Texas Instruments India host’s “DIY with TI” in Bangalore; Recognizes Best Do-It-Yourself Projects Created by TI Engineers

Texas Instruments (TI) India, today, hosted the “DIY with TI” event designed to encourage its engineers to build innovative solutions for real-life problems, using technology and TI devices. The theme this year was to build projects that help ‘Make the world a better place’. The event saw several innovative solutions – such as driver assistance for preventing accidents, assistive technology for the visually challenged, a low cost and low power solution to enable monitoring and remote control of home appliances for efficient energy usage and much more.

The first prize went to the team that had devised a wearable technology, a belt, to help visually challenged people navigate easily. This device uses a single radar sensor to detect the obstacles around and is connected to smart phone which will be used to navigate the person to the desired location. The belt uses vibration motors and buzzers to warn/navigate the user. The devise is a step towards making the world a better place for visually challenged people.

“Do It Yourselves (DIY) at TI celebrates the spirit of experimenting with technology to build innovative solutions to real-world problems. The event is about stretching your imagination to identify real world problems and find interesting technology solutions for them. Most engineers at TI have hobby projects across diverse interest areas and DIY gives them an opportunity to showcase their ideas – not just through charts and presentations, but working demos. It also drives an ‘innovation’ mind-set. Maybe someday we will see a DIY project evolve into a game changing business idea!, said Santhosh Kumar, President and Managing Director at Texas Instruments India.

‘DIY with TI’ is a global event held across TI’s U.S., Germany, China and India offices. The event aims to nurture a culture of innovation in TI by providing a platform to TIers that helps them explore alternate and newer ways to solve a problem by doing what they love.

Yes Bank Recognized for Equipping Workforce with ‘Future-Ready’ Skills in Dubai

YES BANK has been felicitated with the coveted ‘Golden Peacock National Training Award’ at the ‘28th World Congress on Leadership for Business Excellence & Innovation’ & Golden Peacock Awards, organized by Institute of Directors (IOD) in Dubai. YES BANK was recognized for Best Practices in institutionalizing innovative Training programs aimed at equipping the workforce with ‘Future-Ready’ skills. The Award was presented by H.E. Mr Vipul (Consul General of India in Dubai), Dr. Tayab Kamali (Chairman IOD India UAE Chapter Director General Education and Training Development Ministry of Interior USE) and Lt. Gen. J.S Ahluwalia (President, Institute of Directors India).

The Golden Peacock National Training Award evaluates applications basis organizational needs, training objectives, training design, delivery, outcomes and eventually organisational benefits. Golden Peacock Awards Framework is designed to help explore organizational beliefs and strategy, to look for linkages and measurable activity to test results for long-term success. The Framework is based on IOD Business Excellence Model and is comparable with similar frameworks around the globe (including the Baldrige and European models) and contains all of the requirements of the ISO 9001:2000 standard series.

Commenting on this achievement, Deodutta Kurane, Group President, Human Capital Management at YES BANK said, “With the onset of an ever-changing, fast-paced and tech-focused work environment, it has become increasingly critical to empower, stimulate and action employees with latest tech and non-tech skills to create a workforce that is ‘Future-Ready’. The award is a testament of YES BANK’s relentless efforts to proactively develop and implement new-age sustainable talent development programs via interactive training sessions and workshops, aimed at accelerating a Future Ready work environment.”

YES BANK focuses on building a high quality robust Human Capital talent pool by adopting a Knowledge & hands-on Training driven approach for giving the bank a sustained competitive advantage. Training initiatives such as YES D.I.C.E Workshop (Design Thinking, Innovation, Creativity led Entrepreneurship) for senior leaders aimed at reinforce and reiterate the value addition of DICE; Mobile Gamification learning modules; Professional Certifications for workforce across business units; Role based certifications and most importantly ‘Future-Ready’ skilling initiatives including new-age tech skills that let employees skill-up at an organizational level.

YES SCHOOL OF BANKING (YSB), the Learning & Development function of YES BANK, ensures conceptualization and deployment of learning solutions that meet business, employee and customer requirements through continued improvement in employee skillset, tech and service quality. Key Human Capital, Organizational Development and Learning initiatives at YES BANK are domiciled under the aegis of YES SCHOOL OF BANKING (YSB), institutionalized in 2007 with a vision to build the Capacity, Capability and Confidence of our Human Capital for making YES BANK the 'Finest Quality Large Bank in India by 2020'.

CRY’s Analysis Reflects A Steady Rise In Sexual Offences Against Children in India; Every 15 Minutes, a Sexual Offence is Committed Against a Child in India

The country rages over the horrid instance of the gang rape and murder of the eight-year-old in Kathua, and similar incidents that were reported from other parts of the country. These, however, are not stand-alone incidents, as for a long time now sexual offences against children have been on a steady rise, reports CRY – Child Rights and You.

In a cumulative analysis, it revealed a significant increase in crimes against minors of more than 500% over the past 10 years (1,06,958 in 2016 over 18,967 in 2006). Further retrospective comparison within the mentioned timeframe points at a sharper rate of rise in the latter quadrennium (2012 to 2016) than that recorded in the former lustrum (2006 to 2011). National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data suggests that crime against children in India has increased by a staggering 14% between 2015 and 2016.

As per a 2016 analysis of crimes under Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, sexual offences accounted for 1/3rd of all crimes against children in India. It is alarming to note that a sexual offence is committed against a child in India every 15 minutes.

Going by the nature of crimes and categories those were booked under, child rape is the second largest category of crime against children in terms of number of reported cases, amounting to more than 18% of all crimes, while kidnapping and abduction (K&A) tops the list accounting for more than half of the total number of crimes (51.1%, number of crimes 54723) as recorded in 2016. All crimes under POCSO Act constitute around 33% of total crimes against children. The number of sexual offences registered against children increased by an alarming 300% over the last 5 years.

Speaking about the worrying trend of crime against children, Komal Ganotra, Director Policy & Advocacy at CRY said, “Though the topic has been debated and deliberated at length for quite some time now, in the wake of increased incidences of crime against children , what we really lack is an all-encompassing concerted action by all duty bearers . We have consistently fallen short with not having robust prevention mechanism, poor awareness on the issue, failure in rolling out rigorous policies and programs, poor conviction rates and in inadequate budgetary allocation for child protection”   “It is non-negotiable for the state and other duty bearers to equip themselves in recognising the risks involved, and put robust preventive and responsive systems and processes to assess and eliminate the same,” she added.

Top 5 states for sexual offences (NOT ONLY POCSO)
Uttar Pradesh
Accounts for 14% of all sexual offences in the country
Maharashtra
Accounts for 13% of all sexual offences in the country
Madhya Pradesh
Accounts for 13% of all sexual offences in the country
West Bengal
Accounts for 6% of all sexual offences in the country
Odisha
Accounts for 5% of all sexual offences in the country

Looking at the concentration of reported incidents across the states, more than 50% of crimes against children have been recorded in just five states, such as Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Delhi UT and West Bengal. While Uttar Pradesh tops the list with 15% of recorded crimes against children, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh closely follow with 14% and 13% respectively. It is also a matter of grave concern that in 11 out 36 states and UTs, more than 50% of the offences against children are sexual offences and in 25 out of 36 states and UTs more than 1/3rd of the crimes against children are sex crimes. 

BRITZO Unveils 'Make in India' Mobile Phone Brand iVVO; Priced Between Rs 649 and Rs 5,999

In a landmark move that intends to catalyze rural digitization, BRITZO has launched its smart mobile phone brand ‘iVVO’ in India. The brand launch has been followed by the rollout of eight smart 2G feature phones by iVVO that are segmented across five product categories, namely BEATZ, PRIMO, SELFEE, TUFF, and VOLT. The company will also be launching of its first 4G feature phone ‘Skipper’ along with two Android Go 4G smartphones belonging to the smartphone series ‘Storm’. All of the launched products are priced from Rs. 649 to Rs. 5,999 and extend superlative features aimed at the rural population – including multilingual support, feature phone-based WhatsApp and Wi-Fi tethering, facial recognition, shatterproof smartphone screens.

As part of the initial product rollout, three smart feature phones have been launched under the product category BEATZ, two each under PRIMO, one each under TUFF, VOLT, and SELFEE. The entire product range comes with a mix and match of unconventional features such as smart applications, K-type box speakers, shock-proof designs, wireless FM, long-lasting battery life, automatic call recording, and one-touch music access. iVVO is also planning to launch its first 4G feature phone ‘Skipper’ with WhatsApp and Wi-Fi tethering capabilities. In order to boost digital adoption and customer convenience, the company has provided multilingual support for English & several regional languages such as Hindi and Urdu and supports other 22 Indian languages in a readable format.

The brand is also rolling out its visually-appealing and feature-intensive 4G smartphones ‘Storm Lite’ and ‘Storm Pro’. The two smartphones host top-of-the-line specs including the latest Android Oreo (Go edition), 8MP front camera with dual selfie flash, 8MP rear camera with flash and auto-focus, shatterproof screen. They also come loaded with ‘face unlock’ facial recognition feature that enables its users to unlock their smartphones by merely looking at it. The two variants are available with 1GB RAM and 8GB storage space and 2GB RAM and 16GB storage space (expandable up to 128 GB). Both of the devices are based on the Android Go operating system that extends the latest Oreo 8.1 software with an assured OS version update and have been priced at Rs. 4,999 and 5,999 respectively.

Commenting on the launch, Pradipto Ganguly, CEO & Co founder, BRITZO said, “BRITZO has recognized critical pain points of rural consumers and extensively worked towards developing more evolved alternatives to traditional mobile phones. We are very delighted to announce the launch of iVVO, which is a direct outcome of our research and innovation-driven approach, and are confident that the brand will emerge as the flag-bearer of digitization in rural India.”

He added, “Besides offering unmatched features, we have also worked on the pricing and have simultaneously enhanced our channel partnerships and aftersales services to offer a superb customer experience to our end-users. The brand launch also comes in tandem with the rollout of our first smart 4G feature phone and two evolved 4G smartphone offerings, which is in line with our vision of making superior technology accessible to every Indian.”

iVVO customers will be able to enjoy a huge repository of songs and videos, bundled with the brand’s exclusive 201-day replacement warranty as well as 12+3 month product warranty. BRITZO has already established a strong channel network with 200 direct and indirect partners, 20,000 retailers, and over 900 service outlets. In line with its innovation-driven approach, the company has also introduced multiple industry-firsts such as its program ‘iVVO Smart Parivar’ (a single-point solution for all of its partner distributors for on-boarding, training, and tracking), offer credit insurance and allowing an in-bill settlement of the claims. It is, additionally, going to set up an assembling unit in Greater Noida and is planning to mobilize Rs. 100 crores towards the Make in India initiative.

Zeven’s AEON Unveils New Range Footwear Packs in Fun, Fashion and Functionality

With temperatures set to sizzle this summer, Zeven, a multidimensional sportswear brand is revving-up the affordable fashion circuit with an ‘athleisure’ collection for women – AEON. AEON which means “life” is synonymous to the spirit of women worldwide.

The brand’s 2018 spring summer athleisure collection for Women highlights its distinctive philosophy of making sport a part of everyday life. The AEON collection offers the best of athleisure, a growing trend of sporting athletic attire. 

Designed to perform, the AEON collection fits right into the bandwidth of a customer with minimalistic yet functional footwear choices, who likes the elements of being sporty yet enjoys the feel of perfectly fitting shoes that can be worn for light activity or a fun evening out.

AEON is all about Fun, Fashion & Functionality!
Aeon’s minimalist design packs in a surprising amount of functionality that is suited for a wide age range of customers – from sprightly teens to active middle aged women. Weighing just 220 grams, the light weighted pair is made with a stretchable mesh in the forepart, making the shoes fit comfortably like a pair of gloves. Strategically placed elastic around the topline holds the foot of various widths. Perforated insole underneath the foot along with EVA midsole with rubber pods enables the person to walk with a good grip. The punched upper allows breathability and ensures the foot is odorless and perspiration is all natural in hot & humid Indian conditions. The contours are soft and feminine with some distinct design details in the forepart that along with the ZEVEN logo, give it an athleisure look. 

AEON comes in five subtle colors that suits a wide range of summer attire. The athleisure collection is priced at Rs 2150 a pair.

Qubole Releases First Big Data Activation Report Highlighting How Today’s Companies Are Putting Data Into Active Use

New research released today by Qubole, the big data-as-a-service company, based on anonymized data from more than 200 customers, shows that more than three-quarters of companies rely on multiple open source engines to gain insights from their data, while the number of individual users running commands in all three engines has doubled in the last year alone.

The 2018 Big Data Activation Report also reveals that Presto and Apache Spark are the fastest growing engines, with both showing significant spikes in usage. Presto usage has especially surged, experiencing a 420 percent growth in compute hours and 365 percent expansion in total number of commands run.

“What’s most evident from these findings is that organizations are understanding the immense value of data and are adopting new technologies and processes in search for new insights and revenue opportunities,” said Qubole Co-founder and CEO, Ashish Thusoo. “With three-quarters of businesses actively using multiple engines for their data programs, it’s clear that data activation strategies are becoming more nuanced in matching the best tool for the individual job.”

According to the report, Apache Spark also saw a significant increase in both measurements with compute hours growing by 298 percent and overall commands growing by 439 percent. While more modest, Apache Hadoop/Hive did see growth with the number of commands increasing 129 percent throughout the year. Apache Hadoop continued to see the largest number of compute hours however, with 45.5 million hours logged throughout the year.

Additionally, the number of users accessing each platform grew throughout the year, painting a picture of how businesses are making data more accessible, reducing bottlenecks within data teams and addressing the ongoing talent shortage within the data science, engineering and analyst community. Presto saw the largest increase in users running commands on the platform, experiencing a growth of 255 percent in individuals running commands throughout the past year. Apache Spark and Hadoop also both saw significantly more people initiating commands, seeing a growth of 171 percent and 136 percent respectively.

Other key findings from the 2018 Big Data Activation Report included:
The magnitude of big data workloads remains vast: The report shows more than 58 million commands processed across Presto, Apache Hadoop/Hive, and Apache Spark between 2012-2017.

The need for self-sufficiency scales as the company grows: Companies are actively lessening their reliance on administrators as they grow with the report showing an average of 16 users per administrator for small implementations, while medium-sized implementations saw the ratio grow to 48 to 1; and for large-scale implementations it rose to 188 to 1.

Businesses utilizing spot instances to reduce costs: Total usage of Amazon EC2 Spot Instances grew 4.6 times across all three engines since January 2016. Apache Hadoop/Hive 2 saw the highest growth in spot instances per cluster, averaging 61.5 percent and marking a 633 percent growth throughout the year.

New tools are gaining adoption: Almost 30 percent of companies have used Apache Airflow for orchestrating sophisticated data preparation pipelines and operationalizing machine learning using Python code.

The report was released at the Data Platforms Live 2018, the only industry conference focused exclusively on helping data teams build the modern, self-service data platform. This year’s event saw keynote speeches by both Sumit Gupta, VP, AI, Machine Learning and HPC at IBM Cognitive Systems and Ashish Thusoo, Co-founder and CEO at Qubole, who bought their unique insights to how companies can demystify AI and cognitive computing and better implement strategies to gain true business value from their big data programs.

The full report is available here and was based on anonymized data from a sample of over 200 Qubole customers.

Appo Unveils Its Latest F7 Diamond Black Smart Mobile Edition in Bangalore

Oppo has announced the launch of its Oppo F7 Diamond Black 128GB variant in Bangalore, India.This was announced at the Oppo F7 launch event in the city recently, the Diamond Black edition comes with 6GB of RAM and 128GB of inbuilt storage. A Solar Red variant with 6GB RAM and 128GB storage was also due to launch soon. The custom variant adorns a multi-layered metallic and glass back. Subsequently, it is steeply priced at Rs. 26,990 - in contrast, the regular variant with 4GB RAM and 64GB inbuilt storage is priced at Rs. 21,990. Starting April 21, the Oppo F7 edition will be available for purchase across Flipkart, Amazon.in, Paytm, and all Oppo offline stores across the country.

Oppo F7 specifications
The dual-SIM (Nano) Oppo F7 runs ColorOS on top of Android 8.1 Oreo. It sports a 6.23-inch full-HD+ (1080x2280 pixels) Full Screen 2.0 display with a 19:9 aspect ratio. The handset is powered by a 64-bit MediaTek Helio P60 SoC, coupled with up to 6GB RAM and up to 128GB of onboard storage.

In terms of camera specifications, the Oppo F7 bears a single 16-megapixel rear camera with an f/1.8 aperture and certain AI recognition features. On the front is a 25-megapixel selfie sensor with f/2.0 aperture and real-time HDR. There is a 3400mAh battery powering the internals from under the hood.

"We always appreciate the feedback of the youth and try and come up with devices that fulfill the demands of our young consumers. We feel the colour of the device will resonate well with the youth as smartphones are an extension of one's personality in today's day and age. With the F7 Diamond Black version we have tried to incorporate an enthralling design with an amazing storage of 128GB to ensure our consumers can store all their precious memories spent with friends and family," said Rishabh Srivastava, Product Manager, OPPO India.