Yamaha Celebrates its HERITAGE During the 65th Anniversary in India

65th Anniversary

* Yamaha Heritage of products, technologies and racing victories constitute the brand’s spirit of serving the society ~

* Yamaha also pays tribute to the frontline workers who have enormously contributed towards the society during challenging times ~

Yamaha Motor India (YMI) Group celebrated the 65th anniversary along with the global businesses under the Yamaha Motor Company (YMC) Ltd. with its HERITAGE of unique mobility solutions including two wheelers, ground breaking technologies and racing legacy. The company has planned various online and digital initiatives to recount the brand’s landmark successes of performance and innovation during the “Yamaha Day” celebrated globally on July 1 that could further help the current employees and management to cultivate “The Unique style of Yamaha”.

The brand’s motorcycle division that started in 1955 at Japan with the introduction of YA 1 had gradually rolled out some of the world’s best seller commuters and performance-driven motorcycles along the sidelines of ace technologies like 4 stroke, DOHC 5 valve engine and eventually setting outstanding records of racing championships. YMIG under its brand campaign “The Call of the Blue” has been driving the spirit of this HERITAGE with the help of a unique two-wheeler line up that are “exciting, stylish and sporty” and striking engagements and customer activities. Yamaha will run a host of customer activities on the digital space and will separately engage Yamaha employees in various craftwork initiatives to continue to transmit the brand’s uniqueness, thus redirecting from physical activities to digital initiatives as billions of people are grappling with the pandemic.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Motofumi Shitara, Chairman, Yamaha Motor India Group of companies said, “Yamaha’s Heritage is an outstanding tale of cutting through the constraints and develop world-class products and experiences. Since the beginning, Yamaha’s aim was to bring heart revving products and experiences that many would cherish in a world of routines and limits. The 65th anniversary is when we showcase our heritage of uncompromising excellence of innovation and performance to the world and reiterate the brand’s continuous commitment towards the society in offering more exciting, stylish and sporty products. On this occasion, the brand in India has also decided to stand with the frontline warriors who have enormously contributed towards sustaining our society.”

The company has also endeavored to offer its tribute to the frontline warriors including medical fraternity, teams handling emergency, civil and essential services through a new campaign “Yamaha Salutes Frontline Warriors”. All two wheelers and four wheelers used by the employees along with the company’s transport would display the illustrative stickers in support of the campaign, a balloon signage will also being installed at OMR, Chennai near to the company head office while the teams at Yamaha’s Chennai plant have offered their support with the help of a unique vehicle formation saying ‘Thank You’. The company has also launched a Social Media campaign “Yamaha salutes frontline warriors” in which various employees from across pan India offices of the company along with dealers and customers can be seen to have come together to offer their support and thanks to the frontline warriors.

HiPi: An Indian, Homegrown Short Video Platform from ZEE5 Is Set T Connect Fans To Fandom

Bespoke Original Content, Blockbuster Movies, Fun Kids Content, Live TV & News, Music, Games and now an indigenous Short-video platform; ZEE5 has truly established itself as India’s Entertainment Super-App. Keeping up with the promise of delivering an unmatched super-app experience, ZEE5 has revealed the name of the much awaited and India’s first ever fully homegrown short video platform. Made for an Atmanirbhar Bharat, ZEE5’s innovative and exciting platform called ‘HiPi’ is a place where India can create the most ingenious and exciting content with the help of state-of-the-art features.

The name HiPi comes from the vision of a youthful and carefree planet where everyone can express themselves with freedom and confidence. A fun place where users can uninhibitedly and unapologetically be themselves without fear of being judged. ZEE5’s HiPi is driven by the vision to encourage self-expression and it aims to unlock the potential talent that this country has by inviting talented and diverse content creators who are seeking a platform that encourages creativity and paves the way to Stardom.

HiPi will entail exciting features which will allow creative minds to express themselves in the most creative way. It is the destination for all things entertainment and a platform for fandoms and storytellers which they can call their own.

OMRON India Partners with PhableCare to Enter Telemedicine Segment in Indian Market

Healthcare monitoring equipment maker OMRON Healthcare India on Tuesday through a video conference press meet announced its foray into the telemedicine segment through a partnership with PhableCare to provide remote hypertension management services at home.

PhableCare is an artificial intelligence (AI) enabled healthcare management player.

Through the partnership, the company will provide a digital platform that enables hypertensive patients to avail all kinds of services right from diagnosis to monitoring to treatment under one roof, OMRON Healthcare India said in a statement.

With autonomous and AI-based healthcare becoming a reality in the new normal, the association will usher in remote hypertension management service, OMRON Healthcare India Managing Director Masanori Matsubara said.

"So far, OMRON has been contributing towards empowering people to keep track of their heart health by providing quality digital blood pressure (BP) home monitoring solutions. However, with the merging of our synergies with PhableCare, we will be able to make millions of patients utilise the monitoring services efficiently under the supervision of doctors from the comfort of their homes," he added.

The patients will get access to an accurate monitoring device, proper diagnosis, prescription, real-time tracking and monitoring, and even efficient drug delivery and risk analysis under this solution, Matsubara said.

Commenting on the partnership, PhableCare CEO and Co-Founder Sumit Sinha said, "The effort is to bring about a fundamental change in how healthcare is accessed and outcomes are driven for hypertensive patients."

The last few months have brought a major shift in consumer behaviour where a large population is accessing their basic needs through smartphones, he added.

In order to avail of the services, users would have to download the app 'PHABLE' on their mobile devices and choose the right subscription packages, the company said.

JFrog Unveils New Software Distribution Capabilities to Handle Rising Volume and Frequency of Edge Updates

JFrog, the Universal DevOps technology leader known for enabling liquid software via continuous update flows, has unveiled new capabilities to address the growing problem of software distribution bottlenecks. The newly introduced CDN-based and Peer-to-Peer software package distribution mechanisms empower companies to overcome the challenge of frequently delivering large volumes of artifacts to internal teams and external clients. The announcements took place at JFrog’s annual swampUP user conference.

The explosion of both hybrid and edge infrastructure, and the increased adoption of cloud-native apps that rely on compounded artifacts can create a “firehose” distribution problem, increasingly clogging networks with a stream of software updates. Distribution challenges will continue to grow, with IDC predicting there will be more than 520 million brand new digital apps and services added by 2024.[1]

Peer-to-Peer and Cloud-Based Distribution Enable Digital-First Economy

Unveiling the new Peer-to-Peer artifact download capability, JFrog is serving companies that need to distribute coordinated software updates for hundreds and thousands of connected machines that are updated in parallel but cannot sacrifice speed and security. By breaking the artifact down into smaller pieces and allowing those pieces to be shared between peers on the same network, JFrog can accelerate download speeds by orders of magnitude and increase resilience by expanding beyond a single point of failure.

JFrog has also delivered a new CDN-based package distribution function that solves the challenge of distributing software to large communities of external users or partners. This mechanism works in cases where companies need a simple, SaaS-managed solution to enable external downloads, such as distributing software that can be downloaded by anyone including drivers, plugins, and commercial software products, or updates for partners and users.

“DevOps in a digital-first economy demands the need for speed and security throughout the entire software release cycle all the way to the edge. We provided our community with the first purely hybrid, end-to-end DevOps and DevSecOps platform, and now we’re extending all the way to EdgeOps,” said Shlomi Ben Haim, co-founder and CEO of JFrog. 

Kavita Viswanath, General Manager JFrog India said “Major enterprises are facing a clear challenge in distributing packages quickly and fearlessly across their organizations, as well as to clients and partners. The DevOps revolution will not be completed without providing a comprehensive, powerful binary distribution mechanism; this is our commitment to developers, and it is developers’ responsibility to their organizations.”

New Upgrades Streamline Pipeline Assembly and Build Testing

In a massive upgrade to their Binary Operations (or “BinOps”) toolset, JFrog has also announced new features for its JFrog Pipelines solution that encompasses continuous integration (CI) and continuous delivery (CD). JFrog has expanded on its existing selection of pre-built common functions, known as “Native Steps,” by allowing users to build their own library of reusable pipeline steps via an Extensions Development Kit (EDK). Now DevOps teams can encapsulate frequent and common actions in their pipelines, offering a much simpler solution than traditional approaches which often involve plugins that conflict with each other, creating a “plugin hell” for users. Extensions can be run in parallel, allowing pipelines to run with multiple extension versions simultaneously.

“As the world continues to move towards massive delivery of software, the ‘BinOps’ path of managing your software releases becomes more critical than ever,” said Yoav Landman, CTO and co-founder of JFrog. “Shifting binaries to the left and using immutable release binaries as early as possible in the software delivery pipeline is the only way to achieve robust, trusted and secure releases and maintain stable metadata that relates to these releases. We are proud to lead the way of BinOps with the JFrog Platform.”

The First Free, Security-Focused Central Repository of Helm Charts Is Now Available for the Community

Lastly, JFrog has added to their portfolio of public artifact centers with a fresh offering focused on managing the increasing volume of microservices-based and containerized applications. Dubbed “ChartCenter,” the free service from JFrog will provide immutable Helm Chart management for developers, who face increasing complexity in managing Helm, Docker and Kubernetes deployments as they grow in the enterprise. The all-new, free ChartCenter is available at https://chartcenter.io/.

 

OMRON India Enters Telemedicine Segment via Partnership with PhableCare

Healthcare monitoring equipment maker OMRON Healthcare India on Tuesday announced its foray into the telemedicine segment through a partnership with PhableCare to provide remote hypertension management services at home.

PhableCare is an artificial intelligence (AI) enabled healthcare management player.

Through the partnership, the company will provide a digital platform that enables hypertensive patients to avail all kinds of services right from diagnosis to monitoring to treatment under one roof, OMRON Healthcare India said in a statement.

With autonomous and AI-based healthcare becoming a reality in the new normal, the association will usher in remote hypertension management service, OMRON Healthcare India Managing Director Masanori Matsubara said.

"So far, OMRON has been contributing towards empowering people to keep track of their heart health by providing quality digital blood pressure (BP) home monitoring solutions. However, with the merging of our synergies with PhableCare, we will be able to make millions of patients utilise the monitoring services efficiently under the supervision of doctors from the comfort of their homes," he added.

The patients will get access to an accurate monitoring device, proper diagnosis, prescription, real-time tracking and monitoring, and even efficient drug delivery and risk analysis under this solution, Matsubara said.

Commenting on the partnership, PhableCare CEO and Co-Founder Sumit Sinha said, "The effort is to bring about a fundamental change in how healthcare is accessed and outcomes are driven for hypertensive patients."

The last few months have brought a major shift in consumer behaviour where a large population is accessing their basic needs through smartphones, he added.

In order to avail of the services, users would have to download the app 'PHABLE' on their mobile devices and choose the right subscription packages, the company said.

Garware Technical Fibres Consolidated Net Profit Rises by 12% in FY20

Garware Technical Fibres Ltd. (Formerly Garware-Wall Ropes Ltd.), a leading manufacturer of technical textiles for the Indian and global markets, has announced its financial results for the quarter and twelve months ended 31st March 2020. 

Q4 FY20 Highlights:

* Consolidated Revenue reduced by 13% to INR 253 Cr in Q4 FY20 as compared to INR 290 Cr in Q4 FY19

* Consolidated Net Profit has decreased by 2.5% to INR 36 Cr in the quarter as against INR 37 Cr in the corresponding period of FY19

* Consolidated EPS for Q4 FY20 is at INR 16.32; this is a decline of 2.5% over Q4 FY19

* Standalone Revenue reduced by 16% to INR 244 Cr in Q4 FY20 as against INR 290 Cr in Q4 FY19

* Standalone Net Profit has increased by 100% to INR 73 Cr in the quarter as against INR 37 Cr in the corresponding period of FY19

* Standalone EPS for Q4 FY20 is at INR 33.45; this is a rise of  100% over Q4 FY19

FY20 Highlights:

* Consolidated Revenue reduced by 6% to INR 953 Cr in FY20 as compared to INR 1018 Cr in FY19

* Consolidated Net Profit has increased by 12% to INR 141 Cr as against INR 126 Cr in FY19

* Consolidated EPS for FY20 is at INR 64.22; this is an increase of 12% over FY19

* Standalone Revenue reduced by 7% to INR 945 Cr in FY20 as compared to INR 1018 Cr in FY19

* Standalone Net Profit has increased by 42% to INR 178 Cr in FY20 as against INR 126 Cr in FY19

* Standalone EPS for FY20 is at INR 81.35; this is a rise of  42% over FY19

Management Comments:

Stating his views on the results, Mr. Vayu Garware, CMD, Garware Technical Fibres Ltd. said, “The topline and profit performance for the fourth quarter was subdued due to the impact of the lockdown on account of the coronavirus. Particularly, dispatches of our international sales were significantly impacted despite having a strong order book. Domestic sales from depots around the country could also not take place as planned. While the current Covid-19 pandemic continues to pose significant challenges in the first quarter of this year, since approximately 60% of our business caters to end users who are in food related industries, we are hopeful of a reasonable recovery in the second half of the year subject to any unforeseen issues.”

About Garware Technical Fibres Ltd. (Formerly Garware-Wall Ropes Ltd.): (BSE: 509557 / NSE: GARFIBRES)

Garware Technical Fibres Ltd. (formerly Garware-Wall Ropes Ltd.), an ISO 14001:2015 and ISO 9001:2015 certified company is a leading player in Technical Textiles specializing in providing customized solutions to its customers worldwide. Globally, the company is known for its applied innovation in the field of sports, fisheries, aquaculture, shipping, agriculture, coated fabrics and geo-synthetics. The company’s products are manufactured in state-of-art facilities at Wai and Pune and marketed in more than 75 countries.

Signify Invests to Broaden its UV-C Lighting Portfolio to Meet the Growing Demand for Disinfection

Expands Portfolio

* Launches 12 families of UV-C-based products for professional markets

* Acquires GLA to complement its portfolio with luminaires for upper-room air disinfection

* Increases its UV-C light source production capacity by a factor 8 this year

Signify, the world leader in lighting, is increasing its UV-C lighting production capacity and expanding its UV-C product portfolio to include 12 new families of UV-C based products for the professional segment. The company is leveraging more than 35 years of expertise in UV-C lighting to address the growing global need for the disinfection of air, surfaces and objects.

By increasing capacity and broadening the UV-C portfolio, Signify is helping keep people safe in a world that’s adjusting to a new normal. Its UV-C lighting is well-proven and trusted as an effective disinfectant. This was recently validated in a laboratory test by Boston University, showing that Signify’s UV-C light sources inactivate the virus that causes COVID-19 in a matter of seconds. This is crucial as it comes at a time when organizations are seeking ways to continue operations and provide service in a safe environment.

Signify’s new UV-C product range includes luminaires and chambers for a wide variety of professional applications. “We have introduced 12 families of UV-C lighting fixtures specifically designed to disinfect air, surfaces and objects. These products target different customer segments ranging from offices, schools, gyms, retail stores, warehouses, as well as on public transport,” said Harsh Chitale, Leader of Signify’s Digital Solutions Division.

“The ongoing pandemic is unprecedented in its scale and impact on society and impacts millions of lives across the globe. With our latest UV-C product range that has been validated to effectively inactivate the virus that causes COVID-19, we hope to contain the spread of this virus in India. The new UV-C lighting fixtures are designed for use in various aspects of public life as people begin to step out again and return to their workplaces. We are actively working towards creating solutions for home consumers as well.” said Sumit Joshi, Vice Chairman and Managing Director, Signify Innovations India Limited.

Part of the range are UV-C fixtures which are ideal for the deep disinfection of surfaces in offices, schools and restrooms. They are equipped with sensors and controls to ensure that they only operate when people and animals aren’t present as UV-C radiations can damage the skin and eyes. Other products include mobile, freestanding UV-C luminaires that can be wheeled into a hotel room or used to disinfect surfaces on public transport such as buses and trains.

For the disinfection of objects, Signify launches a range of safe and quick-to-use UV-C disinfection chambers. These chambers are used in offices and municipal buildings to disinfect visitor tags, phones, bags, laptops and wallets in a matter of seconds. In stores they’re ideal for disinfecting returned items, glasses or clothes tried on in a changing room.

UV-C fixtures can also be used inside surface disinfection tunnels. In North America a large retailer is piloting a UV-C tunnel for disinfecting shopping trolleys. In India, a hotel plans to use a Signify UV-C tunnel for disinfecting guests’ bags at check-in.

To complement its portfolio, Signify recently acquired the assets of Germicidal Lamps & Applications (GLA), a small, Netherlands-based company with extensive expertise in UV-C disinfection solutions. The deal includes GLA’s upper-room UV-C air disinfection portfolio as well as deep application knowledge. 

“The assets and know-how acquired from GLA will help us to accelerate the development of our roadmap of UV-C based upper-room air disinfection systems. We plan to make these products available across the world soon,” said Paul Peeters, Leader of Signify’s Digital Solutions Europe.

The upper-room air disinfection luminaires can be used with people in the room, as they are installed at a height which, in combination with shielding and optics, prevents exposure to the UV-C light source. Air in the upper part of the room is constantly disinfected using UV-C irradiation and natural convection of airflow in the room. This makes these perfect for use in schools, offices, gyms, retail outlets and other high-contact areas

For more than 35 years, Signify has been at the forefront of UV technology, and has a proven track record of innovation in UV-C lighting. Signify’s UV-C lighting is designed, installed, and used according to the product-specific safety instructions, and manufactured using well-controlled industrial processes.

Land Rover Defender Means Business as Hard Top Name Returns for New Commercial Mode

The launch of the tough new commercial Defender 90 and 110 later this year will restore the Hard Top name to the line-up

* Back to business: Practical commercial versions of New Defender 90 and 110 will restore the Hard Top name to the iconic 4x4 family

* Unstoppable capability: New Defender Hard Top body designs will bring unrivalled breadth of on and off-road capability to the commercial vehicle sector

* Professional versatility: Land Rover’s most capable and durable commercial vehicle ever will provide a unique combination of cargo space, practicality and comfort

* Clever and connected: Central front-row jump seat option to provide space for three, while Software-Over-The-Air will deliver updates without visiting a retailer

* Pulling power: Hard Top model will blend 3 500kg towing capacity with optional Advanced Tow Assist technology to effortlessly pull and manoeuvre trailers

Land Rover has confirmed the new commercial Defender 90 and 110 models will restore the Hard Top name to its rugged 4x4 family.

The versatile and durable Defender Hard Top will be launched later this year, combining unstoppable all-terrain capability with 21st-century connectivity to give professionals a unique combination of cargo space, practicality and premium comfort.

The Hard Top name dates back to 1950, when the introduction of demountable Hard Tops gave early Series Land Rovers added security and protection from the elements. New Defender Hard Top continues this ethos, sharing its fixed metal roof and silhouette with the iconic original.

Land Rover has experienced unprecedented global demand for New Defender 90 and 110 since its successful world premiere last September and the new Hard Top models will be the next additions to the legendary bloodline.

Defender’s aluminium-intensive D7x body architecture is three times stiffer than the best body-on-frame designs. Sharing its strong body structure and next-generation Electrical Vehicle Architecture (EVA 2.0) with passenger models, the Defender Hard Top is being developed by Land Rover Special Vehicle Operations to deliver unrivalled durability, practicality and toughness.  

Michael van der Sande, Managing Director, Land Rover Special Vehicle Operations, said: “We will maximise the functionality and usability of New Defender’s cargo area, with tough materials and clever storage solutions to ensure it surpasses the capability of any previous Defender Hard Top.”

The 90 and 110 Hard Tops will both feature independent coil-sprung suspension, with advanced electronic air suspension also available on the 110. Both set-ups will provide outstanding off-road geometry, with ground clearance of 291mm, while the 110 Hard Top will have approach, breakover and departure angles of up to 38, 28 and 40 degrees respectively (in Off-Road height). Full technical details will be confirmed later this year.

Nick Collins, Land Rover Vehicle Line Director, said: “New Defender 90 and 110 Hard Top will be the toughest, most capable and most connected commercial 4x4s we have ever produced. They have been engineered to meet global safety standards and deliver impressive long-haul comfort, giving businesses and professionals the best of all worlds.”

An impressive payload and towing capacity of up 3 500kg* will combine to make New Defender the ultimate commercial 4x4. The flexible cabin has no second or third-row seats, but the optional front-row jump seat means it will still accommodate up to three people. Land Rover’s clever ClearSight Rear View mirror system preserves rearward visibility when the jump seat is occupied, or when the load space is full. It uses a live video feed from a rear-facing camera to give drivers an unobstructed view at all times.

New Defender Hard Top will be a world-class tow vehicle, with a raft of technologies to help hitch, drive and reverse safely while pulling a trailer. Land Rover’s intelligent Advanced Tow Assist system takes the stress out of difficult reversing manoeuvres by letting drivers steer trailers with their fingertips using a rotary controller on the centre console.

The maximum wading depth of 900mm is also supported by a new Wade programme in the Terrain Response 2 system, which ensures drivers can ford deep water with complete confidence – so important supplies will always get through.

Land Rover’s state-of-the-art Pivi Pro touchscreen infotainment will provide immediate and intuitive control of all the major vehicle functions, including seamless smartphone integration using Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.

Twin eSIM technology underpins Pivi Pro and supports Software-Over-The-Air (SOTA) capability, allowing customers to download updates for a variety of vehicle systems. For professionals using the Defender Hard Top for business, this will minimise time spent off the road as SOTA updates can be completed without the need to visit a Land Rover retailer.

In addition, the New Defender Hard Top models will feature a comprehensive suite of Advanced Driver Assistance Systems. Land Rover’s 3D Surround Camera system provides an all-round visualisation of the vehicle on the central touchscreen, helping drivers manoeuvre safely in tight spaces or position the vehicle close to items ready for loading.

Convenience will be enhanced with the Remote smartphone app, which will allow businesses to keep track of the location, fuel level and journey history of their vehicle remotely, for ultimate peace of mind and security.