Hero Motocorp Rides into the Future with all New Roadster = The Xtreme 200R

In keeping with its enhanced focus on products in the higher engine capacity segment, Hero MotoCorp Ltd., the world’s largest two-wheeler manufacturer, today unveiled the all-new ‘Xtreme 200R’. 

Aimed at strengthening Hero’s presence in the rapidly growing premium motorcycle segment, the Xtreme 200R will be available for sale across Hero MotoCorp dealerships in the country from April 2018.

The Company will soon commence customer bookings of the Xtreme 200R.

Positioned at the core of the Premium segment, the Xtreme 200R delivers unmatched real world performance and premium features. Thus, re-shaping the dynamics of the growing premium motorcycle segment in the country.

The all-new Xtreme 200R with its muscular and aggressive styling exudes a Roadster stance.  It is powered by an all new BS-IV compliant 200cc air-cooled engine, packed with intuitive technology and perfect riding ergonomics to deliver an exceptional performance to the rider.

The new motorcycle has been designed and developed by Hero MotoCorp’s in-house R&D team, based at the Hero Centre of Innovation and Technology in Jaipur.

Markus Braunsperger, Chief Technology Officer, Hero MotoCorp, said, “The all-new Xtreme 200R is reflective of our product development capabilities and also demonstrates the strenuous R&D efforts that are underway at the Hero Centre of Innovation and Technology (CIT). The new Xtreme 200R is the perfect amalgamation of performance, advance technology and masculine attributes. We also have a strong pipeline of new products for the rest of the year.”

While Hero MotoCorp continues to be the dominant market leader in the commuter segment, it is now focusing on the Premium segment with higher-powered motorcycles.

Malo Le Masson – Head of Global Product Planning, Hero MotoCorp, said, “The all-new Xtreme 200R is a bold and focused step towards re-shaping our presence in the premium segment. The Xtreme 200R is a real head-turner, which - combined with competitive performance - is going to appeal to the youth in India as well as in our global markets. This is only the beginning. From 2018 onwards, the focus for Hero MotoCorp in motorcycles is the premium segment, and we will continue to bring more products in this category.”

PERFORMANCE & TECHNOLOGY

Engine

The new Xtreme 200R is powered by an all-new performance-oriented BS-IV compliant 200cc engine. The air-cooled engine produces a maximum power output of 18.4 PS @ 8000 rpm and maximum torque of 17.1 NM @ 6500 rpm. Thus, offering abundant power and torque across the rev bands. The bike races from 0-60 km/h in 4.6s seconds only and reaches a top speed of 114 km/h.  The engine also features additional balancers to ensure smooth power delivery by cutting first order vibrations.

Frame & Ergonomics

The all-new Xtreme 200R comes with a lightweight yet stiff Frame which offers precise handling in tight corners and utmost stability at high speeds. The carefully tuned Ergonomic-riding triangle between the handlebar, seat and foot-pegs offers perfect balance of agility and comfort.

DESIGN AND STYLE

The new Xtreme 200R is a real head-turner with its muscular stance and aggressive styling.

The bold Fuel Tank, sporty Headlight, eyebrow-shaped LED Pilot Lamps and LED Tail Lamp with guide lights, sporty digi-analogue information cluster and attractive dual-tone graphics add to the striking & distinct appeal of the motorcycle. In addition, the bike features a newly designed contoured seat for improved ergonomics and seating comfort for rider and pillion. 

Adding to the style-quotient are the five exciting dual-tone color schemes - Panther Black with cool Silver, Panther Black with Red, Sports Red, Charcoal Grey with Orange and Techno Blue.

ADDED CONTROL AND SAFETY

In addition to the impressive design and style elements, the motorcycle also comes with a host of safety features, such as 276 mm Front Disc and 220 mm Rear disc Brakes system and an optional ABS system.

The 37mm broad front fork ensures precise control while the 7-step adjustable Mono-shock suspension technology offers superior ride handling, cornering stability while adding to the style quotient.

The 17” 130/70 wide rear radial tyre with performance tread pattern ensures enhanced road grip, cornering confidence and better braking control under all conditions.

SAP & Siemens Join Hands to Digitally Revitalize India’s Energy & Utilities Sector

SAP SE and Siemens have announced extension of their global agreement in smart metering to jointly go-to-market in India and support the Government’s target of installing 130 million Smart Meters by 2021. This cooperative effort is intended to address multiple digital end-to-end business scenarios for energy and utility sector of India.

For India, smart meters will play pivotal role in handing power distribution companies the ability to address billing inefficiencies, distribution losses, and managing peak load, while enhancing customer experience. The average technical and commercial losses for State Distribution Companies is currently at around 25.3 percent. The ‘SAP Meter Data Management by Siemens’ solution aims to address this gap by enabling companies to integrate real-time processing of big data generated by connected meters and sensors to provide better insight and control into energy.

“With energy demand expected to overtake supply, spiraling costs, and increasing pressures to reduce carbon emissions, the energy sector needs new ways to meet these challenges. ‘SAP Meter Data Management by Siemens’ solution will provide energy distribution companies the capabilities of real-time power quality analysis combined with customer analytics. This provides a powerful value proposition to the companies that, simply put, will minimize their losses and help them function better, thus augmenting the growth of the sector,” said Dr. Harald Griem, Executive Vice President and Head - Energy Management Division, Siemens Ltd.

“India's energy demand is expected to increase manifold in the coming decade”, said Hemant Dabke, Vice President, Strategic Industries, SAP Indian Subcontinent. “To meet this demand while enabling constant growth, the energy sector needs to continue its push towards digital transformation. Siemens and SAP have long-standing relationships with utilities and municipalities, this furthers our aim towards propelling digitization of the sector. By presenting powerful opportunities to leverage IoT capabilities we together will transform the landscape for current and future energy market players.”

SYSKA’s ‘Dualite’ & ‘Tritone’ Innovative LED Lights Unveiled for Indian Market

SYSKA LED, the pioneers in LED lighting with the best innovations in technology adds two new innovative products to its catalogue. SYSKA launches Dualite Bulbs and Tritone Lights to its growing range of LED Lighting portfolio. These newly launched LED Lights are unique and provide global innovations for homes and offices.

Commenting on the launch, Rajesh Uttamchandani, Director, Syska Group, says, “We want our customers to experience the best LED lights that are not only energy efficient but also at par with the latest technology and innovation. We at SYSKA always focus on innovation in our products and with the launch of Dualite and Tritone we promise to continue offering our customers with the best LED lights in the market”.

SYSKA LED comes with international LED lightning solutions for home and offices. SYSKA LED’s compressive list of products include a variety of bulbs, ceiling lights, spot lights, tube lights, emergency lights, electrical accessories and strip lights. Coming in various shapes, sizes, colour temperate, WATT power and type, these LED lights are crafted to meet global standards and class. All the products are aesthetically designed which gives home or office a complete makeover with its fine lightning effect.

NESTLÉ PURINA PetCare Introduces an Outstanding Range of High Quality Nutritious Products for Pets in India

NESTLÉ PURINA - a global leader in pet care, with an 80-year history of making some of the most popular and trusted dog and cat foods, has launched PURINA SUPERCOAT with SMARTBLEND – a premium dog food in India. The SUPERCOAT range of complete and balanced food offers a wholesome combination of high quality natural ingredients free from added artificial colours, flavours or preservatives. With the launch of SUPERCOAT, PURINA drives pet nutrition forward by providing high-quality, nutritious pet products that help enrich a pet’s life.

With estimated 19 million pets, the pet food industry in India shows huge potential and is expected to double in size in the next five years. There is an increasing awareness about pet nutrition largely driven by increasing digitization making it easier to gain knowledge and owing to the great efforts by leading veterinarians across the country. NESTLÉ PURINA PetCare aims to enrich lives by providing high quality nutrition for pets around the world, including India.  With the launch into the Indian market, NESTLÉ PURINA PetCare will be investing for the long term and aims to have a robust portfolio of its global brands to meet the needs of all cats and dogs.

Commenting on the SUPERCOAT launch,  Varindra Sewak, Managing Director, PURINA PetCare India Pvt Ltd, said, “For over 80 years NESTLÉ PURINA PetCare has been providing high quality, accessible and complete nutrition to meet the needs of pets all over the world. With the launch of SUPERCOAT in India we kick start our mission to raise the standards for pet nutrition. Pet owners in India are becoming increasingly aware and focusing on providing best nutrition for pets to ensure their health and wellbeing. This has fueled the demand for high quality, specialized pet food. We will bring our global portfolio to India to cater to these consumers and become a significant player in the rapidly growing pet food category.”

 SUPERCOAT is the first PURINA brand to be launched in the India market right now.  Made with real chicken and natural ingredients, SUPERCOAT is a range of dog food expertly crafted by nutritionists to meet a dog’s unique needs and deliver a visible difference in the health of dogs throughout their life.  Available in four variants- Puppy All Breeds, Adult All Breeds, Small Breed Adult and Adult Healthy Weight, SUPERCOAT offers a full range to ensure complete and balanced nutrition for different lifestages and lifestyles.

 The pet food category is largely dominated by the Premium Dry Dog Food segment. This creates a strong opportunity for PURINA to enter this segment with nutritionally superior and great tasting products.

Created by PURINA pet nutrition experts, PURINA SUPERCOAT range promises precise, tailored nutrition for whole body health of dogs that you can see.

Manipal Hospitals Launches Free Cancer Breast Screening Programme

In a bid to increase awareness on cancer, Manipal Hospitals launched “ I Can Sir” campaign. Aimed at educating people on timely medical intervention to detect and defeat Cancer, this campaign was unveiled by Lisa Ray, Actress, Model & Cancer Survivor who has been championing the cause for cancer awareness. Apart from her group of cancer survivors who shared their experience of fighting against the deadly Cancer.

Free breast screening programme for an entire week from Feb 5 – Feb 10 was announced. There was poster inauguration with key messages on cancer prevention and early detection. A ‘Wishing Tree’ with messages for cancer affected patients was inaugurated in order to honor them and cancer ribbons were placed on the cancer tree and distributed among people to take the awareness to masses. Informative handouts on cancer care and screening were distributed.

Speaking on the occasion Renowned Model, Actress and Cancer Survivor Lisa Ray said, “Cancer has transformed my life in so many ways. Today cancer is one of the deadliest ailments across the all age groups and is a matter of great concern for millions who are gripped by this fatal disease. Being a Cancer survivor myself I understand the struggles of people fighting cancer. I urge people to be more determined and positive in order to beat Cancer. It is important to approach it with grit and positivity than doom and taboo. Iam happy to be part of this initiative by Manipal Hospitals, the campaign will help create awareness and understanding and remove the fear or myths associated with it. Healthy lifestyle, early detection and being well informed is the key to defeat cancer. Rest assured I will always dedicate my time and heart for the cause.”

Present at the event Dr. Sudarshan Ballal, Chairman, Manipal Hospitals said, ”With alarming statistics of Cancer in India, it is unfortunate that ignorance and denial often leads to delayed diagnosis and treatment. We see cases where most patients change doctors when asked to go in for a screening or biopsy. Other than the fear of invasive treatment, disfigurement and financial burden, the ill-placed belief that a cancer patient will always die makes patients and their families refuse specialised and timely treatment. Early detection and treatment is key besides making simple lifestyle changes. Regular exercise, routine health checks, balanced meals and staying away from tobacco is the mantra to keep cancer at bay.”

Present at the event Dr. Somashekhar S.P, Chairman Manipal Comprehensive Cancer Centre said, “Manipal Hospitals offers an entire spectrum of oncology care ranging from Screening, Evaluation, Diagnosis and Treatment, Palliative care and Rehabilitation. Additionally, the Hospital is equipped with one of the larger robotic onco surgery proramme of India. We have a dual approach towards treatment of cancer. Firstly, we focus on educating people for early detection of cancer. However, patients in advanced stages of Cancer also get quality and advanced treatment. Hyperthermic Intraperitoneal Chemo therapy (HIPEC) becomes an option for such patients. Manipal Hospital, Bangalore is the first centre in south India to provide this state of the art technology, and has the credit of largest number of HIPEC surgeries performed in India. With IBM Watsons for Oncology at our Hospitals, diagnosis and line of treatment is much faster.”

He further added “Cancer can be treated by surgery, chemotherapy, radiation therapy, hormonal therapy, and targeted therapy . The choice of therapy depends upon the location and grade of the tumor and the stage of the disease, as well as the general state of the patient. Complete removal of the cancer without damaging the rest of the body is the ideal treatment and at times this goal is often achieved with surgery.”

Incidence of cancer has increased in India, especially prostate cancer in elderly men besides kidney, penis and intestine cancer. Breast cancer accounts for 27 per cent of all cancers in women in India, with the incidence rising in the early thirties and peaking at ages 50-64 years. Cervical cancer accounts for 22.9 per cent of all cancer cases in women.

Birlasoft, KPIT Create 2 Cos in the ‘Digital Business IT Services’ and ‘Automotive Engineering and Mobility Solutions’

The CK Birla Group owned Birlasoft joins KPIT promoters in launching an open offer for the minority shareholders of KPIT. Birlasoft will work closely with KPIT to first merge into KPIT and later split the combined entity of Birlasoft + KPIT into two public companies: A USD 500+ million Enterprise Digital Business IT Services Company (‘Birlasoft’), and a USD 200+ million company focused on Automotive Engineering and Mobility Solutions (‘KPIT Technologies’).

Transaction Highlights

·         Creates a new leader in the mid-tier IT services space: The new Digital Business IT Services company will grow the Birlasoft brand by combining it with the KPIT ITSS business, which is a world leader in Digital Enterprise Solutions (SAP, JD Edwards, Oracle), IoT, Cloud and Digital Transformation

·         Creates new KPIT Technologies, global leader in Automotive Engineering and Mobility Solutions, which will evolve from the current Engineering business of KPIT.

Birlasoft, part of the USD 1.6 billion diversified CK Birla Group, and KPIT, today announced the coming together of Birlasoft and KPIT to create a USD 700+ million combined entity that will later demerge into two separate companies, focused on ‘Digital Business IT Services’ (Birlasoft) and ‘Automotive Engineering and Mobility Solutions’ (the new KPIT Technologies) respectively. During the period prior to completion of the deal, Birlasoft and KPIT will continue to be run by their current managements, in addition to which management from Birlasoft and KPIT will work together to familiarize Birlasoft with the ITSS business.

At the conclusion of the deal, two new companies will be created. The new ‘Birlasoft’ will be a USD 500 million Digital Business IT Services company that will be created by merging the KPIT ITSS business with the current Birlasoft, creating a new leader in the mid-tier IT services space which will also be called Birlasoft. 

The new ‘KPIT Technologies’ will be a USD 200+ million focused Engineering Services company that will be created by tapping into the current Engineering business of KPIT to create a global leader in Automotive Engineering and Mobility Solutions.

Commenting on the partnership, Amita Birla, Chairman of Birlasoft said “Digital solutions are today not confined to the periphery of business but are transforming the very core of business processes. The digital age requires each organisation to reinvent itself to address and lead the disruption and opportunities it brings. With this, Birlasoft will expand its industry leading capability in Enterprise solutions with unmatched digital capability. We will become the leading ‘Enterprise Digital’ company in the country that will advise its customers in unlocking value in their digital journey.

Ravi Pandit, Chairman of KPIT, added that “The tremendous value created by KPIT over the last 27 years will continue in two new avatars and become leading companies in their respective spaces. Over the years, we have gained reputation as one of the global leaders in Automotive Embedded Software. We will be focused on building the KPIT brand as the foremost organisation in the world for Automotive Engineering and Mobility Solutions. The world of Automotive and Mobility are at the cusp of great change and we are excited to be at the technology forefront in this global movement. While transitioning the “Business IT Services” business to Birlasoft in the next year, our team will continue to work with Birlasoft to ensure the best service to the KPIT Business IT customers.”

The new ‘Birlasoft’, that will emerge over the next year, will combine the management team and the IT Services business of KPIT with the current Birlasoft. It will be led by Anjan Lahiri as the CEO and MD. The company will have:

• The highest percentage of business coming from core enterprise systems vis-à-vis any other competitor
• Unique, industry leading capabilities from the Enterprise Product and Cloud companies: SAP, Oracle, JDE and Salesforce.com. The company will have the highest level of partnership with SAP, Oracle as well as with Salesforce, a position unmatched by any other similar company

·         Significant ‘Digital’ capability in Analytics, RPA (Robotic Process Automation), Digital Portals, User Experience and Digital advisory services

·         Significant capability and presence in Application Development, Support and Maintenance for Next Generation Services in the digital world

The new KPIT Technologies will leverage KPIT’s expertise in Automotive and Mobility, and will be led by Kishor Patil as the CEO and MD. This company will deepen the relationship with global Automotive and Mobility leaders in fulfilling their engineering needs. The company will continue to enhance its expertise in all the features to deliver cleaner, safer and smarter solutions to the world of Automotive and Mobility.

Advisors To The Transaction

• Advisor to The CK Birla Group and Birlasoft: Kotak Investment Banking
• Advisor to KPIT: Avendus Capital Private Limited

Valuation Report: EY

92.7 BIG FM Bangalore Celebrates Musical Republic Day with Theme of ‘MUSIC UNITES’

92.7 BIG FM, one of the India’s largest radio network stayed true to its promise of providing more music with a musical celebration on the occasion of India's 69^th Republic Day. The only bilingual radio station in Bangalore promoted the message of ‘Music Unites’ with various music-led activities on 26^th January. With the concept of Studio-on-Wheels, the MJs went on-ground at Lal Bagh to spread the idea among the 5 + lakhs Bengalureans present at the location. Ninaad, the popular music band, joined the celebrations by singing classic numbers from Sandalwood and Bollywood, and thoroughly entertained the audience.

92.7 BIG FM is known for entertaining listeners through innovative concepts that resonate with the sensibilities of audience across age groups. This Republic Day, the radio station united the citizens across different languages on one platform through the power of music. The music band enthralled the music enthusiasts from the two of the most followed entertainment industries of Bangalore – Sandalwood and Bollywood..

Speaking about the Republic Day celebrations, MJ Shruti from 92.7 BIG FM said, “Every year our efforts are concentrated towards providing meaningful entertainment to our listeners especially during such noteworthy occasions. ‘Music Unites’ was clearly aimed at reflecting the unity in diversity that exists among the Bengalureans. It was great to have Ninaad band join us in making this day for all our citizens, a truly musical and magical one. We also enjoyed rewarding our BIG Loyalists - the ones with the loudest cheer during the celebrations, with Tulsi Saplings. We experienced their excitement and willingness to take the responsibility forward of promoting a clean and green environment.”

Fortifying its ethos of providing entertainment with a cause, the radio station tapped on to the opportunity of reaching out to a vast set of audiences and took forth the cause of 'Right to Clean Air.’