The New Land Rover Defender Launched From ₹ 73.98 Lakh In India

 ●       The New Land Rover Defender is the toughest and most capable Land Rover ever made. It is also the most technologically advanced.

●       World’s most iconic 4x4, the New Land Rover Defender has been reinvented for the 21st century with a new reductive design approach, coupled with all-new technologies and capability

●       Defender’s signature elements such as minimal front and rear overhangs, Alpine light windows, side-hinged rear tailgate, and externally-mounted spare wheel, preserve the character of the original model

●       The new D7x architecture is up to three times stiffer than a comparable body on frame vehicle.

●       Features such as Configurable Terrain Response and Terrain Response 2 enhance the capability of New Defender for the 21st century customer

●       The centre front jump seat, abundant storage space, cabin walk-through and configurable seating options reinforce the practical design of the interiors

●       The Defender debuts the new ‘Pivi Pro’ infotainment system, featuring an intuitive interface with 25.4 cm (10) Touchscreen and  class leading technologies like ClearSight Rear & Ground View, 3D Surround Camera, etc.

●       Four distinct Accessory Packs - Explorer, Adventure, Country and Urban and up to 170 individual accessories, allow customers to personalise their ‘Defender’ as per their choice and requirement

●       Deliveries of Defender 110 have now begun, and the vehicle is priced from ₹79.94 Lakh. Bookings are now open for the Defender 90, priced from ₹ 73.98 Lakh with deliveries to begin from Q1 of FY 2021

●       The New Defender will be available at all the 27 Land Rover outlets across India. Customers can also book the Defender online by visiting www.findmeasuv.in

Jaguar Land Rover India, today announced the launch of the New Land Rover Defender in India. Offered with a 2.0 l (litre) Turbocharged four-cylinder petrol engine, producing 221 kW (300 PS) and 400 Nm of torque, the New Defender is available in two distinct body styles, the very sporty 90 (3 door) and the versatile 110 (5 door). The New Defender 90 is priced from ₹ 73.98 Lakh and the New Defender 110 is priced from ₹ 79.94 Lakh (ex-showroom India). Deliveries of Defender 110 have now begun while deliveries of Defender 90 will commence from Q1 of FY 2021.

Rohit Suri, President & Managing Director, Jaguar Land Rover India Ltd. (JLRIL) said:

“So far, under Land Rover, we had the Discovery product pillar and Range Rover product pillar available in India. With this launch, the third product pillar, Defender, is now available. This, in many ways, completes the Land Rover brand story and we are very excited about expanding the reach and appeal of Land Rover amongst our customer base. The New Defender will make its place in the hearts of many people with a curious mind, love for authentic adventures, passion for travel and who dare & wish to go above and beyond in life. Such individuals transcend barriers of age, gender, profession, with their free spirited nature and fearlessness, just like the New Defender”.

DESIGN - REINVENTED WITH PURPOSE AND ENGINEERED TO EXCITE

The design of the New Land Rover Defender is reimagined for the 21st century. The Defender, a symbol of strength, is known for its durability and rugged capability. Elements such as the solid shoulder line, minimal front and rear overhangs, Alpine light windows, round headlights, side-hinged rear tailgate & externally mounted spare wheel are typical characteristics that are retained from the original model. 

The New Land Rover Defender is a highly customizable vehicle. Customers can choose from seven exterior colour options including Fuji White, Eiger Grey, Santorini Black, Indus Silver as well as options such as Tasman Blue, Pangea Green, and Gondwana Stone that are exclusive to the Defender. A range of 9 wheel designs from 45. 72 cm (18) pressed steel rims to 50.8 cm (20) alloys are also provided on the New Defender.

Retaining practicality and functionality at its core, the Defender’s cabin has an ergonomic design that offers 5 + 2 seating configurations with an innovative optional front row centre seat also known as jump seat. The rear load space delivers maximum practicality with the 110 providing load carrying capacity from 231 l (litres) for the 5+2 seater with all rows up, to 2,380 l (litres) for the 5 seater with the second row folded down. The second-row seatbacks are split 40:20:40 for maximum flexibility, while load space rails on the floor of the luggage space come with a range of load retention accessories to prevent smaller items from moving around inside.

The standard model uses resolve textiles while the S & SE use Grained Leather with a Robust Woven textile & HSE gets high-grade Windsor Leather with Steel-cut premium textile from Kvadrat, which is a 30 percent wool blend. Customers can select veneers from amongst rough-cut Walnut or Natural Smoked Dark Oak Veneer while powder coated colours like Dark Grey and Light Grey are standard with the option of product-inspired white for all the exposed parts. The materials used provide a perfect balance of tactility, softness and durability to the minimalistic and functional interior, making every journey truly comfortable.

UNPARALLELED CAPABILITY

To retain signature cues from the original design, accommodate a family of body designs and to support the diverse powertrain options in the future, the vehicle has been designed on the bespoke D7x platform. The lightweight all-aluminium monocoque construction of the D7x Architecture makes the Defender three times more rigid than traditional body-on-frame designs and the stiffest Land Rover ever made. This strong, stiff structure provides the perfect foundation for the 4x4’s advanced all-independent chassis.

Delivering transformational breadth of capability and on-road handling, Defender is in a category of its own. The Configurable Terrain Response and Terrain Response 2 enhances the All-Terrain Capability and allows customers to personalise the off road system preferences. Rewarding on-road handling with Adaptive Dynamics provides a connected driving experience and supreme long-haul comfort across all terrains and in all conditions. Adaptive Dynamics is available with Electronic Air Suspension, allowing customers to fine-tune the driving characteristics. The system’s adaptive dampers monitor body movements up to 500 times per second and respond almost instantaneously to optimise control and comfort.

For off-roading, the New Defender has an impressive maximum Approach Angle of 38 degrees, maximum Break over Angle of 28 degrees (31 degrees on 90) and maximum Departure Angle of 40 degrees. With Wade Sensing screen on the infotainment system, the Defender has a water wading depth of 900 mm. The New Defender delivers a maximum towing capacity of 3,720 kg coupled with a roof load capacity of 168 kg.

21ST CENTURY TECHNOLOGY

The New Defender is flanked by a series of technological advancements adding to the durability and capability of the vehicle. It introduces Land Rover’s new Pivi Pro infotainment system. The next-generation touchscreen is intuitive and user-friendly, requiring few inputs to perform frequently used tasks, while its always-on design guarantees almost instant responses.

The New Defender sports the next-generation Electronic Vehicle Architecture (EVA 2.0) supporting SOTA (Software-Over-The-Air) updates. SOTA allows customers to receive updates without visiting the retailer. Within the lifetime of the New Defender, the embedded diagnostics system will be able to alert customers about issues and either prevent or resolve them automatically as a data connection replaces a traditional toolkit.

The Infotainment in the New Land Rover Defender includes a 25.4 cm (10) Touchscreen with Connected Navigation Pro and a 31.24 cm (12.3) high-definition Interactive Driver Display. It can be personalised to include a full-screen map, phone and media functionality. The vehicle also offers ClearSight Rear Mirror, which uses a live video feed to ensure that you always enjoy an unobstructed view & ClearSight Ground View which is available as a part of the 3D Surround Camera system. ClearSight Ground View allows you to effectively see ‘through’ Defender’s bonnet and displays multiple exterior views, including the vehicle’s underside and wheels. For comfort, the vehicle has an optional Meridian Surround Sound System (700 W), which includes 14 speakers and a dual channel subwoofer, heated and cooled seats and premium cabin lighting gives you 10 configurable options so you can match your surroundings to your mood, personality, or driving style.

PERSONALISED FOR YOUR WORLD

Allowing customers to explore unlimited possibilities, the New Defender offers choice from among 170 individual accessories and four distinct Accessory packs, including:

●       Explorer Pack: It’s equipped with features such as the Expedition Roof Rack, a Raised Air Intake to wade through the deepest of waters, Exterior Side-mounted Gear Carrier to store items, Wheel Arch Protection, Front & Rear Classic Mudflaps, Spare Wheel Cover, and Matte Black Bonnet detail that makes it ideal for those who want to defy conventions and conquer uncharted landscapes.

●       Adventure Pack: Designed to equip you for the wild, the pack features an Integrated Air Compressor to inflate tyres on the go, Portable Rinse System to wash off while you are on the trail, an Exterior Side Mounted Gear Carrier and a Seat Backpack to store items, Front and Rear Mudflaps, Bright Rear Scuff plate and a Spare Wheel cover.

●       Country Pack: With Front & Rear Classic Mudflaps, Bright Rear Scuff Plate, Portable Rinse System, Wheel Arch Protection and Loadspace Partition, it equips you when you decide to embrace the elements and make every journey truly memorable.

●       Urban Pack: It lends touches of individuality for your vehicle with the use of Bright Metal Pedals and Rear Scuff Plate, Front Undershield and a Spare Wheel Cover.

More details on the New Land Rover Defender are available on www.landrover.in

Land Rover Product Portfolio in India

The Land Rover range in India includes the Range Rover Evoque (starting at ₹ 58.67 Lakh),  Discovery Sport (starting at ₹ 59.91 Lakh), the Range Rover Velar (priced at ₹ 73.30 Lakh), Discovery (starting at ₹ 75.59 Lakh), Range Rover Sport (starting at ₹ 88.24 Lakh) and Range Rover (starting at ₹ 196.82 Lakh). All prices mentioned are ex-showroom prices in India.

Jaguar Land Rover Retailer Network in India

Jaguar Land Rover vehicles are available in India in 24 cities, through 27 authorized outlets in Ahmedabad, Aurangabad, Bengaluru, Bhubaneswar, Chandigarh, Chennai, Coimbatore, Delhi, Gurgaon, Hyderabad, Indore, Jaipur, Kolkata, Kochi, Karnal, Lucknow, Ludhiana, Mangalore, Mumbai , Noida, Pune, Raipur, Surat and Vijayawada.

Cactus Communications Bags Two Coveted Stevie Awards in 2020 Stevie Awards for Women in Business

Cactus Communications (CACTUS), a technology company accelerating scientific advancement, was honored with two bronze Stevie® Awards at the 17th annual Stevie Awards for Women in Business. It is one of the very few organizations in the world, to have earned this honor for initiatives undertaken by businesses to mitigate the impact of the COVID 19 pandemic when it comes to employee welfare. The Stevie Awards for Women in Business works on generating public recognition of the achievements and positive contributions of organizations and working professionals worldwide. 

Commenting on the awards, Abhishek Goel, Co-founder and CEO of CACTUS, said, “At CACTUS, women play critical roles across leadership positions, functions, and geographies. I believe this truly reflected in the care and concern with which we responded to our employees and customers during these trying times.”  

This edition of the Stevie® Awards specially recognized companies that took measures to safeguard the health and interests of their employees against the background of the pandemic. The two categories in which CACTUS won the bronze awards are:

Most Exemplary Employer: For organizations that have demonstrated their extra commitment to keeping their employees working, paid, and safe during the pandemic.

Most Valuable Corporate Response: For exemplary responses to the pandemic for the well-being of their employees, customers, and community

Yashmi Pujara, Chief Human Resources Officer, CACTUS said, “In keeping with our employee-centric approach,  our response to pandemic largely revolved around keeping people safe and building their resilience thru very focused interventions.”

CACTUS, led by their HR team, took prompt and timely steps to ensure both employee safety and business continuity across their global offices. The organization facilitated a complete move to a WFH (Work from Home) environment, much before the government announced lockdowns which helped their employees relocate without any hassles. The award committee specially lauded this humane and practical approach. The committee took special recognition that CACTUS devised a 360-degree approach to overcome the problems and challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic. The management, while ensuring business continuity, took special care to ease the anxiety and stress caused by the pandemic. CACTUS also offered pro bono translation, editing, and research promotion services to their customers working on COVID-19 research and worked towards building the world's largest AI-powered, expert-curated platform on COVID-19 research.

The complete list of winners can be found here: https://stevieawards.com/women/2020-stevie-award-winners

About Cactus Communications:

Founded in 2002, Cactus Communications (cactusglobal.com) is a technology company accelerating scientific advancement. CACTUS solves problems for researchers, universities, publishers, academic societies, and life science organizations through innovative products and services developed under the brands Editage, Cactus Life Sciences, R, Impact Science, UNSILO, and Cactus Labs. CACTUS has offices in Princeton, London, Aarhus, Singapore, Beijing, Shanghai, Seoul, Tokyo, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, and Mumbai; a global workforce of over 3,000 experts; and customers from over 190 countries. CACTUS is considered a pioneer in its workplace best practices, and has been consistently ranked a great place to work over the last several years.   

All-New Mahindra Treo Set to Electrify Karnataka: To Transform State’s Last & First Mile Travel with e-Mobility

Mahindra Electric Mobility Ltd, part of the USD 19.4 billion Mahindra Group, today announced the launch of its new electric three-wheeler Mahindra Treo in Karnataka at ₹ 2.7 lakh post FAME subsidies (Ex-showroom).

The new Mahindra Treo electric auto is now completely designed and developed in India and offers best-in-class performance with higher speed of 55 kmph, better acceleration from 0-20 kmph in just 2.3 seconds and best-in-class gradeability of 12.7 degree. The new Mahindra Treo can save an owner up to ₹ 45,000/year*. The Treo is available with a low down payment scheme of just ₹ 50,000 from Mahindra Finance and low interest rate scheme of only 10.8% from State Bank of India. Mahindra Treo comes with attractive exchange bonus of ₹5,000.

Speaking at the launch, Mahesh Babu, MD & CEO, Mahindra Electric said, “The people of Karnataka have demonstrated quick acceptance of EV technology, which has helped the Treo to become a market leader in its segment. Overall, Mahindra have over 5000 happy Treo customers in 400+ districts and has already covered a distance of 35 million km on the Indian roads. The new Mahindra Treo will further boost our customers’ savings and will be a great fit for the state’s first and last mile mobility needs. We believe that the Indian EV growth will be dominated by electric 3-wheelers as it is economically, environmentally and socially sustainable.”

Higher Savings of up to ₹ 45,000*:

·         The running cost of Mahindra Treo is only 50 paise/km which can save up to ₹ 45,000 per year on fuel costs.

·         The lithium-ion battery requires zero-maintenance and offers 1,50,000+ Km of hassle free running.

Best-in-Segment Performance:

·         The new improved AC induction motor now has a highest power of 8 kW and a highest/excellent torque of 42 Nm.

·         The top-speed of Mahindra Treo has improved significantly to 55 kmph with an increased gradeability of 12.7 degree.

Advanced Technology:

·         LITHIUM-ION TECHNOLOGY: The new Mahindra Treo is powered by advanced lithium-ion technology and can travel for up to 130 km (declared driving range) on a single charge.

·         AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION: It comes with automatic transmission, and is gearless, clutch-less and vibration-free making the drive very comfortable and fatigue-free

·         EASE OF CHARGING: Mahindra Treo can be charged anywhere as it comes with a portable charger and can be fully charged using a 15 A socket

·         RELIABLE IP 67 RATED MOTOR gives enhanced protection from dust and water entry

·         RUST FREE BODY PANELS: Modular rust-free Sheet Moulding Compound (SMC) panels for easy cleaning

Superior Space & Comfort:

·         BEST-IN-SEGMENT WHEELBASE: With the longest wheelbase of 2073 mm the Mahindra Treo offers segment best comfort with more leg room and easy entry and exit for all age groups.

·         ENHANCED SAFETY: Mahindra Treo offers side doors making the ride much safer.

Excellent Warranty & Aftersales

·         STANDARD WARRANTY: Mahindra Treo comes with a standard warranty of 3 years/80,000 km along with the option of extended warranty of 2 years/1 lakh Km. 

·         EASE OF SERVICE: Wide service network of 140+ dealerships across India

About Mahindra Electric

Mahindra Electric, a part of the USD 19.4 billion Mahindra Group is a global pioneer in the development and production of electric vehicles. Mahindra Electric is India’s only EV manufacturer with indigenously developed EV technologies that have won global accolades. Over the years, Mahindra Electric has developed one of the most diversified portfolio of electric vehicles with the e­2oPlus hatch, the Treo range of three-wheelers, the electrified eVerito sedan & the electrified eSupro mini-van for the passenger and the commercial segment. Venturing into the paradigm of alternative technology has helped Mahindra Electric enable a clean, green & a smarter tomorrow for India.

NoBroker Chooses Google Cloud to Create Path-Breaking Solutions that Help Customers Make Better Real Estate Decisions

●        Developed Touchless Entry using facial recognition in just three weeks, for contact-free security and hygiene during the pandemic

●        Facilitates crowdsourcing of 35,000 listings a month with Cloud Vision AI

●        Achieves 99.9% uptime by autoscaling on Google Kubernetes Engine

●        Rent-o-meter runs on Google Cloud to help property owners and tenants estimate rent prices

Underlining its vision to revolutionize real estate experience for property owners, tenants, buyers, and sellers with end-to-end services, NoBroker.com, India's largest C2C real estate platform, has adopted Google Cloud to develop innovative solutions that enhance customer experience. Having established leadership across the cities that they are present in, NoBroker is now delivering the benefits of AI and machine learning powered by Google Cloud to its customers.

The company most recently launched Touchless Entry which was developed during the pandemic, and brought to market in just three weeks. Touchless Entry sees NoBroker using facial recognition developed using Google Cloud AI/ML technology combined with TensorFlow to ensure safety of residents and visitors. Their Cloud Vision-powered program uses crowdsourcing to generate 35,000 property listings every month. This means anyone using the NoBroker app can upload a photo of a “to let” or “for sale” board to the platform and the optical character recognition (OCR) feature on Cloud Vision AI extracts the owner’s phone number from the photo and correlates it with listing user information on NoBroker’s MySQL database.

Akhil Gupta, Co-Founder & CTO at Nobroker said, "At NoBroker, we leverage the latest technologies to provide a top notch real-estate experience for our customers be it for renting, buying/selling, home services like packers & movers, cleaning or our offering via NoBrokerHood for making community living easier. Being a digital first company we help our customers through our end-to-end realty solutions and help them make better and smarter decisions in choosing their home. With this partnership, we have been able to roll out new products faster in both NoBroker & NoBrokerHood apps without worrying about scale, security & compliance.   Or collaboration will further help us in our pursuit of innovating solutions to make real estate transactions faster and cheaper for our customers.”

“Our mission at Google Cloud is to accelerate every organization’s ability to power data-led innovation with the best infrastructure, platform, industry solutions and expertise for digital transformation and Nobroker is a great example. We are delighted to see them leverage many of our technologies and innovate to serve consumers across the country,” said Karan Bajwa, Managing Director, Google Cloud India.

Millions of customers and call center staff use NoBroker platform daily generating close to a billion clickstream messages, so their infrastructure needs to be robust, scalable and highly secure. With Google Cloud’s offerings such as Google Kubernetes Engine, NoBroker can run at 99.9% uptime. The company’s Rent-o-meter tool also runs on Google Cloud and uses a custom algorithm that predicts rent with 95% accuracy by analyzing historical transaction data, property images, market value, trends, and the neighborhood.

NoBroker’s Smart Recommendations project helps customers find their ideal place to live. Using Google Maps Platform as a data source, the algorithm searches for local amenities and public transit and assigns a Livability and Transit score. Such information complements property details from owners and helps buyers and tenants make informed decisions about each property. Having built their own data lake called Starship using Google Cloud Storage, NoBroker is able to ingest and store data from multiple sources such as website click stream, user interaction, transaction along with locality data to help them come up with  insightful tools and process terabytes of data quickly to generate real time insights for customers.

NoBroker continues to expand its broker-free platform and NoBrokerHood app across more cities. With the help of Google Cloud, NoBroker is well positioned as an AI-first real estate platform that leverages the power of machine learning to serve customers better.

Techno’s Camon 16 to Debut on Flipkart’s Famed ‘Big Billion Days’

* The first sale of CAMON 16 to start at 12 noon of 16 October 2020

* Consumers can avail special offers on TECNO’s popular smartphones like SPARK Go 2020, SPARK Power 2, SPARK Power 2 Air and CAMON 15 at a special festive price

With the festive season around the corner and in a quest to make the celebrations bigger & memorable, TECNO’s much-awaited latest premium device CAMON 16 will now go on sale on Flipkart as part of its popular Big Billion Days sale (https://rb.gy/d5to8x). The device that sports a segment-first 64 MP Quad Camera set-up and unique Eye Auto Focus feature will be available for sale starting 16th October 2020 at a price of Rs. 10,999.

Consumers will be able to grab some of the best smartphones from TECNO’s popular SPARK and CAMON stables launched this year at an attractive discount offers. Additionally, TECNO will also offer its premium CAMON 15 smartphone at a festive price of Rs. 10,499.

Commenting on the occasion, Arijeet Talapatra, CEO of TRANSSION India, said, “This being our second BBD stint with Flipkart, we expect our product offerings on the platform’s most-awaited ‘Big Billion Days’ sale to create quite a stir among consumers. With our wide range of products, ranging from best budget smartphone under 7k to best battery smartphones under 10K to the best-in-class quad camera smartphone with pioneering Eye Auto Focus under 11k, we expect to cater to all segments of users. Our vision has always been to create new possibilities for our customers and through these special smartphones at great prices, we want to make our consumers festivities bigger and memorable one for themselves and their loved ones”.

TECNO has already established itself as a strong smartphone player in the sub-10k segment with its SPARK series smartphones that offer BIG Battery, BIG Display and a powerful camera. TECNO SPARK had hit the 2-million customer mark last month in India. The watershed moment reinforces TECNO’s success story in the country on the back of its ‘segment first’ approach which consistently pushed the benchmark for entry level and mid-budget smartphones through an overall feature-led experience.

Flipkart Big Billion Days smartphone sale will commence on October 16 and will continue till October 21, so be ready to grasp the best deals and offers on latest TECNO smartphones: 

IBM Advances Cloud Pak for Security to Manage Threats Across Tools, Teams & Clouds

1.      Open platform leverages AI and automation to streamline threat management across hybrid cloud environments and disparate security tools

2.      Industry-first ability to connect threat management, data security and identity within a single platform

3.      New turnkey security services to address cybersecurity skills shortage and remote workforce

IBM Security today announced new and upcoming capabilities for Cloud Pak for Security, including a first of its kind data security solution that allows companies to detect, respond to and protect against threats to their most sensitive data across hybrid cloud environments. Designed to unify previously disconnected security technologies, IBM has expanded Cloud Pak for Security to include new data sources, integrations, and services that allow security operations teams to manage the full threat lifecycle from a single console.

With these upcoming capabilities,[1] Cloud Pak for Security will include access to six threat intelligence feeds, 25 pre-built connections to IBM and third-party data sources, and 165 case management integrations – which are connected through advanced AI to prioritize threats, and automation playbooks to streamline response actions for security teams.

Sudeep Das, Technical Leader, IBM Security Systems, IBM India/South Asia said – "As cloud and remote work have dispersed the traditional IT perimeter, security response teams need deeper insights across hybrid cloud environments – including user, identity, and data-level security. Built on open, cloud native technologies, Cloud Pak for Security is the first-of-its kind capability which brings data security directly into the threat management lifecycle. Cloud Pak for Security offers a streamlined threat management lifecycle using advanced AI, analytics and automation. Further, it is a single, unified user interface that connects the entire threat management process via end-to-end workflows - from initial detection through response. Indian companies witnessed an average of ₹140 million total cost of data breach in the 2020, an increase of 9.4% from 2019 as per our Cost of Data Breach report. These advancements in Cloud Pak for Security will augment the security posture of Indian organizations and empower them to get deeper intelligence by linking data-level insights and user behavior analytics with threat detection.”

As cloud adoption and remote work have dispersed the traditional IT perimeter, security response teams can benefit from deeper insights into security across hybrid cloud environments. User behavior, identities and data security have traditionally been siloed from threat management. With the upcoming new capabilities, Cloud Pak for Security will become the first platform in the industry to connect data-level insights and user behavior analytics with threat detection, investigation and response.

Today IBM is announcing capabilities to advance the Cloud Pak for Security even further, including:

1.       Coordinated Threat Response + Data Security: IBM has developed a new industry-first approach to provide security teams with visibility into data activity, compliance and risk, without needing to leave their primary response platform. The new built-in data security hub, scheduled for general availability in Q4, allows analysts to quickly gain context into where their sensitive data resides across hybrid cloud environments, as well as who has access to it, how it is used, and the best way to protect it. Bridging the disconnect between data security and threat management can reduce the timeline for responding to data breaches, which currently take more than six months to identify and contain on average for recently surveyed organizations.[2]

2.       Access to Industry Leading Threat Intelligence: Cloud Pak for Security is expanding its collection of threat intelligence, helping clients detect early warning signs of active threat campaigns impacting companies around the world. In addition to IBM’s X-Force Threat Intelligence Feed, the platform will provide pre-built integrations for five additional threat intelligence feeds from third-party sources, including AlienVault OTX, Cisco Threatgrid, MaxMind Geolocation, SANS Internet StormCenter and Virustotal scheduled for general availability in Q4, and additional threat feeds expected to be added in 2021.

3.       Dedicated Services and Support: IBM is launching new dedicated security services to help organizations modernize their security operations with Cloud Pak for Security, leveraging a holistic approach connecting products and services. With a wide range of flexible service options, IBM experts can help clients deploy and manage Cloud Pak for Security across any environment, including end-to-end threat management, managed security services, as well as strategy, consulting and integration support.

“Complexity is the greatest challenge facing our industry, forcing resource-strapped security teams to manually connect the dots between disparate tools and sources of security data,” said Justin Youngblood, Vice President, IBM Security. “Cloud Pak for Security is built on open, cloud native technologies from the ground up to connect any tool within the security ecosystem. With these updates, we will be the first in the industry to bring together external threat intelligence and threat management alongside data security and identity, helping organizations to modernize their security operations and create the foundation for a zero-trust security strategy.”

Open Connections Across the Security Ecosystem

Cloud Pak for Security leverages open technologies to create an interoperable foundation and deeper connections between the IBM and third-party tools. For instance, the platform uses STIX-Shifter, an open-source library that allows security analysts to search for threat indicators across all connected data sources with a single query. Additionally, Cloud Pak for Security is built on Red Hat OpenShift, providing an open, containerized foundation that can be easily deployed across on-premise, public and private cloud environments. 

This open approach allows Cloud Pak for Security to be more than simply a collection of security capabilities, but rather a platform to fully integrate security processes across tools and clouds. The platform uses advanced AI, analytics and automation to streamline the full lifecycle of threat management – including native capabilities for Security Information and Event Monitoring (SIEM), Threat Intelligence, User Behavior Analytics, Data Security and Security Orchestration Automation and Response. These capabilities are delivered through a single, unified user interface that connects the entire threat management process via end-to-end workflows, from detection through response.

Through IBM Security’s participation in the Open Cybersecurity Alliance, the company will continue to work with the community to advance the development and adoption of open technologies to make security more interoperable.

Unified Product and Services Approach

Cloud Pak for Security’s open framework makes it an ideal solution for collaboration between security teams and external service providers that augment companies’ security skills and expertise. Cloud Pak for Security also supports multi-tenancy, enabling service providers to leverage a single instance of the platform to serve multiple companies and sub-organizations while keeping their data isolated.

The extensive capabilities of Cloud Pak for Security can be supported by and integrated with IBM Security Services, with unified offerings that connect technologies and services. Clients can take advantage of X-Force Threat Management, an ongoing, end-to-end threat management service that uses a programmatic approach to help clients mature their overall threat management strategy over time. Companies can also leverage a wide variety of IBM Managed Security Services, using Cloud Pak for Security to facilitate real time collaboration and visibility between clients and service teams. Alternatively, companies can leverage IBM Security expert consultants to help them plan for, deploy and integrate the Cloud Pak for Security with their existing security investments.

To learn more about IBM Cloud Pak for Security and stay up to date regarding its latest capabilities, visit the website here. You can also register for the webinar which will take place October 29, 2020 at 11:00 a.m. EDT. 

India’s first ‘Savior Sibling’ Saves Her 6-Year-Old Brother Suffering from Thalassemia

  

* A Savior Sibling born through IVF with embryo selection saves 6-year-old brother after successful Bone Marrow Transplant

This rare and unique treatment is recognized as India’s first-ever ‘Savior Sibling’ born through IVF

In a virtual press conference today, Nova IVF Fertility shared the successful treatment of a 6-year-old boy who was saved by India’s First Savior Sibling.

Baby Kavya was conceived through IVF to be HLA-matched, suitable to transplant bone marrow to her brother who was suffering from Thalassemia Major. Through a novel technique in Assisted Reproductive Therapy called PGT-M (Pre-Implantation Genetic Testing for Monogenic Disorder) with HLA (Human leukocyte antigen) matching Baby Kavya was born to save the older brother.

Mr. Sahdev Singh Solanki and Mrs. Alpa Solanki’s second born, Abhijeet was diagnosed of Thalassemia Major and was dependent on a monthly blood transfusion. The Solanki’s were advised Bone Marrow Transplant as the last resort to treat their child. However, the inability to find the required match for Human leukocyte Antigen (HLA) made the family helpless. In desperation to save their young child they consulted doctors across the country. Mr. Solanki himself did thorough research to find treatment options and came across the term “Savior Sibling”. This gave him a ray of hope and he reached out to Dr. Manish Banker, Medical Director, Nova IVF Fertility at his Ahmedabad Clinic for executing this novel clinical approach to save his son.

On conducting such a unique medical marvel, Dr. Manish Banker, Medical Director, Nova IVF Fertility, said, “We are extremely thrilled to be part of a reproductive history in India to create the first-ever ‘savior sibling’ through medical marvels of ART. Considering the unavailability of matched human leukocyte antigen (HLA) donors for the transplant in Abhijeet’s case, we decided to opt for IVF with HLA matching with Pre-Genetic Diagnosis & Screening test (PGD and PGS). This process for HLA typing is an established method for conceiving a child who may donate cord blood or hematopoietic stem cells for transplantation to save a respective sibling with a critical illness. Bone marrow transplantation from an HLA-identical donor is the best therapeutic option for thalassemia major patients.”

“Though we were aware of the science behind this, the father himself approached us basis his research on this, which is highly commendable. Considering this was the first-ever case in the history of Indian IVF, we took the challenge and created a healthy ‘Savior Sibling’ to save her elder brother.” He added.

The medical experts at Nova IVF executed this first-ever treatment at the Ahmedabad Center, led by Dr. Banker, where the mother had 18 embryos biopsied, of which only one embryo was found to have matching HLA, normal on Preimplantation genetic testing for monogenic diseases (PGT M), and was thus transferred successfully in its very first cycle. This resulted in a successful pregnancy, delivering a healthy baby girl who was found to be 10/10 HLA match with the sibling. In March 2020 having the perfect HLA match, a successful bone marrow transplant was done for the affected child at CIMS Hospital, who is now healthy and risk-free.

Commenting on the success, the father, Mr. Sahadev Solanki, said, “We had consulted many doctors across the country, but when nobody could assure successful transplantation, I decided to do whatever it takes to save my young child. Even though with limited medical knowledge, I researched and went through a pile of medical journals and case studies of similar cases to come up with something that can save my child from this deadly disease. Though our country now offers some of the best fertility solution centers, we needed the technological backbone of expert embryologists to perform this medical marvel and that is when we approached Dr. Banker in Ahmedabad. Hearing me patiently, Dr. Banker assured me and he did so with utmost success. 

Now looking at both children gives me immense pleasure to see them full of life for the years to come. I am heartily thankful and will always be indebted to Nova IVF Fertility for giving us hope to live”

Dr. Deepa Trivedi, Programme Director, Sankalp CIMS BMT Unit, CIMS Hospital, said, “PGD for single gene disorders along with HLA typing offers the possibility of having a matched sibling donor that can save a sick sibling afflicted with the same genetic disorder. It is labour and cost intensive and requires multidisciplinary collaboration. It might be a viable option to a select group of families who want to avoid recurrent pregnancies, pre-natal testing and termination of pregnancy if fetus is affected.”

About Nova IVF Fertility:

Nova IVF Fertility (NIF) is one of the largest service providers of fertility treatment across India. With an average IVF experience of over a decade our highly experienced IVF specialists and well–trained embryologists, Nova IVF Fertility have successfully achieved over 35,000 clinical pregnancies in the country. With vast international expertise, NIF brings exceptional and ethical standards of processes, protocols, and policies to India. Through personalized treatment plans of medical management, basic ART, and advanced ART – all procedures aim to significantly improve the chances of a positive pregnancy. NIF currently operates 25 fertility centers across 18 cities in India (Ahmedabad (1), Bengaluru (3), Chennai, Coimbatore, Hisar, Hyderabad, Indore, Jalandhar, Lucknow, Mumbai (3), New Delhi (2), Kolkata (2), Pune (2), Surat, Vijayawada, Patna, Ranchi, and Siliguri).