cult Members Plog for a Plastic-Free Across 8 Indian Cities

cult.fit has organised a plogging initiative across 8 cities (Bengaluru, Mumbai, Delhi, Gurgaon, Chennai, Pune, Hyderabad and Jaipur), removing plastic from the streets. Members covered an aggregate of 160 kilometres in this unique run that combined cleanliness and fitness.

India’s largest and most loved fitness brand cult.fit organised this plog in association with the Fit India Movement as a nation-wide ban on plastic is put in place – uniting two goals in the larger vision for a healthier India. Members from India’s largest fitness community started the run from their respective cult centres and covered a distance of 2km, collecting plastic and trash on the way. An eco-friendly activity, plogging also provides the runner an effective workout by adding variations to body movements in the act of picking up litter.

Commenting on this, Naresh Krishnaswamy, Head of cult & Head of Growth & Marketing cure.fit, said, “The ban on single-use plastic announced by the Prime Minister today is a move in the right direction and the industry needs to make appropriate changes for a better future. We as cure.fit are working towards eliminating single-use plastic across our businesses. The plogging initiative is the first step in this direction. To clean the streets while running is a fun way of ensuring our surroundings are clean while getting fit. We thank the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports for their support and for associating with us on this initiative. “

Speaking about the initiative taken by cult.fit, RS Julaniya, Secretary,Sports, Government of India said, “It is heartening to see such enthusiastic participation from cult.fit in the Fit India Plog Run. By engaging their members to join in this initiative towards a fit and clean India, the company has indeed brought out fitness from the niche confines of a gym to the larger masses. Government- private associations like these can turn Fit India into a people’s movement that our Honourable PM has envisioned.” 

GARMIN India Sparkles the Luxury Watch Market with its All New ‘MARQ’ Collection

Marking the 30th year of Garmin’s long-standing heritage in the aviation, automotive, marine, outdoor and sport segment, Garmin India- a unit of Garmin Ltd. (NASDAQ: GRMN), today launched its premium luxury watch collection - The MARQ. With this high performance collection, Garmin India has redefined the luxury watch space in India. The extraordinarily spread of smart devices comes equipped with savvy modern features.

The MARQ collection features variants such as MARQ Driver, MARQ Athlete, MARQ Aviator, MARQ Captain and MARQ Expedition, designed for people who aspire for a perfect amalgamation of timeless luxury and best-in-class technology.

The MARQ collection is crafted from premium materials, stunning design elements and comes equipped with unique features. Each watch is built of titanium, which is lightweight, yet incredibly durable for high performance usage. The lens of the watches are made with sapphire crystal tested under extreme heat and pressure, rendering them extremely durable. The material is twice as hard, compared to glass.

The watches are further developed with ceramic bezel inlay to protect the watch from wear and tear in the most challenging environments. Loaded with Garmin’s world class technology, the watches are always-on, has sunlight-readable display with GPS capabilities and boasts of unparalleled functionality. The watches in the collection, comes with built-in music storage, Garmin Pay™, smart notifications, daily activity tracking, wrist-based heart rate and a wrist-based Pulse Ox2 sensor.

The battery life of the MARQ series ranges from up to 12 days in smartwatch mode, 28 hours in GPS Mode and up to 48 hours in UltraTracTM mode.  All the watches are compatible with Garmin’s QuickFit solution which makes room for easy alterations of straps and bracelets.

Speaking on the landmark launch, Mr. Ali Rizvi, National Sales Manager - Garmin India said, “Engineering and innovation have always been the two biggest pillars for GARMIN. Ever since its inception, the company has always kept its customer’s ‘necessity and passion’ under immense priority. The MARQ collection is crafted with precise attention to details, both in terms of form factor and in terms of its functionality. We have the legacy of keeping our consumers at the centre-stage of innovation and all our products speak volumes about this commitment of ours.”

MARQ Driver

The ‘first and the only luxury’ modern watch with smart features and more than 250 preloaded global racetracks. The MARQ Driver is built for the racing enthusiast and comes equipped with auto lap splits, live delta time and a track timer. The Track Timer lets the user time cars at the race track and calculate their average speed. MARQ Driver also features a hybrid bracelet - a titanium shell on the outside for a sleek and refined look, with a soft inner material suitable for any activity. These individual titanium outer links with silicone inner, links to wrap the wrist in an exceptionally comfortable, lightweight and highly breathable metal bracelet. Treated with a highly durable carbon gray DLC (Diamond like Carbon) coating, it makes the watch virtually resistant to scratches. This watch provides not only protects itself against everyday wear and tear but can also withstand the high vibration environment, commonplace in racing.

MARQ Athlete

The MARQ Athlete is an ultralight titanium watch with high-performance silicone strap that permits for serious training and doubles up as a stylish companion for dress events – the perfect homage to Garmin’s tradition of creating thoughtfully-designed smartwatches for runners, by runners. Feature-packed for the seasoned athlete or aspiring athlete, MARQ Athlete includes advanced running dynamics including V02 max and recovery time scale - right on the bezel, so a snapshot of an athlete’s performance is always visible with a glance at the wrist. Additionally, MARQ Athlete includes advanced running dynamics to further track workout stats, measure progress and fine-tune form. With sensors for various biometrics, athletes can gain additional insights on their performance, and with Pulse Ox, they can see how well their body is absorbing oxygen.

MARQ Aviator

Created for the pilot or aviation enthusiast, the MARQ Aviator features an aviation-inspired luminous swept-wing design, and a multi-link titanium bracelet with security clasp. The MARQ Aviator fits with precision on the wrist for in-flight wear and effortlessly transitions into a stylish timepiece out of the cockpit. Designed with a classic monochromatic scheme, the MARQ Aviator includes aviation maps and advanced safety features such as the NEXRAD Weather Radar, airport information and Garmin cockpit integration. A mirror-polished 24-hour GMT bezel give pilots quick access to two other time zones in addition to the current time, as well as the airport code on the watch face.

MARQ Captain

For those drawn to water, MARQ Captain is a revolutionary regatta timer enhanced with GPS technology, advanced nautical and smart features including a regatta timer bezel, coastal charts, tack assist and a port conditions watch face to keep mariners up to speed on the conditions of their port of choice. The watch face display the current wind speed, temperature and tide information, allowing the mariner to decide if conditions are right for a day on the water. This watch is the best fit for a master tactician who believes in delivering exceptional performance in any condition.

MARQ Expedition

Created with the modern explorer in mind, MARQ Expedition features TOPO mapping, a built-in altimeter, barometer and compass, plus ClimbPro, which provides real-time information on current and upcoming climbs such as gradient, distance and elevation gain. MARQ Expedition is compatible with the inReach Mini satellite communicator. Besides, the wireless unit-to-unit connectivity allows the user to remotely control the in Reach Mini device to send and receive messages using the MARQ Expedition. The watch is crafted from vegetable-tanned Italian Vachetta leather – a premium untreated long-lasting cowhide leather with a buttery soft finish with a waxed stitching for sealed-in protection from moisture and fraying. It also comes with a subtle embossing on the back for outstanding comfort in all conditions. This classic vintage instrument inspired design has all the functionalities as outdoor enthusiast needs as a versatile everyday watch.

Pricing and Availability

The MARQ Athlete will be available at Rs. 1,41,990, the MARQ Driver at Rs.  2,36,990 , the MARQ Aviator  at Rs. 1,84,990, the MARQ Captain at Rs. 1,74,990 and the MARQ Expedition at Rs. 1,65,990. All the watches will be available online through www.thegarminstore.in.

Rakesh Makhija Joins Board of Directors of Castrol India Limited

Castrol India Limited, India's leading automotive and industrial lubricant manufacturing and marketing company, announced the appointment of Mr. Rakesh Makhija as an independent non-executive director to its Board of Directors with effect from 1 October 2019.

Mr. Makhija brings over four decades of significant top management experience with diversified industrial and technology companies. He has held senior sales and general management roles including international ones, having worked across geographies like China and Sweden, besides India.

While he has served as the non-executive Chairperson of SKF India between July 2015 to May 2019, Mr. Makhija has recently been appointed as non-executive Chairperson at Axis Bank, the third largest private sector bank in India in July 2019 for a three-year term.

Mr. Makhija has also held several senior management positions within Tata Honeywell and Honeywell International, the global industrial and aerospace company and Kinetics Technology International BV (now Technip), a process engineering and contracting company in the Netherlands.

He is a chemical engineer from the Indian Institute of Technology, New Delhi and has been recognized with numerous industry awards including the prestigious 'CNBC India Business Leader Award' in 2007 for Talent Management.

Mr. R Gopalakrishnan, non-executive Chairperson, Board of Directors, Castrol India Ltd said: "We are very pleased to welcome industry veteran Rakesh Makhija to the Castrol India Board. With his deep domain knowledge, and experience of leading successful businesses in varied sectors, we look forward to his incisive strategic insights which will add enormous value to the Castrol India business as it aspires to reach new levels of success." 

Speaking on his appointment, Mr. Rakesh Makhija said, "I am excited to join the Board of Castrol India. Castrol is a strong brand and an industry leader in India. I look forward to working with the Board and management as it explores new innovative technology solutions to continuously delight its customers and consumers." 

Center Pledges 560 Crores to State Governments to Promote Demand-Driven, Industry Linked Skill Development

Highlights

* Collaboration with 22 organizations to provide apprenticeship training opportunities to 2.5 lac + youth;
* Government to ensure standardized assessment system
* Detailed discussions with States on Vision 2025
* Extensive focus on promoting Apprenticeship training; Launches pilot programme to give incentives to TPAs (Third Party Aggregators) to further expand program

On behalf of the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE), Union Minister Dr. Mahendra Nath Pandey today announced the Center’s commitment of INR 560 crores to the State Governments to promote demand-driven, industry linked skill development at the ground level.

The announcement was made by the Hon’ble Minister at the Annual National Conference of State Ministers held in New Delhi, today which also saw the commencement of the ‘Apprenticeship Pakhwada’, a 15-day event aimed at driving widespread awareness of the Apprenticeship. The event witnessed collaboration with 22 organizations to provide apprenticeship training opportunities to more than 2.5 lakh youth in the country.

This annual conference acts as a platform for the stakeholders of the various skilling schemes across the country, especially state government skill ministers to meet and discuss various issues affecting the skilling efforts in their states. The event saw more than 80 representatives across States participating in the conference namely -

Addressing the States on their collaboration on Skill Development, Dr. Mahendra Nath Pandey said, “Skill development is a demand-driven subject and thus it is important that we give more power to the States to ensure quality and market relevant outcome. It is important that we map and strike a balance between the traditional and new age skills, right at the district level and also target a shift from un-organized to the organized market through our Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) program.”

“The States should ensure integration of skills right at the school level so that the youth can decide which skills to hone. At the University level, we should promote apprenticeship training as part the regular degree courses, since on-the-job training is the pre-requisite for any job,” he further added.

The Minister said that the government, both at the Center and the State level, should work towards a common standardized assessment system. “We should promote those who are contributing with quality outcome and discourage every sort of corruption”, he said.

Giving a direction to States, Shri R.K Singh, Minster of State for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship said, “Our focus should be on secondary and tertiary sectors than primary sectors for jobs opportunities now; and on the local demands for goods and services than on global ones. States should consistently undertake environmental scan for market relevant skills. We should ensure our alignment to jobs of the future so that India has a competitive advantage. It is also important that our trainers are upgraded consistently to latest curriculum and our infrastructure should be of global standards focusing quality delivery.”

The event also listed the recent amendments in Apprenticeship Act with an objective to increase linkage with more companies and industries. As a crucial support from MSDE, incentives to Third Party Aggregators (TPAs) was also announced to strengthen the bond with several stakeholders and aspiring youth to achieve the set target of engaging 10 lac apprentices during current financial year. The event also witnessed felicitation of industries with more than 3000 apprentices each and award distribution to winners of All India Competition of Apprenticeships held by Directorate General of Training.

The inaugural session of the conference commenced with the Ministry talking about its achievements so far and also highlighting new initiatives that have been rolled out to further boost the government’s vision of skilled workforce. Close to 80 lakh youth have been skilled under Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY) since its launch in 2015. More than 28 lakh youth have been oriented under Recognition of Prior Learning Program, an initiative under PMKVY bringing about a major shift from the unorganized to the organized economy. MSDE has more than 25000+ institutes and centers today delivering more than 3000+ courses across 37 sectors in the country. These include the state-of-the-art 629 Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Kendras (PMKK); targeting one center in each district of the country.

Comprehensive reforms in Apprenticeship rules 1962 have been approved in the 36th CAC meeting held on 10th July, 2019 and had been sent for Gazette notification to further streamline the process. Major reforms include:

* Upper limit for engaging apprentices increased from 10% to 15%

* Size limit of an establishment with mandatory obligation to engage apprentices lowered from 40 to 30

* Payment of stipend for 1st year has been fixed rather than linking it to minimum wages, 10% to 15% hike in stipend for 2nd and 3rd year to apprentice

* Duration of apprenticeship training for optional trade can be from 6 months to 36 months

The ministry’s new pilot project is focused on providing incentives to TPAs and Sector Skill Councils (SSCs) as the National Apprenticeship Promotion Scheme (NAPS) launched in 2016 does not provide incentives to complete ecosystem involved in the promotion of Apprenticeship Training. TPAs and SSCs act as a catalyst for promotion and advocacy of apprenticeship training by making special efforts to reach maximum number of establishments including the micro, small and medium enterprises. The SSCs and TPAs would facilitate industries and establishments to engage a large number of youth with special focus on women apprentices. The target is to engage 2.8 lakh apprentices in designated/optional trades for the period 1st October 2019 to 31st March 2020.

MSDE signed MoUs with states with mutual consent on achieving particular apprenticeship numbers to further reinforce MSDE’s association with state Industries and apprentices. The role of state governments is crucial because as per the Act, all apprenticeship in the private sector, State PSUs and state government departments are to be regulated and closely monitored by the respective state government. A significant potential area for promoting apprenticeships, particularly in MSMEs and informal sector are under the jurisdiction of state, which remain untouched. The Ministry’s MoU singing with the states shows its commitment for expansion of outreach of apprenticeship training to maximum number of industries as well as aspirants.

The platform was additionally utilized to felicitate industry partners and other stakeholders to recognize and appreciate their indispensable contribution in consolidation of the ecosystem. The ministry also presented its vision document for 2020-2025 and shared its insights on the importance of pushing for the Right to Skill (RTS) and the way forward. Reform of the Indian skills development system is proceeding swiftly with substantial change underway and more planned in many key areas, to make the supply of skills completely aligned with the growing demands of the Indian economy.

Apprenticeship has been recognized as an effective way to empower young people to smoothly shift from school & college to work whilst at the same time improving links between industry and training institutions. The National Apprenticeship Programme plays a large part in the task of up-skilling India’s workforce, offering the opportunity to share costs among different parties (employers, individuals and the government) and to involve governments, employers and workers in partnership. Apprenticeship is a win-win situation both for industry and youth in coming together to help make the vision of ‘Skilled India’ a reality in future.

During the Pakhwada period, the ministry will hold a number of workshops and seminars across major centres in the states with the aim of creating wider awareness about the Apprenticeship Training amongst establishments and employers across manufacturing and service sectors. These will include all stakeholders including SSCs, industry partners, state governments, industry associations, third party aggregators and line ministry in various parts of the country.

Rolls-Royce Announces the First Cohort of its ‘Start-Up Accelerator Programme’, Powered by R2 Data Labs

R2 Data Labs, the data innovation catalyst inside Rolls-Royce, has identified three start-ups for its first-ever Start-up Accelerator Programme in Bengaluru. The start-ups ClearQuote (Xenon Automotive), PiChain Innovations and Imaginate Technologies will be given an equity-free grant of £10,000 each and put through a six-month co-innovation programme that will include mentoring and technical support from Rolls-Royce.

The final start-ups were identified through a rigorous selection process, wherein they were evaluated on the basis of their ideas, capabilities and project fitment. A jury of Rolls-Royce and ecosystem mentors selected three winners from 15 shortlisted finalists.

Speaking about the initiative, Kishore Jayaraman, President, Rolls-Royce India & South Asia, said: “With the stated mission of pioneering cutting-edge technologies that deliver clean, safe and competitive solutions to meet our planet’s vital power needs, Rolls-Royce believes in the disruptive power of digital technologies in shaping the future of our industry. Our India Start-up Accelerator Programme is a reinforcement of our faith in the potential of Indian start-up minds in creating innovative solutions fundamental to the digital future of the industrial technology sector.”

“We welcome the three start-ups who have been selected after a rigorous process of evaluation. We look forward to not only coaching and mentoring them but also collaborating with them to co-create and co-innovate for solving some of the most complex challenges in our business,” he added.

The programme, powered by R2 Data Labs and supported by NUMA Bengaluru, will help accelerate data innovation and drive opportunities for collaborative disruption with the brightest minds in the industry.

Under the programme, Rolls-Royce will provide mentoring to the selected start-ups and offer them an opportunity to connect, collaborate and commercialise their projects. The programme will be kick-started with the allotment of £10,000 of equity free grant to each of the start-ups, along with the prospect of strengthening their products as well as building a business strategy.

Caroline Gorski, Group Director of R2 Data Labs, said: “Successfully delivering value from data innovation is  key to Rolls-Royce's digital strategy. Working with start-ups helps us to engage with technology innovators who can bring us new technical insights and allow us to get broader perspective on the possibilities of data innovation. At the same time, we also get to help those innovators to succeed and share in their creativity and energy.”

The start-ups will work closely with the Rolls-Royce team and also get an opportunity to collaborate with industry experts as they work through the development of a  Proof of Concept.

The initiative is in line with Rolls-Royce’s commitment to collaborative innovation and building an ecosystem of partners that harnesses the latest thinking and technologies from a wide community of innovators.

For more information: www.rolls-royce.com/ecosystem

About Rolls-Royce Holdings plc

Rolls-Royce pioneers cutting-edge technologies that deliver clean, safe and competitive solutions to meet our planet’s vital power needs.

Rolls-Royce has customers in more than 150 countries, comprising more than 400 airlines and leasing customers, 160 armed forces, 70 navies, and more than 5,000 power and nuclear customers.

Annual underlying revenue was £15 billion in 2018, around half of which came from the provision of aftermarket services.

In 2018, Rolls-Royce invested £1.4 billion on research and development. We also support a global network of 29 University Technology Centres, which position Rolls-Royce engineers at the forefront of scientific research.

The Group has a strong commitment to apprentice and graduate recruitment and to further developing employee skills.

LogMeIn Unveils New Version of GoToMeeting with AI-Powered Transcription Capabilities

LogMeIn, Inc. has announced the next major launch for its GoTo portfolio of Unified Communications and Collaboration (UCC) products with a completely new experience for GoToMeeting. The new GoToMeeting focuses on delivering a simple, intuitive end-user experience, while giving IT even more control over deployment, management, and security. The product includes a video-first meeting experience, industry-leading audio quality, a new meeting hub, powerful meeting diagnostics, and additional AI-powered transcription capabilities. These updates help to streamline collaboration with a faster, more modern look and feel that’s consistent across web browsers as well as desktop and mobile applications.

LogMeIn took a customer-first approach with the new GoToMeeting, listening to feedback from thousands of collaboration users to develop the product. LogMeIn’s GoTo portfolio delivers an intuitive experience for end-users while supporting the needs of IT leaders. According to recent research from Ovum, seven out of ten IT leaders are looking to invest in new collaboration technologies in 2020. The new GoToMeeting was built with IT leaders in mind to support a modern workforce working how, where, and when they want.

“The very nature of work is changing, and we wanted to create a new GoToMeeting that is simple, fast and intuitive for users, while also giving IT a collaboration platform that sets them up for the future. Today we are releasing the video conferencing experience of tomorrow to revolutionize the way people collaborate with the most modern solution available,” said Mark Strassman Senior Vice President and General Manager of Unified Communications and Collaboration at LogMeIn. “Through thousands of conversations and feedback from our customers, we reimagined the new GoToMeeting to deliver a delightful end-user experience, while also providing the security and reliability IT expects from a trusted communications and collaboration provider. We are excited to launch this new experience today to further drive GoTo’s leadership in the video meetings space.”

In this new release, GoToMeeting has launched a series of updates to improve the ease of the collaboration platform for IT and users before, during and after the meeting:

* Pre-Meeting Experience:

* The Hub: Streamline your workday with a single workspace for your meetings, complete with meeting information, diagnostics, the ability to chat, start and schedule meetings.

* Scheduling: It’s easier than ever to choose between one-time or any-time meetings. Hosts can now create multiple personal meeting rooms with custom branding for teams to jump in and collaborate instantly at any time. GoToMeeting has also updated its popular calendar plugins and integrations with Office 365 and Outlook, GSuite Calendar, Salesforce, and more and continues to support integrations with tools like Slack and Zoho.

* Faster Join Time: Starting a session with the new GoToMeeting is 65 percent faster than before. Attendees also have the ability to choose between a download-free web meeting or joining via the new GoToMeeting desktop or mobile apps. All users will see a preview as to what they’ll look like before joining the meeting to turn video on from the start.

* In-Meeting Experience

* A New User Experience: A completely reimagined video-first design makes video meetings easier than ever. Important controls, such as leaving the meeting and the ability to see exactly what you are sharing, are now front and center. Meeting hosts have the ability to choose multiple camera views, along with new controls, including screenshot and zoom in or out to focus on a particular area of the screen being shared.

* Unparalleled Audio: Connectivity and processing enhancements to provide a crystal clear, life-like and reliable audio experience in the office, at home, or on the go even in extreme low-bandwidth situations.

* Real-Time Note Taking: Coming soon - Within the GoToMeeting session, organizers will be able to take real-time notes. Upon recording a session, organizers can launch the Note taking feature where notes will be time-stamped and available for review and editing. Using proprietary GoToMeeting technology, the system will auto-generate, AI-based action items recommendations alongside the notes an organizer creates. Notes will be saved and can be shared after the meeting or pushed via integration to the customer’s preferred systems.

* The Same Experience Across Devices: The GoToRoom, GoToMeeting mobile and GoToMeeting web browser experiences have also been updated to reflect the new look and feel for a consistent workflow and feature set regardless of how a user joins a meeting.

* Post Meeting Experience
* AI-Powered Transcription: Unlimited cloud recording means you never miss a moment. Meeting transcripts make content digestible in minutes – allowing hosts and attendees to spend less time note taking and more time participating in the meeting.
* Video to Slides: Automatically capture presentation slides during meetings and share in a downloadable PDF.
* Easy to Share Content: View, download and share transcripts, video, and notes with meeting attendees.
* IT Power and Control:
 Meeting Diagnostics Report:  IT administrators can view meeting diagnostics to monitor audio and video quality, and identify and troubleshoot root causes for meeting quality issues.
* GoToRoom: We’ve partnered with Poly and Dolby to deliver turnkey video room solutions that install in minutes.  Meetings start with just one-click, from both the in-room screen as well as from the mobile app with the same new GoToMeeting experience.
* InRoom Link: Join GoToMeeting sessions with your existing SIP and H.323 video room systems (such as Cisco and Poly).
* Security and Reliability: GoToMeeting continues to be the trusted collaboration platform, with standards-based cryptography, SOC 2 and SOC 3 compliance, high-availability cloud-hosted service infrastructure, and administration and user-based roles and controls to maximize confidentiality, integrity and availability.

“With this new release of its UCC offering, LogMeIn has focused on items that matter to end-users – ease of use, faster join times, consistency across devices and platforms, and more,” said Ira M. Weinstein, founder and managing partner at Recon Research.  “This is not a coat of paint on a legacy product.  This is a new solution architected from the ground up to add value before, during, and after the meeting experience. In short - this is a big deal.”

“HCL Uday” Organised Seed Ball Project at Mayasandara Govt School

In an initiative for building a greener future, HCL Foundation’s urban CSR program “HCL Uday” recently organized the seed ball program event at Mayasandara Government School, Anekal Taluk in the esteemed presence of Mr. Vittal Vijayakumar (Operations Director, HCL Technologies) along with Mr. Ramesh (Block Education officer. Seed ball programme is a process that involves making golf ball-sized mixture of soil, seeds and compost, and scattering it in suitable places for trees to grow. It primarily focusses on increasing the green cover across India.

Almost 230+ students along with 22+ HCL volunteers participated in the program and prepared 11200+ seed. Continuing the momentum and working with commitment to contribute in the ecological restoration, HCL Uday has already successfully executed the same program in 18 schools in the month of July and August and disbursed 65,000 seed balls so far. The vision of undertaking this initiative is to achieve 1,00,000 seed balls in the current financial year.