Microsoft’s Product Launch Will Enable Greater Acceleration of Digital Transformation Efforts: Satya Nadella

Nadella pointed to the latest advances in Microsoft segments including the Azure cloud platform, the Microsoft 365 productivity suite, security and compliance, and endpoint management, which were announced Tuesday in connection with Ignite.

“This tech stack contains your building blocks to drive digital resilience and transformation for your organization,” Nadella said during his prerecorded keynote address.

What follows are the five biggest statements from Nadella’s keynote at Microsoft Ignite 2020.

Microsoft’s Advantage

While Microsoft is in fierce competition across many of its business lines--whether it’s with AWS in public cloud, with Slack in collaboration or with Google in productivity software--Nadella is not shy about what he sees as the advantages for the Redmond, Wash.-based tech giant. Nadella used his Ignite 2020 keynote to tout Microsoft’s position in the tech industry, which he described as having the most comprehensive offering.

“We are the only company that has a complete technology stack to support both tech adoption and tech capability building--and ultimately increase your own ability to achieve success through digital technology,” Nadella said. “Our tech stack offers unparalleled integration, architectural coherence, and openness in each layer and extensibility. And in this era of intelligent cloud and intelligent edge, it enables truly groundbreaking experiences.”

Azure Momentum And Updates

Microsoft is continuing to remove barriers for moving to the cloud, with a world-leading 61 data center regions for Azure and the ability to extend from Azure to the edge, Nadella said during his keynote.

“We’re powering a new model of distributed computing, providing consistency across the cloud and edge, spanning identity, management [and] security as well as infrastructure--bringing computing closer to where data is being generated,” Nadella said.

Microsoft is driving Azure forward with a number of innovations announced at Ignite 2020, he said.

For Azure Arc--which provides Azure services and management to customers outside of the Azure cloud platform--Azure data services are now Arc-enabled, Nadella said. That provides “the ability to run Azure’s fully managed data services across multiple clouds, data centers and at the edge--even in a fully disconnected state,” he said.

Meanwhile, with Azure SQL Edge, “we’re bringing SQL data engine to IoT devices, supporting data streaming, storage and AI across connected or disconnected environments--really enabling breakthrough industry scenarios,” Nadella said.

And with Azure Sphere, Microsoft is now securing millions of microcontroller unit IoT devices, he said. AT&T is launching a new device, built on Azure Sphere, “to securely connect devices via AT&T’s cellular network, bypassing the need for Wi-Fi,” he said.

Nadella also pointed to traction for Azure Synapse, which was introduced at Ignite last year, and serves as a combination offering of data warehousing and big-data analytics. Azure Synapse “is the first and only service that has run all the TPC-H queries at petabyte-scale,” he said. “This is the equivalent of putting a man on the moon in data performance. No other vendor has even come close to doing this.”

Azure, Nadella said, is “the only cloud with limitless data and analytics capabilities that can deliver a cloud-native data estate for every organization.”

“And customers are experiencing these benefits. Since launching Azure Synapse a year ago, we’ve seen a 500-percent increase in the number of customers running petabyte-scale workloads,” he said.

Microsoft 365 and Teams

Another focus of Nadella’s keynote was advances in Microsoft 365, the company’s productivity suite that includes Windows 10, Office 365, security and device management solutions. Notably, Microsoft 365 includes the Teams collaboration app, which has surged in usage during the COVID-19 crisis.

And so has the PC, and the productivity apps that run on it, Nadella noted during his keynote.

“There’s no question that the PC has become mission-critical during this pandemic--across work, school and life--to sustain productivity in a remote everything world,” he said. “More than 1 billion people now are using Windows 10. And Office 365 usage is higher than ever.”

To help with keeping workers connected even with widespread remote deployments, “we are creating a system of collaboration for every organization,” Nadella said.

Teams is core to this effort because “work doesn’t begin and end inside a meeting,” he said.

“With Teams, we are focused on the entire workflow around the meeting--before, during and after. It’s the only solution with meetings, calls, chat, content collaboration with Office and business process workflows,” Nadella said. “And Teams doesn’t just connect people inside the organization. It also seamlessly connects you to customers through video meetings, webinars, remote selling, supply chain and other scenarios.”

At Ignite, Microsoft announced several updates for Teams including new shared backgrounds for Together Mode--such as a cafe--as well as Custom Layouts, which lets presenters choose how their content will appear during a meeting for the other participants.

“We’re adding new video meetings experiences in Teams along with reimagined workspaces for every collaborator--remote, in-person or on-the-go. And we’re shipping new features each week for both first line and knowledge workers,” Nadella said.

Identity and Security

The shift to “remote everything” has “only increased the need for an integrated, zero-trust architecture that reduces both cost and complexity,” Nadella said during his keynote. “We’re the only company that offers integrated, end-to-end capabilities across identity, security [and] management, as well as compliance.”

Microsoft analyzes more than 8 trillion security signals per day, he noted.

“This massive signal generates insight that fuels security innovation across our platform to protect customers--including both the largest of enterprises as well as small businesses, that are often the most vulnerable to attacks,” Nadella said.

In identity, “we are applying AI to stay ahead of the growing sophistication of attacks. We perform real-time risk evaluation on 30 billion authentication requests and retrain the algorithm daily to protect user accounts,” he said.

In security, “we’re taking our existing protection capabilities across your data estate a step further--bringing together all of the threat protection capabilities across Azure and Microsoft 365 with the [Microsoft] Defender brand,” Nadella said. “The new Defender capabilities include coverage for Android and iOS, and multi-cloud protection for SQL Server.”

Microsoft Defender complements Azure Sentinel, the company’s cloud-native SIEM solution--“giving our customers a no-compromise combination of both depth and breadth of SIEM and XDR from one vendor,” Nadella said.

Management and Compliance

In device and data management, Microsoft Endpoint Manager “monitors and manages all your devices in a single console [that is] natively integrated with our security, identity and compliance solutions,” Nadella said. “New tools like endpoint analytics offer proactive remediation of issues before they disrupt end users.”

In compliance, Microsoft’s Compliance Manager “allows you to scale your compliance to meet increasing regulatory requirements,” Nadella said. “It has more than 150 assessments, all out of the box for regulations like GDPR. And you can continuously identify and assess risks, and create custom assessments for your unique needs.”

Tinder Introduces Passions: A New Way to Express Yourself on Tinder

Tinder introduces ‘Passions', a new way to express yourself on Tinder.  Passions, which can be added by editing your profile, help members share more about themselves more easily.

Tinder members can connect and talk more easily when they share the same experiences, interests and hobbies. ‘Passions’ has been introduced on Tinder to help members share more about themselves effortlessly. This feature allows members to select a maximum of 5 Passions and minimum of 3 Passions, so you don’t have to choose between Biryani or Maggi, because Tinder knows it's near impossible to choose.

“With Passions, we’re excited to give our members an easy way to connect with their potential matches by highlighting their interests. We hope that these will lead to more connections and spark conversations during a time when many of us are craving a change in routine and someone new to talk to” added a Tinder spokesperson. 

Here’s how it works. 

Open Tinder and tap the profile icon 

Tap the pencil icon by your profile photo 

Scroll down and select “Passions”

Select Passions to add to your profile. **Note**: You can select a maximum of 5 Passions, but you need a minimum of 3

Tap “Done” to save your changes

About Tinder

Tinder was introduced on a college campus in 2012 and is the world’s most popular app for meeting new people. It has been downloaded more than 340 million times and is available in 190 countries and 40+ languages. Tinder has 6.2 million subscribers and is the highest-grossing non-gaming app globally.

Flock Sees Massive 40% Revenue Growth for Last Three Quarters

Flock, the leading workplace communication and collaboration platform has seen robust revenue growth in the last three quarters and has become the go-to platform for multiple industries and organisations across India. Flock has also doubled its number of paid users in the last two quarters and has proven to be one of the most convenient platforms to use while working remotely in the current times.

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, employers have turned to collaboration platforms like Flock to ensure business continuity. Flock’s daily active users now spend more than 90 minutes on the platform on average per day, with the most active users spending upwards of 300 minutes collaborating with team members every day. The company has become the de-facto platform for all work communication for thousands of companies both in India and across the globe. Moreover, companies have continued to use Flock as their platform of choice, even as many of their employees have retired to offices.

Commenting on Flock’s accelerating growth, Bhavin Turakhia, Founder & CEO at Flock said, “As companies continue to work from home with employee safety in mind, Flock has found itself in a position to be useful for businesses around the world. Our aim has always been to make communication seamless across teams and departments and we’re working towards that goal of providing users with a secure environment to do their best work in.”

Gaurang Sinha, Director of Go-to-Market Strategy at Flock said, “Flock’s objective is to build the highest quality collaboration experience for our customers. We continue to seek user feedback and build the features and functionality which help businesses adapt to this new normal. Our revenue growth quarter over quarter is a reflection of the critical role we play for our customers.”

Flock’s features include providing single window access to all users in one team, easy integration to every modern business tool, security, and data privacy among many others. The company, which has a presence in India, Dubai, and USA, has also introduced five new features last quarter such as Zoom integration, voice notes, video recording, emoji updates, and feedback section.

The company has also recently been certified as a Great Place to Work in India by Great Place to Work® Trust Index™ Survey.

About Flock

Flock is a real-time communication and collaboration app for companies. It offers a rich and intuitive messenger, as well as modules to help teams manage their people and processes better and automate workflows. Flock comes with a powerful platform that allows users to integrate frequently used external apps and even build custom app, bots, and integrations. Flock is supported across all platforms, including Desktop (Windows and Mac), Mobile (iOS and Android), and the Web.

BR Shetty’s Mega Movie Plan Crashes: Huge Collapse Adds to Shetty’s List of Dud Projects in India

* The much-hyped mega crore film, Randamoozham, never really took off as Shetty withdrew from the project claiming that he did not want to be involved in the legal tangle 

* All of the projects in India, that Shetty promised to invest in, have become the subject of ridicule and mockery as Shetty did not honour even a single one his commitments

The Supreme Court has approved the terms of settlement related to a nearly 5-year-old dispute between M. T. Vasudevan Nair and director V. A. Shrikumar in connection with making of the film Randamoozham. The two reached an agreement last week to settle the dispute out of court, following which, they had informed the terms of conditions to the apex court considering the case. 

In 2014, Shrikumar had announced that Randamoozham would be made in multiple languages including Malayalam, English and Hindi at a cost of Rs. 1,000 crores, making it the costliest film in the history of Indian cinema and that it would be produced by the UAE-based entrepreneur B.R. Shetty. He had also said that the two-part film would be released in 2020 where in Malayalam it was to be named as Randamoozham and in other languages as Mahabharatham. The legal battle started when M.T. demanded that director V.A. Shrikumar Menon return the script to him since the latter had failed to start the film’s shoot according to the time stipulated in the contract. 

The film never really took off as Shetty withdrew from the project claiming that he did not want to be involved in the legal tangle. He had always claimed that he wanted to make a movie on the epic Mahabharatham but had also become wary of the fact that just as SLB’s Padmaavat had stirred up a controversy due to its name, his movie too, if titled Mahabharatham, might create issues.  

He said, “I don’t want to be involved in legal matters between Shrikumar and MT Vasudevan Nair hence have distanced myself. But I haven’t dropped the wish to make a movie on Mahabharatham. I am now on the lookout for a good script. I have reserved the money for the project and for this new project, I will get the necessary permissions from the BJP and RSS before starting my new project.” However, he never really came around to announcing another movie. 

The shelving of the legendary movie is not the only doomed project that can be attributed to Shetty’s shallow promises and tall claims. A long list of ventures that Shetty had vowed to undertake in India in healthcare and entertainment, have all been witness to a similar fate.  

MT had approached court after shooting of the film did not start even after the tenure of the contract. The case reached the high court and then the Supreme Court which today gave its nod to the terms of agreement mutually agreed upon by the two parties. The central points of the agreement include: the script of Randamoozham will be returned to MT and he will have the full right of the script. The advance amount of 1.25 crores will be given back to Shrikumar who will not make any movie on the theme of Randamoozham. While he can use the theme of Mahabharat, he will not use Bhim as the central character.  

Shetty’s List of Duds: 

* Karnataka state cabinet scrapped a Rs 450 crore worth project with BR Shetty Ventures to develop Jog Falls as there was no progress in it.  

* His ambitious 3000 acre ‘film city’ project in Jammu and Kashmir worth $1bn was a non-starter 

* His plans to invest $5 billion in creating and developing high-quality healthcare facilities across India never took off 

* His announcement to build India’s top-notch multiplex at Udupi, Karnataka, possibly with the country’s first ever 8k screen remains only on paper 

* The proposed $2-billion medical city spread across 100 acres in Amaravati turned out to be a damp squib.  

Shetty’s BRS Ventures and Andhra Pradesh Government had inked an MoU entailing investments worth Rs 12,000 crore in healthcare in Amaravati which again remains only on paper. 

* He had promised to acquire defunct paper mills in HPC's Cachar and Nagaon units of Assam and construct a health city, a school and a smart town, the launch of which is yet to see the light of day.  

* In an MOU signed with the Telangana government, Shetty had agreed to setting up healthcare manufacturing unit, multi-specialty hospital and higher education institutions in Hyderabad which he has still not bothered to honour. 

Samarthanam Trust Announces “Cash Relief for India’s Blind Cricketers”

In extreme times like now, dealing in kind has its limits but kindness doesn’t. Recognizing that cash in hand is any day, and especially so in the current position, better than providing people with things that may have or many not want, the Samarthanam Trust for the Disabled, a pan India non-profit organization founded in 1997, with a vision to empower the visually impaired, disabled and marginalized people in India, has come up with a plan to help blind cricketers in India. 

Almost 600 cricketers from across India, that includes men and women, will benefit to the tune of approximately Rs 35 lakh thanks to the largesse of Give India with whom Samarthanam has tied up to provide the cricketers associated with the Cricket Association for the Blind in India (CABI). Players of the 24 State teams that took part in the second season of the All India Nagesh Trophy Men’s National Cricket Tournament for the Blind as also players from the seven states that took part in the inaugural Women’s National Cricket Tournament for the Blind will each receive Rs 7,000 (for those in Tier 1 cities), Rs 5000 (for Tier 2 cities) and Rs 4,000 (for tier 3 cities). 

Take the case of Venugopal Mani, the 32-year-old Blind Cricketer from Badiyadka in Kasaragod district in Kerala, who used to sell lottery tickets when he wasn’t playing cricket.  He used to make Rs. 400-500 per day by selling lottery tickets said Venugopal who has been playing for the Kerala blind team from 2013. But this pandemic has put a hold to the South Africa Blind Cricket’s team tour of India earlier in March, took its toll away from the field too. He has to support his wife who is also a blind, a two-year-old son and his aging mother but this pandemic has confined indoors, and he had to borrow loans. 

Naturally this cash infusion from CABI and Samarthanam has left him relieved, at least for some time. “This help has come just at the right time for and I am most grateful to both the Cricket Association for the Blind in Kerala (CABK) and CABI as also to Samarthanam. I hope to get back to playing cricket and earn my livelihood soon,” said Venugopal.  

Similar is the case with Sukhram Majhi, another blind cricketer who has represented India. Hailing from Koraput district in Odisha state, he doesn’t have a job and is currently pursuing his studies as a MA student. They are a family of three and have lost his father. His mother, who is also partially blind a daily wage labourer and the only earning member of the family. His mother’s elder sister is mentally challenged and stays together with them. 

“Due to the lockdown, my mother lost her job had to depend on the disability pension and they were running out of basic essentials at home and were unable to pay the house rent. I was so grateful when I received financial help from Give India through Samarthanam. The cash assistance couldn’t have been timed better otherwise we would have been in trouble” says Sukhram Majhi. 

Shilpa’s story is no different. Having represented Karnataka in the inaugural Women’s National Cricket Tournament for the Blind back in December 2019, the Davangere girl said the lockdown and its consequences had made life very difficult for her and her family. 

“My father couldn’t go out to work and so we depended on the free ration provided by the government for BPL card holders. Just as we were getting desperate we received cash from CABI. It came as a great relief and I do hope more people like me will get similar timely support” says Shilpa. 

Soon after the lockdown was announced, the Samarthanam Trust started identifying disabled people in dire need of support and chalked out an action plan to implement the relief work. As many as 14 cities are being covered under the relief work, 3.5 lakh meals were cooked and supplied while dry ration kits are being given to 16,000 people with focus on persons with disabilities. Medical equipment such as 32,000 PPE kits and other aids such as pulse oximeters, ICU beds, masks and sanitizers were provided to 12 government hospitals. In addition, about one lakh frontline workers (ASHA workers, Sanitation workers, Anganwadi workers, Police personnel) were supported with masks, sanitizers, medical gear and even sarees (uniforms). 

Meantime some of the state associations like Kerala and Delhi announced some cash relief for their players. 

“The need of the hour is cash so that each individual can decide for himself or herself what their immediate needs are and use the money accordingly” said Mahantesh GK, the Founder Managing Trustee of Samarthanam and the President of CABI. 

“We wish we could do more but for that blind cricket needs more support from the Union Sports Ministry as also the BCCI. Our cricketers have won four World Cups (two ODI World Cups and two T20 World Cups) and have brought great laurels to the nation. We also conduct our national tournaments and have bilateral cricket series regularly every year thanks to some support from the corporate world but much more needs to be done,” added Mahantesh. 

About Samarthanam Trust: 

Samarthanam Trust for the Disabled is a National Award-winning NGO established in the year 1997 by Founder Managing Trustee Mahantesh G Kivadasannavar and his schoolmate and childhood friend, Late Sugur Paramashivaiah Nagesh. 

Samarthanam,one of the biggest NGOs in India, works for the empowerment of persons with disabilities and the underserved through its diverse initiatives focused on providing quality education, accommodation, nutritious food, vocational training and placement based rehabilitation. It facilitates opportunities to enable persons with disabilities and the underserved to keep pace with the rest of the society.Today, The organization also facilitates direct livelihood opportunities to hundreds of persons with disabilities and women in distress through its Social Enterprises. Cricket Association for the Blind in India (CABI), the cricketing arm of Samarthanam, fosters the game of blind cricket and the visually impaired players across India.  

Small Retailers Across Indian Market Embark on Digital Journey with Pine Labs

Small retailers across India are embarking on their digital journey with Pine Labs. Merchants can now use customer relationship management (CRM), GST billing, inventory management, staff management, barcode scanning, and loyalty programs using Pine Labs’ Plutus Smart Android PoS device.

Over 50 partner apps in these areas are now integrated with the Pine Labs’ Plutus payment system and are helping small retailers manage their business better. Small retailers operating grocery, mobile stores, and small pharmacies no longer need to deploy several different software and devices to meet their business needs.  Pine Labs’ Plutus Smart provides a full retail-automation solution, on a single PoS device.

“With the Vyapar app on the Pine Labs PoS, it is easy to manage business and keep track of transactions and bills. It has also helped in creating a trust factor with customers as now I can create invoices in the app and share them,” says Nilesh K Agarwal, a mobile store owner in Narmada, Gujarat.

Commenting on the Pine Labs app ecosystem, Nitish Asthana, President and COO, Pine Labs said, “In the post-Covid period our customers, especially small retailers are relying on digitization to grow their business. An out of box solution on our Plutus Smart PoS device with integrated app ecosystem is helping them jump start this business. We are excited to drive this digital transformation in India.”

A partial list of apps available via Pine Labs’ Plutus Smart can be found here: https://www.pinelabs.com/products/business-apps

About Pine Labs

Pine Labs is one of Asia’s leading merchant commerce platforms. Its unique cloud-based platform enables it to offer a wide range of payment acceptance and merchant commerce solutions. Its stored value platform includes issuing, processing, and distributing digital gift cards for corporate customers. Its customer base includes prominent large, mid-sized and small merchants across India, South East Asia, and the Middle East. Pine Labs is incorporated in Singapore. Pine Labs’ key investors include Sequoia India, Mastercard, Actis Capital, Temasek, PayPal and Sofina. To know more, please visit www.pinelabs.com 

Dettol BSI & NASVI Partner to Train and Provide Access to Hygiene Products to Street Vendors in India

* With an objective to drive behavior change communication, the nationwide partnership program will help street vendors across India inculcate hygiene practices in their everyday routine

* In the first phase of the nationally focused partnership program reached street vendors across Delhi, Hyderabad, Bengaluru & Surat

Dettol BSI, the flagship program by RB, global consumer healthcare company, announced partnership with National Association of Street Vendors of India (NASVI) for a program to support street vendors in India and create a healthy and hygienic environment for them. The nationwide partnership aims to provide training and access to hygiene products like Dettol Soaps and masks to ensure better health and hygiene practices. Simultaneously it aims to help them emerge from the languishing financial condition by instilling public confidence in street vending.

The street vendors constitute an integral and legitimate part of the trade and distribution system for the daily necessities of the public. As per a research study done by WEIGO, they represent 4% of the urban workforce across India. They work in an unprotected environment and usually are the first point of contact in the supply chain for end consumers, this puts them and their customers at high risk. During the pandemic, it becomes crucial to provide appropriate training to vendors on safety and hygiene.

With India re-opening after the lockdown and society still marred by the sudden peaks of the Covid-19, the program is of paramount importance. Addressing the situation this partnership program is designed to prepare street vendors to be safe and serve their consumers safely and hygienically. The first phase of the program has successfully equipped, street vendors, on correct hygienic street vending protocols in the most impacted communities across Delhi, Hyderabad, Bengaluru & Surat.  

Commenting on the partnership initiative, Mr. Gaurav Jain, Senior Vice President, South Asia, Reckitt Benckiser Health said, “The unprecedented pandemic has changed the way we live, eat, behave and socialize in our everyday lives. For the street vendors community in India, this is a bigger challenge than we realize. The misinformation coupled with panic had created a sense of fear that was stopping street vendors from getting back to work. With this program, our ambition is to create awareness and open a safer path to survival for them in the post-pandemic world. Partnering with National Association of Street Vendors of India (NASVI) was crucial to building back the confidence amongst street vendors. By providing hygiene essentials to help fight the spread of Covid-19 and demonstrating the ease with which they can tackle the pandemic helped thousands of them to get back to work stronger and safer than ever before. We will continue such initiatives with the aim of building a healthier nation.”

Mr. Arbind Singh, National Coordinator, NASVI said, “The fight against COVID-19 is only possible through a collaborative approach. We are grateful to have partnered with India’s most trusted hygiene brand, Dettol, to support the street vendor community in India. Preparing them to successfully function in the new normal equipped with the right knowledge and the means to protect themselves as well as avoid spread of the virus was crucial.”

The partnership programme has also trained staff and volunteers visiting the field with instructions regarding correct preventive measures for themselves. Additionally, to assist them with essentials, Dettol BSI distributed 5,00,000 soap bars & 2,00,000 face masks to the street vendors with on-ground support from Jagran Pehel and NASVI.

About RB:

RB* is driven by its purpose to protect, heal and nurture in a relentless pursuit of a cleaner, healthier world. We fight to make access to the highest-quality hygiene, wellness and nourishment a right, not a privilege, for everyone.

RB is proud to have a stable of trusted household brands found in households in more than 190 countries. These include Enfamil, Nutramigen, Nurofen, Strepsils, Gaviscon, Mucinex, Durex, Scholl, Clearasil, Lysol, Dettol, Veet, Harpic, Cillit Bang, Mortein, Finish, Vanish, Calgon, Woolite, Air Wick and more. 20 million RB products a day are bought by consumers globally.

RB's passion to put consumers and people first, to seek out new opportunities, to strive for excellence in all that we do, and to build shared success with all our partners, while doing the right thing, always is what guides the work of our 40,000+ diverse and talented colleagues worldwide.