Tata Motors’ SOUL Introduces ‘Connect with SOUL’ to Bring its SUV Owners’ Community Virtually Closer

Tata Motors’ exclusive SUV Owners’ community – SOUL, today announced the launch of its virtual connect property - Connect with SOUL, a webinar series with an objective to Keep the Explorer spirit alive within the community members during these testing times. With this aim in mind and in a bid to strengthen ties among the SOUL members during the lockdown period, the Company is introducing a first of its kind virtual initiative for the community by setting up a series of webinars offering an avenue for the members to partake in engaging activities and experiences from the convenience and safety of their homes.

The flag off session of the webinar series is scheduled for 29th August, 2020 where members will get a chance to reminisce and bond over the memories from their past Iconic Drives & Retreats over a Virtual Catch-up meet. Additionally, to re-kindle the same spirit of adventure, that the community stands for, the future webisodes of this exciting #ConnectWithSOUL series, will also offer new virtual experiences, DIY workshops including vehicle maintenance, skill sessions etc. The platform will cater to 15000+ members of the SOUL community, where the sessions can be accessed through easy registrations on the program website.

Commenting on the launch of this virtual initiative, Mr. Vivek Srivatsa, Head, Marketing, Tata Motors Passenger Vehicle Business Unit said, “Due to the current situation, our SOUL members have been unable to travel, explore destinations and discover thrilling experiences like before.  Through Connect with SOUL, we are elated to provide our community members with a platform to engage and bond thereby improving their SUV owning experience. We trust that this virtual initiative will allow the members to relive and share their SOUL experience. This will also give an opportunity for new members to experience the same spirit through the fun-filled, experiential webisodes. In the days to come, we will host varied outdoor experiences along with interactive virtual catch-ups, virtual travelogues and much more capturing the essence of SOUL, albeit virtually. There’s something for everyone in the Connect with SOUL series.”

SOUL (SUV Owners United League) is a special program from Tata Motors that brings together the Tata SUV owners through adventurous drives traversing across some of the most breath-taking landscapes, in the company of like-minded people. The SOUL program also provides exclusive offers to customers on Tata Motors Genuine Accessories, extended warranty and insurance, which enhances the ownership experience of their Tata SUV.

#StayHomeStaySafe

Milaap Introduces Free Fundraising Platform During the Pandemic

Milaap is introducing a 0% platform fee for the upcoming festive season. During this time, Milaap’s free platform will make it easy for more people to get the direct help they deserve, as quickly as possible.

"In the past few months, as the crisis of the COVID pandemic unfolded, we have witnessed an unprecedented wave of generosity from people. Thousands raised funds on Milaap to help lakhs of people in distress. We made Milaap free for all relief related fundraisers as a token of gratitude. Therefore, it made perfect sense for extending this 0% fee to all fundraisers, in the upcoming festive season," said Mayukh Choudhury, Co-Founder and CEO of Milaap. 

Choudhury added, “10 years into our journey, we are taking the belief in our community to the next level. With this 0% platform fee, we will rely on voluntary tips from our donors to help with the costs associated with providing our best-in-class customer service, trust & safety protections, and social fundraising technology."

Milaap puts highest priority in users’ success and security in order to make online fundraising easier, faster, and more trusted. Milaap will do what works best for its donor community of more than 30 Lakh while continuing to provide the best experience, support and product for the fundraisers. 

This 0% Milaap platform fundraising fee will be applicable to all fundraisers, which had a 5% platform fee for fundraising: personal causes and charitable organizations alike. 

So far, over 3.1 Lakh generous donors have contributed over 60 Crore towards causes from Bangalore.

Dr Vasundhara Kailasnath, MD, FAAP, ABP (USA) Consultant- Pediatric Hematology, Oncology & BMT, Mazumdar Shaw Medical Center, Narayana Health City, Bangalore said, “Milaap is a Life Saver! Many of my patients who would have been denied treatment for a curable cancer due to financial constraints have gotten a second chance in life due to Milaap. “

Syed Gulab, a Dubai returnee who serves free meals outside government hospitals in Bangalore said, “ I have been raising funds on Milaap for 3-4 years now. We are feeding over 300 people a day where we used to feed 150. Even during the Covid crisis, we were able to distribute ration kits to over 10,000 migrant families and even opened a free clinic for patients who found most OPD’s shut. We are getting unimaginable support from people across the world. I Never thought we would reach this far and get so much recognition because of the trust Milaap has built.”

Meanwhile Lokesh, whose 4-year-old daughter recently underwent a liver transplant due to a 2.7 kg tumor expressed, “ For lower middle class people like us, every penny of our income finds utility in our necessities and insurance doesn’t feel viable. Amidst that, a sudden requirement for such a huge sum to save our child feels like a death blow.  In such situations you feel alone and stranded. I had only 3 days and no hope. I was hearing about crowdfunding for the first time, so I just closed my eyes and dived right in. In that moment, I felt like God came and helped me. We can never put a price on support. Every Rupee's value is a lot more when it comes as help. Else where will we go in such a situation? Milaap is a big boon for all such parents. A whole family gets a new lease on life. It cannot be expressed in words. I will be telling as many people as I can, because this has the potential to save so many lives. It is indeed priceless.“

About Milaap:

Established in 2010, Milaap is South Asia’s largest crowdfunding platform, and has helped Indians raise over Rs. 1,000 Cr for 2.5 lakh causes so far. Milaap makes it easy for people to raise money online for personal causes and emergencies, especially for tertiary healthcare like cancer care, organ transplant and accidents. The platform is also extensively used for fundraising for relief work in calamities like Chennai floods, Kerala floods, and recently the COVID pandemic. Milaap’s community of over 30 Lakh donors come from 130 countries across the world. Over the last 10 years Milaap is changing the way India gives, and takes pride in being the industry's leader in trust, support, and innovation in fundraising.

Zendesk Debuts the all New Sophisticated Real-Time Analytics Solution

 Zendesk, Inc. has announced the launch of Explore Enterprise, the newest solution within its service-first CRM platform, which enables companies to analyze real-time data in order to understand changing needs. As global ticket volume reaches record highs, leaders can use Explore Enterprise to share relevant insights instantly with other teams and departments, helping them make faster decisions to improve their entire customer experience.

"Over the past few months, companies in India have been striving to adapt to the changing needs and demands of their customers as the pandemic continues to unfold and new trends emerge. Our Benchmark Snapshot Report indicates that even though service requests may finally be stabilizing after months of volatility, higher volumes may continue to persist, at least for a foreseeable future. Therefore, having timely insights are even more crucial for businesses to spot gaps in their customer service and quickly implement modifications that people expect. With the ability to stay a step ahead of their customers and proactively improve their overall customer experience journey, Explore Enterprise will help many businesses in India not just survive, but thrive in today’s landscape," said KT Prasad, MD and RVP Sales, India & SAARC at Zendesk.

“Customers are seeking more support from businesses than ever before, which is putting increased pressure on CX leaders and their teams,” said Shawna Wolverton, EVP of Product, Zendesk. “With Explore Enterprise, Zendesk gives companies the ability to analyze data in order to have a clear view of customer trends they are seeing across our Support and Sales Suites. These comprehensive insights allow businesses to quickly address emerging challenges and opportunities not just in customer service, but throughout their entire business.”

Zendesk customers such as Mailchimp are already benefiting from using Explore’s reporting analytics to understand trends in over 30,000 tickets a month. “It’s about understanding our data as a whole, and being able to look at the big picture,” said Spencer Caratti, Senior Director of Customer Support at Mailchimp. “We’re able to take that cumulative voice of the customer and distill that down to figure out what needs to be prioritized and make meaningful fixes that happen."

With real-time analytics and enhanced team collaboration features, Explore Enterprise enables leaders to manage and scale their business by:

* Monitoring data across customer support channels with pre-built and customizable live charts

* Acting on current trends by setting threshold alerts to see when teams are under a heavy load

* Improving productivity and reducing context switching with embeddable dashboards

* Boosting team collaboration with advanced report sharing and scheduling capabilities inside and outside the organization

“There is still a massive global shift towards digital transformation, and that has recently accelerated across every industry sector. Businesses must respond to this new pace of change and the organizations that are already digitally driven will pivot faster,” said Sheryl Kingstone of 451 Research.

Explore Enterprise provides instant insight across Zendesk products including Support, Talk, Chat, Sell and Guide* to provide a comprehensive, unified view of the customer. This includes information on how customers are using social messaging for support and which channels they prefer for communication. These learnings enable leaders to refine how they serve customers over channels such as Apple Business Chat, WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, Twitter Direct Messages, WeChat, and LINE. Additionally, teams will be able to bring in data from external third-party systems through integrations with Zendesk’s open and flexible CRM platform, Sunshine, for a holistic picture of their business.**

With visibility into customer data across channels, Explore Enterprise gives leaders the ability to make improvements beyond the support team, such as informing decisions across sales, engineering, marketing and other departments. For example, when a CX leader sees a support team falling behind on ticket resolution, they can promptly test potential solutions and implement the option that makes the most impactful change for agents. Additionally, a CX leader can see an increase in the number of page views about processing refunds and can adjust existing knowledge base content to better help customers get the answer they are looking for faster.

Brigade Showcase 2020, the 13th Edition of Brigade’s Annual Property Exhibition to be Held from August 28-30, 2020

Brigade Group today announced the dates of the 13th edition of its most awaited annual property exhibition, ‘Brigade Showcase’ between 28th and 30th August 2020 at the Orion Mall at Brigade Gateway Campus, Bengaluru. This year, in addition to the on-ground event, there would also be a simultaneous virtual exhibition for the benefit of a larger audience.

The event will feature newly launched, ongoing and ready-to-move-in projects across cities in Bengaluru, Chennai and Mysuru. Customers would have the opportunity of choosing from over 30 projects, all under one roof, across residential and commercial projects. The residential projects range from ₹ 29 Lakh -₹ 4.9 Crore, while the office spaces start at ₹ 1 crore

On this occasion, Mr. Rajendra Joshi, CEO, Residential, Brigade Enterprises Limited said:

“Brigade Showcase has made a mark in the consumer’s mind to be the best occasion to invest in a Brigade property – be it residential or commercial. This year apart from the on-ground event, we have made it convenient for customers to choose their dream home from a  good mix of projects in various stages of construction, budget and location from the comfort of their home through the virtual exhibition. We invite our discerning buyers to make the best use of this opportunity to Upgrade to Brigade.”

There are exciting price offers this year and every customer who buys a property during the event will get an iPhone, in addition to attractive schemes, many of which are being offered to Brigade customers for the first time ever.

The event is open to the public between 10 am and 8 pm on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

Castrol Launches Restart and HeadStart Offers to Support Production in the New Normal

Castrol India Limited, India’s leading lubricants company, announced the introduction of two new initiatives to help manufacturing companies with their lubricant-related requirements, as they resume business operations. While the Castrol RESTART offer led by a dedicated team of technical specialists will assist manufacturers get their production back on track, a webinar series by the company titled Castrol HEADSTART will discuss the latest developments and best practices in the area of lubrication across industries. Through these initiatives, Castrol India reinforces its commitment to delivering sustainable value and a premium experience to customers even during these challenging times.  

Making sure that lubricants are in the right condition is critical for the smooth restart of manufacturing operations, especially with many units restarting after months of inactivity, post partial unlocking of the country. Keeping social distancing norms in mind, the Castrol RESTART offer provides remote assistance and virtual technical support to manufacturers in the industrial and heavy-duty space to test the condition of their lubricants. Castrol’s extensive network of warehouses and distributors across the country makes securing the complete range of products as well as servicing all lubricant requirements possible through a single touchpoint. This offer is a customized solution bearing in mind the difficult environment which the industry is dealing with, as a commitment to support customers, applying real world knowledge to improve the productivity and reliability of their operations.

Additionally, Castrol HEADSTART is a series of technical and interactive webinars aimed at keeping companies up to date on the latest developments and best practices in the area of lubrication. The series will see global experts from Castrol come together to foster informative dialogue on a variety of subjects such as rust protection, heavy-duty engine oils and specific topics for different industries like sugar, equipment manufacturing etc. Designed keeping various topical lubrication issues in mind, this complimentary series is open to all who want to gain an in-depth perspective on these subjects.

About Castrol’s B2B lubricants: Castrol India offers lubricants for the B2B sector from metals to mining, aerospace to automotive. These premium products are liquid engineered to help optimize performance and come with a firm commitment to help reduce the environmental impact of operations. Additionally, they also offer advanced analytics that enable data-driven maintenance and lubricant services that help drive down total cost of ownership for customers.

Made In India QR678(R) Therapy for Hair Loss to be 300% More Effective than the Platelet-Rich Plasma (PRP) Therapy

QR 678, a patented treatment for hair regrowth therapy for men and women, has proven to be more effective than PRP as a hair loss treatment. This study was published in an iconic and much respected American Journal called the Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology. It showed that as compared to the Platelet Rich Plasma (PRP) therapy, QR 678®showed significant improvement in hair regrowth with almost 100% reduction in hair fall.

QR 678 was invented by Dr.Debraj Shome and Dr.Rinky Kapoor, celebrity cosmetic surgeons from India. They observed that male pattern baldness, known as Androgenic Alopecia characterised by progressive hair loss in men growing at a rampant rate of 58% in males aged 30-50 years which initiated their urge to research and find a solution to this cosmetic issue leading to the invention of QR 678®. The therapy curbs hair fall and increases the thickness, the number and density of existing hair follicles, offering greaterhair coverage to the ones with alopecia.The formulation has received patents in the United States and in India. 

Dr.Debraj Shome, Cosmetic Surgeon and Director, at The Esthetic Clinics, said, “The hair-regrowth treatments available currently have many limitations; they cannot revive hair beyond a certain stage. QR678® is a process where growth factors are injected in the hair follicles, which not only arrests hair fall but also stimulates hair growth. QR678® is a non-surgical, pain-free and non-invasive procedure for the hair regrowth treatment which has shown very good results in over 10,000 patients.”

Practicing from the Esthetics Clinics, Dr Shome says that, “from my experience as a cosmetic surgeon dealing with hair loss patients on a daily basis the treatment has responded very well, especially in India. QR 678® has had a success rate of 90% in India and this is the highest success rate achieved by any hair fall treatment in a shortest treatment time of 6-8 sessions.”

Comparing the two treatments in question, Dr. Rinky Kapoor partner to Dr Shome and one of leading Dermatologists in India adds, “PRP is used by all Dermatologists and plastic surgeons for hair growth. PRP involves extracting platelets from human blood and injecting it into the scalp to cause hair growth. But, the truth of the matter is that this therapy is more based on hope than actual science. There has never been a randomised controlled trial showing that PRP actually causes hair growth. That is why we conducted a comparative trial between the QR678 and PRP treatments and no surprises that the QR678 treatment caused almost 300% better results than the PRP".

The trial was a split head trial, comparing the PRP treatment efficacy with the QR678 treatments. While PRP is supposed to have growth factors for hair growth, the QR 678 treatment is a bioengineered, first in class hair therapy, with six hair growth factors and biomimetic peptides, administered to the scalp via mesotherapy. With Alopecia and hair loss becoming more and more common and affecting more than 40% males and 30% Females over the age of 30 globally, having a new age, proven therapy is very important for the world. More than 12000 patients have already experienced amazing results with the QR 678 treatment, which has an USA and an Indian patent and is now being exported to multiple countries from India.

Dr. Kapoor says, "We, as Doctors need to decide whether the treatments we offer are indeed backed by science or not.  Just because hair loss is so common and we didn't have too many solutions prior to the QR678® doesn't mean that we use treatments like the PRP which have no strong evidence based data for hair growth. Ultimately, science must win!"

The acceptance of the Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology of the QR678 hair growth treatment will change the execution and delivery of hair loss treatment, as PRP was rampantly and randomly used by dermatologists, plastic surgeons and cosmetic surgeons alike, in India and globally. India through the 'Made in India' top class hair innovation the QR678, may have pioneered a way forward for cosmetology at an international level.

Dr.Debraj Shome has been a global pioneer in developing new techniques and solutions for facial plastic surgery and facial cosmetic surgery for more than a decade, he is amongst the few super specialists India has in this area of cosmetology.

Dr. Shome is also a celebrated, best-selling, and internationally acclaimed author of ‘Dear People, With Love & Care, Your Doctors. Maintained its position as a bestseller for weeks in a row this book is an anthology of short stories based on the real-life doctor-patient relationship. He has written more than 50 peer-reviewed international papers in top International research journals. Dr. Shome is also the patent holder for the invention of the QR678 hair growth factor injections. This hair growth formulation has received patents in multiple locations, including the USA and India.

Dr.Rinky Kapoor is one of the best dermatologists in India today. She is also an expert in the field of non-invasive and non-surgical skin rejuvenation treatments. She has a unique ability to use a mixture of treatments for correct results making her the one of the finest dermatologist in India.What sets Dr Rinky Kapoor apart is the fact that she uses the world's best and latest technological advances to give the most natural looking results. She says, “It’s the joy of seeing the look of wonder and contentment on the faces of my patients and this is what keeps me going daily.”

Microsoft: Empowering Remote Learning with Azure Cognitive Services

Immersive Reader is an Azure Cognitive Service within the Azure AI platform that helps readers read and comprehend text. Through today’s general availability, developers and partners can add Immersive Reader right into their products, enabling students of all abilities to translate in over 70 languages, read text aloud, focus attention through highlighting, other design elements, and more. 

Immersive Reader has become a critical resource for distance learning, with more than 23 million people every month using the tool to improve their reading and writing comprehension. Between February and May 2020, when many schools moved to a distance learning model, we saw a 560 percent increase in Immersive Reader usage. As the education community embarks on a new school year in the Fall, we expect to see continued momentum for Immersive Reader as a tool for educators, parents, and students.

With the general availability of Immersive Reader, we are also rolling out the following enhancements:

* Immersive Reader SDK 1.1: Updates include support to have a page read aloud automatically, pre-translating content, and more. Learn about SDK updates.

* New Neural Text-to-Speech (TTS) languages: Immersive Reader is adding 15 new Neural Text to Speech voices, enabling students to have content read aloud in even more languages. Learn about the new Neural Text to Speech languages.

* New Translator languages: Translator is adding five new languages that will also be available in Immersive Reader—Odia, Kurdish (Northern), Kurdish (Central), Pashto, and Dari. Learn about the latest Translator languages.

Today, we’re adding new partners who are integrating Immersive Reader to make content more accessible, Code.org and SAFARI Montage. 

Code.org is a nonprofit dedicated to expanding access to computer science in schools. To ensure that students of all backgrounds and abilities can access their resources and course content, Code.org is integrating Immersive Reader into their platform.

“We’re thrilled to partner with Microsoft to bring Immersive Reader to the Code.org community. The inclusive capabilities of Immersive Reader to improve reading fluency and comprehension in learners of varied backgrounds, abilities, and learning styles directly aligns with our mission to ensure every student in every school has the opportunity to learn computer science.” - Hadi Partovi, Founder and CEO of Code.org

SAFARI Montage, a leading learning object repository, is integrating Immersive Reader to make it possible for students of any language background or accessibility needs to engage with content, and enable families who don’t speak the language of instruction to be more involved in their students’ learning journeys.  

"Immersive Reader is a crucial support for CPS students and families. During remote learning, particularly for our younger learners, student learning is often supported by parents, guardians, or other caregivers. Since Immersive Reader can be used to translate the student-facing instructions in our digital curriculum, families can support student learning in over 80 languages, making digital learning far more equitable and accessible than ever before! In addition, read-aloud and readability supports are game-changers for diverse learners" - Giovanni Benincasa, UX Manager, Department of Curriculum, Instruction, and Digital Learning, Chicago Public Schools  

With Immersive Reader, all it takes is a single API call to help users boost literacy. To start exploring how to integrate Immersive Reader into your app or service, check out these resources: 

* Software Development Kit (SDK): Immersive Reader SDK. 

* Documentation: Immersive Reader documentation. 

* Getting started videos: Immersive Reader videos .

To see the growing list of Immersive Reader partners and learn more, check out our partners page and Immersive Reader education blog.

Bring online courses to life with speech-enabled apps

With the shift to remote learning, another challenge that educators may face is continuing to drive student engagement.

Text to Speech, a Speech service feature that allows users to convert text to lifelike audio can facilitate new ways for students to interact with content. In addition to powering features like Read Aloud in Immersive Reader and the Microsoft Edge browser, Text to Speech enables developers to build apps that speak naturally in over 110 voices with more than 45 languages and variants.

With the Audio Content Creation tool, users can more easily bring audiobooks to life and finetune audio characteristics like voice style, rate, pitch, and pronunciation to fit their scenarios—no code required. Voices can even be customized for specific characters or personas; the Custom Neural Voice capability makes it possible to build one-of-a-kind voices, starting with 30 minutes of audio. Duolingo, for example, is using the Custom Neural Voice capability to create unique voices to represent different characters in its language courses.

To learn more about how to start creating speech-enabled apps for remote learning, check out the technical Text to Speech blog and other resources:

* Demos: Text to Speech. 

* Documentation: Text to Speech.

* Software Development Kit (SDK): Speech SDK.

Improve productivity and accessibility with transcription and voice commands 

AI can also be a useful tool for more seamless note-taking, making it possible for students and teachers to type with their voice. Transcribe in Word uses Speech to Text in Azure Cognitive Services to automatically transcribe your conversations. Now with speaker diarization, you can get a transcript that identifies who said what, when. 

In addition, adding voice enables more seamless experiences in Microsoft 365. For students who have difficulties writing things down, they can use AI-powered tools in Office not just for dictation but also for controls such as adding, formatting, editing, and organizing text. Word uses Language Understanding, an Azure Cognitive Service that enables you to add custom natural language understanding to your apps, to make it possible to capture ideas easily. To learn more about Language Understanding and how it is powering voice commands, check out our Language Understanding blog.