       https://youtu.be/JrPqhUi4Q90

2.       https://www.instagram.com/p/CiFaCxmAa3F/

About Lighthouse Learning:

Lighthouse Learning (formerly known as EuroKids International) is India's leading Early Childhood & K-12 Education group. The group is committed to delivering the Joy of Learning to students in early childhood education and K-12 segments. With its portfolio of brands - EuroKids Preschool, Kangaroo Kids Preschool, EuroSchool, and Billabong High International. Lighthouse Learning nurtures over 1,50,000 students every day with its “Child First” ideology in a safe and engaging learning environment.

Over the last 20 years, Lighthouse Learning has played an active role in evolving the education landscape. The group is committed to delivering a robust foundation for future generations with innovation in pedagogy, the use of appropriate technology, and focus on child safety. With a network of over 1,200 pre-schools and 44 Schools, Lighthouse Learning empowers 1000+ women entrepreneurs across the nation and employs a workforce of over 10,000.

SAP And CleaVision Use Machine Learning To Reduce The Risk of Preventable Blindness In Premature Babies

SAP and CleaVision have today announced an innovative new program aimed at reducing the risk of preventable blindness as a result of Retinopathy of Prematurity (ROP) in pre-term babies. Using the power of machine learning and data analytics, the CleaVision solution helps time-pressed doctors to arrive at a more accurate diagnosis while focusing on what’s most important – treating at risk babies. Developed in India, the program is being piloted at Narayana Nethralaya Eye Institute in Bengaluru. It’s estimated that the screening program can be scaled up to further outreach and low-resource settings, minimizing time to diagnosis and maximizing the potential for treatment.

One-fifth of the world’s 15 million pre-term babies are born in India. It is estimated that, of the 3.5 million live births annually, over 200,000 infants are likely to suffer from the advanced stage of ROP, where abnormal growth of blood vessels inside the baby’s eyes can cause bleeding, scarring, and retinal detachment. Failure of timely intervention and treatment can lead to irreversible blindness.

“Early diagnosis is essential as most babies will recover completely if they get timely treatment for ROP,” said Chirag Gupta and Narayan V K, co-founders of CleaVision. “With India having the highest number of pre-mature pregnancies and the fact that there are relatively few qualified ROP practitioners, the more we can digitize and automate pre-screening, the more time those practitioners can spend on actual treatment.”

The CleaVision solution integrates image data processing with SAP Business Technology Platform, SAP AI Platform, and SAP Analytics Cloud to automate the identification of retina and blood vessel features and to make a recommendation on plus disease – a severe manifestation of ROP in premature babies. The screening data is then served to hospitals and can be reviewed by qualified medical professionals in the KIDROP (Karnataka Internet Assisted Diagnosis of ROP) telemedicine network.

“The diagnosis of plus disease is germane to ROP treatment decisions,” said Dr Anand Vinekar, Head, Pediatric Retina Department at Narayana Nethralaya Eye Institute. “The CleaVision deep learning automatic ROP Plus disease detection app has shown the ability to differentiate between plus and no plus disease, which is very likely to aid technicians and ROP specialists in arriving at a more accurate triaging diagnosis. That, in turn would help treat these babies on time, giving a better outcome which prevents blindness from ROP. We are piloting the software through the KIDROP program, which performs up to 2,500 imaging sessions each month from 135 neonatal units across Karnataka.”

New Citroen C5 Aircross SUV: A Benchmark In Terms Of Comfort And Modularity

*  New Citroën C5 Aircross SUV launched at INR 36,67,000 (ex-showroom Delhi) 

* A benchmark for on-board comfort, the New C5 Aircross SUV offers Citroën Advanced Comfort® suspension, new Citroën Advanced Comfort® seats, unparalleled space and modularity

* Exterior highlights - New front-end design, visual signature at the rear, 18” diamond-cut alloy wheels

* Interior highlights - New 10” touchscreen and centre console, gear shifter and drive mode buttons

* To be sold through 20 La Maison Citroën Phygital Showrooms in 19 cities supported by 100% direct online through the Buy Online initiative in over 90 cities across India

Citroën India announced the launch of the new C5 Aircross SUV with a special introductory price of INR 36,67,000 (ex-showroom Delhi). The new C5 Aircross SUV gets a design makeover, which gives it a more distinguished, modern, and dynamic personality. Since its promising debut in India in 2021, the C5 Aircross SUV has been hailed as the most comfortable and modular SUV in its class.

In its 2022 avatar, the car is now more attractive and dynamic, with a sharper design that is complemented by high-quality colours as well as interior materials that fortify the SUV’s comfort and spaciousness.

As a flagship model of the comfort part of Citroën’s DNA, the new C5 Aircross SUV retains characteristics that make it stand out in its segment, contributing to an overall experience focused on well-being and ease of use. The Progressive Hydraulic Cushions® suspension, exclusive to Citroën, enhances absorption of imperfections in the road and ensures that passengers travel in absolute comfort, with a real “flying carpet” effect. The only SUV in the segment to offer three individual sliding, reclining and retractable rear seats, allowing you to enjoy people carrier-level modularity in a real SUV. The boot volume is a record for the segment: from 580 L to 1630 L. Finally, special attention has been paid to the acoustic characteristics with the option of benefiting from acoustic laminated front windows which amplify the cocoon effect within the car.

The New Citroën C5 Aircross SUV is now available for retail at 20 La Maison Citroën phygital showrooms in 19 cities, namely, New Delhi, Gurgaon, Mumbai, Pune, Ahmedabad, Kolkata, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Kochi, Chennai, Chandigarh, Jaipur, Lucknow, Bhubaneswar, Surat, Nagpur, Vizag, Calicut, and Coimbatore.

Citroën will also extend its 100% direct online buying – BUY ONLINE - for the New Citroën C5 Aircross SUV. Customers in over 90 Indian cities, including those outside the dealer network, will be covered through this direct online initiative and can order directly from the factory.

As a part of the New Citroën C5 Aircross SUV’s Warranty Programme, Citroën has services like a standard vehicle warranty for 36 months or 100,000 kilometres, from the date of delivery whichever is earlier. This includes a warranty on spare parts & accessories and 24/7 Roadside Assistance for maximum comfort and mobility. Extended warranty and maintenance packages are also available across the network.

To make the Citroën ownership experience more comfortable, the company will also offer the Citroën Future Sure package for New Citroën C5 Aircross SUV customers. This comprehensive package allows customers to own a Citroën with an attractive EMI and the package also includes Routine Maintenance, Extended Warranty, Roadside Assistance, and an on-road financing for up to five years.

Roland Bouchara, CEO & Managing Director, Stellantis India, said, “We are excited to launch the new C5 Aircross SUV in India, our flagship SUV in the Citroën portfolio and it embodies all the elements of the Citroën Advanced Comfort® program. C5 Aircross, recognised since its launch as the most comfortable and flexible SUV in its category, has now been given a makeover to assert a more prestigious, modern and dynamic personality. It is becoming more aspirational and will appeal to Indian customers waiting for a more distinctive character.”

Saurabh Vatsa, Brand Head, Citroën India, remarked, “While building on its strengths of comfort, on-board spaciousness and modularity, the new C5 Aircross SUV has matured to become more elegant and dynamic with sharper exterior styling and more modern, high-quality colours and materials for the interior. C5 Aircross introduces a new design language at the front, with curves giving way to more structured lines. A new three-dimensional light signature at the rear, a new 18” diamond-cut alloy wheel and a new design of the 10” touchscreen and centre console will certainly appeal to customers in this C-SUV segment.”

Customers can now test-drive and experience the New Citroën C5 Aircross SUV by visiting a La Maison Citroën phygital showroom near them and book/buy the car online at www.citroen.in.

3i Infotech Launches Malaysia's First-Ever Zero Trust Sovereign Cloud

* NuRe 3i+ powered by Oracle, will provide both data and operational sovereignty   

3i Infotech (BSE: 532628, NSE: 3IINFOLTD), a global Information Technology company, has today announced the launch of NuRe 3i+ powered by Oracle, a first-ever Zero Trust Sovereign Cloud in Malaysia, which is slated to be a gamechanger in the way SMBs and enterprises embrace transformation. The Zero Trust Sovereign Cloud platform will have data and operational sovereignty built into it, providing compliance to businesses that aim to retain data within the country's borders. As a managed services provider, NuRe 3i+ powered by Oracle, will offer customers a full stack of cloud services across IaaS and PaaS, supporting cloud native applications, as well as mission- critical applications and performance intensive (HPC, GPU) workloads. 

NuRe 3i+ powered by Oracle, meet demanding data residency in Malaysia, security, and latency requirements. It offers industry-leading price-performance with significantly reduced operational costs while enabling customers with sovereignty requirements to run their workloads. It is also powered by NuRe Edge, a superior security design to offer zero-trust security for every user coming into sovereign cloud. It has all the services needed to migrate, build, and run IT, from existing enterprise workloads to new cloud native applications and data platforms. Built on a futuristic approach, the NuRe 3i+ Innovation Lab, will deliver a range of innovative solutions including advanced analytics, security services, integrations and extensions and a full range of app and DevOps services. 

With NuRe 3i+ powered by Oracle, verticals like Banking, Financial & Insurance services (BFSI), public and government sectors, healthcare, media, and entertainment can seamlessly migrate to it. NuRe 3i+ powered by Oracle, a Zero Trust Sovereign Cloud is complemented by the NuRe suite of solutions, which include NuRe Desk, NuRe Velocity & NuRe Campuslabs.  These growth initiatives headed by Sax Krishna, Chief Growth Officer at 3i Infotech, also comprise of the company’s Managed Cloud Service (MCS) offering which will include CloudOps, DevSecOps and FinOps, resulting in 60-70% process savings, 30%-40% cost savings and 100% compliant proactive security for customers. It will offer lower, predictable, and globally consistent pricing to optimize the way data moves in the modern enterprise and support hybrid architectures to migrate enterprise apps. The platform will also help deploy native cloud-native workloads, by empowering modern application development using technologies such as Kubernetes, Docker, SDKs & APIs.  

Speaking on this milestone launch, Thompson P Gnanam, Managing Director & Global CEO of 3i Infotech, said, “We have a longstanding relationship with Malaysia, which date back to two decades. It is one of the most important markets for us in the ASEAN region and one where we want to grow further. And, with NuRe 3i+ powered by Oracle, Zero Trust Sovereign Cloud, enterprises in Malaysia can now realize their cross-border trade and business goals. Businesses can now leverage an enterprise-grade cloud converged infrastructure that will bring business-critical workloads on the NexGen Oracle cloud platform with better ROI in the shortest possible time. We look to achieve at least 40% lower TCO than on-premises and competing clouds due to superior performance backed by SLAs, automated migration and lifecycle management and enhanced availability, security, and control.” 

In the wake of the NuRe 3i+ powered by Oracle, Zero Trust Sovereign Cloud launch, Malaysia, and Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) can further open newer opportunities to work, business and trade beyond geographical borders while staying true to data integrity and operational regulations of their country. This will create more local jobs, and business opportunities for enterprises and SMBs alike. It will create a roadmap for more 3i Infotech NuRe Parks to tap and train local talent on emerging technologies. 3i NuRe Parks in Malaysia will train and employ local talent for deployment across geo-borders, while remaining compliant with data and operational sovereignty, empowered by of NuRe 3i+ powered by Oracle, a Zero Trust Sovereign Cloud. 

Reflecting on the launch of two Digital embedded business offerings – NuRe Velocity and NuRe Campus labs, Sax Krishna, Chief Growth Officer, 3i-Infotech Limited, said “True Digital Transformation is synonymous with Cloud Adoption. SMB’s need access to business solutions that can accelerate their revenue, help enhance customer lifetime value and increase operational efficiencies. The launch of NuRe Velocity on NuRe 3i+ powered by Oracle, is designed for SMB’s and Enterprises to access AI & ML based digital solutions on a pay-as-you -go model. Similarly, NuRe Campuslabs, the best-in-class ERP for education solution, to unify and manage operations seamlessly in multi-user and multi-location campuses for private and public higher education institutions.” 

Speaking on launch and the paradigm shift it is likely to create within the industry, Nilesh Gupta, Chief Cloud Officer, 3i Infotech Limited, said, "This launch will truly open a world of opportunities for both nations. The rapid growth of cloud adoption over the past two years has seen it become ubiquitous. Enterprises have increasingly become reliant, while countries like Malaysia being at the forefront of data privacy and security compliance – with the use of our Zero trust sovereign cloud we cover data, technical and operation sovereignty with this launch. I strongly believe digital infrastructures and ecosystems cannot exist in silos and need to flourish through next-generation cloud-native integration, and this initiative is a step in that direction.”  

About 3i Infotech Limited 

Headquartered in Mumbai, India, since inception in 1993, 3i Infotech has been committed to driving business value across multiple industry verticals. 3i Infotech, today, has emerged as a leading name in propelling the current wave of digital transformation initiatives, with deep domain expertise across BFSI, Healthcare, Manufacturing, Retail and Government sectors. The Company has over 5000 employees in 30 offices across 15 countries and over 1000+ clients in more than 50 countries across 4 continents. With a wide range of IT services, 3i Infotech has successfully transformed business operations of customers globally. The Company has a strong foothold and client base in geographies like North America, India, Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and South Asia. 

Website: https://www.3i-infotech.com/ 

Kalyani Powertrain Ltd. To Drive Growth And Sustainable Development At Bharat Forge Ltd.

~Kalyani Powertrain Limited, Bharat Forge’s EV and Lightweighting arm is all set to supercharge growth and encourage sustainable development~

Kalyani Powertrain Limited (KPTL), a wholly owned subsidiary of Bharat Forge Ltd., is all set to drive the company’s vision for sustainable development, by investing in cutting-edge technologies. KPTL was founded in April 2021, imbibing Bharat Forge’s DNA of research and innovation. The product portfolio offered by KPTL includes a whole array of EV solutions for two-wheelers, three-wheelers, passenger cars, buses and trucks, ranging from providing selected sub-systems to complete electric powertrain solutions.  

Bharat Forge integrated all E-Mobility-related operations under Kalyani Powertrain Limited (KPTL), to develop greater synergy, with a cohesive strategy to offer industry-leading products and technologies that are cost competitive with a focus on net-zero emission transport solutions worldwide. Today, KPTL has formalized its E-Mobility strategy, keeping in mind the needs of both domestic and international markets and customers. KPTL has achieved great strides in Product Development across a variety of Power and Control Electronic systems in the EV space. To assure sustained growth with a long-term view, investments have been made in advanced e-Mobility technologies. BFL together with its subsidiary KPTL, has qualified for the Advanced Automotive Technology (AAT) product range under the Government of India's PLI initiative earlier this year.

KPTL is working on three different business verticals including the Re-Powering of Commercial Vehicles, especially goods carriers. There is a large scope to offset fossil fuel emissions and reduce costs for the middle mile transport vehicles, by repowering them with Electrified Powertrain.  KPTL’s purpose built Electric Powertrain solutions address such demand very efficiently and smartly. This will be followed by the manufacturing of various components and sub-systems such as DC/DC converters, EV transmissions and e-Axles, Traction Motors and Controllers, On-Board Chargers, Vehicle Control Units, to name a few.   Considering the prevailing challenges in the EV Start-up ecosystem in India, KPTL also offers White label manufacturing services for 2-Wheeler and 3-Wheeler start-ups which will enable them to smoothly ramp-up, to meet the demands of market volumes. Such services are already being offered to the 2-Wheeler start-up company, Tork Motors for its two-wheeler motorbikes.

Today, KPTL’s dedicated R&D and technology teams have developed expertise in relevant hardware, software, and integration for electric 2/3 Wheelers, Commercial Vehicles for Goods and Passenger transport, Passenger cars, and off-road equipment. Bharat Forge’s strategic investments in Tevva Motors, UK; Tork Motors, India; and REFU Drive GmbH, Germany has worked as a catalyst to drive innovation and superior results for KPTL.

Speaking about Kalyani Powertrain Ltd., Amit Kalyani, Deputy Managing Director, Bharat Forge Ltd. said, “We have a three-pronged play in the e-Mobility space. First is the India play – Low voltage 2W-3W supply chain. The second is the global light-weighting opportunity where we have made large investments. We expect to see large growth, which will start ramping up from 2023-24 and continue till 2030 and beyond. The third is the power and control electronic products, that are being developed between India, Germany and the US which will grow our business exponentially.  A complete suite of products will be offered with components, systems, and subsystems for CVs with GVW range between 3 to 14 Metric Tonnes.”

Through strategic investments and a dedicated team with experience in several sectors, KPTL has created considerable competence in clean and zero-emission transportation solutions. KPTL aims to create a society whose mobility demands are met sustainably. KPTL aims to create mobility solutions for various fleet operators that are Clean, Green and Economical.

About Bharat Forge

Bharat Forge Limited (BFL), the Pune based Indian multinational, is a technology driven global leader in providing high performance, innovative, safety critical components and solutions for several sectors including automotive, power, oil and gas, construction & mining, rail, marine, defense and aerospace. Having a transcontinental presence across 11 manufacturing locations, BFL, with the largest repository of metallurgical knowledge, offers full-service supply capability to its geographically dispersed marquee customers from concept to product design, engineering, manufacturing, testing and validation.