MoU Signed for Indigenous Mission Computer with CSIR-NAL & Tata Advanced Systems for ‘Make in India’

The Integrated Global bus Avionics Processing System (IGAPS) popularly called Mission Computer is a Core Aircraft Computing Platform with features like ARINC 664 global bus, ARINC 818 fibre channel video bus and ARINC 653 compliance. This sophisticated state of the art onboard computing system has been successfully designed, developed and integrated for the first time in India by CSIR-National Aerospace Laboratories (CSIR-NAL), Bengaluru for Civil Avionics requirements in line with “Make in India” initiative.

To take this development further to the Indian and worldwide market in corporating application specific upgrades and Airworthiness approvals resulting into a certified product, CSIR-NAL and Tata Advanced Systems Limited (TASL) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to undertake this as a collaborative effort between the two organizations towards furthering the "Make in India" National Mission of the Government of India.  

The Mission Computer, a key electronic system on Air and Defence platforms for subsystem integration and control, and its variants will be manufactured in India and cater to the Indian and Global markets. Further, the Mission Computer will be used for wide ranging applications acrossvarious Aerospace and Defence platforms.The collaborative partnership with CSIR-NAL reinforces TASL’s continued efforts to develop, integrate and maintain critical pieces of technology for large Aerospace and Defence systems within India as part of the “Make-in-India” initiative, and strive to become a preferred partner to the Indian and Global Aerospace & Defence industry.

For CSIR-NAL, this MoUis a land mark achievement in realising commercialisation of developed technologies enabling Indian industries to compete globally and achieve self reliance in a high technology strategic area. “This is one of the best example of public private collaboration effort towards Make in India” said Mr. Shyam Chetty, Director, CSIR- NAL.  

“This collaboration with CSIR-NAL reinforces TASL’s continued commitment towards indigenous design, development and manufacturing of key systems and sub-systems for Aerospace and Defence applications, leveraging the technology developed by major Aerospace and Defence Labs in India.’’ said Mr. S. Ramadorai, Chairman, Tata Advanced Systems.

The IGAPS is one of the most technologically challenging aircraft core computing platform to be ever designed within the country for civil avionics requirements. This development is part of CSIR-NAL’s vision of achieving self reliance in indigenous design and development of complex airborne systems for national aircraft programme needs. The avionics architecture whose life-cycle costs are currently estimated to be approximately in millions of dollars is an architectural change which will enable it to keep up with the growing demand of low operating cost and high performance requirements demanded by industry today.

As a leader in the Aerospace industry in India, TASL with its global transition programmes with marque names in the aerospace industry like Lockheed Martin, Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation, has successfully demonstrated its ability to take complex aerospace programs and has recently announced partnership with Boeing Defence. TASL has also entered into the domain of precision manufacturing of aero-engines for Rolls Royce.

Swedish Companies Set to Drive Modi's Make In India Initiative

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Swedish counterpart Stefan Lofven jointly inaugurated the Sweden Country Pavilion at the Make in India Week today and Stockholm said its companies are looking to increase their investments in Asia's third-largest economy.

Mr Lofven is accompanied by a high-level delegation consisting of government officials, heads of agencies and industry leaders to participate in the 'Make in India' Week.

The Scandinavian nation has one of the largest delegations at the jamboree. "Swedish industry has always believed in India as a perfect trading partner-right from the time Ericsson laid the first cables in 1903 to the current times when our companies are looking to raise their investments and their manufacturing units here," said Harald Sandberg, Swedish Ambassador to India.

Retail-Tech Startup SnapBizz Gets Ratan Tata’s Investments

Bangalore based retail-tech startup SnapBizz has announced that it has raised funding from Ratan Tata, Chairman Emeritus, Tata Sons. In January 2016, SnapBizz had announced a Series A funding of $7.2 million led by Jungle Ventures, Taurus Value creation, Konly Venture and Blume Ventures.

With the mission of transforming the unorganized fragmented retail sector in the country, SnapBizz currently works with over a thousand kirana stores across Mumbai, Pune, Delhi, Hyderabad, Chennai and Bangalore and aims to expand its footprint across other tier 1 and 2 cities.

“We are privileged to have Ratan Tata as an investor at SnapBizz. As one of the most respected names in corporate India, Mr. Tata brings a rich legacy of doing business with a human touch. This reflects in his investment in SnapBizz as we have begun a humble journey of reverse marginalisation of SMB’s and driving digital inclusion in the large consumer goods industry. A visionary of Mr. Tata’s stature showing confidence in SnapBizz is certainly a big boost for our business idea and will continue to accelerate the digital revolution in India’s kirana stores. Brands are also seeing this an opportunity to partner with us in order to be a well wisher of the retailers ‎and get the share of mind of the retailer to appropriate the positioning as the company that cares for the retailers“, said Prem Kumar, CEO and founder, SnapBizz. 

Snapbizz is on a mission to transform the face of small-scale retail sector in the country and empower kirana stores not only to be competition ready but to have a competitive edge by making them “Virtual Super Markets”.

Snapbizz solutions are designed and developed with an in-depth understanding of business process of the kirana store that is reflected in its simplicity and ease of use. Its unique ability to create virtual shelf space attracts additional income to retailers from companies that want to merchandize and contextually engage customers’ in-store and out of store.It also enables smart store management and a digital connection to consumers, FMCG companies and distributors.

In a diverse market like India, where the traditional kirana stores make 98% of store universe and 85% of retail business, the Snapbizz solution is revolutionizing kirana stores across the country by connecting all the dots of the fragmented FMCG ecosystem (brands, retailers, consumers, wholesalers and distributors) and addresses pain points of all stakeholders.

PSU Canara Bank Profit Slips 87% to Rs 85 Crore in Q3, 2016

State-run Canara Bank has reported a whopping 87% drop in net profit at Rs 84.9 crore for the third quarter of 2015-16 on account of rise in bad loans.

The Bangalore-based lender had posted a net profit of Rs 655.9 crore for the October-December quarter of 2014-15 fiscal.

The bank's total income also fell to Rs 12,050.6 crore for the quarter under review from Rs 12,227.86 crore in the year-ago period, Canara Bank said in a regulatory filing to exchanges.

The gross NPAs as a percentage of total advances rose to 5.84% from 3.35% in the same quarter a year ago.

Its net NPAs went up to 3.90% from 2.42% at the end of December 2014.

Gross NPAs in absolute terms rose significantly to Rs 19,813.44 crore as compared to Rs 10,573.57 crore at the end of December 2014.

However, total provisions, excluding for income tax, made during the third quarter were Rs 1,428.85 crore as against Rs 841.33 crore in the year-ago period.

Operating profit declined to Rs 1,552.44 crore as against Rs 1,797.30 crore in the corresponding period.

During the first three quarters of 2015-16, Canara Bank posted 47.7% decline in profit at Rs 1,092.67 crore as compared to Rs 2,089.67 crore in the year-ago period.

The bank's total income for the nine month period in the current fiscal stood at Rs 36781.22 crore as compared to Rs 35,871.08 crore in the same period of previous financial year.

Srihari Palangala Appointed Director Marketing, EMC India

EMC Corporation has announced the appointment of Srihari Palangala as the Director Marketing of EMC India, effective immediately. Reporting jointly to Karinne Brannigan, Vice President Marketing – Asia Pacific & Japan based in Singapore and Rajesh Janey, President - EMC India and SAARC, Srihari would be responsible for spearheading the marketing strategy and execution for sales, products and partnerships in India.  Prior to EMC India, he was engaged with organizations such as VMLogix, Adobe India and Microsoft India. In his previous stints, he has been instrumental in driving business transformation and geographical expansion. As a marketing leader, he has a proven track record of accelerating customer acquisition through innovative marketing programs and strategies.

Commenting on the appointment, Rajesh Janey, President EMC India and SAARC said, “We are pleased to welcome Srihari into the EMC Family. He brings with him a wealth of experience which will be critical for driving EMC’s presence in the region. His strong passion for technology and marketing skills would be a major asset in driving growth for EMC India’’

Speaking on his appointment, Srihari said, “I am delighted and excited to be a part of the EMC team in India.  The company has retained their leadership as a storage vendor and has experienced several years of strong growth, yet retains a fresh and ambitious outlook. I look forward to contributing to this promising and high performing team andhelp customers transform for a digital era.”

Srihari Palangala holds a Masters in Computer Science (Arizona State University) and an MBA from the Indian School of Business. Outside of regular work, as a marketing expert, he actively engages with the ecosystem – offering workshops and online sessions through NASSCOM, IPMA and angel networks to various audiences. 

Other than Palangala, EMC India has recently expanded its leadership team with appointments in critical functions. Rajeev Saxena has joined as the Director for Inside Sales. Rajeev comes to EMC with 25+ years of experience working in IT across various functions including Sales, Pre-Sales and Support.  He has built and run high-performance teams at some of the world’s best known firms including NetApp, Cisco and Tata.  Prior to joining us to lead EMC India Inside Sales he was the Director of Sales for NetApp India and SAARC leading their MSB (Medium Sized Business) and Government Business. He has built a strong reputation for delivering success in collaborative environments which would be an asset for EMC’s success in the future.

Also, Ripu Bajwa has been given the responsibility for leading the companys’ DPS business in India as the Country Manager. Ripu is a 10 year veteran at EMC and has contributed across various successes at EMC.

Commenting upon the company’s leadership, Pallavi Kapoor, HR head for EMC India said “Our people are our biggest strength and asset and we have always focused on building and developing them. We have been ranked 6^th in the global Great Places to Work survey which showcases the vision of our leadership. The company’s leadership has been strengthened with newer team members who have aligned themselves to achieving the strategy. We continue to invest in our people and have some of the best talent in the industry leading us on our journey”.

Four Types of Chief Data Officer (CDO) Organization Identified

The rapid adoption of the chief data officer (CDO) role — from 400 in 2014 to 1,000 in 2015 — raises important questions about the structure and positioning of the office of the CDO in organizations. There are four organizational design principles that CDOs should apply when designing their office, according to Gartner, Inc.

"The organizational design of the office of the CDO must clearly take account of the role that data is expected to play in the organization," said Mario Faria, research vice president at Gartner. "Most CDOs, however, are new to the role and often have little experience with managing large teams or designing and changing organizational structures."

To help CDOs and other business leaders meet the needs of their organization and structure the office of the CDO appropriately, Gartner identified four value propositions for the office of the CDO.

"There's no one correct way to design a CDO office — its structure and strength depends on how it is used by the evolving organization," said Faria. "In Gartner's model, the organizational design depends on four possible ways to organize and exploit the benefits of data within the business." Figure 1 shows these four approaches.

• CDO Organization as an Engine Room: The office of the CDO delivers operational data services that are focused on the needs of the internal users. It succeeds by monitoring any data market developments and building expertise in data asset usage, information management and analytics.
• Everyone's CDO Organization: The office of the CDO focuses on the needs of the internal users. But there is a strong push for data assets to be used aggressively by business leaders and individual contributors to break through traditional perimeters of business, and to drive transformation and new digital business models across the organization.
• CDO Organization as a Business Service Provider: The office of the CDO delivers operational data services that are used by both internal and external users. The activities are expanded and integrated into a shared-service organization that runs like a business.
• CDO Organization Is the Business: Information is one of the explicit external offerings of the organization or is inseparable from the product line. The office of the CDO delivers internal and external data services that drive business transformation and differentiation.

"The CDO organizational design is about people," said Mr. Faria. "It is easy enough to think about what kind of CDO an organization needs in order to meet its business goals, but it can be harder to put in place the right people to deliver on that structure. It's vital CDOs think critically about what skills and behaviors will be required by the office of the CDO in the short, medium and long term."

Winners of Nasscom's Code For The Next Billion Program Announced

NASSCOM 10,000 Start-ups today announced the selection of 10 start-ups for the Code for Next Billion Program. These Startups are Wallet Guru, Light Vision, Perpignon, Kid Nurture, We-Share, I-We, Huehealth.com, Technovent, Padmavati Agro, and Redoctype. This is an inclusive program that aims to promote social good and will provide a platform for start-ups to showcase innovations that can help solve some of the problems in the society and can be recognized on a national level.

Startups will be given an immersive six month program to inspire, encourage and fulfill internet innovation among the developer community in India. Code for the Next Billion is running two programs targeting developers and students to build applications in the Health, Economic Empowerment (finance, capacity building, etc.), Education/Skill Development, Public Utility (water, power, transport). The program involves access to cutting edge technology, social impact and business mentors; workshops and webinars to receive hands-on training; investors and enterprises to help validate and scale the selected start-ups.

Vidhya Shankar, Head of Funding Partnerships & Alliances at NASSCOM 10,000 start-ups, Bangalore, said, “This is a positive step towards our objective to empower the developer community and motivate large scale innovation impacting bottom of the pyramid. Through the program, we aim to accelerate the development and adoption of mobile internet applications across India. We would like to thank all our partners for their valuable support and trust and hope to work with a lot more people in the future”.

Facebook has partnered with NASSCOM 10,000 start-ups and is the first partner of the Code for Next Billion Program. Other partners are NASSCOM Foundation, Unitus Seed Fund, CNBC TV 18 and IIM Ahmedabad’s CIIE. NASSCOM 10,000 Startups is a platform for technology startups to get connected to all the players in the ecosystem from angel networks to venture capital firms, accelerators, enterprises and industry bodies. 10,000 start-ups initiative helps startups with funding, incubation, acceleration, mentoring, enterprise connects, and showcase opportunities.

Ime Archibong, Director-Partnerships, Facebook, said "We are proud to partner with NASSCOM, CNBC, and others to invest in the leadership of developers who are building innovative solutions tailored to the historically unconnected and underserved. Building applications to solve education, financial, health and public utility challenges requires a different kind of imagination, risk appetite and skills. We are excited to support the journeys of these ten sdevelopers and hope that their journeys inspire the next generation of developers to apply their talents to solving these problems."

The first boot-camp for start-ups was organized with Parag Trivedi, Global Design Studio Leader, GE Healthcare on Design Thinking, Naiyya Saggi, Co-founder, Baby chakra on Scaling up for Social Impact,Anindita Guha, Head-Product and Marketing, Gupshup and Teamchat on Product Management the India way. Further to this, start-ups will be provided with technical, marketing, and financial support as well as leadership skills, to build their applications and businesses. They will get opportunity to be featured on a CNBCTV18 through a TV series to showcase their achievements. Further, they will get access to US$80,000 worth of Facebook credits and support through Facebook's FbStart program to build their business. They will get networking opportunities with industry leaders (CEOs, thought leaders, VCs, ecosystem evangelists, social change leaders), funders and the media to bring public awareness to their commitment, solutions and impact.

NASSCOM 10,000 Startups is a vision, which is committed to incubate, fund and provide support to impact 10,000 technology startups in India, by 2023. The aim is to nurture the promising startups into full-fledged technology stalwart companies, by giving them support via access to startup incubators, accelerators, angel investors, venture capitalists, startup support groups, mentors, and technology corporations.