Neerja Birla’s Mpower, Amitabh Bachchan Collaborate Mental Health Campaign #SunoDekhoKaho to Sensitize Citizens

Taking cognizance of the rising issues surrounding mental wellness in the country, Mpower Founder and Chairperson Mrs Neerja Birla and Bollywood Icon Shri Amitabh Bachchan have come together to address these concerns. In a freewheeling conversation, which was released today as a video on Mpower’s YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram pages, the two leaders touched upon the harsh realities of mental health, the challenges people face because of it, and steps society can take to handle the situation with compassion. In order to give viewers valid responses, the conversation elucidated the differences between irrational fears and anxiety, and how one should handle the former, before it prevents them from carrying out routine tasks.

The thought #SunoDekhoKaho itself is so beautifully explained; ‘Suno’- someone who can lend an ear to someone who needs it, ‘Dekho’ – lookout for symptoms of illness and suffering individuals and ‘Kaho’ – help somebody, and spread the word and build awareness about mental health. In line with the theme #SunoDekhoKaho, Mrs. Birla and Mr. Bachchan spoke about the importance of education, in helping identify, and understand the symptoms of mental illness. From school children to corporate professionals, from artists to politicians, it is never easy to understand what one might be going through, beneath the surface. The conversation approached the topic by talking about the stigma associated with ‘opening up’, and stressed upon the heightened need for awareness, especially among those who are prone to physical and substance abuse, leading to deteriorating mental health.

As the conversation progressed, they also sought to dispel common myths around mental health, the most pertinent being that it is unaffordable, which prevents people from seeking the help that they need. Mrs. Birla spoke about how, over the course of Mpower’s journey, they have counselled a wide cross section of society, so as to not deny anyone the chance to live with respect and dignity.

Speaking about the association with Mr. Bachchan, Mrs. Neerja Birla, Founder & Chairperson, Mpower, said, “Mr. Bachchan has been long associated with creating awareness on a variety of health issues that we Indians need to combat in our lives. Hence, we approached him if he could lend his support to amplify the conversations on a taboo topic like mental health. He graciously agreed to the cause. We are happy to collaborate with Mr. Bachchan for this campaign, which decodes the importance of mental well-being. It’s an honour to have a legend like him to discuss a topic which is sensitive and deep-rooted concern in our society. A powerful voice like his will help us highlight the issue of mental health, which is the need of the hour. Amidst the challenging and competitive era that we are living in, it is extremely important to discuss mental health and bring it to the spotlight. With #SunoDekhoKaho, we aim to educate the citizens and make them aware of accessibility of mental health services in India. We truly hope with Mr. Bachchan addressing a wider audience through this communication, we will gradually be able to eliminate the stigma associated with mental health.”

The month long #SunoDekhoKaho campaign aims at encouraging people to listen, be watchful, speak up to seek help. Mpower will provide support for all those in need and help them tackle mental health concerns.

About Mpower:

Backed by Aditya Birla Education Trust, Mpower is a holistic mental health care initiative, which has become the pioneer of mental health awareness in the country. Since its inception, Mpower aims to create an ecosystem where people with mental health concerns and their caregivers receive professional support, care and acceptance to facilitate their recovery, without facing discrimination or shame. With the help of holistic care, interventions and treatments that are world-class and multi-disciplinary, Mpower is dedicated to ending the stigma associated with mental health. Mpower hopes to help in bringing about change in the public perception of coping with mental health concerns. Currently, Mpower's clinical footprint is in Mumbai, Bengaluru, Goa and Pilani.

About Aditya Birla Education Trust:

Aditya Birla Education Trust (ABET) is an organisation committed to the cause of education and mental health, with an objective to nurture young minds. Right from establishing the Aditya Birla World Academy, an International School with an Indian soul, to The Aditya Birla Integrated School, which acknowledges the need to cater to children with different learning needs, ABET has always prioritised the importance of a child’s overall development. Further under the aegis of ABET, the Aditya Birla Education Academy provides professional development opportunities for educators, and engages, empowers and equips them to contribute towards shaping the future of young minds. In an endeavour to stamp out stigma surrounding mental health concerns, ABET has established Mpower, a holistic mental health care initiative, which has become the pioneer of mental health awareness in the country. Aditya Birla Education Trust runs under the zealous leadership of its passionate and committed Founder & Chairperson, Mrs. Neerja Birla.

V-Guard’s Crystal Series Stabilizers Ensure Extra Protection for Your Sensitive LED TVs

As the festive season witnesses robust sales of large screen televisions and upgrade to smart LED TVs, demand for specifically suitable voltage stabilizer is also on the rise. To cater to the needs of consumers India’s leading stabilizer manufacturer V-Guard has launched a series of feature rich voltage stabilizers to safeguard LED TV sets. Latest in the lineup is the Crystal 150 Prime LED TV stabilizer which is an effective protection system with a host of essential features providing powerful functionality.

This stabilizer comes with a spike protection mechanism, which safeguards the connected load and ensures that LED TVs last long. This product is an ideal choice to protect Smart TVs up to 203 cm, set top box and home theatre/gaming console from voltage fluctuations and supply related threats.

With a 4A capacity, the Crystal 150 Prime LED TV stabilizer is consistently powerful and is further secured by a smart voltage correction feature, which keeps a safe voltage input for connected load. This protects LED TVs and connected gadgets from even short voltage fluctuations which can cause significant damage to the equipments. The digital display system of the Crystal 150 Prime gives complete visibility into voltage levels, enabling consumers to monitor them at all times. With an elegant and distinct design, the stabilizer sets itself apart from others. This wall-mountable stabilizer would add extra charm to your entertainment room. The Crystal 150 Prime comes with a three-year warranty and ensures protection for a long time.

V-Guard, the pioneer in stabilizers & also India’s largest selling stabilizer brand, has six variants of digital stabilizers in Crystal series specifically designed as a protection gear for entertainment gadgets like LED TV, Smart TV and 3D television sets. 

For mor Information: https://www.vguard.in/product-details/crystal-prime-150-stabilizers-for-led-lcd-t

About V- Guard:

V-Guard Industries Limited is one of India’s leading consumer electrical and Electronics Company. Incepted in 1977 by Mr. Kochouseph Chittilappilly to manufacture and market Voltage stabilizers, V-Guard is now a force to reckon with in the Indian electrical and electronics goods panorama. The company has established a strong brand name and aggressively diversified to become a multi-product company catering to the Light Electricals sector manufacturing Voltage stabilizers, Inverters, Pumps, House wiring cables, Electric water heaters, Fans, Solar water heaters, Kitchen Appliances and has also recently forayed into Air Cooler & Modular Switches. In an endeavour to reach every nook and corner of the country, V-Guard is armed with an expansive network of over 500 distributors, 200 service centres, 5500 direct dealers and 20,000 retailers and a committed after sales team. Under he leadership of Mr.Mithun Chittilappilly, Managing Director, V-Guard will continue to create thoughtfully engineered products in its endeavour to enrich consumer lives.

Vedantu Unveils “V-MSAT”-India’s Biggest Scholarship Admission Test

* Assured Scholarships upto 100% for every student giving the test

* An opportunity for students preparing for JEE Advance, JEE Mains, NEET, NTSE, Olympiads & CBSE to get their All India Ranking without going to a test centre

Vedantu, a pioneer in LIVE online learning has launched India’s largest scholarship admission test “Vedantu Master Scholarship Admission Test (V-MSAT)” for students from grades 6-12 and droppers. With numerous children appearing for competitive exams in India, this test will help students prepare first-hand and achieve their academic goals and arrive at their All India Rank without having to appear for the actual examination in a test centre for National Competitive Examination.

Over 800000 students are expected to register for V-MSAT. To provide an equal and fair opportunity to talented students across India, Vedantu is offering this test at zero cost (FREE Registration for all students till 29th November). V-MSAT offers 100% scholarship to students for JEE-Adv & Mains, NEET, NTSE & CBSE exam preparation. The biggest online exam will serve as a one stop platform for students to test mental ability, logical reasoning & data interpretation, math, and science. The initiative is designed by India’s best teachers & Co-founders of Vedantu to help students:

Get exam ready with the country’s biggest online test

Get an All India Rank without going to a test centre

Assured Scholarships up to 100% for every student giving the test

More than 100 Crore worth of scholarship pool

Exciting prizes like iPad Air & Amazon Kindle to be won

V-MSAT is divided into two stages and the first stage will be online & moderate whereas the second stage will be proctored and difficult. Every paper will contain a total 50 objective questions with 4 options, out of which only one of them will be correct. All correct answers will be awarded +4 marks and incorrect answers will be penalised with -1mark (maximum mark 200). The maximum time available to attempt the paper will be 1-hour and all test papers will be different for every class. In the first week of December 2020, interviews will be conducted for Toppers and Prizes shall be given to the qualified students. The V-MSAT test will be conducted till every Sunday at 3PM until 29th November.

To register please login to: https://vmst.vedantu.com/

About Vedantu:

Vedantu is a LIVE interactive online learning platform for students. It offers individual and group classes delivered by experienced Master Teachers in a LIVE real-time, virtual learning through their patented platform. The indigenous platform built for revolutionizing online learning captures 70+ parameters, helps drive high engagement and interaction in virtual class and give students their personalized learning reports to help them understand the knowledge gaps. Students can also access free content, take tests, and play LIVE quiz every day. 1Million+ students study LIVE every month on the platform and more than 25 Million users every month from 1000+ cities and 40+ countries access free content, tests, doubts, videos on Vedantu’s platform and its channels on YouTube. To know more about Vedantu log on to www.vedantu.com or download the App on your Android or iOS device.

Zebra Study: Only Two in 10 Consumers Have Complete Confidence Their Food is Safe to Eat

Zebra Technologies Corporation (NASDAQ: ZBRA), an innovator at the front line of business with solutions and partners that deliver a performance edge, today announced the results of its Food Safety Supply Chain Vision Study. The study highlights the views of consumers as well as food and beverage industry decision-makers worldwide from distribution and warehouses to grocery stores and restaurants around safety, traceability and transparency.

Surveyed consumers reported their top food safety concerns include restaurant kitchen and wait staff hygiene, foodborne outbreaks, illness from contaminated food, and food and beverage recalls. Consumers can be quite unforgiving if they experience a food incident as approximately six in 10 reportedly would never eat at a restaurant again if they contracted a foodborne illness or food poisoning. Slightly more than 80% of surveyed consumers said companies have an important role to play in implementing food safety solutions and an ethical responsibility to ensure the safe handling of their food.  Most consumers (70%) said it is important to know how their food and ingredients are manufactured, prepared, and handled, while 69% agreed knowing how their food is sourced is also important.

Given the increased focus on health and wellness, it’s unsurprising both consumers and industry decision-makers are showing a great level of interest in the source, quality and safety of their food. However, a disconnect exists between what consumers believe and what industry decision-makers think. Almost seven in 10 (69%) decision-makers say the industry is prepared to manage food traceability and transparency, but only 35% of consumers agree. Furthermore, only 13% of consumers felt the industry was extremely prepared today to manage food traceability and be transparent about how food travels through the supply chain, whereas 27% of decision-makers reported feeling this way.  Unfortunately, this is not just a short-term challenge as approximately half (51%) of surveyed food and beverage decision-makers said meeting consumer expectations will remain a challenge in five years.

“Findings from our study show that while the industry is taking measures to ensure a more transparent supply chain, more work needs to be done in order to increase consumer confidence and improve food traceability,” said Deep Agarwal, Regional Sales Director of India, Zebra Technologies. “Businesses naturally have more information available to them but can improve consumers’ faith in their food sources by providing them access to the same information.”

One bright spot identified in the research is the role that technology can play in closing both these gaps in both the short- and long-term.  An overwhelming majority (90%) of decision-makers acknowledged that investments in traceability-focused solutions will provide them with a competitive advantage by enabling them to meet the expectations of consumers. When asked about the top benefits that technology-based track and trace solutions would provide, nearly six in 10 decision-makers cited risk reductions with proper handling, transportation and storage and tracking product perishability. 41% of industry decision-makers reported RFID tags improve food traceability within the supply chain more than any other technology, yet only 31% currently use them within their own organizations.

Mobile computers and tablets, mobile barcode label printers, scanners and specialty labels and tags will also be key enablers in winning consumer trust and delivering more transparent information to consumers.

Approximately 90% of surveyed industry decision-makers expect to use rugged handheld mobile computers with scanners, barcode scanners and mobile barcode label printers within the next five years to digitally manage and track food products and related information.

“Zebra offers a portfolio of solutions that transform the food supply chain from farm to fork,” said Aik Jin, Tan, Vertical Solutions Lead, Zebra Technologies Asia Pacific. “Businesses can choose from basic track and trace solutions by pairing up of the likes of the ZQ511 and ZQ521 mobile printers with the CS60 Series companion scanner for barcode printing and scanning. Otherwise, they can opt for RFID solutions by pairing up the likes of the ZQ511 and ZQ521 RFID mobile printers that produce RFID-enabled labels with handheld RFID readers and RFID-enabled scanners. By doing so, businesses will be empowered with real-time visibility that takes their track and trace efforts to a whole new level.”

KEY REGIONAL SURVEY FINDINGS

Asia-Pacific

* 93% of surveyed food and beverage decision-makers believe their companies have an ethical responsibility to ensure the safe handling and management of food.

* Nearly three-quarters (73%) of consumers listed illness and deaths caused by contamination as their biggest concern for risks posed by the food supply chain.

* 89% of industry decision-makers believe investments in traceability-focused solutions would provide their companies with a competitive advantage.

Europe

* Only 15% of surveyed consumers completely trust food and beverage distributors to ensure the food and beverages are safe for public consumption.

* More than six in 10 (62%) consumers listed a foodborne outbreak as their top concern for food-related issues.

* Approximately half (53%) of surveyed industry decision-makers completely agree their companies have an ethical responsibility to ensure the safe handling and management of food – the lowest of any region.

Latin America

* Almost nine in 10 (87%) consumers cite restaurant kitchen staff hygiene as their top concern for food-related issues.

* The vast majority (97%) of surveyed industry decision-makers believe investing in food safety and traceability technology will provide their companies with a competitive edge.

* Seventy-nine percent of consumers responded that having access to accurate information on where their food came from was important to them.

North America

* The average trust level in companies and brands to ensure food and beverages are safe for public consumption is two and a half times higher in industry decision-makers (45%) than consumers (18%).

* 91% of surveyed food and beverage decision-makers believe their companies have an important role in implementing food safety solutions.

* More than six in 10 (64%) consumers cite fear of foodborne illness/disease as their primary reason for wanting more information about their food source.

SURVEY BACKGROUND AND METHODOLOGY

Zebra’s Food Safety Supply Chain Vision Study included approximately 4,957 consumers and 462 food and beverage industry decision-makers in the manufacturing, transportation & logistics, retail and wholesale distribution markets in North America, Latin America, Asia-Pacific and Europe who were interviewed in January 2020 by Azure Knowledge Corporation.

McAfee Sees COVID-19-Themed Threats and PowerShell Malware Surge in Q2 2020

 

Key Findings

* McAfee sees COVID-19-themed cyber-attack detections increase by 605% in Q2 2020

* McAfee saw PowerShell malware surge 117% due to proliferation of malicious Donoff documents

* Attacks on cloud services users reached nearly 7.5 million

* New malware samples grow 11.5% in Q2 2020; averaging 419 new threats per minute

* New Coinmining malware increases 25% with adoption of new Coinmining applications

* New Linux malware increases 22% due to Gafgyt and Mirai Internet of Things activity

* Mobile malware grows 15% driven by Android Mobby Adware surge

* Publicly disclosed security incidents rose 22%; incidents targeting technology industry increase 91%

McAfee Corp. (Nasdaq: MCFE), the device-to-cloud cybersecurity company, today released its McAfee Threats Report: November 2020, examining cybercriminal activity related to malware and the evolution of cyber threats in Q2 2020. During this period, McAfee saw an average of 419 new threats per minute as overall new malware samples grew by 11.5%. A significant proliferation in malicious Donoff Microsoft Office documents attacks propelled new PowerShell malware up 117%, and the global impact of COVID-19 prompted cybercriminals to adjust their cybercrime campaigns to lure victims with pandemic themes and exploit the realities of a workforce working from home.

“The second quarter of 2020 saw continued developments in innovative threat categories such as PowerShell malware and the quick adaptation by cybercriminals to target organizations through employees working from remote environments,” said Raj Samani, McAfee fellow and chief scientist. “What began as a trickle of phishing campaigns and the occasional malicious app quickly turned into a deluge of malicious URLs, attacks on cloud users and capable threat actors leveraging the world’s thirst for more information on COVID-19 as an entry mechanism into systems across the globe.”

Each quarter, McAfee assesses the state of the cyber threat landscape based on in-depth research, investigative analysis, and threat data gathered by the McAfee Global Threat Intelligence cloud from over a billion sensors across multiple threat vectors around the world.

COVID-19-Themed Threat Campaigns

After a first quarter that saw the world plunge into pandemic, the second quarter saw enterprises continue to adapt to unprecedented numbers of employees working from home and the cybersecurity challenges this new normal demands. In response, McAfee launched the McAfee COVID-19 Threats Dashboard to help CISOs and security teams understand how bad actors have retargeted increasingly sophisticated techniques toward businesses, governments, schools, and a workforce coping with COVID-19 restrictions and the potential vulnerabilities of remote device and bandwidth security. Over the course of Q2, McAfee’s global network of over a billion sensors observed a 605% increase in COVID-19-related attack detections compared to Q1. 

Donoff & PowerShell Malware

Donoff Microsoft Office documents act as TrojanDownloaders by leveraging the Windows Command shell to launch PowerShell and proceed to download and execute malicious files. Donoff played a critical role in driving the 689% surge in PowerShell malware in Q1 2020. In Q2, the acceleration of Donoff-related malware growth slowed but remained robust, driving up PowerShell malware by 117% and helping to drive a 103% increase in overall new Microsoft Office malware. This activity should be viewed within the context of the overall continued growth trend in PowerShell threats. In 2019, total samples of PowerShell malware grew 1,902%.

Attacks on Cloud Users

McAfee observed nearly 7.5 million external attacks on cloud user accounts. This is based on the aggregation and anonymization of cloud usage data from more than 30 million McAfee MVISION cloud users worldwide during the second quarter of 2020. This data set represents companies in all major industries across the globe, including financial services, healthcare, public sector, education, retail, technology, manufacturing, energy, utilities, legal, real estate, transportation, and business services.

Q2 2020 Threat Activity

* Malware overall. McAfee Labs observed 419 new threats per minute in Q2 2020, an increase of almost 12% over the previous quarter. Ransomware growth remained steady compare to the first quarter of 2020.

* Coinminer malware. After growing 26% in Q1, new Coinmining malware increased 25% over the previous quarter sustained by the popularity of new Coinmining applications.

* Mobile malware. After a 71% increase in new mobile malware samples in Q1, Q2 saw the category slow 15% despite a surge in Android Mobby Adware.

* Internet of Things. New IoT malware increased only 7% in Q2, but the space saw significant activity by Gafgyt and Mirai threats, both of which drove growth in new Linux malware by 22% during the period.

* Regional cyber activity. McAfee counted 561 publicly disclosed security incidents in the second quarter of 2020, an increase of 22% from Q1. Disclosed incidents targeting North America decreased 30% over the previous quarter. These incidents decreased 47% in the United States, but increased 25% in Canada and 29% in the United Kingdom.

* Attack vector. Overall, Malware led among reported attack vectors accounting for 35% of publicly reported incidents in Q2. Account Hijacking and Targeted Attacks accounted for 17% and 9% respectively.

* Sector activity. Disclosed incidents detected in the second quarter of 2020 targeting Science and Technology increased 91% over the previous quarter. Incidents in Manufacturing increased 10%, but Public Sector events decreased by 14%.

Infogain Awarded Oracle Knowledge Advanced Implementation Contract with Fortune 200 Insurance and Financial Services Company

Infogain, a leading provider of technology solutions and an expert in software platform engineering, was awarded a new contract with a Fortune 200 insurance and financial services firm. Headquartered in the United States, the company provides a wide range of insurance products, property and casualty insurance, group benefits, and mutual funds. Infogain will help the firm migrate from Oracle Knowledge Management (OKM) 8.6 to Oracle Knowledge Advanced in the cloud.

The client was using Oracle Knowledge 8.6 and wanted to renew its licenses. Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) proposed migrating to Oracle Knowledge Advanced (cloud version) with more advanced functionality and lower total cost of ownership.

Nishith Mathur, Infogain’s Chief Technology and Strategy Officer, stated, “We are excited to work with the client on this complex project, where our team can make great use of our past experience migrating Oracle’s on premise KM system to the cloud-based Knowledge Advanced platform.  The client has ambitious goals, and we much appreciate the opportunity to help them achieve significant business impact.”

A Gold level partner of Oracle (NYSE:ORCL), Infogain has completed over 450,000 hours of knowledge management work delivered to Fortune 500 companies. Our services enhance productivity, boost cross-selling and upselling, and increase ROI while minimizing operating costs. Our pre-built migration templates and integration checklists accelerate and ensure high quality during the implementation process.

About Infogain

Infogain is a Silicon Valley headquartered company with software platform engineering and deep domain expertise in travel, retail, insurance, and high technology industries. We accelerate the delivery of digital customer engagement systems using digital technologies such as cloud, microservices, robotic process automation, and artificial intelligence to our clients.

Infogain delivers positive business outcomes for Fortune 500 companies and digital natives, using rapid prototyping and a solid foundation of DevSecOps-based software platform engineering that ensures high-quality and on-time delivery. A ChrysCapital portfolio company, Infogain has offices in California, Washington, Texas, London, Dubai, India, and Singapore, with delivery centers in Austin, Kraków, New Delhi, Bangalore, Pune, and Mumbai. 

Puresight Systems Launches iRobot’s Flagship Stores in Delhi, Mumbai & Bangalore

 With the grand Indian festive season upon us, Puresight Systems - the official distributor of iRobot in India - today announced the launch of the iRobot’s flagship stores in Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore. The exclusive showrooms have been launched in collaboration with Bonsai Ventures.

iRobot is the leading global consumer robot company who designs and builds robots that empower people in cleaning and mopping their homes. iRobot’s products, including the award-winning Roomba Robot Vacuum Cleaners and Braava Robot Mop have been in use in millions of houses worldwide. The flagship stores will serve as an experience zone for customers to get the live demo of the products. Further, customers will also get the sales and after-sales service for their robots. 

Speaking on the development, Pulak Satish Kumar of Puresight Systems, the sole distributor of iRobot in India said, “This festive season, we are glad to extend our commitment to our Indian customers. Puresight and iRobot are very happy to launch its new flagship stores in the metropolitan cities of Delhi NCR, Mumbai, and Bangalore. Our aim is to be present in all major markets in a phased and strategic manner, without compromising on our service quality and customer excellence objectives.  

He further added, “At iRobot, we intend to continue to delight our existing and prospective customers with innovative products to enable a better product experience. Further, our aim is to provide the best-in-class service through the products that offer them convenience and connected cleaning assistance, every day.”

Last month, Puresight also came up with exciting festive discounts on iRobot Roomba Robotic Vacuum cleaners and Braava Robot Mop. The offers ranged to an irresistible discount of up to INR 22,000.The offers are available in iRobot stores in India and on irobot.in, Croma, Reliance Digital, Amazon, and Flipkart and will last till 15th November 2020.

About iRobot 

iRobot was founded in 1990 (30 years ago), by Massachusetts Institute of Technology roboticists with the vision of making practical robots a reality. Today, iRobot is the leading global consumer robot company.

iRobot’s corporate headquarters are located in Bedford, Mass. The company also has offices in California, the United Kingdom, China and Hong Kong.

About Puresight Systems Pvt Ltd.

Puresight Systems Pvt Ltd. was established in 2014 with a vision of becoming a leading provider of home robotic appliances in India. Puresight Systems has the exclusive partnership with iRobot to distribute iRobot home robots in India. Since 2015 Puresight Systems imports iRobot home robots, world’s pioneer robotic floor cleaners into India.

Flagship Stores

1. Shop No. 4, Wave 1st Silver Tower, Gautam Buddh Nagar, Sector-18 Noida

2. Shop 2, Ground floor, Ganga Bhavan, 13, Linking Road, Santa Cruz West, Mumbai

3. Shop No.2, No.10, 5th Cross, 6th Block, Koramangala, Bangalore

4. iRobot, No.15, Ground Floor, Vasants Business Center, Queens Road, Bengaluru

5. Ground Floor, Ispahani Center, 123 / 124, Nungambakkam High Road, Chennai