64 Percent of Karnataka Schools have Playgrounds, Betters the National Average

The grass is greener for them. They are the children of Karnataka and according to the latest District Information System for Education (DISE) report, 64% schools in the state have a playground which scores better than the national average, however there is a long way to go to better the percentage.

The report further suggests that 60 percent of North Bangalore and 69 percent of South Bangalore schools have `playgrounds. In 2009-10 when the Right to Education (RTE) ACT came into being, only 54% of the elementary schools in the country had access to playground facility.  This has been steadily increasing, and currently stands at 64% against the 60% of schools in the country which have access to playground facility (DISE 2015-16).

Child Rights and You (CRY), one of the leading NGOs working for children believes that it is critical for play to be part of a child’s daily regimen, as it helps build confidence, a sense of identity, problem solving skills, and overall, helps navigate life. This is even truer for marginalised children where everyday reality can be harsh.

CRY will be organizing an event ‘Shankara Buildpro Soccer for Child Rights’ to champion the cause of education through sports. The event allows for corporate teams to come and share the field with youth from a project area, and in doing so, upholding the cause. It is a day where a playground becomes the epicentre for change.

“In our experience in the domain of child rights, we have multiple examples of drop-out children going back to school, taking up sports and subsequently succeed in both the fields. The incentive of a playground cannot be overlooked as it motivates a child to go to school. Through the event, we want to sensitise people that sports can truly be a meaningful way to make an impact in the life of children and playground should be a non-negotiable entity in their life,” said Suma Ravi, Regional Director (South), CRY.

Indonesia-Tech Gojek- Southeast Asia’s Super App - Launches Rebrand

Gojek, the Indonesia-headquartered technology company, has today unveiled a new brand, designed to reflect its position as the leading technology platform in Southeast Asia.

The rebrand - which begins rolling out today - marks Gojek’s evolution from a Jakarta-based ride-hailing service to Southeast Asia’s leading Super App. It follows after the company recorded 1,100% growth in transactions on its platform over the last three years, from June 2016 to June 2019, on increased demand for Gojek’s integrated services.

Gojek has also significantly expanded its regional ecosystem since its app launched in 2015, having partnered with over 2 million driver-partners, 400,000 merchant partners and 60,000 service providers across Southeast Asia to-date.

Over the past three years, Gojek users have given over US$20 million in tips to the platform’s driver-partners and service providers, a testament to their support for and satisfaction with the Gojek brand.

The rebrand sets the course for Gojek’s next phase of growth, which will include further innovation and the strengthening of its integrated ecosystem of over 20 on-demand services - the region’s largest array of such offerings on a single platform.

The new logo, a nearly-rounded ring encircling a dot, is designed to be easily recognisable and versatile. It can be interpreted in a number of ways: a map pin, the bull’s eye, an aerial view of a motorcyclist, or a power button. This reflects Gojek’s Super App proposition, with its multitude of offerings, which range from transport, payments and food to logistics, entertainment and lifestyle.

In Indonesia, Gojek has built three Super Apps: one each for consumers, driver-partners, and merchant partners. Each app provides its respective users with services and features designed to make life better and help them to excel. For example, the app for driver-partners is equipped with several functions that support financial planning, while the merchant app includes features that help with business expansion, including logistics and inventory management.

Kevin Aluwi, Co-founder of Gojek Group, says: “Today, we introduce a new brand that represents the evolution of Gojek from a transport company in Jakarta to a leading tech company in Southeast Asia. We have been on an extraordinary journey over the past four years and the new brand is designed to embody everything that has been achieved throughout that period.

“We are humbled that driver-partners, merchants, consumers and our employees have had such faith in our brand and our company as we’ve grown. They are the ones who have built this business into what it is today. Gojek is now many things to many people - and our new logo reflects that. Even so, we remain committed to our founding principle and ethos of improving people’s lives through the use of technology.”

Andre Soelistyo, President of Gojek Group, adds: “With the rebrand, we look forward to the next chapter of our growth, not only in Indonesia - where we have the highest number of monthly active users compared to other on-demand platforms - but across the other Southeast Asian markets that we have expanded to over the past year. In each of those markets, our entry has been warmly received, a testament to our technology and in-depth local knowledge, and the benefits that we have delivered to local users.

“Our goal has always been to create a great offering in each of our markets that makes life easier for consumers, while delivering a positive social impact throughout Southeast Asia.” 

#AdvantageSpeed – ACT Fibernet Joins UTT 2019 as 'Official High Speed Internet Partner'

ACT Fibernet, India’s largest fiber-focused wired broadband ISP (Internet Service Provider), today announced its partnership with Ultimate Table Tennis 2019 (UTT), India’s premier Table Tennis league as their Official High-Speed Internet Partner.

As part of the tie-up, ACT Fibernet will power the Thyagaraj Sports Complex, Delhi and provide connectivity to UTT for the entire league duration from July 25 to August 11. This includes diverse requirements encompassing areas like the field of play, broadcast, media tribune, technical table, field of play photographers and streaming, technical table, commentary box among others.

Ultimate Table Tennis, which began in 2017 with six franchises, has set high standards for the sport in the country. With top players from India and the rest of the world UTT has become a truly global phenomenon. A world class league that inspires the youth, entertains and engages fans, drives development at grassroots and delivers value to all stakeholders.

Speaking on the partnership, Saurabh Mukherjee, COO, Atria Convergence Technologies Ltd said, “Ultimate Table Tennis is the premier table tennis league in India and we are thrilled to be a part of the league this season. It is our constant effort to leverage platforms that encourage sports in India and bring together sports enthusiasts. We hope that our fibernet connectivity will enhance the tournament experience for the teams, fans both in stadia and across the country”.

Commenting on the initiative, Ganeshaya Sodha, Head of Sponsorships & Marketing, UTT said, "We believe ACT Fibernet is a proven name in the industry who are well-equipped to cater to our needs at UTT. Their range of services and dedicated customer-first approach is the reason we have associated with them to take care of our entire broadband internet requirements. In an intensive league like UTT, the internet requirements are diverse, and ACT Fibernet have a proven track record of delivering reliably."

SoCash Raises US$6M in Series B Round Led By Glory Ltd, SC Ventures and Vertex Ventures to Expand their Footprint

soCash, the Singapore-headquartered FinTech start-up which allows bank customers to perform banking services (like cash withdrawal, loan applications) at shops via its mobile app, today announced it has raised US$6 million in its series B funding round led by GLORY LTD (GLORY) and participated  by SC Ventures and Vertex Ventures.

With the new funds, soCash will grow its distribution network to improve the accessibility and convenience of banking services in Indonesia, Malaysia and Hong Kong; as the company has already acquired the relevant regulatory clearances in these three markets. The start-up is aggressively building its team in all three markets to cater to demands from virtual/digital bank players looking for the smarter distribution alternative to branches and ATMs

“We started soCash to make cash circulation efficient; our platform has now evolved to become the only network that converts neighbourhood shops into "virtual branches", said Hari Sivan, Co-founder & CEO of soCash. With the emergence of virtual banks and open banking, our network is well equipped to offer sales & distribution with flexibility and massive scale.”

For GLORY – a global leader in cash automation which engages in the development, manufacturing, and sale of high-end cash processing & retail automation machines – its participation in the funding round signifies the company’s ambition to venture into the creation of new software & data-driven growth trajectory.

“We are pleased to announce our strategic investment into soCash as the lead investor and proud to be a partner in its growth. GLORY is a global leader in cash processing and retail automation, and we believe that the current supply chain of cash needs to transform as the transportation of cash across large distances costs billions of dollars each year, a cost largely passed on to consumers. soCash’s approach of connecting retailers, banks & consumers on a platform for cash circulation is a perfect fit to GLORY’s hardware & IoT business,” said Minoru Higashiyama, Leader of the Long-Term Vision Project Team at GLORY.

“The combination of data, hardware and software lead to opportunities that help the society to meet its flexible payment needs. As our long-term vision, GLORY would like to make the cash society a better place by optimizing the physical and digital cash cycle. soCash is realizing this concept in the Asia-Pacific region and aligns perfectly with GLORY's long-term vision.”

As the first bank in Singapore to partner with soCash, Standard Chartered has integrated soCash into SC Mobile, its mobile banking app in Singapore, since 2017 to increase customer convenience by enabling them to withdraw cash through a network of retail outlets instead of depending solely on branches and ATMs.

Alex Manson Global Head of SC Ventures, Standard Chartered Bank’s innovation, investment and ventures arm, said: “While banking becomes more and more digital, cash remains one of the primary modes of transaction in most of the world. Any digital strategy needs to connect digital and cash ecosystems, so consumers gain access to services even in the absence of physical distribution networks. Our investment in soCash will give us valuable insights into the usage and the future of cash, without conventional costly channels such as branch counters and ATMs, while supporting soCash’s plans to scale up in markets within our footprint.”

Launched in mid-2018, the soCash app started off by allowing bank customers to withdraw cash from stores as they would at conventional ATMs, without the need for card and pin. As its technology directly plugs into the banks’ APIs, users can place a cash order via the soCash app and select a nearby merchant to collect the cash from, while the app deducts the selected amount from the customer’s account.

The start-up recently added ICBC to its list of partner banks in Singapore, which also includes Standard Chartered, DBS and POSB. Meanwhile, its cash network platform now comprises more than 1,400 shops around Singapore and is creating the network in Malaysia and Indonesia; with its service available at retail chains such as SPH Buzz, U Stars supermarket, iECON stores, U Mart, 7-Eleven and HAO Mart. Following its Series B round, the company is looking to quickly scale up the penetration of its services across Southeast Asia and will seek to form partnerships to scale up in the region.

United Technologies Selects L&T Technology Services as Strategic Partner for Collins Aerospace

L&T Technology Services (NSE: LTTS), a leading global pure-play engineering services company has been selected as a strategic partner by United Technologies Corporation (UTC) for Collins Aerospace, a subsidiary of UTC.

Collins Aerospace comprises of the former UTC Aerospace Systems, Rockwell Collins and BE Aerospace, and is one of the leading providers of intelligent solutions for the global aerospace and defense industries.

LTTS has been a long-standing engineering partner for UTC. It has been ‘UTC Supplier Gold’ since 2015. LTTS was also recognized as UTAS Supplier of Year in April 2016 for its high-quality services and value creation.

Alind Saxena, Chief Business Officer, L&T Technology Services said “We are very excited to collaborate with Collins Aerospace for their advanced aerospace and defense service needs. At LTTS, our constant endeavour is to be our customer’s most reliable engineering and digital services partner. We look forward to playing a more significant role in Collins Aerospace’s engineering road map.”

Worldwide Semiconductor Revenue to Decline 9.6% in 2019: Gartner

Worldwide semiconductor revenue is forecast to total $429 billion in 2019, a decline of 9.6% from $475 billion in 2018, according to Gartner, Inc. This is down from the previous quarter’s forecast of -3.4%.

“The semiconductor market is being impacted by a number of factors. A weaker pricing environment for memory and some other chips types combined with the U.S.-China trade dispute and lower growth in major applications, including smartphones, servers and PCs, is driving the global semiconductor market to its lowest growth since 2009,” said Ben Lee, senior principal research analyst at Gartner. “Semiconductor product managers should review production and investment plans to protect themselves from this weaker market.”

A demand-driven oversupply in the DRAM market will push pricing down 42.1% in 2019 and the oversupply is expected to extend through the second quarter of 2020. The decline is due to signs of a slower demand recovery at the hyperscale vendors and the increasing inventory levels of DRAM vendors. This ends the longest period of undersupply seen in the DRAM industry.

The ongoing dispute between the U.S. and China is causing uncertainty over trade rates. U.S.-imposed restrictions on Chinese businesses are based on security concerns and will have a longer-term impact on semiconductor supply and demand. These combined issues will accelerate China’s domestic semiconductor production, as well as create local forks of technologies such as ARM processors. Some manufacturing will relocate outside China during the dispute and many companies will seek to diversify their manufacturing base to reduce any further disruption.

The global NAND market has been in oversupply since the first quarter of 2018 and is now more pronounced as the near-term demand for NAND is weaker than expected.

“We expect that high smartphone inventory and sluggish solid-state array demand will last for a few more quarters,” said Mr. Lee. “Given the aggressive price declines for NAND, it is possible to see a more balanced supply/demand outlook in 2020. However, looking further out is concerning given slowing demand drivers, such as PCs and smartphones, and more capacity as new fabs in China impact the market.”

Helo Partners with Vijay Devarakonda Starrer ‘Dear Comrade’

Helo, India’s leading social media platform, recently announced its partnership with the upcoming Vijay Devarakonda starrer movie, ‘Dear Comrade’ as the film’s Presenting Partner.

As a part of the partnership, Vijay Devarakonda of ‘Arjun Reddy’ fame, along with his co-star Rashmika Mandaara and the entire cast and crew, joins Helo and will be sharing film campaigns and call-to-action videos and posts on the platform. The movie is scheduled to release on the 26th of July 2019 in Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam and Kannada.

Commenting on this partnership, Shyamanga Barooah, Head of Content Operations, Helo said “The partnership with Dear Comrade is aligned with our intent to make local and latest entertainment content accessible to our users. In fact, ‘entertainment’ is the most popular category for our users in the southern markets as we see the most content consumption and creation related to the category. These partnerships give our users an opportunity to engage with their favourite stars on the app and build a special connection with them. We’re already seeing great engagement on the app and are sure that this film is going to be a blockbuster.”

Helo users will get access to licensed movie content such as movie posters/clips/trailers/celebrity videos etc, exclusively on Helo. Users can also get their hands on movie tickets, merchandise, cast’s autographs as campaign gratification.