India’s First Make-in-India’ In-Car Wireless Charging Solution for Automakers Support

PowerSquare, one of the leading innovators in the wireless charging segment, today announced in-car wireless charging solutions for the automotive sector. Conceptualized and engineered indigenously, PowerSquare is working with Automobile OEM’s and Tier-1 suppliers to manufacture the module and provide a completely “made in India” wireless charging solution for cars in India.

PowerSquare’s in-car wireless charging solution eliminates the need to search for power cords or charging cables to power-up each handheld device. The user simply places the device on the charging area and the power is wirelessly transferred to the device. The brand agnostic module lets the user charge any brand of Qi-compatible device. With wireless charging, users can experience a much safer and convenient way of powering up their device while on the move.

Speaking about this announcement, Pavan Pudipeddi, Founder & CEO of PowerSquare said, “Globally, the technology has only been implemented in luxury and mid-premium vehicles, provided by Tier 1 suppliers. With our cost-effective approach to system design coupled with localization, we intend to bring this feature into mid-segment vehicles. We are currently working with multiple global and Indian automotive manufacturers to embed this technology in their new models.”

The PowerSquare in-car wireless charging module is a 3 coil-design which can be customized and placed on the dashboard, central console or arm rest. The module supports Qi-compatible phones with full 5W and 15W receiving capabilities. The system is designed to intelligently detect the type of device on the charging area and optimizes the charging rate appropriately. The system will differentiate between an iPhone and a Samsung phone and deliver 7.5W or a 10W faster charging mode to the device.

Anand Katragadda, Co-Founder & COO of PowerSquare added, “PowerSquare is envisioning a future where we can bring wireless power to every aspect of a consumer’s life. The team here in Bangalore is working to extend their wireless technology expertise for future applications such as electric vehicles, kitchen appliance, power tools among others”

Specifications

• 3 coil design provides position-free experience
• WPC standard Qi V 1.2 compatible
• Up to 70% maximum power transfer efficiency
• Supports phones with full 5W and 15W receiving capability
• Supports Apple and Samsung fast charging modes
• Protection against over voltage, over current and over temperature
• Optional NFC or proximity detection to detect presence of phone for smart turn on

• Enhanced Foreign Object Detection (FOD) - detects objects before power transfer

• Fully customized per OEM’s requirement to meet Automotive EMI/EMC standards

In the next 18 months, wireless charging looks set to be the cornerstone of the mobile industry, as all the major phone OEM’s are looking to embed the Qi wireless charging technology into all their offerings. With such widespread adoption of the technology on the cards, wireless charging shall find utility and relevance across a host of sectors. Thus, PowerSquare is focusing on bringing wireless power and wireless charging solutions in sectors like Consumer Electronics, Automotive and Infrastructure.With offices in India, Hong Kong and the U.S, PowerSquare is on a mission to build a Digital Lifestyle Innovations Brand.

Infosys Foundation, Kailash Satyarthi Children's Foundation Sign MoU for Children’s Health, Education

Infosys Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Infosys, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Kailash Satyarthi Children's Foundation for a grant to create a child-friendly village focused towards improving children’s health, providing education and creating a non-violent environment. Infosys Foundation will disburse this grant over the next three years.

The Kailash Satyarthi Children’s Foundation (KSCF), a non-profit organization, envisions a world where every child is free, safe, healthy, educated and has the ability to discover their potential. Kailash Satyarthi has been at the forefront of the global movement to end child slavery and exploitative child labour and was jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2014.

This project will be aimed at creating:

·         Child labour free villages

·         Benefits for 10,000 children, women and youth through education, vocational training and career counselling

·         100 percent enrolment and retention in schools

·         Creation and recognition of a Bal Panchayat (children’s governing body) within the Gram Panchayat (village governing body)

·         Zero incidences of child marriage and other social evils in villages

·         Improved child protection mechanism in the villages

·         Proper water, sanitation and hygiene in the villages

·         Awareness about government schemes

National Winners of #HondaNAViCustomania Announced in Finale

Amongst huge fanfare, Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India Pvt. Ltd today announced the national winner of #HondaNAVicustomania. The Grand Finale was concluded at high voltage Bollywood Music Project 2018 where thousands of youth congregated to witness Bollywood music performances and saw the FUNtastic NAVi in it’s full glory.

At the grand Finale the winner were felicitated by Minoru Kato, President and CEO, Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India Pvt. Ltd.

Launched in 2016, NAVi’s design statement in its standard form, is FUN TO SEE and pure FUN TO RIDE. Providing endless possibilities in expression & Customization for the young customers - NAVi is designed in such a way, that it opens up a significant opportunity to modify & customize it to suit one’s taste. And therefore pure FUN to Create.

Speaking on #HondaNAViCustomania Grand Finale event,  Yadvinder Singh Guleria, Senior Vice President, Sales & Marketing, Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India Pvt. Ltd. said, “NAVI’s unique design provides endless possibilities in customization for young customers. Celebrating the spirit of customisation, NAVi Customania is a platform for youngsters to project their self-expression on two wheels. What is most interesting is to see is the trend of customisation being developed, not just in metros but smaller cities as well. We congratulate the well deserving winners and look forward to showcase their custom NAVi’s at Honda 2Wheelers India pavilion @ Auto Expo 2018!!’’

Battling it out amongst the Top 24 (2 winners from each city), Grand Finale winner Dhananjay Parihar received a prize money of Rs. 2 lacs along with a once in a lifetime opportunity to showcase his/her custom NAVi’ inside the Honda 2Wheelers India pavilion at Auto Expo 2018. Ashiq Joseph Thomas from Kottayam finished runner-up and won Rs 1 lac.

Ecstatic on his win, Dhananjay Parihar said, “The feeling that my custom NAVi will be showcased at the Auto Expo has still not fully sunk in. #HondaNAViCustomania gave me an incredible chance to exhibit my creativity to the world. The guidance during construction phase via the mentor sessions was very helpful and provided my design a new dimension. I appreciate and thank Honda 2Wheelers India for providing me with this platform.”

Not just for NAVi owners, Honda also organised a separate web and application edition of the contest, especially for the tech savvy young generation. Jyugaandh Veer Singh and Lalith Ankala were announced the winners of the web and application-based editions respectively which alone saw more than 5500 participations.

Mastercard’s Global Startup Incubator Kicks-Off a New Season with Zeta and 10 Additional New Startups

         

As part of its commitment to building the future of commerce, Mastercard recently announced the group of companies selected to matriculate into the Mastercard Start Path Global 2017 wave. Out of the 11 startups selected, Zeta - the fintech startup to revolutionise employee tax benefits in India is the only entrant from the Asia Pacific region.

Co-founded by Bhavin Turakhia (CEO) and Ramki Gaddipati (CTO), Zeta has revolutionised the space of employee claims and reimbursements by launching an innovative cloud-based enterprise solution suite called Zeta OptimaTM. The product offering includes employee benefits such as reimbursements for medical, fuel, LTA, mobile, books and several other such company benefits - all accessible digitally for both corporations and employees. Zeta Optima™ is used by 1.5 million users across 12,000+ organizations in India. Zeta is a single platform which manages multiple benefits and the solution is compliant and customisable at the same time, making it a first-of-its-kind offering in the employee benefits space in India.

Start Path Global will provide Zeta and its fellow matriculants with operational support, commercial access and strategic investment. Launched in 2014, the program has seen much success around the world. The program has mentored approximately 1,600 startups per year and engages with more than 150 of them around the globe.

Commenting on the announcement, Porush Singh, Country Corporate Officer, India & Division President, South Asia, Mastercard said, “Over the past few years, India has witnessed a tremendous growth in its start-up ecosystem. To continue driving momentum, providing the right mentorship and operational support to these upcoming companies is mission critical. Start Path is one such initiative by Mastercard that exposes young professionals to international markets and provides an enriching global experience. I congratulate Zeta on being chosen for the Global Start Path Program.”

Commenting on their selection, Ramki Gaddipati, CTO and Co-founder, Zeta said, “We are proud to be shortlisted for the Mastercard Start Path program. As pioneers in digital employee benefits, we are handling complex payment scenarios and bridging transaction data with enterprise policies and systems. Mastercard will be a great partner helping us participate in the global digital payment ecosystem. Start Path specifically gives us an opportunity to take our solutions to a range of Mastercard partners across the world.”

The other Start Path companies selected this year are:

●          AID:Tech delivers digital entitlements transparently through blockchain technology and digital identity.

●          b.well makes managing healthcare and insurance simple by unlocking insights on patients.

●          Flutterwave is fostering digital payment acceptance and infrastructure for banks and businesses across Africa.

●          Goodworld powers the world’s only technology for frictionless hashtag payments on social media.

●          HYPR reduces the risk of data breaches by eliminating the need for a centralized credential store.

●          Mobeewave enables smartphones to accept contactless payments without external hardware.

●          Railsbank gives companies access to a global banking network through simple APIs.

●          Sensibill’s platform turns everyday purchase receipts into a core part of the digital banking experience.

●          ShieldPay‘s instant digital escrow facility enables everyone, everywhere to transact with each other in total confidence.

●          Trunomi unlocks the power of customer data using data rights management.

These companies will work with Start Path against a tailored plan to help them scale. Applications for the six-month virtual program are accepted on a rolling basis. The program is open to startups who are rethinking banking, payments and commerce and have raised a significant seed or Series A round of investment.

MNC Banks, Insurance Firms to Move into GIFT City; Targets 1 Million Employment by 2025

Gujarat International Finance Tech-City (GIFT), a joint venture of IL&FS and Government of Gujarat, conceptualised by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has come of age as it finds place not only among the top 15 emerging Global Financial Centres but lately also experiencing growth in terms of large numbers of MNC companies coming in and also increase in its employment to 1 million by 2025.

GIFT City is operational and various financial institutions and IT/ITeS companies are operating from the city. Around 11 banks have been allotted space for their IBUs in the current phase in GIFT IFSC. These include: Federal Bank, Yes Bank, ICICI Bank, IDBI Bank, and Kotak Mahindra Bank have been operational. Going forward the management expect leading MNCs in the banking and insurance sector to take up space.

Talking to the media, Ajay Pandey, Managing Director and CEO of GIFT Ltd says, “Since operation began in 2017. GIFT has attracted over 160 major Indian banking and insurance companies and now 40 odd large MNCs have also expressed interest in the project. Coming months will see these banks starting their operations in GIFT.”

Even though, Pandey did not reveal the name of the new companies, Industry sources indicate that it not only pure banking and financial institution but also IT/ITeS companies focusing on the BFSI vertical who are likely to move in. In addition, many well-known IT/ITeS companies, both domestic and global, have set up their own units at GIFT City, these include MNC giants like Oracle, SIAC, befree, Pioneer Insurance Brokers, Maxim Integrated and many more.

Special Tax Rebates Offered at GIFT City

Tax rebates is another factor why MNCs are heading to GIFT city. The city is a designated SEZ area within its premises that houses India’s first International Financial Services Center (IFSC). The banks and insurance institutions operating in GIFT receive several tax benefits as announced by the Government of India in the previous budget. These include exemption from dividend distribution tax, securities transaction tax, long-term capital gain tax and commodity transaction tax. In addition, for the companies located in IFSC, Minimum Alternate Tax (MAT) is reduced to 9%. This reduction in MAT, which currently is at 18.5%, provides a competitive tax regime to IFSC at GIFT-City. Besides the local Gujarat government of IT/ITeS policy waivers off stamp duty on share broking transactions in GIFT City. “We are the only second city after Jamshedpur to offer these tax reduces, says Pandey and adds that the tax incentives will further boost the development of India’s first IFSC at GIFT City.”

GIFT has also allotted space to institutions like SBI, LIC, BSE Broker’s Forum and Reliance Capital. Bangalore-based developers like Prestige Group, Brigade Group and also Hiranandani, World Trade Centre etc. are developing various facilities in GIFT City.

GIFT to Employ 1 Million Direct and Indirect Employment by 2025

GIFT over the years has not only attracted major companies but also got in a lot of employment in the region. These include large IT companies like TCS employing over 1,000 skilled and semi-skilled IT staff while Oracle employs 150 and so around 7500 people are working within GIFT City and it is expected that over the next few years the employment will reach around 30,000 people.

When GIFT City will be fully operational it will create 10 lakh i.e. 1 million direct and equal numbers of indirect jobs.

“India enjoys significantly lower operational and wage costs as compared to leading business centers like Dubai, Singapore, London and New York. It has a large pool of individuals with professional and technical skills owing to its demographic dividend. Moreover, we produce the finest brains in the finance sector. IFSCs at London, Dubai, New York, and Singapore incidentally have a large number of Indians managing complex transactions and leading financial innovations,” concludes Pandey.

SBI Green Marathon to be Held on Feb.18 in the KTPO Ground, Whitefiled

Highlights of the event:

·  The theme of the event is sustainability

·  Saplings to be given to each runner in each city

·  Bio degradable & recyclable material to be used for this event

·  Runner’s bib would consist of seeds which can be planted post the marathon

·  First 750 registrations to be given T-Shirt made from 100% recycled plastics 

SBI, the country’s largest bank’s commitment towards environmental health and energy conservation takes another leap with the announcement of SBI Green Marathon. The bank is organizing a 2K, 5K, 10K, 21K run on the 18^th of February in the KTPO Ground, Whitefiled.

SBI Green Marathon is going to be a 6 city marathon event starting 4^th of February in Mumbai followed by Delhi, Bangalore, Chennai, Ahmedabad and concluding in Chandigarh on March 4. The bank has embarked on this sustainability initiative of conducting a marathon run with an underlying concept of a greener Planet. The bank is looking forward to take SBI Green Marathon to all its 16 Local head Offices (LHOs) from the next financial year 2018-19.

SBI is expecting close to 25000 participants combining all 6 cities.  The “Run for green” theme recognizes every participating individual as agents of change for a greener globe. Each runner will be given saplings to promote clean and green city. Even the runner’s bib would consist of seeds which can be planted post the Marathon. Also bio degradable and recyclable material is to be used by the bank in most part of event execution.

Prashant Kumar, DMD (HR) & CDO, SBI said, “As a responsible Corporate Citizen, we at SBI have pursued the business philosophy of integrated sustainability which seeks to leverage the synergy between Social, Environment and economic aspects of Business. With SBI Green Marathon, the bank has reaffirmed and endorsed its continued commitment towards Sustainable Development. We hope with large number of participants, people would appreciate our efforts towards saving environment for a better future of the country”.

Environmental protection has come out to be a concern area which touches every life inhabiting this Planet. Efforts are made worldwide to work for a greener planet. Ensuring Sustainable development will always be a serious challenge. But today environmental sustainability is a need of the hour. Initiatives like these create awareness among people about the importance of safe environment for a healthy living.

SBI is currently observing a fair amount of participation for the Marathon in all the 6 cities.

Data Privacy Day 2018: Top 7 Services on Cloud that Help Ensure Data Privacy

As cloud computing transforms the way organizations use, store, and share data, applications and workloads, on Data Privacy Day 2018, Microsoft reiterates its commitment to ensure that your data remains only yours, without exception. Microsoft’s industry leadership in data privacy protection has been recognized for over a decade, beginning with the establishment of its trustworthy computing principles: security, privacy, compliance and transparency, and continuing into its ongoing endeavour to create secure services that are built-in rather than bolt-on.

Security and personal privacy threats are increasing in volume and sophistication every day; and more and more data and applications are moving to the cloud. This creates unique info-security challenges that need to be constantly addressed through the best security stack that protects data. Microsoft recommends that organizations ensure their cloud providers have the following seven services across all workloads:

1.     Centralized policy management

2.     Continuous security assessment and actionable recommendations

3.     Advanced cloud defences

4.     Prioritized alerts and incident reporting

5.     Unified security and privacy management

6.     Advanced threat protection

7.     Mechanisms for encryption, secrets administration, and access control that can be leveraged for managing sensitive data

These capabilities can combine to provide an unparalleled compliant foundation to help ensure control over the integrity, privacy, and security of your critical data.

Regardless of an organization’s size or the industry, Microsoft’s Azure Security Center threat detection capabilities, alerts, and recommended fixes helps protect your cloud resources from unwanted threats. With Azure Security Center, companies can apply security policies across entire workloads, limit exposure to threats, as well as detect and respond to attacks, thus protecting organisational and individual privacy.

Microsoft software development teams apply a variety of security technologies and procedures to help protect information from unauthorized access, use, or disclosure, throughout the company’s development and operational practices which revolve around:

·  Privacy by Design - to enable informed decision-making

·  Privacy by Default - to protect by means such as access control lists in combination with identity authentication mechanisms

·  Privacy in Deployment - to establish appropriate privacy and security policies for users

·  Communications - by publishing privacy policies, white papers, and other documentation pertaining to privacy

Maintaining information security and privacy is a continuous process that spans both, on-premises datacenters and your cloud environment. In 2018, cyber-security enabled privacy will be of core importance to Microsoft as they enable digital transformation of Indian business.