Candor Mgt Services & Bangalore Metro Sign Agreement to Launch New Business Incubation Service

Candor Management Services, a leading provider of human capital transformation services with over 1200 employees on its rolls, today announced that it has signed a definitive agreement with Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation to setup a new business incubation centre at the “Namma Metro” Trinity Station, Bangalore augmenting the Karnataka government's efforts to position Bengaluru as one of the top startup ecosystems in the world.

Appropriately branded “candorHUB”, the state-of-the-art incubation ecosystem, will nurture startups in bringing their innovations to market efficiently; providing them with an array of startup advisory, business support, co-working space, structured training programs in addition to extending much needed linkages with industry sponsors, mentors, investors, and accelerators.

“We will extend full support to Candor in setting up their new business incubation centre at Trinity metro station, “said U A Vasanth Rao General Manager Finance (Taxation and Resources), and Chief Public Relation Officer Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited, “Beyond providing the physical space for this initiative they have an excellent opportunity to connect with other startup eco-system stakeholders within the government and its various startup initiatives, “he added.

As a vibrant new business incubation ecosystem, candorHUB will:

•        Invite startup entrepreneurs to apply for incubation program.

•        Shortlist promising startups and incubate them on a case to case basis

•        Identify, connect and engage a suitable mentor to nurture each startup

•        Offer a state-of-art work environment and other support services, at the candorHUB centre, for startups to bring their ideas to life

•        Conduct special events, during the program period, to update startup founders with a variety of skills necessary to run their outfits. During such events, startups will also get to meet a variety of successful startup founders, sponsor customers, investors, and benefit from their valuable advice

•        Host a pitch day event where each startup will present their offerings to an invite only seed-stage investors, sponsor customers and mentors.

“By spurring creativity and mitigating avoidable risks in early stage startups business lifecycle, the startup incubation ecosystem will increase rate of success and time taken to gain customer traction for new innovations, “said Thirumurugan Subramanian, Managing Director Candor Management Services and Principal, candorHUB.

“candorHUB’s single point agenda is to transform societal value to make a significant impact in our society, “said S. Srikrishna, Director-Finance Candor Management Services and Lead Principal, candorHUB,” We are industry agnostic and will not reject any startup application for reasons that it doesn’t fit a pre-conceived vertical. Having said this, initially candorHUB will foster technology centered digitization initiatives across key sectors like healthcare, education, financial verticals,” he added.

GST, Bankruptcy Code to be Included in Next Report: World Bank

The World Bank will take on board implementation of the goods and services tax and enactment of the bankruptcy code while preparing the ease of doing business report next year, said its country Director Junaid Ahmad.

He also suggested that India has managed to improve on various sub-rankings although the World Bank's latest report did not show any improvement in the country's ranking as other nations too have done their bit.

In the World Bank's latest 'Doing Business' 2017 report, India's place remained unchanged from last year's original ranking of 130 among the 190 economies that were assessed on various parameters.

But the last year's ranking has been revised to 131 from which the country has improved its place by one spot.

India has expressed its disappointment over its low rank and has also suggested a review of the ranking methodology.

"Our methodology had led to very interesting response by different countries... we have learnt that the complexity of understanding of doing business needs to change. So, our methodology will evolve as we are doing it right now," he told reporters.

"I do not think we have given India a low ranking at all. If you look at the sub-rankings, India has managed to improve quite a bit. Where we are not able to show the aggregate lift-off is also because the other countries also increased their ranking relatively."

As for India, he said, it is continuing to do its improvement and "my bet, next year you watch out, it will be reflected in the rankings".


He added that GST is going to change the way Indian markets are working now.

Karnataka Slips to 13th Place; Andhra Tops in Ease of Doing Business

Ranked ninth in 2015, Karnataka has slipped to the 13th position in the 'ease of doing business' ratings this year.

Union Commerce and Industries Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced the ranks on Monday. The Centre's Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) and the World Bank jointly award the ratings.

Karnataka featured among the better-performing states in tax, environment, labour and inspection reforms.

Andhra Pradesh and Telangana shared the first position, leading on almost all parameters, including tax reforms. They got credit for smoother grant of land, labour and construction permits.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's home state of Gujarat slipped to the third position from last year's first. In the crucial area of construction permits, Karnataka lost, despite the authorities saying most approvals were streamlined and made available online.

Ranking

2016      2015      State                 Score

1              2         Andhra Pradesh 98.78%

1             13        Telangana          98.78%

3             1          Gujarat               98.21%

4             4          Chhattisgarh      97.32%

5             5          Madhya Pradesh97.01%

6            14         Haryana            96.95%

7            3          Jharkhand          96.57%

8            6          Rajasthan          96.43%

9            23        Uttarakhand       96.13%

10          8          Maharashtra      92.86%

11          7          Odisha               92.73%

12        16          Punjab               91.07%

13        9            Karnataka          88.39% 

14       10           Uttar Pradesh    84.52%

UM Motorcycles To Up Localization To 75-80%; Plans Second Manufacturing Plant in Karnataka or Maharashtra

By Manu Sharma
Indian two-wheeler market has been extremely bullish for the last few years especially in the motorcyles segment with a displacement of 300cc, 500cc and above. As this segment is expected to double up to 20,000 units by 2020, the American bike major UM Motorcycles is set to further expand its localization in India by another 15-20% and also plans to set up another manufacturing and Research and Development centre in the southern or western parts of Indian.

UM Motorcycles is a joint ventures between Miami-based UM International and Lohia Auto. The company plans to localize the engines in India. Presently, the company as part of the Make in India Initiative localizes about 60 percent of the components from its plant in India. By localizing the engine and other critical components it plans to up the initiative by another 15-20 percent to 75 or even 80 percent out of India.

The company plans to invest about Rs 50 crore in including the engine component in its manufacturing plant over the next 12-18 months, which are currently imported.

Rajeev Mishra, Managing Director of UM India and Asia, Middle East and Africa says, “The company will be ramping up production at its Kashipur facility in Uttarakhand. The current production is around 12,000 units a month, which will be increased to 50,000 units. Since we sell a large market for our products in southern and western parts of India, we are exploring the possibility of setting up another plant and research centre either in Karnataka or Maharashtra by next year.”

The company, which had planned to start selling its bikes earlier in August, started dispatching the models. Its models Renegade Commando and Renegade Sports, both in the 300-cc segment, are priced at about Rs 1.49 lakh and Rs 1.59 lakh, respectively.

About 4,300 bookings, and around 65% of sales volumes is expected from the south and west markets. "The biggest markets are Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu and south alone contributes 35-40% to our volumes," he said.

The company presently employees about 32 engineers at its research and development centre in New Delhi and another 40 employees at its plant in Kashipur.

Mishra said engine, fuel tanks, ABD are a very critical components of a motorcycle and if these component is localized than we will up our localization by another 15-20 percent. “Our team is working on development the engine and other critical parts in India itself.”

All the critical components for the UM bikes are imported from Thailand, China and Japan. “We also have plans to develop an ABS and ABD locally for the future bike roll outs,” he concludes. 

UM Motorcycles Opens Tenth Dealership on Sarjapur Road, Bengaluru

UM Motorcycles has opened its tenth dealership in India in Bengaluru. To be called, Bengaluru UM, the new dealership is situated on Sarjapur Road, Bengaluru.

Spread over an area of approx. 2400 sq ft, the dealership facility has a showroom integrated with an after-sales service facility to ensure that the customers receive best-in-class pre-and post-sales ownership experience.

Speaking on this occasion, Rajeev Mishra, Director – UML, said, UM Motorcycles is focused on delivering a “pure motorcycling” experience to the customers. Our motorcycles are simple, evocative of classic style and a fun to ride.  Our partnership with Bengaluru UM is very significant and reflects UM Motorcycles efforts to connect with its consumers and provide high quality services that equal international standards. With a perfect combination of aesthetics, dynamism and perfect road handling, our UM products provide a truly unmatched biking experience.” This dealership will house our flagship products like Renegade Commando and Renegade Sports S. The prospective customers of UM Motorcycles in Bengaluru will be able to discover our products up close and personal at this new dealership.” 

Madhuri Mudhol, Proprietor Bengaluru UM said “UM Motorcycles are considered among the most coveted Cruiser brands in America and we are fully committed to this partnership and look forward to an exciting time ahead. Working with UM Motorcycles in Bengaluru will be an enriching experience that will enable both partners to grow.UM Bengaluru has engaged professionally trained staff for the management of sales and after sales, to ensure best in class customer service for both pre-and post sales ownership experience.

The Renegade Commando is a low-slung cruiser powered by a high powered 280 cc Engine with 25 BHP at 8,500 rpm and 21.8 Nm of torque at 7,000 rpm, mated to a six-speed transmission. This lightweight machine has a 200 mm ground clearance and an inbuilt USB charging point. The front disc brakes improve the braking efficiency drastically while radiation increases the engine efficiency. The bike comes with wide handlebars and hydraulic telescopic front suspension and spring rear suspension, which is ideal for a cruiser-segment motorcycle. The Renegade Commando will be available at Rs 1.69 lakhs (ex-showroom, Bengaluru). 

The Renegade Sports S model will also share the same engine as the Renegade Commando. The Renegade Sports S was much appreciated when it was showcased at the 2015 EICMA in Milan. The Renegade Commando and its sibling Renegade Sports S come with an electric start. An innovative feature called Service Alert Maintenance comes as a standard fitment in both Renegade Commando and Renegade Sports S. The LED Lights come as a standard in Sports S version. Six-speed synchronized mesh has been added for easy cruising. The front wheel has telescopic suspension while the rear wheel has dual shock absorbers. These motorcycles have a fuel tank of 18 liters with a kerb weight of 172 Kg. The Renegade Sports S is available at Rs 1.59 lakhs (ex-showroom, Bengaluru).

India See Dip in Funding But Eyes 10,500 Startups by 2020: Nasscom Zinnov Report

Even though the Indian startup ecosystem witnessed subdued funding in 2016, the year-on-year growth of startups getting funding grew by 8% in the same period, states a report by IT industry body Nasscom and research firm Zinnov.

Amidst the popular belief of the Indian startup ecosystem’s slowdown, India continues to harbor the third largest start-up base, marginally behind the UK as per the NASSCOM-ZINNOV start-up report titled“Indian Start-up Ecosystem Maturing – 2016”. The report further states that the ecosystem is poised to grow by an impressive 2.2X to reach more than 10,500 start-ups by the year 2020. The report was launched on the side-lines of NASSCOM Product Conclave 2016 in Bengaluru in the presence of C.P. Gurnani, Chairman, NASSCOM; R. Chandrashekhar, President, NASSCOM, Ravi Gururaj, Chairman, NASSCOM Product Council and Pari Natarajan, CEO, Zinnov.

Some of the notable findings of the report include; continued growth in the number of startups in 2016, with Bengaluru, NCR, and Mumbai continue to lead as the major start-up hub for the nation. In terms of vertical growth, investors are looking at domain like health-tech, fin-tech, and edu-tech. With a total funding of approximately US$4 billion, close to 650 start-ups were funded signifying an aware and healthy growth of the ecosystem.

R. Chandrashekhar, President, NASSCOM, said, “The total quantum of funding has come down to 30% during 2016. India has emerged as the third largest startup base and such ventures are poised to grow 2.2 times to reach 10,500 by 2020, despite a perception that the ecosystem in the country has slowed down in the last year."

The report states that the number of tech startups in India is expected to grow by 10-12%, to over 4,750 by the end of 2016, and will give employment to over 2,10,000 people.

"Technology startups are creating a new identity for India, and its technological prowess. Besides, solving India-centric problem these startups are also coming up with cutting edge solutions which are making a global impact," he adds.

When asked about the low ranking of India in the ease of doing business ranking, Nasscom President said it is a hugely worrying issue for the growth of startup ecosystem in the country. India ranks 130th position in terms of ease of doing business.

Ravi Gururaj, Chairman, NASSCOM Product Council, said, “The start-up landscape is undergoing great churn with fast-paced changes happening across the board. Owing to focused funding and a growing need of scaling up capabilities, Indian entrepreneurs will continue to attract global attention due to a perfect mix of talent, technology, traction and transactions. With Indian start-ups now churning out critical services and solutions for large multinationals, riding on the digital revolution which is encompassing the world; the situation for Indian start-ups is only going to get better.’

Further, according to the report, the number of tech start-ups in India is expected to grow by 10-12% to over 4,750 start-ups by the end of 2016. Interestingly over 1400 new startups have emerged in 2016 denoting that that the ecosystem is becoming prudent with both investors and start-up founders focusing on profitability and optimizing the overall spend. With this impetus, India will become home to over 10,500 start-ups by 2020, employing over 210,000 people reveals the report.

Furthermore, incubators and accelerators are playing a substantial role in strengthening the startup community throughout India. The report highlights the significant rise in number of accelerators to improve startups’ outcomes and provide them with a support that they require. With impetus from Government and Corporates, there is a 40% increase in the number of active incubators and accelerators in 2016 with over 140 active incubators, helping entrepreneurs experiment with new ideas by offering them functional expertise and resources. Over 30 new academic incubators have been established under the Government’s ‘Start-up India Stand-up India’ initiative this year. With the country showing signs of increased interest in entrepreneurship, Tier-II/III cities have established 66% of the new incubators.

Unbound by the fear of failure or downturns, a new breed of ‘young’ entrepreneurs is unleashing an incredible wave of start-up movement in the country. The report reveals an increased interest from student entrepreneurs this year. A remarkable growth of 25% has been witnessed in 2016 with 350+ start-ups founded by young students. Median age of start-up founders has reduced marginally from 32 years in 2015 to 31 years in 2016.

Talking about investments, the report states that investors are increasingly looking at opportunities in start-ups in areas other than online retailing. The sentiments are high for ventures in verticals like Fintech, Healthtech, Edutech, data analytics, B2B commerce and artificial intelligence.

NI & IBM Partner to Advance the Industrial Internet of Things

NI, the provider of platform-based systems that enable engineers and scientists to solve the world’s greatest engineering challenges, announced today that SparkCognition is partnering with NI and IBM to collaborate on the Condition Monitoring and Predictive Maintenance Testbed. The goal of the collaboration is to deliver an unprecedented level of interoperability among operational technology and informational technology as organizations search for better methods to manage and extend the life of aging assets in heavy machinery, power generation, process manufacturing and a variety of other industrial sectors.

In a new age of Big Analog Data solutions, users can take advantage of machine learning to harness value from information. They can collect raw data and derive insights to improve operations, equipment and processes. Users can also realize huge cost savings and competitive advantages as artificial intelligence-driven prognostics warn of component failures before they occur, identify suboptimal operating conditions and assist with root-cause analysis.

NI’s open, software-centric platform creates the foundation of the Condition Monitoring and Predictive Maintenance Testbed, which delivers on the opportunities present in machine learning. Customers can apply SparkCognition’s cognitive analytics to proactively avoid unplanned equipment fatigue and failure of critical assets; thus, enhancing system capabilities by gaining advanced insights into equipment health and remediation solutions. These capabilities help increase operational efficiencies and safety, and decrease maintenance costs.

“With IIoT technologies driving vast sensorization of industrial equipment, and massive amounts of data being collected on those assets, the collaboration between NI and SparkCognition powers the complex and intelligent processing of information to produce valuable insights,” said Stuart Gillen, director of business development at SparkCognition.

 “We are excited that our platform can acquire the data and extract the features to drive SparkCognition analytics for IIoT solutions,” said Jamie Smith, director of embedded systems at NI. “Combined with existing technologies in the testbed, the addition of SparkCognition presents new ways to help automate the process of turning sensor data into business insight.”

With this software-defined approach, viewing, managing and refining a broad range of assets stands in direct contrast to the traditional, fixed-functionality methods of the past, which often take too much time, rely on hard-to-find talent and require custom model building for each type of asset.