Tuesday, March 17, 2020

LEAD Launches LEAD School@Home to Ensure Continued Learning in View of COVID-19


LEAD School, an integrated academic excellence system, with six owned and over 800 partner schools across India, will initiate LEAD School@Home program from Monday, March 16 to ensure continuity in learning for all its students. The measure has been taken in the wake of schools closures due to incidences of COVID-19 in the country.

With school closures in Delhi and Bengaluru and other state governments contemplating the same, the live online schooling is estimated to benefit over 3 lakh students in the coming days.

Under its program, LEAD School will conduct live online sessions for the unfinished portions of the curriculum. Given the integrated curriculum offered by LEAD School that combines technology and curriculum, a student from any class will essentially be able to pick up the lesson or chapter from where it was last taught in school before closure. This will help students pick up quickly and prepare for their exams without spending any extra time in redoing the entire lesson or unit.

Sumeet Mehta, Co-founder and CEO, LEAD School said, “We believe that continuity and integration of learning is vital to our goal of imparting quality education to our children. While schools may have to consider closing due to outbreak of COVID-19, LEAD School is supporting all its partner schools to ensure that students do not stop learning. Our integrated system allows us to know the unfinished units in each grade across all our schools and helps us serve up the modules as required online for course completion before exams.”

Additionally, students who are unable to attend live sessions will also have access to recorded sessions, which can be viewed as per their convenience.  The LEAD School Parent App will provide students with the homework and assessments to ensure that no part of learning is missed out until their schools resume.

Simplilearn Offers Over 100 hours of Learning for Free To Tech Professionals Across India

Simplilearn, a global EdTech company and the world’s leading digital skills training provider, today announced that they are offering 13 comprehensive foundational programs for Free on their Android mobile app (bit.ly/simplicertified), which has over 1,00,000 learners (coming soon on iOS). These programs offer over 100 hours of learning, covering the latest industry-relevant categories and provide the ease of access via smartphone, making it a convenient on-the-go learning solution. On successful completion, learners also receive a digital certificate for each program.

The free programs being offered span across AI and Machine Learning, Big Data, Data Science & Business Intelligence, Cyber Security, Project Management, and Digital Marketing. Each program consists of a comprehensive foundational learning plan which follows Simplilearn’s unique learning structure, providing learners with expertly-crafted content.

Speaking about the initiative, Krishna Kumar, CEO & Founder, Simplilearn said, “With the rapid development and adoption of new technologies, it is today a necessity for professionals to upskill and stay ahead of the curve. By introducing free foundational programs on the Simplilearn mobile app, our aim is to support professionals and job aspirants who are seeking self-skilling tools, thereby providing access to quality learning and supporting career growth. Currently, Data Analytics, Cyber Security and Artificial Intelligence are the top 3 programs witnessing maximum enrollments.” He further added, “Also keeping in mind the ongoing situation with professionals staying away from workplaces, this is an ideal opportunity to effectively utilize time and get introduced to new tech skills that are popular and job-relevant”

Having been named the eighth-most influential education brand in the world by LinkedIn, Simplilearn has already helped more than a million professionals across 150 countries to upskill and prepare for the digital future. The company has maintained its leadership position in the space of digital skilling solutions for learners, corporates, and enterprises. 

Beat the Heat Up to 60% Faster with the All-New Range of 3D Cool Inverter Air Conditioners from Whirlpool

Whirlpool of India, a subsidiary of Whirlpool Corporation, the world’s leading home appliance company, launches the latest range of 3D Cool Inverter Air Conditioners. Designed to offer Every Day Care for its consumers, the Air Conditioners are equipped with 3D Cool Technology that ensures up to 60% faster cooling even in the peak of summer heat of 50 degrees. Aiding ease of usage, it can be operated via Google Home and Wifi, also equipped with 8-in-1 Intelli-convert modes and In-Built Air Purifier.

Announcing the launch, Mr. KG Singh, Vice President-Marketing, Whirlpool of India said, “Our products reflect forward thinking in design, technology and utility with an underlying care for our consumers. The new air conditioners come with comprehensive offerings including the revolutionary 3D cool technology, smart Google & Wifi connections and overall aesthetic appeal connecting consumers to the future of cooling.”

The all new 3D Cool AC offers the following features and benefits for Every Day, Care of the customers–

Care for Comfort

3D Cool Technology- The unique 3-air-intake vents in the air conditioner help in faster removal of hot air from the room. The revolutionary technology helps with up to 60% faster cooling even in extreme temperatures of up to 50 degrees and ensures uniform cooling with the up to 12m of air throw.

Care for Convenience

Google Voice and Wi-fi enabled- Control how your AC works, switch it on, set the swing and change the temperature, all with your voice through Google Home. Additionally, connect a smartphone to the AC through a Wi-fi network and control your cooling through the Whirlpool App.
Intelli-Convert with 8-in-1 Modes- Takes care of everyone every day, in a different way with the Intelli-convert~ with 8-in-1 modes. Switch between different modes with the touch of a button.
Sleep Convert: Young mode, Adult mode, Child mode, Elderly mode
Comfort Convert: Normal mode, IntelliComfort mode (as per to the RealFeel temperature)
Capacity Convert: 2 capacity modes

Care for Environment

PuraFresh Technology- Dust and allergens present inside your room may lead to respiratory problems. Whirlpool 3D Cool Inverter ACs with PuraFresh Technology not only cools, but also purifies the air from dust particles and PM 0.3# pollutants. Also, the inbuilt electronic filter only needs regular cleaning and no replacement like the conventional filters.

IntelliSense Technology- Advanced inverter technology adapts to the cooling needs while reducing energy usage and keeping power consumption low. Smart energy management gives lifetime savings up to INR 65,000 on the electricity bill. R-32 refrigerant in Whirlpool ACs means lesser emission of greenhouse gases and exceptional energy efficient system. R-32 also has zero impact on the ozone layer, therefore its friendly to the environment.

Availability: https://www.whirlpoolindia.com/

ServiceNow Releases Four Emergency Response Apps to Help Customers Navigate COVID-19 Crisis Management Globally

ServiceNow (NYSE: NOW), the leading digital workflow company that makes work, work better for people, today announced a customer care plan to support its public and private sector customers globally in managing the COVID-19 pandemic.

As part of this effort, the company has announced four new community apps to help its customers, including government agencies and enterprises, manage complex emergency response workflows. These apps are now available at servicenow.com/crisisresponse for customers to access free of charge through September 30, 2020.

“In this battle to flatten the COVID-19 curve, none of us is as smart as all of us,” said Bill McDermott, president and CEO of ServiceNow. “These ServiceNow applications will enable emergency outreach, self-reporting and exposure management, which are precisely what organisations need to do right now to help people get through this crisis.” 

“We are particularly proud to partner with Washington State’s Department of Health to make an emergency operations app, which they developed on the Now Platform, available to all government agencies fighting this pandemic. This is all about sharing best practices, which is why we’ll do everything we can to get the Washington State app in use everywhere,” McDermott continued.

Emergency Response Operations app for government agencies

Washington State’s Department of Health, a ServiceNow customer, initially created the the Emergency Response Operations app on the Now Platform to manage their own response to COVID-19. Working with ServiceNow, the Department of Health is making the app available to all government entities globally at no charge.

“As the epicenter for COVID-19 in the U.S., the State of Washington’s agencies, emergency responders and public health professionals had to rapidly assemble an incident management structure to lead outbreak response and mitigate the spread and impact,” said Jennifer McNamara, Chief Information Officer, Washington State Department of Health.

“Leveraging ServiceNow’s Now Platform, we were able to digitise processes that allowed us to quickly resource critical Incident Management Team positions. This automated a manual and labor-intensive process that was fraught with errors while also providing real-time visibility into resource allocations. Improved accountability will allow us to secure the maximum federal reimbursement for incident expenditures. We are building on the success of this phase with automation of the other Incident Management Functions such as resource demobilisation, planning, logistics, and finance.”

“Given the complexity and importance of community within this crisis, we believe it’s our duty to share our approach and the application we were able to quickly develop on the Now Platform. That’s why we have worked with ServiceNow to make our application freely available to other governmental entities. By digitising these processes, responding to an emergency does not have to create an emergency to coordinate,” McNamara concluded.

Customer care plan

ServiceNow has launched a customer care plan to support its customers as they focus on maintaining business operations during the COVID-19 pandemic. This includes a commitment to maintaining virtually 100% uptime for ServiceNow instances; and launching a Now Community forum where customers and partners can interact with other customers, as well as an Apps Suggestions portal, where customers and partners can provide their ideas for COVID-19 related apps or features.

In addition to the State of Washington’s Emergency Response Operations app, ServiceNow has developed and introduced three, free of charge community apps to benefit all customers. The additional apps include:

* Emergency Outreach: during a crisis, this workflow leverages the Now Platform to help companies connect with employees to assess the impact. Employers can reach out by email to provide information and safety measures and request a response to confirm if employees are safe and where they are located. Employers can also leverage the ServiceNow Now Mobile App to send push notifications to employees via mobile to get response.

* Emergency Self Report: this workflow helps an employee notify their employer that they are self-quarantined and when the employee will return to work, and provides workflow support for the employer.

* Emergency Exposure Management: when a company becomes aware that its employee is diagnosed with an illness, this workflow helps the employer identify other people who might have been exposed based on the employee’s meetings history and job location.

More information about ServiceNow’s customer care plan, including accessing the community apps, can be found at servicenow.com/crisisresponse.

Customer support

As a global company, ServiceNow has critical business functions, including technical support and cloud operations, distributed in regions around the world. This model will help ensure consistent, world-class customer support and service levels for its customers.

is committed to maintaining virtually 100% uptime for ServiceNow instances to ensure that customers have all of the capabilities available to them to continue their operations. ServiceNow maintains an Advanced High Availability Architecture with the ability to run a customer's production application from a pair of data centres located in geographically different regions.

ServiceNow's business continuity plan covers the ability for our cloud operations and technical support teams to work remotely in a safe and secure manner so they can continue to serve the company’s customers. All remote access happens using secure connections and multifactor authentication.

ServiceNow’s Knowledge 2020 customer event goes digital

In order to protect the health and safety of its customers, partners and extended community, ServiceNow’s Knowledge 2020 event will become a digital community experience. This digital event, which starts on May 5, replaces the in-person event scheduled May 3-7 in Orlando, FL. The Knowledge 2020 digital experience will showcase all the ways to unlock productivity through modern digital workflows, highlight the latest customer and platform innovations, and inspire the ServiceNow community to continue to create great experiences and unlock productivity for businesses.

Protecting our employees

ServiceNow has taken action to maximise the well-being and safety of its 10,000-plus global employees, office staff and communities. As part of its efforts, the company:

* Has asked all employees globally to work from home, effective March 11th, in an effort to encourage social distancing;

* Is continuing to compensate all full-time and part-time workers, contractors and support staff during this work-from-home period; and

* Is requiring that employees avoid business travel unless it’s deemed business-critical, and is within their own country.

Community giving

Across ServiceNow’s global community, we recognise that healthcare workers on the frontlines of COVID-19 are in need of support. These workers are in need of supplies, such as masks, protection suits, goggles and medical testing equipment, as well as basic necessities, such as food, lodging, training and support. ServiceNow is making donations to the International Medical Corps and the CDC Foundation totaling $100,000 to support these efforts.

Monday, March 16, 2020

Good samaritan: Police Appreciates OYO’s Law-Abiding Indian Corporate Stance


OYO Hotels and Homes, one of the world’s leading hotel chains today revealed that it has been maintaining the highest standards of corporate governance and compliance across the country and has been frequently assisting the law enforcement authorities in their investigations, as part of its duties towards being a good corporate citizen.

Recently, the Bengaluru city police appreciated the efforts of the company for providing timely information regarding the travel details of a suspect, on receipt of relevant legal request under section 91 crpc that helped in nabbing the alleged criminal.

With over 18000 hotels across 400+ cities in India SA, the company places safety and security of its guests above all else and has built a dedicated Emergency Responses Assistance team to respond to any emergencies on the ground. The company maintains a strong record of cooperation with law enforcement authorities towards ensuring that all neighbourhoods where it operates, become increasingly safer and secure.

Over the past year, pursuant to receipt of requests under 91 crpc for any information that can assist the police, the company has prioritised mobilising the necessary support and in turn, received appreciation from many police departments across the country, including but not limited to Dwarka, Palwal, Vasant Vihar in Delhi and Biddhannagar in West Bengal.

Speaking on the matter, Rakesh Prusti, General Counsel (Global), said, “Safety of our guests and strengthening a culture of compliance is critical to OYO. As a law abiding corporate citizen, we are committed to engaging with all stakeholders of civil society towards creating a culture of safety and cooperation. Safety is a shared responsibility and we are happy to provide assistance to law enforcement as and when required.”

The company encourages a culture of compliance and as a law-abiding corporate citizen, is committed to being the eyes and ears of the local police. 

Kodak HD LED TV Launches India’s Most Affordable Dolby Vision Android Certified 4K TVs

India’s leading manufacturer of TVs and electronics, Super Plastronics Pvt. Ltd. (SPPL), today announced the launch of Kodak CA Series, its first ever range of Android TVs on Flipkart, India’s home-grown e-commerce marketplace to cater to the growing demand for smart televisions in the country.

SPPL, which is Kodak’s brand licensee in India, has expanded its range of smart televisions in India by launching Android powered televisions. These bezel-less TVs are equipped with impressive array of features such as Dolby Vision, 4k HDR10, Android 9.0 interface, Dolby Digital plus with DTS TruSurround, multiple connectivity options with USB 3.0, HDMI ARC/CEC and Bluetooth v.5.0 (latest version) with user friendly remote. The remote has dedicated hotkeys for Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, YouTube and Google Play Store that will bring unlimited entertainment at your fingertips. It is also equipped with Google Assistant for smooth navigation.

SPPL is the only brand licensee in India that has partnered with Google, to make in India.

According to Acumen Research and consulting, the global android TV market size is expected to reach around $231 Billion by 2026 with a CAGR of around 20% during the forecast period of 2019-2026. The growing integration and extension of multi-media coverage is a natural progression for android TV.

Taking about the partnership with Google, Mr. Avneet Singh Marwah, Director and CEO, Super Plastronics Pvt Ltd, a Kodak brand licensee said, “It gives us immense pleasure to announce the launch of our official android televisions in partnership with Google. Our aim is to reach every household in the country, and we are committed to achieve the goal with our strong channel network and competitive pricing. In the past 4 years, Kodak HD LED TVs have witnessed a phenomenal growth. This year, we are targeting to achieve 8% share in the Indian television market”

“As a homegrown e-commerce marketplace, Flipkart has a deep understanding of its consumers who are looking for the best-in class technology and smart product solutions. We are pleased to bring Kodak's first ever range of Android TVs in India to millions of Flipkart consumers. With our industry-first affordability payment constructs such as Debit Card EMI, Buy Now Pay Later etc., we will help take the Kodak brand to the deepest corners of the country,” Hari Kumar, Senior Director – Large Appliances, Flipkart.

“Kodak is pleased to have completed four years with SPPL and excited to add android technology to the Smart Tv space with this valuable licensee.” Clara Fort, VP- Global Brand Licensing

SPPL is targeting to launch new TV models throughout the year. In 2020, SPPL is targeting a turnover of 700 cr for FY 2020-21. With the launch of official android televisions, SPPL aims to witness 100% growth in volume sales in 2020 as compared to 60 % growth in 2019. The current market share of Kodak HD LED TVs in Indian television market is 4%

About SPPL:

SPPL is a manufacturing concern established in 1990 with its Head Office in Noida. Its initial business was plastic injection moulding which then graduated to manufacturing of CRT TV’s and to LED TV’s on date. We were one of the largest manufacturers of CRT TV cabinets in the 90’s and early 00’s. Today we are one of India’s foremost OEM’s in CRT and LED Television. We have 3 manufacturing plants in India located in Noida, Una and Jammu. We have employee strength of over 1000 across India and are expanding as we grow. For additional information on Kodak TV India, visit us at www.kodaktv.in, follow us on Twitter @kodaktvindia, or like us on Facebook at Kodak TV India.

About Kodak:

Kodak is a technology company focused on imaging. We provide – directly and through partnerships with other innovative companies – hardware, software, consumables and services to customers in graphic arts, commercial print, publishing, packaging, entertainment and commercial films, and consumer products markets. With our world-class R&D capabilities, innovative solutions portfolio and highly trusted brand, Kodak is helping customers around the globe to sustainably grow their own businesses and enjoy their lives. For additional information on Kodak, visit us at kodak.com, follow us on Twitter @KodakPrint, or like us on Facebook at Kodak.

Xiaomi launches 10000mAh Mi Wireless Power Bank in India Priced at Rs 2,499 on Flipkart

Xiaomi, India’s number one smartphone and smart TV brand, today expanded its portfolio of Mi Power Banks and launched its first wireless power bank. 10000mAh Mi Wireless Power Bank provides reliability and convenience to use wireless charging on the go.10000mAh Mi Wireless Power Bank is certified by Qi enabling seamless compatibility through its magnetic inductive technology. The power bank provides a 10W wireless charging speed with all Qi compatible devices.

Designed to be the most reliable travel companion, Mi Wireless Power Bank comes with two way 18W fast charging on both USB Type A output port and USB Type C input port. It also enables simultaneous charge on two mobile devices. Mi 10000mAH Wireless Power Bank uses high-quality lithium polymer batteries that ensure longevity and higher standard of safety. The power bank also comes with a non-skid wireless charging surface/pad.

Mi 10000mAh Wireless Power Bank features best in class 12 layers of circuit chip protection across voltage, temperature, current and electrostatic anomalies.

Raghu Reddy, Chief Business Officer, Xiaomi India said, ““We are very excited to launch our very first wireless power bank in India. Today, as the world and our consumers become more aware of possibilities of wireless technologies, we believe that a wireless power bank is a perfect example of the convenience it can offer. Wireless technology not only promises a tangle free experience but also unlocks the potential of what mobility and ease of use can actually mean in the future. We hope that our 10000mAh Mi Wireless Power Bank is that innovation that everyone can enjoy.”

Availability

Mi 10000mAh Wireless Power Bank is priced at INR 2,499 and will be available in Black colour. It will be available on sale starting 16 March 12 noon across Mi.com, Mi Homes and Mi Studios. 

Total Pageviews