Manipal Hospitals Unveil’s 'Guardians of Heart' Teachers Campaign On World Heart Day

Manipal Hospitals, India’s leading healthcare provider today announced the launch of its World Heart Day campaign “Guardians of Heart” in Bengaluru. A unique collaboration of two signature days in September, World Heart Day and Teachers Day, the campaign aims at creating 25000 ‘Heart Smart Teachers’ to create awareness on Cardiovascular Disease (CVD) among younger generation. The corporate campaign will be rolled across various centres of Manipal i.e. Vijayawada, Mangalore, Goa, Jaipur and Dwarka ( New Delhi).

This unique crusader was unveiled by T N Seetharam, Kannada Film & TV Actor, Director, Producer  in the presence of Dr. Sudarshan Ballal, Chairman, Manipal Hospitals.

India is diabetic capital of the world and we are steadily progressing towards becoming the capital of heart diseases as well. The disease needs to be  handled at grassroot level and education & awareness needs to be created amongst the younger generation. Hence, to connect the dots, Manipal aims to explore possibility of changes that teachers can bring about in students, who in turn can pass the message to their families.

Speaking on the occasion, Dr Sudarshan Ballal, Chairman, Manipal Hospitals said, “The burden of heart disease is increasing leaps and bounds world over and India is no exception. Most heart diseases are not formed inside our body like tumors but are a result of our lifestyle. Research has shown that diet, exercise, prevention of active & passive smoking, lifestyle modification can prevent the disease from being life threatening. Via this campaign, we want to encourage preventative care at a young age itself.”

“Heart smart teachers will spread healthy heart concepts to kids who in turn will educate their parents and the chain reaction of Heart Smart Teachers - Healthy Kids - Healthy Family - Healthy Nation can be achieved,” he added.

Heart disease can be reduced by Educating, Inspiring, Motivating and Regular checkups.  Under the Guardians of Heart campaign, a comprehensive health programme will be conducted to make this campaign a success. Heart Smart passes and family health cards will be distributed. Every last Saturday, Teachers would be attending educative workshops and Manipal will facilitate unique series of candid interactions with Cardiac super specialists who will be educating Teachers about various heart medical emergencies faced and how best it can be addressed. Culmination of this program will take place on Feb 1, 2019 on National Red Day where 25000 teachers will avail the certificate to become Heart Smart. 

Speaking on the occasion, T N Seetharam, Kannada Film & TV Actor, Director, Producer said, “I congratulate Manipal Hospitals for ideating such a noble and thoughtful initiative which will help society at a larger level. Students are our future and teachers play a pivotal role in student’s life and their support is imperative in building a healthy new generation. Prevention is always better than cure and when teachers are ‘Heart Smart’ students will definitely be motivated towards adopting a healthy lifestyle. I wish them all the very best in this endeavour and I am confident that this campaign will impact the lives of younger generation positively.”

Speaking on the occasion, Dr Devananda N S ,  HOD & Consultant Cardiothoracic Surgeon said, “Students have an impressionable mind and since they spend most of their time in school, teachers can create everlasting impact. Children must know the consequences of heart diseases and teachers can act as evangelists in making kids aware and conscious. This collaboration will also benefit parents and society in general.”

Dr. Ranjan Shetty, HOD, Department of Cardiology, “Heart disease is the biggest killer in the world and India. Current projections suggest that India is witnessing the largest cardiovascular disease burden and occurs 10 to 15 years earlier than the west,  which has an average of 25 to 35. One fifth of the deaths in India are from coronary heart disease and by 2020, it will account for one third of all deaths. Adopting healthy lifestyle and regular exercise is the key towards maintaining balanced health and healthy heart.”

Honda 2Wheelers India Cements its Footprint in Shared Mobility

Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India Pvt. Ltd. (HMSI) - the most trusted & favoured brand in South India today announced its latest deal with yet another aggregator in the shared mobility space – VOGO, India’s fastest growing scooter sharing network.

VOGO’s fleet of over 1500 scooters will comprise of India’s largest selling iconic scooter Activa 5G. Already delivered 200 units in Hyderabad and delivering 300 units in Bangalore today, Honda scooters will serve as the newest option for metro commuters.

Announcing this latest business deal at the mega delivery event in Bangalore today were Yogesh Mathur, Regional Head, South region- Sales, Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India Pvt. Ltd & Mr. Padmanabhan B, Founder- VOGO and other dignitaries.

Rapid urbanization and inadequate mass transit options in India are leading to the spectre of deteriorating traffic congestion in cities. Shared mobility on two-wheels is evolving & increasingly weaving its way to fuel the increasing demand in the shared mobility space.

Elaborating on the trends in the shared mobility segment, Mr Yadvinder Singh Guleria, Senior Vice President- Sales and Marketing, Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India Pvt. Ltd. said, “Scooters are universally accepted due to their unisex appeal, comfort and convenience. Honda being the undisputed primary choice of customers, is being increasingly inducted by various shared mobility companies in their fleet. We thank VOGO for choosing Honda to be a partner for the latest fleet expansion and wish them success.”

Honda is fast becoming the first choice of 2Wheeler taxi aggregators. Very recently, Honda delivered 3000 units to one of the major aggregator in the southern region. From an initial business with 10 shared mobility players in 2014, Honda is now the first choice of over 30 shared mobility players operating in key towns like Bangalore, Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Jaipur, Kochi, Ahmedabad, Gurgaon, Goa etc.

It’s noteworthy that Honda’s products are preferred by shared mobility players across all 3 types of operations – be it aggregators, two-wheeler rentals or even the digitized self-ride rentals.

Making Honda even more desirable is the high trust that consumers of shared mobility providers repose in the brand. Further on, Honda 2Wheelers is aggressively supporting these mobility players with value additions and insights on increasing customer satisfaction while giving high quality two-wheelers which give low operating and maintenance cost benefit over long term.

Speaking on the occasion, Padmanabhan B, Founder, VOGO said, “We are excited to be working with a world class automobile manufacturer, like Honda, on our growth journey. We are building a strong network of scooters, being the preferred choice of shared mobility customers, that will solve traffic and congestion in large Indian cities and make daily commute easy and hassle-free.”

Second Edition of FTTH India Summit 2018 Celebrates the Vision of Building a High Speed Digital India

The second edition of FTTH India Summit 2018 was held today in Mumbai. The summit witnessed participation from over 400 participants comprising of industry leaders, policy makers, innovators, regulators, technology providers, manufacturers and partners across the Indian telecom sector across the telecom industry. Organised by FTTH Conference Committee and Bharat Exhibitions, the event was sponsored by marquee industry leaders led by BSNL, Reliance Jio, GAIL (India) and Sterlite Tech. The event being held a couple of days following the announcement of the new National Digital Communications Policy 2018 – that lays a strong foundation for government’s push towards high speed connectivity for all Indians by 2022.

Addressing the Summit, TV Ramachandran, President, Broadband India Forum & Chairman, FTTH India Conference Committee, said “In the past couple of years, India has perhaps witnessed one of the fastest rates of growth in the world when it comes to connectivity. The internet revolution in the recent years was led by mobile led broadband. However, for India to truly make its mark in digital arena globally, has to unleash the power of fibre connectivity. The Indian internet 2.0 revolution will be led by the fibre optics network – and it is the right time galvanise the focus and intellect of the industry as a whole to set sight on the future. I am extremely humbled and excited to witness the participation from all quarters at the FTTH India Summit 2018. I am confident that the views and thoughts exchanged at this Summit will go on to make tangible difference on the ground and propel India to the global rankings in high speed connectivity in the coming years.”

The Summit was addressed by eminent speakers including N. Sivasailam, Special Secretary, Department of Telecommunications, Sunil K Gupta, Secretary, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, Anuj Jain, President - Jio GigaFiber Business, Reliance Jio, K S Rao, CEO, Telecom Services Business, Sterlite Tech and A.K. Jana, Chief Executive Officer, GAIL Gas Limited.

N. Sivasailam, Special Secretary, Department of Telecommunications, speaking to the eminent participants, said, “Connectivity in India is set to witness an orbital shift. The Government’s vision to provide 50 mbps universal broadband connectivity to each Indian and 10 gbps connectivity to each gram panchayat by 2022 will be built on fibre optic cable networks given its ability to handle volume and speed with uncompromising security. While the Government will leave no stone unturned in achieving its vision, the same will not be possible without sustained support from all quarters of industry. This is a revolution that will put Indian fibre optic cable industry into the spotlight at a global stage.”

Sunil K. Gupta, Secretary, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, in his inaugural address, said, “Fibre optics led connectivity ushers a new era for Indian consumers across segments – having the potential to emerge as a great disruptor towards convenience and efficiency. With the announcement of new telecom policy, the Government of India has defined its vision to lead the country into a new era of connectivity. This vision will be built on fibre optic cables. It is an exciting opportunity for every stakeholder and will establish India among the developed nations in terms of connectivity.”

Speaking at the inaugural session, A.K. Jana, Chief Executive Officer, GAIL Gas Limited, said “India is on course to emerge as a smart nation, owing to its thrust to create smart infrastructure in terms of cities, connectivity and basic amenities. In fact, given the scale of the vision, it would be safe to say that fibre to the home technology resembles an idea whose time has indeed arrived. As the ecosystem of connectivity solutions broaden in terms of applications, usage and adoption – there is going to be a paradigm shift in the volume of data being consumed. This resembles a never before opportunity for the optical fibre cable industry and would also redefine the age of connectivity in India in years to come.”

Anuj Jain, President - Jio GigaFiber Business, Reliance Jio added, “The Government’s vision of a high speed digitally connected India will demand uniformity in speed, latency and experience across consumer class. It is only possible using a connected fixed line as the same is much more reliable and stable than a mobile connection. Being an industry leader in 4G, we at Reliance Jio are now focusing on offering a lightning fast and cost efficient connectivity solution though gigafibre technology. We believe that the consumer of new India will continuously adopt technology and habits which will necessitate high speed connectivity with no-latency – only made possible by fibre optic technology. It is a great opportunity for the industry to grow and contribute to the nation’s progress at the same time.”

Speaking at the Summit, KS Rao, CEO, Telecom Services Business, Sterlite Tech, said “It was my dream for the past 25 years to witness such participation in an event on fibre optic networks. The attendance in the Summit reinforces my belief in the power of the solution to lead high speed connectivity of a young, data hungry and ambitious nation. As the new age users demand flexible and agile solutions led by cloud and software, India is on-course to set a hyperscale network – this time based on fixed connectivity. The potential opportunity for the industry can be simply summed up in one fact – India in the last 20 years has deployed 2 mn kms of optic cable and in line with the National Digital Communications Policy 2018, it needs to deploy 2.2 mn kms of optic cable in the next 5 years! The potential is unprecedented for the industry”.

FTTH India Summit 2018 was sponsored by Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited, Reliance Jio, Gail India Ltd., Sterlite Telecom, Savitri Telecom Services, Viavi Solutions, R&M, Lepton Software, MTNL, Molex, PDR Videotronics and Keith Electronics. The event was supported by Department of Telecommunications, Ministry of Electronics & IT, Govt. of India, COAI and TAIPA and the Knowledge Partner was Broadband India Forum.

Bigbasket Partners with MIUI to Offer Customers Enhanced Shopping Experience

India’s largest online supermarket, bigbasket (https://www.bigbasket.com/), has announced its partnership with India’s largest smartphone manufacturer, Xiaomi’s operating software MIUI. This seamless integration will enable customers to complete their grocery purchases faster and with a better overall experience – a philosophy that is integral to both bigbasket and Xiaomi.

Speaking about this, Arun Jayaraman, Marketing Manager, bigbasket, said, “This partnership with Xiaomi’s MIUI is a step forward in working towards our vision of enriching user experience and fueling bigbasket’s growth. bigbasket has always believed in offering the three-fold benefit of convenience, affordability, and innovation to all its users. This partnership is another milestone in that direction and complements Xiaomi’s vision of making MIUI the most user-friendly operating system as well.”

Anuj Sharma, Chief Marketing Officer, Xiaomi India further added, "Xiaomi's journey started with MIUI when we wanted to launch the most immersive and innovative operating software for millions of users. Today, MIUI has over 190 million users and we continue to make it more relevant in every market we are present in. The partnership with bigbasket is a step in that direction and we hope it will enhance the user experience for all our customers"

Xiaomi users will now be able to access the bigbasket widget in the Utilities Card on the minus 1 screen and complete their shopping on the bigbasket mobile site. All Xiaomi users using MIUI 9 and above will be able to avail this service by updating their App Vault. The update will first be rolled out to beta users and will soon be accessible to all users.

Capillary Technologies Selects Trend Micro to Secure their Multi-Cloud Environment

Trend Micro incorporated, a global leader in cybersecurity solutions, through their advanced ‘Deep Security’ offering helped Capillary Technologies achieve seamless interoperability across their vast infrastructure. Trend Micro Deep Security, which provides a complete suite of cloud security solutions helped secure their workloads on Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Microsoft Azure public cloud environments.

As a leading provider of consumer analytics and e-commerce platforms to more than 300 brands in more than 30 countries, Capillary Technologies was looking for a security solution that could scale with the growing infrastructure and help achieve compliance for the multi-cloud environments. The solution also needed to protect cloud workloads against data breaches and business disruptions with around-the-clock alerting. They selected Trend Micro’s Deep Security, a state-of-the-art security solution with its multitenant architecture which includes anti-malware, web reputation, firewall, intrusion prevention, integrity monitoring, and log inspection to meet their requirements.

“For Capillary Technologies, we integrated modules of Trend Micro’s Deep Security, ensuring data security across cloud environments, including AWS and Microsoft Azure. Our anti-malware module optimizes security operations and protects against sophisticated cyberattacks, while our intrusion prevention module examines all incoming and outgoing traffic, protecting against known but unpatched vulnerabilities through ‘virtual patching’. Trend Micro Deep Security provided them the comprehensive and high-performance security solution that they were looking for,” said Nilesh Jain, Vice President – Southeast Asia and India, Trend Micro.

Capillary Technologies deployed Trend Micro’s Deep Security which includes a dashboard that fulfils the requirement for simplified and centralized management with a single view into security operations. Trend Micro Deep Security solution also helped them to fulfil the prerequisite of meeting compliance requirements with Payment Card Industry (PCI) security standards and ensured that there are no security gaps or performance impacts for workloads in public or private clouds. The bi-directional host-based firewall decreased the attack surface of cloud environments, prevented denial-of-service attacks and provided logging of firewall events to enable compliance and audit reporting. Also, the integrity monitoring module monitored critical operating system and application files to detect and report malicious and unexpected changes in real time.

“We met the majority of our security needs with Deep Security. The Trend Micro solution enables us to achieve comprehensive cloud security with interoperability between our AWS and Microsoft Azure cloud platforms,” said Nayan Kalita, Director, Systems Engineering, Capillary Technologies.

“Trend Micro Deep Security fulfilled our requirements, provided a single view of our security posture, and achieved a higher level of security with virtual patching,” said Pravanjan Choudhury, CTO, Capillary Technologies.

Looking to the future, Capillary Technologies plans to continue fine-tuning its IT security ecosystem and educating users to be prepared for the next generation of advanced cyberattacks. With Trend Micro Deep Security, the IT team has the tools it needs to keep its cloud environments protected.

Average Indian Smartphone User Spends 4x Time on Online Activities as Compared to Offline Activities: Nielsen India

Nielsen India today unveiled its featured insight titled “what smartphones say about customers” – exploring the relationship between the price band, consumer profile and usage differences among smartphone users in India. The insight is based on analysis of the On-Device Measurement (ODM) data by dividing smartphones (excluding super premium models), into three major price categories. The categories are Entry Level Handsets (priced

India has emerged among the most preferred smartphone markets in the world owing to affordable handset prices and low cost data penetration – triggering a huge replacement demand among the young and aspiring customers across segments. Despite the availability of economically priced smartphones, average smartphone prices are still increasing. The user habits of Indian smartphone users highlight that users across the segments (entry level, mid and premium) spend more than 90 minutes a day on online activities while the premium segment takes the usage up to 130 minutes per day. When it comes to app usage in terms of category, chat and VoIP apps dominate usage across customer segment followed by browser apps. Interestingly, uTorrent Beta app dominates across categories when it comes of consumption of data; followed by YouTube across customer segments.

Commenting on the report, Abhijit Matkar, Director -Technology IPG - Nielsen India, said, “The advent of high-speed 4G internet, less-expensive mobile handsets and a correction in call data charges have encouraged the speedy adoption of smartphones. To meet the demand of the mass market, new Chinese and Indian handset makers have launched affordable handsets, which are under INR 5,000. This sudden influx of affordable smartphones created a

whole segment of new consumers who either upgraded from feature phones or were new mobile users altogether.”

“The price of handsets and data is emerging as a remarkable surrogate for monitoring the ever- widening set of users and their smartphone usage, thereby facilitating business and marketing strategy for better return on investment (ROI)”, added Abhijit

The featured insight also attempts to define the way forward, with new categories of users, like school-going children, elders and housewives, are entering the segment. The report identifies, more purchasers are emerging from tier 3, 4 and 5 towns, as well as rural areas. So whole new markets are emerging with different sets of needs and expectations. The strategies to cater to this new demand also need to change.

Real-Time Payment System Growth Surging Worldwide: FIS Report

Deployments of real-time payment systems are surging worldwide, according to new research from FIS, a global leader in financial services technology.

In its fifth annual Flavors of Fast report, FIS identified 40 active real-time payment programs around the world, up from 25 in 2017 and nearly three times as many as the company’s inaugural 2014 study. Further, the report identified five payments programs under development, plus another 16 expected to be live in the next 12-18 months – double the number of programs on the radar in 2017.

“We live in a now world. Consumers are demanding more transparency, certainty and immediacy when moving their money, and they won’t settle for incremental innovation,” said Raja Gopalakrishnan, head of Global Payments, FIS. “Financial institutions are responding in growing numbers – modernizing their payment infrastructures to provide real-time payment capabilities that demonstrate their value to customers.” 

Overlay Services
The FIS research found that overlay services – chat, retail apps, instant loans and more – and open APIs (application program interfaces) provide innovations that encourage consumers and businesses to use real-time payments. For example, a supermarket chain in France implemented instant payments through its shop app; this simplified payments for shoppers and reduced card acquisition, processing fees and check usage for the company.

Meanwhile, India’s Immediate Payment Service (IMPS), which runs through the country’s Unified Payment Interface (UPI), has allowed money transfer apps to feature chatting capabilities. This further encourages public use of real-time innovation.

“The growth of real-time payments programs around the world speaks to consumer demand and the rapid innovation that exists today,” said Gareth Lodge, senior analyst, Celent.  “Real time payments is a competitive differentiator for the bank that gets it right.”

Innovation Index
The 2018 Flavors of Fast report highlighted three particularly innovative real-time payments programs as part of its “Faster Payments Innovation Index.” The index, which rated programs on a scale of 1-5 (5 being highest), measured the comprehensiveness of real-time payments projects and how well they meet the needs of consumers and corporate customers.

·         India’s Immediate Payment Service (IMPS) took home the report’s only 5 rating for the second year in a row. The fastest growing immediate payment system in the world, IMPS daily transaction volume grew from about two million per day in 2017 to approximately 2.8 million per day this year. The project’s high rating was based on the system’s standard, published API and strong participation from third-party vendors.

·         Australia’s New Payments Platform (NPP), which went live in Feb. 2018, received a 4+ rating. NPP enables real-time clearing and settlement 24 hours a day, seven days a week. It provides Australian businesses and consumers with a fast and versatile payments system for making their everyday payments.

·         Singapore received a 4+ rating for its Fast and Secure Transfers (FAST) service. Covering credit transfers, direct debits, bill payment, P2P, merchant payments, mobile and more, FAST allows customers from 20 of Singapore’s participating banks to move funds almost instantly 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Twelve other programs received 4+ or 4 ratings in this year’s index. That includes China, which now makes 25.9 million faster payment transfers every day – up from 12 million in 2017; Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) Instant Credit Transfer Scheme, which expects to have 34 countries live with real-time payments by 2019; and the United States, which saw the launch of its first real-time payments system in late 2017.

The FIS report also calls out Germany and Hong Kong as two countries poised to make significant strides forward in implementation of real-time payments schemes.

To read the full 2018 Flavors of Fast report, including exclusive interviews with executives using real-time payments to benefit corporate treasury departments, and leaders of faster payment initiatives in the United States and Canada, visit fisglobal.com/flavors-of-fast.