KisanKraft Conducts Aerobic Rice Demo for Kanakapura Farmers

KisanKraft an ISO 9001:2015 certified manufacturer, wholesale importer & distributor of high quality agricultural equipment conducted an Aerobic Rice demonstration for farmers in Kanakapura, Ramanagara district, Karnataka. The demonstration was conducted by Mr. Sumantha Holla and Mr. Raghavendra in order to educate farmers on the process of cultivating Aerobic Rice.

The advantages of Aerobic rice is that it uses 50% less water than that required for paddy cultivation and reduces the amount of fertilizer, pesticides, labor costs and greenhouse gas emissions. As against 5,000 litres of water required to produce one kg of conventional rice, the aerobic rice requires between 2,000-2,500 litres.  This crop could also be grown in low rainfall areas.

Aerobic rice is dry direct seeded in well aerated fields.  The fields need not be puddled. Inter or mixed cropping with pulses, vegetables, and oilseeds is also possible.  In the long run, this improves the soil health.

Speaking at the demonstration, Mr. Sumanth said, “Rice cultivation and production is a huge contributor to the economy of India. Various problems and issues such as water scarcity and the lack of knowledge can have a serious impact on the production of this crop, which can negatively impact the growth of our economy. To combat the growing issues against the rice crop, we at KisanKraft have developed a new strain of Aerobic Rice which consumes more the 50% less water with the same outputs.“

Raghavendra Said “Using Aerobic Rice, farmers can yield 55 quintals of paddy per ha or more depending on the fertility of the soil. Without any change in the taste as compared to traditional rice varieties, this paddy can be sown directly resulting in an increase in profitability of paddy cultivation as it brings down the expenses of cultivation significantly.”

A significant advantage of cultivating Aerobic Rice that it does not need nursery, puddling, leveling and transplanting. It is also very eco-friendly as it produces less methane emission while being a cost effective crop as it gives lesser incidence of pests and diseases.

SDG Corporation and RSA Announce Strategic Partnership Across India

RSA Security and SDG Corporation are proud to announce their strategic partnership for fraud and risk intelligence solutions and services across India. Cyber fraud teams around the world speak in volumes about the frequent occurrences of account takeovers, fraudulent money transfers and sophisticated business logic abuses that result in massive financial and brand losses. RSA’s top-of-the-line fraud management products and SDG’s two decades of experience in delivering cyber security solutions and services make this partnership a great asset for the companies’ global customers.

By strategically working together, both SDG and RSA can address the ever-increasing needs of online fraud detection and prevention solutions and services. The partnership and the newly launched Fraud and Risk Intelligence practice will allow SDG to provide advisory, implementation and managed services, as well as take RSA fraud and risk intelligence solutions to existing & new customers. In the war against evolving cybercrime with actionable intelligence, SDG and RSA will empower customers to respond to digital fraud attacks in real time.

“We are in an era of hyper-digital transformation, and the risk of zero-day fraud exists in all channels. It is extremely important for enterprises to protect online transactions and stay one step ahead of fraudsters’ attempts to exploit vulnerabilities.” says Ajay Gupta, President & CEO of SDG Corporation. “We are extremely excited about our strategic partnership with RSA. It enables us to offer end-to-end cross channel risk-based fraud management solutions to secure users’ online experiences.”

“With rapid penetration of digital deeper into business operations, the line between cyber security and risk management has blurred. RSA’s business-driven security solutions provide a unified approach to managing digital risk that hinges on integrated visibility, automated insights and coordinated actions helping customers create capabilities necessary to achieve the required digital risk management maturity,” said Rajnish Gupta, Regional Director, India & SAARC, RSA, A Dell Technologies Company. “We are thrilled to partner with SDG to give organizations transforming their digital, multi-channel strategy the ability to protect consumers against fraud while improving the user experience and reducing transaction friction.”

SBI General Insurance Announces Bancassurance Tie up with “Karnataka Gramin Bank”

SBI General Insurance, one of India’s leading general insurance companies, has entered into a comprehensive bancassurance deal with Karnataka Gramin Bank to provide the bank customers with a bouquet of general insurance products.

With this partnership, SBI General Insurance has extended its distribution channels in the southern market and will distribute its insurance products across all the branches of Karnataka Gramin Bank. The extensive local presence of the bank will be an added advantage for the insurance company.

Speaking on this alliance, Mr. Pushan Mahapatra, MD & CEO, SBI General Insurance, “We are pleased to announce the tie-up with such a prestigious bank in the state of Karnataka. The bancassurance channel has potential to reach out to the last mile and serve untapped markets thereby promoting the insurance penetration in India. At SBI General insurance, we strive to reach out to the furthest part of the society and spread awareness on insurance, and this partnership is in line with our objective. This association will leverage the strengths of both the companies, bringing Karnataka Gramin Bank’s customers a comprehensive suite of general Insurance products.”

Karnataka Gramin Bank is the biggest RRB of India having presence in 21 districts of Karnataka with 1167 branches. The bank has a business turnover of 46500 cr and is servicing 1.58 cr customers across Karnataka. The deal will benefit the bank’s retail and SME customers spread across rural, semi urban and urban areas of Karnataka state.

Cyient and QinetiQ Sign MoU to Offer Avionics Products for Unmanned Target Systems in India

Cyient, a global engineering and technology solutions company, today announced that it had signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with UK-based defense technology firm, QinetiQ’s Target Systems (QTS), to offer avionics products for its unmanned target systems. Cyient will provide advanced manufacturing and electronics engineering solutions for QTS’ range of unmanned air, land, and sea target systems from its facilities in India.

“The signing of this MOU with Cyient marks a significant milestone in QTS’ strategy in India. The high levels of expertise and quality within the Cyient business together with the enthusiasm and desire to succeed have impressed us from day one. Initial efforts are focused on the manufacture and assembly of avionics and electronics assemblies for our target systems as we grow indigenous activities beyond the manufacture and assembly of airframes, subsystems, and ground equipment already in place,” said Graham Brooks, Program Manager, India, at QinetiQ Target Systems.

“We are very excited about our collaboration with QTS, a world leader in unmanned air, land, and sea targets for live-fire training, test, and evaluation exercises. This partnership will allow us to support the “Make in India” initiative of the Government of India by building critical subsystems for QTS products out of our manufacturing facilities.  While we will initiate the collaboration with making avionics products, Cyient’s comprehensive design, build, and maintain portfolio will be leveraged for other purposes as well. We can deliver world-class aerospace engineering solutions and leverage our award-winning productivity and innovation framework to support QTS’ products in India. We see a seamless alignment between our business strategies, and this MoU is a significant milestone in our long-term partnership,” said Anand Parameswaran, Senior Vice President, Aerospace and Defense at Cyient.

World's Leading Brands Focus On Acquiring New-Age Skills

Every year on September 8, International Literacy Day is celebrated across the globe by UNESCO to acknowledge the improvements in world literacy while working on the challenges that remain. However, in an ever-evolving world that is turning more digital by every passing day, the definition of literacy needs to expand to also cover emerging yet fundamental skills that go beyond being able to read and write. Here’s what the top and emerging brands venturing into equipping young minds and professionals with emerging skills like data literacy and cybersecurity have to say on the occasion of International Literacy Day.

Ankur Goel, Managing Director, Qlik India said, "International Literacy Day is a timely reminder of the essential skills that form the foundations of education and employment. But literacy does not only apply to letters and words… with the volume of data being created today doubling every two years – it goes without saying that reading and understanding this data will become essential to all – but especially so for the younger generation who will be joining the workforce.

Young people are already almost three times more likely to be unemployed than adults and the education system as it stands is unable to adequately prepare them for this new generation of work – of those 16-24 year-olds already in the workforce, Qlik’s Global Data Literacy Report found 52% are overwhelmed by the data they must read and analyse as part of their job. Additionally, the research suggests that most (81%) full-time employees in India admit to feeling overwhelmed when reading, working with, analysing or challenging data. At Qlik, we are already working towards creating a more data empowered society through initiatives like the Data Literacy Project whose mission is to enable individuals at every stage in their data literacy journey. The portal provides at no cost - assessments, courses and even globally recognised certification, where individuals can upskill themselves. The Qlik Academic Program also works with over 150 universities in India to provide access to the Qlik Data Analytics Curriculum, which offers professors ready-to-teach, free resources – including instructor-led content, in-class activities and interactive business use cases. As the success of the digital economy lies in equipping the current and future workforce with the skills to succeed, data literacy training programs must be placed front and centre both in the education system and the workplace to boost their chances of success in a rapidly changing future world of work.”

Mr. Rakesh Kharwal, MD - India, Cyberbit says, "“Today, India is at an interesting crossroad and is brilliantly positioned to not just shape the regional discourse, but to transform the socio-economic dynamics at a global scale. With the ongoing digitization, India is rapidly adopting technological solutions and developing relevant skills. The nation has further traveled a long way in terms of cybersecurity, spreading its awareness and adoption quickly within the market. This is also a reason why avant-garde simulation training solutions such as Cyberbit Range are receiving positive traction in the country. We can clearly visualize such tools equipping our nation with the forward-looking skillsets which can eventually generate over 1 million jobs and make India emerge as the global hub of both technological solutions and talent.”

United Kingdom to Extend Two-Year Work Visa to Foreign Students

In a move that addresses a long-standing demand to boost Indian student numbers choosing British universities, the UK government on Wednesday announced a new two-year post-study work visa route for all international students.

The new 'Graduate' route, to be in place by next year, will be open to all overseas nationals who have valid UK immigration status as a student and have successfully completed a course of study in any subject at undergraduate level or above at a government-approved UK higher education institution.

The visa will allow eligible students to work, or crucially look for work, in any career or position of their choice, for two years after completing their studies.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who has effectively re-instated a policy ended by his predecessor Theresa May around nine years ago, said the change will see students "unlock their potential" to begin careers in the UK.

NetRack Extends a Helping Hand to Karnataka Flood Victims

The heavy water discharge from the Maharashtra reservoir due to heavy Rains in the particular areas has severely affected the North Karnataka districts of Belagavi, Bijapur, Raichur, Kalburgi, Yadgir and Uttara Kannada. Karnataka received nearly five times the rainfall it normally used to have, adding to the severity of the floods across 12 districts. Excess rainfall is the main possible factor that caused and intensified floods.

NetRack, a leading solution provider for data centers and end-to-end IT server racks, acted and came forward to help the recent flood-affected victims in Karnataka. The company contributed INR 10 lakhs to help the flood affected victims in Karnataka. Besides, NetRack also donated 3000 saplings to Isha foundation towards Save Cauvery Campaign, urging on the importance of trees in holding the soil during floods.

Mr. Ravi Raj, Brand Head, Director, Sales & Support at NetRack said, "We at NetRack feel proud to be able to extend our support to help the flood-affected regions with our small contribution. Also, I would like to thank the Karnataka police along with the Indian Air Force, civilians, NGOs, volunteers, fishermen from coastal Karnataka who had actively taken part in the rescue operations."

Like NetRack, out there are many NGOs, rescue teams, including personnel State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and the Army, who extended their helping hands for the restoration of flood-affected regions of Karnataka.