Bentley Systems Bolsters Digital Cities Offerings with Acquisitions of Citilabs and Orbit Geospatial Tech

The Year in Infrastructure 2019 Conference – 21 October 2019 – Bentley Systems, Incorporated, the leading global provider of comprehensive software and digital twin cloud services for advancing the design, construction, and operations of infrastructure, today announced the acquisitions of global mobility simulation (CUBE) and analytics (Streetlytics) software provider Citilabs, and global provider of 3D and mobile mapping software, Orbit Geospatial Technologies (Orbit GT). The newly acquired technologies, in conjunction with Bentley’s existing design integration and digital cities offerings, enable engineering-based mobility digital twins. Road mobility digital twins converge cities’ digital context (including 4D surveying facilitated by Orbit GT for drone-and vehicle-mounted mobile mapping), and digital components (including from Bentley’s OpenRoads engineering applications) with CUBE simulations—to model and assure real-world throughput capacity for proposed and existing roadway assets. Streetlytics traffic data will become increasingly available through Bentley’s cloud services to calibrate and validate mobility digital twins.

Robert Mankowski, vice president, digital cities, for Bentley Systems, said, “Mobility is a priority opportunity for city digital twins, because too often existing planning and simulation efforts are disconnected from the infrastructure’s engineering reality. As the roadway design software leaders, we’re very enthusiastic to be the first to enable engineering-founded mobility digital twins. With these acquisitions, we can now bring together traffic simulations, by way of the respected and versatile CUBE software—led by traffic engineer Michael Clarke to have now become a market leader—with automated mobile mapping workflows for reality modeling of roadways, as envisioned and realized by Peter Bonne, and his family, in leading the team behind Orbit GT. This will serve communities and regions in designing, testing, and optimizing the resilience of their mobility infrastructure.”

Aakash Institute Conducts ANTHE 2019 at 2,411 Centres for 3.27 Lakh Students Across India

Highlights

* Since 2010 when it was first instituted, ANTHE has seen around 19 lakh students appearing for the Aakash National Talent Hunt Exam.
* Hundreds of deserving Students will be awarded up-to 100% scholarship to help them take the first step in their endeavor to become doctors and IITians.
* Students studying in Class VIII, IX and X can take benefit of this scholarship program.
* Additionally, from this year students studying in Class XI and XII also had the opportunity of writing ANTHE.

Creating history in the test preparation sector, Aakash Educational Services Ltd. (AESL), the national leader in test preparatory services for aspiring doctors and IITians with more than 187 centres across the country, saw a whopping 3.27 lakh students appear for its national scholarship exam, the Aakash National Talent Hunt Exam (ANTHE), held on October 20, 2019, across India.

The scholarship exam was conducted both in the online mode as well as offline at around 2,411 centres across the length and breadth of the country. Started in 2010, ANTHE has seen around 19 lakh students appearing for the Aakash National Talent Hunt Exam.

Said Mr. Aakash Chaudhry, Co-Promoter and CEO of Aakash Educational Services Limited (AESL) and Founder & Trustee of Plaksha University: “We are overwhelmed by the response that ANTHE has received across India over the last decade, and more so, this year when it has broken all previous records and saw a whopping 3.27 lakh students appear for the exam. ANTHE has today emerged as one of the largest gateway in the country for school students aspiring to fulfil their Medical or IIT dream. Its growing popularity is a testimony of the innovative teaching methodology, curriculum and faculty at Aakash Institute.”

The scholarship exam was held on October 13 and October 20, 2019 across 24 states & Union Territories in the country. This year, ANTHE was conducted for the first time in Tripura as well.

Being one of the largest private sector pan-India exams, ANTHE gives deserving students an opportunity to earn up-to 100% scholarship and helps them take the first step in their endeavor to become doctors and IITians. Students studying in Class VIII to XII participated in the exam.

Looking at the response and demand from students and parents from previous years, this year ANTHE was opened to Class XI and XII students as well.

More than 2,000 students from Classes VIII and XII across India will be eligible for 100% scholarship on Tuition Fee. In addition, 600 students across India will be eligible for cash awards.

Beyond the top scoring students, there will also be attractive scholarships on the Tuition Fee, based on the marks scored by students in ANTHE.

The countrywide talent hunt exam ANTHE was held across 24 states and union territories in two phases on October 13, 2019 and October 20, 2019. States where the scholarship exam was held are Assam, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Chandigarh, Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Goa, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Punjab, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Tripura, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and West Bengal.

India’s First Internet Car - MG HECTOR Receives First Over-the-Air (OTA) Software Update

India’s first internet car – MG HECTOR has received the first over-the-air (OTA) software update that adds new features such as Apple Car Play and enhances the overall user experience with technological enhancements.

MG is one of the first in the automotive industry globally to provide free over-the-air software updates. With this, customers no longer need to get their cars all the way to the authorised service station for updating their infotainment system.

Starting today, customers of MG HECTOR’s Smart & Sharp variants will receive a notification on their touchscreen display to download the latest software update. The free update can be downloaded directly, just like smartphones, making it a ‘living car’. An embedded sim card enables internet inside the MG HECTOR’s iSMART infotainment system. The carmaker will roll out the update to the cars in batches.

“As the pioneer of internet cars in India, MG Motor India has been at the forefront of technology leadership in the automotive space. With the first over-the-air update in the Indian automotive industry, we are redefining the in-car experience and will continue to delight customers with more updates in the future,” said Rajeev Chaba, President & Managing Director, MG Motor India.

Launched on June 27 this year, the MG HECTOR has received more than 36,000 bookings so far.

Engineering Masterminds from Vishnu Institute of Technology Win QuEST Ingenium 2019

Highlights

* The winning team to go on a trip to Bombardier Transportation facility in Derby, the UK
* Projects evaluated based on innovation, relevance to industry and society and marketability by industry experts from GE Gas power, MAN Truck & Bus India Pvt. Ltd. and QuEST Global

QuEST Global, a global product engineering and lifecycle services company, recognized the engineering students from Vishnu Institute of Technology, Bhimavaram, Andhra Pradesh as the winner of the ninth edition of “Ingenium”, a global initiative aimed at encouraging innovation and imagination amongst engineering students. The students from Lovely Professional University, Punjab and University of Kent, the UK, were the first and second runners up respectively. The grand finale of the annual engineering competition was held in Hyderabad, India where finalists from India and the UK presented their engineering innovations to solve complex engineering problems in the society and across various industries.

The projects presented at Ingenium finale were evaluated based on innovation, relevance to industry and society, and marketability by eminent jury members. The panel of judges included Parag Marathe, Executive – Engineering GE Power & Site Leader Hyderabad Technology Center, GE, Ashish Dugar, Chief Technology Officer, MAN Truck & Bus India Pvt. Ltd., and Venugopalan C. V., Chief Engineer, QuEST Global.

The budding engineers from India and the UK showcased projects across Software & Digital, Power, Healthcare, Automotive, Embedded & Electronics and Mechanical streams and focused on solving the various challenges around digital transformation and Industry 4.0. The winning team consisting of Gubbala Phani Chandra, Buddarapu Sai Rakesh            Kadali, Sai Tarun and Mahankali Prem Kumar from Vishnu Institute of Technology demonstrated an original way to sort out issues caused during export of shrimps and offer digitization solutions for proper monitoring and temperature maintenance. The runner-ups, Lovely Professional University and University of Kent, showcased projects on space debris analysis and smart home respectively.

“The recognition that we have been awarded will bring us a step closer to living our dreams. We want to thank QuEST Global for the positive influence that they have had in our lives as well for the big opportunities they have brought our way. We were excited to meet with many fellow engineers from India & the UK, with whom we exchanged ideas and the industry experts who gave us excellent suggestions to take our project and career to the next level,” said Gubbala Phani Chandra, members of the winning team.

The ninth edition of Ingenium was supported by Bombardier Transportation and Siemens Digital Industries Software. During the event, Robert Leclerc, Head of Global Engineering at Bombardier Transportation delivered the key note address. The students also witnessed an inspirational talk by honorable chief guest Ramesh Loganathan, Professor, Co-innovation and Head of Research Outreach, International Institute of Information Technology, Hyderabad on technology and start up trends. While addressing the budding engineers, Ramesh stressed upon the importance of innovative thinking and how it can lead to new inventions in the engineering and industrial world.

Robert Leclerc, Head of Global Engineering, Bombardier Transportation said, “It was heart-warming to see so many projects that aim at the improvement of peoples’ lives. As a provider of sustainable mobility solutions for 500 million passengers daily, we are happy to contribute to QuEST’s Ingenium, an event that brings sustainable ideas to the surface.”

Lauding the winning teams and participants, Shrikanth D Naik, Global Head - Delivery, QuEST Global, said, “I am impressed and delighted with the quality of projects presented by the students in this edition of Ingenium. It signifies the high quality talent and caliber of students to become next generation inventors and innovators. At QuEST Global, we are glad that we could make a positive impact with this initiative to harness and nurture future engineering talent to shape a better world.”

Federal Councilor of Switzerland Now at ABB Ability Innovation Center in Bengaluru

The Federal Councilor, Simonetta Sommaruga of Switzerland, Department of Environment, Transport, Energy and Communications (DETEC), visited the ABB Ability Innovation Center in Bengaluru, which houses one of ABB’s largest pool of technologists across the ABB universe for research, development and engineering. Ms Sommaruga was leading a delegation of clean technology companies from Switzerland, seen here in the picture with Sanjeev Sharma, Managing Director, ABB India. As part of the visit, at a time when the state of Karnataka is aiming for a significant share in the proposed wish-list of USD1 trillion digital economy in the country, ABB showcased its journey of digitalization with customers across sectors – from cement to paints, iron and steel to food and beverage and transportation.

Innovations in the clean energy space including local innovations like solar pump drive for farmers with more than 35,000 installations across the globe was also highlighted. Also, on display was ABB’s smart sensor, which can do remote digital diagnostics for industrial assets like motors and clean drives which provide seamless, efficient functioning of electrical networks by addressing the issue of harmonics. The state of Karnataka has been one of the pioneers in encouraging policies on solar parks, pilot of new clean technologies, and help farmers get into renewable energy generation.

The minister and delegation also got a demonstration of industry 4.0 in tech hub of the country with ABB’s remote condition monitoring of 8,000 robots, ~180 process plants across the globe from the Bengaluru center. ABB’s solutions for smart cities were also explained to the delegation including integrated operations for better infrastructure management and scalable solutions for better infrastructure management of smart cities. Karnataka has 7 smart cities in the list of development, including Bengaluru. ABB has worked on a range of projects for smart cities of Raipur, Ranchi, Ujjain, Surat and Dholera – smart power distribution technology to water supply monitoring and distribution.

“We are pleased and honored to host the honorable Federal Councillor and the Swiss business delegation at our global ABB Ability Innovation Center, which plays a key role in developing technologies of the future. ABB with its Swiss heritage shares the same passion and commitment for sustainability as Switzerland and the honorable Federal Councillor. India has taken up a leadership role globally be it in energy efficiency, emission targets, clean energy and electric mobility projects. ABB in India will continue to successfully partner our nation’s initiatives and creating business opportunities from sustainable technologies to engage all stakeholders beneficially,” said Sanjeev Sharma, Managing Director, ABB India.

TKM Upscales Efforts to Make ITI Students Industry Ready Across India

Highlights

* Signs an MOU with Automotive Skill Development Council (ASDC) for certification. 
* Toyota Technical Education Program (T-TEP) is aligned with Government of India’s ‘Skill India Mission’
* Toyota under Toyota Technical Education Program has associated with 49 ITI/Diploma institutes across 17 states in India benefitting 8000 students till date.
* Toyota is also making dealers capable in providing short term skill-oriented training program utilizing 13 Dealer Centralized Training Center [DCTC] across India benefitting over 2000 number of students across India.

In line with its consistent efforts to contribute to the skill development mission of India, Toyota Kirloskar Motor Pvt Ltd today announced its partnership with Automotive Skill Development Council (ASDC). This partnership is a part of Toyota’s mission to upscale quality technical training in the Indian Auto Industry. This initiative is focused at bridging the skill gap between ITI and industry need.

The memorandum was signed by Mr. Arindam Lahiri, CEO, Automotive Skill Development Council and  Mr. N Raja, Deputy Managing Director, Toyota Kirloskar Motor Pvt Ltd and Mr. Nikunj Sanghi, Chairman, Automotive Skill Development Council in the presence of senior representatives from Toyota Kirloskar Motor Pvt Ltd-Mr Vedprakash Tiwari, Vice President,  Mr Tadao Kidokoro, Managing Coordinator.

This initiative is targeted towards ITI and Diploma students with an objective of creating qualified manpower that will result in enhancement of service levels at dealerships. In the first phase, TKM will extend this ASDC association with already associated 49 ITI/Diploma TTEP Institutes. This is in- tune with Toyota’s concept of enhancing skill-levels of students and encouraging future entrepreneurs with a goal to provide well-trained, competent work force for the automotive industry. T-TEP will curate a cutting-edge training module, educate and mentor the aspirants on various facets of the automotive system and give them on-job training at their dealership. Based on the training garnered during the course, ASDC will certify the students enhancing their employability quotient.

In phase two, the Dealership Centralized Training Centres (DCTC) across Toyota dealerships in major metros in the country will offer a month-long crash course.  Local students can get a first- hand experience and in-depth knowledge of Toyota standards, tools, engine composition etc. at a ground level.  The objective of establishing such centres at various dealerships is to demonstrate high quality skill standards and make aspirants future-ready by providing expert training, facilities, advanced curriculum and equipment. At the end of crash course, get opportunity to work for dealerships

Proud to partner with TKM on this initiative, Mr. Nikunj Sanghi, Chairman, Automotive Skill Development Council said, “We are happy to associate with Toyota who has been at the forefront of skill development initiatives. It is our commitment to work together with OEMs to build a sustainable skilling ecosystem in the automotive industry. With the ever-evolving customer needs, dynamic regulatory environment, emerging technology trends like electrified, automated, connected, shared technology, these cusps of changes demand for advanced skill levels.  It is important that we provide such avenues for providing specialized trainings, apprenticeship opportunities and quality facilities to make the workforce industry ready. We hope all industry stakeholders come forward to work in an integrated manner to bridge the skill gap in the auto industry”

Sharing his thoughts on the tie-up, Mr. N Raja, Deputy Managing Director, Toyota Kirloskar Motor Pvt Ltd said, “We are pleased to partner with ASDC to further upscale our comprehensive skill development initiatives. As reports suggest, the auto sector may face the shortage of skilled manpower and only 45.6% of youths are employable as per the skill needed by 2022.  The Automotive Mission Plan (AMP) 2016-26 aims to make the sector a significant contributor to the Skill India Program and one of the largest job-creating engines in the Indian economy.  We are constantly working towards enhancing our skill development initiatives keeping pace with the rapidly changing technology trends and emerging industry needs. ASDC assessment and certification will help in boosting the competency and competitiveness of the ITI students.  Good cars, quality cars are a result of- good people, quality people who think in a sustainable manner. As a responsible automobile manufacturer, we have prioritized sustainable skill development to create world class skilled workforce. This initiative is in line with Government of India’s Skill India Mission to enhance skill and increase the employability of youth workforce.”

Launched in India in 2006, the Toyota Technical Education Program (T-TEP) is a part of the Toyota’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activities in-line with the skill enhancement projects that TKM has been undertaking to bridge the skill gap faced by the Indian automotive industry. T-TEPs are established as a result of partnerships with industrial and technical training institutes across India to impart automotive trainings – General Repair, Automotive Body Repair and Automotive Paint Repair, thus, developing a highly-skilled technical workforce with bright career opportunities in the industry.  With this program TKM has been able to enhance the skill sets and employability of ITI students exposing students to the latest technology in automotive repair and on-the-job training at nearby Toyota Dealerships.

Some of the key highlights of TKM’s other skill initiatives follows:

* Gurukul- Gurukul is a well-equipped learning center at TKM that imparts diverse training to employees at all levels helping them improve their abilities and thoroughly fulfill their roles. Everyone who works in Toyota experiences 70% of their development through the job itself; and the experience serves as a driving force in developing the next generation

* Toyota Technical Training Institute (TTTI)- TTTI is specially created to offer a three year rigorous full-time training in – Automobile Assembly, Automobile Paint, Automobile Weld and Mechatronics (a combination of mechanical and industrial electronics) to financially challenged students hailing from Below Poverty Line (BPL) families across regions of Karnataka state

* Toyota Apprentice Scheme (TAS) – Under TAS, TKM has trained over 12,000 Apprentice Members (ITI, Diploma and Engineer) since 2002, which makes it one of the largest sources of providing such manpower to the industry

* National Skill Contest– Launched in 2014, National Sales & Service Skill Contest is an initiative that provides Toyota’s dealer sales & service personnel to showcase their skill levels with a view to identify gaps and improvise. Held at three levels – across dealership, regional and national levels, the contestants are evaluated on various parameters such as knowledge, process demonstration, soft skills and role plays among others. Continuous training skills are imparted to hone the dealer personnel skill sets to meet the growing expectations and deliver Toyota’s best-of-all Quality, Durability & Reliability for ultimate customer delight

* Centre of Excellence- As a long term plan of associating with Academia, Toyota set-ups Centre of Excellence at engineering colleges to demonstrate future technology to the budding talents of the industry.  Also, the company collaborates with the academic council to add Toyota unique traits in the study curriculum.  Toyota has been conducting various interactive session/workshops on Safety, clean and green technology etc for sharing insights involving various stakeholders such as Government, NGOs & Industry bodies.

LTI to Acquire Powerupcloud Technologies to Boost Cloud Consulting and Digital Transformation

Larsen & Toubro Infotech Ltd., a global technology consulting and digital solutions company is acquiring Powerupcloud Technologies Pvt. Ltd., a fast-growing cloud consulting company headquartered in Bengaluru, and helping clients across India, Singapore, UAE and USA. With more than 180 employees, Powerup brings a strong team of cloud consulting, artificial intelligence and data analytics professionals to LTI.

Founded in 2015, Powerup is a born-in-the-cloud, Premier Consulting Partner of AWS. It is the only AWS certified partner in APAC to have both Data & Analytics Competency and Machine Learning Competency, and one of the few certified partners of AWS with competencies across Migration, DevOps, Financial Services, Well-Architected, and Security & Compliance. With expertise across cloud, big data, artificial intelligence, and product engineering, Powerup is also a Gold Partner of Microsoft Azure and a Cloud Consulting Partner of Google Cloud Platform.

Powerup has executed over 150 projects in cloud transformation. Powerup would add two AI-based platforms to LTI’s powerful suite of offerings. CloudEnsure.io, an autonomous Cloud Governance Platform that continuously monitors an enterprise’s cloud services, detects security and compliance violations in real-time and recommends or executes appropriate fixes. The other platform is Botzer.io, an Enterprise AI Platform that helps organizations adopt AI faster across Natural Language Processing, Image Recognition, Deep Learning use-cases and saves time spent in trial-and-error experimentation.     

Sanjay Jalona, Chief Executive Officer & Managing Director, LTI, said: “We see a huge market opportunity for cloud consulting across all sectors and regions. Our clients are adopting cloud to digitize their core operations and becoming data-driven organizations. Powerup strengthens our ability to partner with them in their cloud transformation journey. I welcome the customers, employees and partners of Powerup to the fast-growing LTI family.”

Siva S, Founder & CEO, Powerup, said: “With its global customer base and agility, LTI makes the perfect home for next phase of growth of Powerup. Our expertise across major public cloud platforms offers us an enormous opportunity to grow, learn, iterate and build well-engineered technology solutions for enterprises. We are excited about the potential of rapid growth and expansion with LTI.”

Powerup is the sixth acquisition by LTI since the company got listed in 2016 and fourth in this calendar year. Earlier in 2019, LTI acquired Ruletronics, a boutique Pega Consulting company, N+P (NEILSEN+PARTNER), a Temenos Wealthsuite specialist, and Lymbyc, an advanced analytics company.