Myntra Signs Kangana Ranaut As Face of DressBerry

Myntra.com, India’s largest fashion e-tailer, has brought on-board Bollywood’s latest “Queen”, Kangana Ranaut, as its brand ambassador and the face for its fast fashion in-house brand DressBerry. With her recent mega hits like Queen, Revolver Rani and her previously unforgettable role in Madhur Bhandarkar’s ‘Fashion’, Myntra saw Kangana as an ideal choice for endorsing its bold and stylish range of apparel and accessories.

As the brand ambassador, Kangana Ranaut will be featured in some of the promotional initiatives by Myntra.com, helping build a strong connect between the brand and its fans across the country. To begin with, the two-time Filmfare award winner will be the face of a young, confident and fashionable brand ‘DressBerry’, dedicated to young women. Myntra launched DressBerry in 2013, and within a span of 15 months, it has gained commendable popularity, making it one of the largest selling women's western wear brands on Myntra.com.

Expressing her excitement on the association with Myntra.com and Dressberry, the renowned actress, Kangana Ranaut said, “I am excited to be the brand ambassador for Myntra.com and happy to be the face of DressBerry, Myntra’s fast fashion women’s wear brand. When I came across DressBerry, I took an instant liking to it. Besides the apparel, it is the attitude of ‘Fun, Flirty and Feminine’ reflected by the brand that appeals to me." 

She further added, "Myntra provides shoppers the opportunity to access everything that a fashion fanatic can dream of, at affordable prices. Brands like Myntra.com are also providing access to youth in smaller towns to shop for their favourite brands as they are equally aspirational and want to look good just like their counterparts in larger cities.”

Speaking on the celebrity association, Vikas Ahuja, Chief Marketing Officer, Myntra said, “Myntra is a youth fashion brand, presenting the latest trends for men and women who are bold and stylish in the way they carry themselves. Just like Kangana Ranaut. I believe this partnership will strengthen Myntra’s position as India's preferred online fashion destination and will mark a new step in DressBerry's evolution."

DressBerry hosts a wide and diverse range of collection for young women across tops, dresses, jackets, bottoms, jumpsuits, nightwear and accessories, starting at just Rs. 249 up to Rs. 1999.

Myntra.com ventured into private brands in December 2012 and has since developed a strong portfolio of eight private brands including Roadster, HRX by Hrithik Roshan, Sher Singh, Anouk, Kook N Keech and Mast & Harbour among others.

Myntra.com also recently collaborated with the popular Bollywood actor Ranveer Singh for its in-house brand – ‘Roadster’ and Lisa Haydon as its brand ambassador while the ravishing Chitrangda Singh and the charming Abhay Deol, were voted as the Fashion Icon of the Month for May & June, 2014.

New Enhanced Cloud Backup Storage Capacities

Seagate Technology plc today announced the next evolution in the company’s wireless storage category.  Seagate Wireless Plus mobile device storage now consists of a family of capacities at 1TB and 2TB versions to suit every need along with integration with cloud services, such as Dropbox and Google Drive. The Seagate Wireless Plus storage is designed to expand beyond the limitations of mobile devices, such as smart phones and tablets. With capacities that are multiples beyond the highest storage available on these mobile devices, the Seagate Wireless Plus provides an ideal solution to stream your favorite HD video while freeing up precious space on your Android Tablet, iPad, iPhone, Android Smart Phone, Kindle Fire, Windows 8 computers and Windows RT tablets.

Seagate created the wireless storage category in 2011 to address consumers’ desire to enjoy more content than tablets and smartphones can hold with their limited storage options. A CES 2013 Best of Innovations Award Winner, the Seagate Wireless Plus now includes a new option to save content and files to the drive wirelessly through the updated Seagate Media app as well as the ability to migrate files to cloud services such as Dropbox and Google Drive.

“Wireless connectivity is a feature that has been added to external storage over the last couple of years, it provides the convenience of high capacity and easy sharing for mobile devices that are limited in their storage capabilities,” said Ross Rubin, principal analyst at Reticle Research.  “Now, with the integrating of popular cloud storage services to these products, there exists an invaluable bridge to even more content.”

The Seagate Media app’s new capability to sync your files on the Seagate Wireless Plus storage with an existing cloud storage provider means that your files are always accessible even when you don’t have network access. The Seagate Media app creates your own Dropbox or Google Drive folder, so files are available and at the ready. Then once you are back on the network, your files will automatically re-sync to ensure all changes are saved in both the cloud and the Wireless Plus drive.

“Having pioneered the category of wireless local storage for mobile devices, Seagate is now proud to advance the platform by adding more capacities and developing advanced features that will benefit how people are using these drives,” said BanSeng Teh, senior vice president and managing director of Seagate Asia Pacific and Japan. “Cloud storage services provide a convenient way for people to migrate files between devices and share with friends and colleagues. With the new Seagate Media app and Wireless Plus mobile storage, people will now be enabled to use these cloud services to access even more media from their Wireless Plus storage device.”

Seagate Wireless Plus mobile device storage is accessed through the mobile Seagate Media app for Apple iOS, Android, Kindle Fire HD, Windows 8 tablets. Seagate Wireless Plus mobile storage connects to devices over a Wi-Fi connection, which the battery-powered drive emits once powered on. Simply connect to the network by searching for Wireless Plus in your available Wi-Fi networks. The drive creates its own Wi-Fi network, eliminating the need to be within range of an existing network connection.

Additionally, you can use Wireless Plus to enjoy video, photos, music and even documents on the big screen via Apple Airplay, DLNA or an app designed specifically for Samsung Smart TVs and Blu-ray players.

Pricing and Availability:

Seagate Wireless Plus mobile storage has a supported battery life of up to 10 hours and provides it’s own Wi-Fi signal to enable access to the drive. The drive is now available at 2TB for an MSRP of Rs 18,500 and 1TB for Rs 14,500 MSRP.

IBS Holds Convocation For PGPM Class Of 2014

IBS Business School Bangalore held the convocation for the class of 2014 of the Post Graduate Programme for Management (PGPM) on Saturday 12^th July at the school’s own campus at Kengeri on the Bangalore- Mysore road. Dignitaries that graced the sparkling event were Padma Shri Raghavendra Rao, Founder and Managing Director, Orchid Chemicals & Pharmaceuticals Ltd and Meena Ganesh Co-Founder & CEO – Portea Medical. 

The convocation began with the welcome address by the Campus Head Prof. Shailendra Dasari  who welcomed the gathering. This was followed by address by the dignitaries. The event provided a wonderful opportunity for the PGPM batch to celebrate the achievements as well as understand and reflect on the many opportunities and challenges moving forward in their career path. Medals: Bhawish Chowdhuary was awarded gold medal and the Kissan Joseph award for the best Marketing Student. Mandrita Biswas and Pradeepa Mohana Sundaram were joint recipients of the Silver medal for academic performance. Varun Varghese bagged the all-rounder award. 

The Campus Head’s Report outlined the various events and activities held over the year at IBS Business School such as Manthan and Tarkash. 

The talk also highlighted the initiatives

of Neev, the Entrepreneurship Cell of IBS Bangalore and the Industry Outreach programs. 

Padma Shri Raghavendra Rao in his high-decibel  address emphasised  the importance of chasing one’s dream even if it meant taking the road less travelled. Shri Raghavendra Rao also highlighted the need for students  to  be innovative and entrepreneurial in whatever they pursue.

Ms. Ganesh a serial entrepreneur herself reiterated the need for management graduates to consider entrepreneurship as a viable option. Her address lined up a number of entrepreneurial success stories in India and also emphasized on the aspect of India being a land of opportunities and identifying the right opportunities and offering effective solutions being the key to success .

Budget A Damp Squib For The Hospitality Sector

 Post budget reactions from Mandeep Lamba, Managing Director – India, JLL Hotels & Hospitality.

For the first time in recent history, the government in power had announced tourism as one of its four pillars for growth. Consequently, the hospitality was looking forward to significant new provisions in Budget 2014. However, quite like in most previous years, the government failed to give hospitality any notable relief and stimulus for growth. Despite its 6.6% contribution to the GDP and the fact that it created close to 40 million jobs in 2012-13, the Indian hospitality sector continues to be a story of neglect from our policy makers.

Even today, India receives only about 0.5% of the global tourist arrivals despite being a country rich in history, culture, natural splendour and diversity. The fact that it has still not been equipped to receive a better share of global tourism receipts is puzzling and frustrating.

What Was Delivered

* The budget gave tourism some mention and indicated plans for long-term growth by way of developing India’s pilgrimage and heritage tourism circuits (PRASAD & HRIDAY schemes) and also provided for the development of a world-class convention centre in Goa via the PPP route. While these are welcome initiatives, these provisions will take between five to ten years to impact the growth of domestic and international tourist travel.

* The introduction of electronic visas and visas-on-arrival initiated earlier this year can be a major game-changer for Indian tourism with respect to foreign travel into India.

* The time-bound directive to implement e-visas at nine major airports within six months is perhaps the best news that this budget has delivered. This can have far-reaching consequences once implemented.

* The improvement and modernisation of railways, proposed new airports of international standards and the thrust on improved road connectivity augur well for the hospitality industry. These along with other policy announcements regarding increased FDI in several sectors and clarity on setting up of REITS, are catalysts for growth.

What Was Ignored

* The sector is desperately in need of incentives in Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities to make hotel investments there reasonably attractive

* The sector also needs better borrowing terms through the infrastructure lending route, and relaxed ECB norms

* The sector needs to be spared from double taxation through service and luxury tax/VAT at the state and centre levels. Indian hospitality was looking forward to rationalisation of taxes and ease of raising capital.

No economy can hope to achieve and maintain any degree of sustainable growth and buoyancy without its tourism and hospitality sector being given the necessary importance and corresponding stimuli. As of now, the Indian hospitality sector is still trying to shake off the lingering effects of the serious downturn it has been experiencing for almost six years.

In short, from the perspective of the Indian tourism hospitality sector, Budget 2014 failed to deliver. The industry must continue to survive primarily on the basis of die-hard optimism that it will eventually be given its rightful importance at the policy level.

Data Security Council of India & NLSIU Sign MoU

Data Security Council of India (DSCI) today announced that it has signed a two-year MoU with the National Law School of India University (NLSIU). Under this agreement both institutions will undertake collaborative research and conduct public advocacy in the areas of cyber laws and data protection.

This strategic alliance will support closer industry-academia interactions through joint research and hosting of national and international conferences on Information Technology law and policy. It also aims at enhancing the knowledge of law graduates though professional skill development programs. Accordingly, DSCI will contribute to the development of course materials on cyber security and cyber law by NLSIU. In turn, DSCI will draw on the legal expertise of NLSIU faculty members on the areas of IT Law to support its ongoing policy initiatives.

Dr. R. Venkata Rao, Vice Chancellor, National Law School of India University said that “this is a very important step in NLSIU’s focus on law, science and technology.”

Dr. Kamlesh Bajaj, CEO, DSCI said “DSCI is taking comprehensive efforts at various levels to enhance the industry’s awareness on cyber security and data protection. This collaboration will open several avenues to nurture the talent of our nation.”

Nasscom Welcomes Govt Focus On ICT & Digital India

NASSCOM today welcomed the focus on the ICT sector in the Union Budget proposals 2014-15 and termed it as a pragmatic and directional budget.

R. Chandrashekhar, President, NASSCOM said, “The announcements on a pan India digital initiative, funding for start-ups, district level incubator network and leveraging technology for good governance are welcome steps. These measures along with the initiatives on skilling, smart cities and ease of business, reflect the thrust on role of technology in Budget 2014”.

The proposal to set-up a Rs. 10,000 crore fund for start-ups and entrepreneurs will act as a great booster for the growing start-up landscape and will help drive innovation and solutions for the global as well as the domestic markets. At the same time, a pan-India "Digital India" programme will promote digital inclusion with broadband connectivity up to the village level, thereby enabling improved access to services through IT enabled platforms.

Leveraging technology for access and governance was another key highlight of the budget. The Ebiz initiative, E-kranti, Virtual classroom, E-visas, Financial Inclusion Mission and many others will help to enhance technology usage in the India market. The industry will look to partner with the government on these initiatives and would urge the government to address key challenges in the current procurement processes so that the industry can contribute optimally in this national agenda.

NASSCOM and the industry thanked the government for addressing many key concerns raised by it on transfer pricing issues. The APA rollback, usage of multi-year data for benchmarking and other announcements should help to improve the business environment in the country. The budget proposal on proactively brining a closure to the retrospective tax issue and setting-up a high-level CBDT committee should address industry concerns. There remain certain areas of concern, which could perhaps be addressed through subsequent guidelines and/or clarifications such as those related to royalty definition, Place of Provision of Service Rules, etc.

Skills development, infrastructure, innovation and social development were other welcome highlights in the budget that would enhance India’s long-term competitiveness.

Lastly, the statements on providing a stable tax regime, reducing litigation related to tax and providing a conducive regulatory environment for start-ups and companies to establish, operate and where necessary, close businesses would help improve the business environment in the country.

Leverage Tech For India’s Next Growth Phase: IET

Budget reactions from Shekhar Sanyal, Director & Country Head, the Institution of Engineering and Technology.
 

The new government’s Union budget for the year 2014-15 is a welcome move with a more strategic focus, concentrating on mid-long term implications towards sustainable growth. The commitment to achieve 7-8% economic growth in the next 3-4 years anchoring on the core sectors is much needed to revive the sluggish economy. We, at The IET, are very positive about the fiscal prudence reflected in this budget. It is a validation of the Government’s promise to leverage technology for India’s next phase of growth. There is a holistic view of riding on technology right from creating a foundation for talent to an ecosystem for entrepreneurial projects and intelligent tech implementation such as for farmers, remote communication, renewable energy, manufacturing and smart cities.

The government’s move to establish more IITs and IIMs is great to strengthen the pool of quality technical talent that will enable India’s journey to be a scientific power. The IET’s vision is also to build a strong engineering ecosystem in India that contributes to the society in resolving critical societal challenges. We are happy to note that the budget is aligned with our vision and we see immediate opportunity from each section of the society – government, corporate and academia to collaborate for economic development.

The budget’s special emphasis on encouraging entrepreneurs by providing funds and establishing business incubators in each district will provide a platform to build the next big global companies from India, many of which will leverage technology for growth. Significant fund allocation to the solar and power sector is a positive step towards a result oriented transition to a more sustainable energy independent country. Government’s focus on domestic manufacturing sector which has not seen progress is set to evolve with the fillip in investment allowance. This will generate more employment opportunities and attract young talent.

Lastly, the budget’s focus on urban development and smart cities will open a plethora of opportunities for technology implementation that benefit citizens. The creation of new urban centers on the principles of sustainable urbanization is at the core of any developing country’s success.

To sum up, the budget is certainly a first step towards the government’s vision to transform India. With some new initiatives in each sector, it will definitely bring together a revolution and the IET, being a professional body to streamline engineering and technology can partner with the government to play a critical role in bringing the change