Shekar Viswanathan Retires After 2 Decades at Toyota Kirloskar Motor

Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM) today announced the retirement of Mr. Shekar Viswanathan effective November 30, 2020. He led TKM as the Vice Chairman and Whole-time Director for over seven years.

Mr. Shekar Viswanathan superannuates after an illustrious career of over 20 years with TKM and the Toyota Group in India.  His long tenure and career advancement at Toyota clearly manifests the company’s commitment to its people and its well curated career growth plan for individuals within the organization. 

During this time, Mr. Shekar Viswanathan helped build TKM in India since joining the Board of Directors in 2008 as the Whole-time Director and as the Vice Chairman and Whole-time Director since 2013. He also helped strengthen the Toyota Group companies in the country, as the former director of Toyota Kirloskar Auto Parts and Deputy Managing Director of TG Kirloskar Automotive during his career.

Besides, his knowledge of the industry and financial services he has had the distinction of holding leadership positions in prestigious industrial associations like FICCI, CII, SIAM, ACMA and BCIC.

Bidding farewell, Mr. Vikram Kirloskar, Vice Chairman, TKM, said “Mr. Viswanathan and I have very long association. He has very consistently provided invaluable counsel and strong leadership in numerous capacities across Toyota and other group companies. His commitment, passion and vision for furthering the rise of the automobile industry in India have earned him great plaudits. I wish him well.”

Commenting on the development, Mr. Masakazu Yoshimura, Managing Director, TKM, said,“Our operations in India play a vital role for Toyota globally. As a part of the key leadership team, Shekar Viswanathan has been one of the strongest pillars for TKM fostering its growth in India. His retirement will be a loss for TKM and the auto industry at large. We are grateful for his leadership in several capacities over the years and wish him well. We will truly miss his great leadership skills.”

Sharing his views, Mr. Shekar Viswanathan said, “It is not easy to say goodbye to a company where I have spent more than two decades. Having said that, I look forward to my retirement to pursue ventures and hobbies that I could not take up all this while. I am awaiting the day when India will make and sell more than 12 million cars per year from the current 3 million cars per year as Indian engineers’ supervisors and workmen have shown themselves to be on par with world standards.  I am thankful to TMC, TDEM, TMAP, TKM and Toyota Group companies for showing faith in my abilities and allowing me the opportunity to hone my leadership skills.”

Airtel Delhi "Half Marathon 2020" on November 29 : Running in the New Normal

This time, the Airtel Delhi Half Marathon 2020 is being conducted in keeping with pandemic restrictions. This time, the Airtel Delhi Half Marathon is being conducted in keeping with pandemic restrictions. The event is being held on Nov 29 and will see the participation of top runners from across the world. The organisers have created a secure bio-bubble to protect the elite runners from the coronavirus. 

Although, this year, the general public will not be joining the elite runners. They can instead run from wherever they are. All they have to do is register, choose their race category and download the ADHM app. They can then complete their chosen distance from wherever they are between Nov 25 and Nov 29th. 

Karnataka Circle CEO Surendran has nominated himself. for the Airtel Half Delhi Marathon 2020 ( ADHM) a virtual run and the Care Champion fundraiser, Considering it’s a first of its kind virtual run and the fact that the prestigious ADHM runners can run in any city linked with a cause will be exciting for the brand.  

Some of the world’s top runners are expected to take part in the prestigious Airtel Delhi Half Marathon on Sunday, November 29th , with the organisers promising to provide bio-secure zones to ensure a COVID-19 free race for the elite runners. While the international and Indian elite runners will be at the start line at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium Delhi, the amateurs from across the globe will join them via the exclusive Airtel Delhi Half Marathon Mobile App.  

Hero Motocorp Appoints Global Mobility Expert Micheal Clarke as Chief Operating Officer

Hero MotoCorp, the world’s largest manufacturer of motorcycles and scooters, today appointed global mobility expert Michael Clarke to the newly created position of Chief Operating Officer (COO), with the additional role of Chief Human Resources Officer (CHRO).

Based out of India, Mike will join Hero MotoCorp effective January 1, 2021 and report to Dr. Pawan Munjal, Chairman & CEO of Hero MotoCorp. The Nomination and Remuneration Committee (NRC) of Hero MotoCorp has approved the appointment.

In the emerging “new world” of business, Mike Clarke’s appointment comes close on the heels of recent augmenting of the Leadership Team at Hero MotoCorp.

As part of this process, Hero MotoCorp has earlier announced assigning the role of Head of Strategy to Malo Le Masson and expanded the role of Ravi Pisipaty as the Head of Plant Operations. Sanjay Bhan has returned to the Company as the Head of Global Business (GB) to play a key role in the rapid expansion and consolidation of Hero in the international markets. Mahesh Kaikini, the Head of Gurugram plant, has been appointed as the Chief Quality Officer, while Ashutosh Varma has been elevated to the role of Head of National Sales.

Mike Clarke is a business leader with more than 25 years’ global experience in publicly listed companies in the US and UK. Mike has worked extensively in building, leading and managing teams across geographies and functions. 

Mike has worked in leadership roles in some of the world’s top companies, such as Fiat Group SPA and Delphi Technologies. Mike was also in leadership roles in Operations and Human Resources functions in several other companies, including Tenneco Automotive and Hertz Corporation Breed Technology (formerly AlliedSignal SRS) across Europe.

A mechanical engineer and an MBA from the John Moore’s University in Liverpool, UK, Mike started his career with Delco Electronics Overseas Corporation (a subsidiary of General Motors) in Liverpool, before moving to Colgate Palmolive based out of Manchester.

Dr. Pawan Munjal, Chairman & CEO, Hero MotoCorp, said “I am excited to have Mike join the Hero family at this crucial juncture in time of emerging opportunities and new challenges. Mike brings considerable global experience and expertise in managing complex operations, international restructuring, organisational and cultural change.  His experience will be highly beneficial as we look to further consolidate our market leadership across continents. We have a clear focus to create benchmark products and facilities, including industry leading processes and operations. Mike will contribute by playing a vital role in providing strategic leadership in operational excellence and driving the Talent agenda at Hero MotoCorp.”

Commenting on his appointment, Mike Clarke said “It is an absolute privilege to be joining Dr. Munjal and his Leadership Team at Hero MotoCorp.  We are in unprecedented times across the globe and it is clear that Hero MotoCorp is navigating successfully and maintaining its number one position in the industry. I am passionately looking forward to contributing to and continuing the journey being led by Dr. Munjal globally as well as in the domestic market in India. I can’t wait to get going and meeting more Heroes.”

Garmin India Launches Forerunner 745 for Athletes and Running Enthusiasts with Detailed Performance Metrics

 Now runners can enjoy multiple benefits with Forerunner 745

* Multiple –satellite support systems

* Built-in activity profiles for running, triathlon, cycling, swimming, track running and more

* Personalized run and cycling workout suggestions based on current training status

* Support from Garmin Coach and free training plan

Garmin India, a unit of Garmin Ltd. (NASDAQ: GRMN), today launched the all new Forerunner 745, an advanced GPS smartwatch built for runners and triathletes looking for detailed training data, on-device workouts smartwatch features and more.

Specially designed understanding the requirements of the athletes, the smartwatch monitor stats and analyzes data to help users in achieving their goals. The users can train with dozens of built-in activity profiles, including triathlon, pool swimming, track running and more.

Further, avoiding any distractions and bringing more convenience, athletes can now round out their training routines and can seamlessly switch between activities with the press of a button during a race or brick workout.

Becoming the best partner during training and workout, the Forerunner 745 supports essential performance monitoring tools like VO2 max, training load, training status, and aerobic and anaerobic training effects. Additionally, users will now also receive on-device running and cycling daily workout suggestions based on their current training load and VO2 max. Runners can also view all six running metrics – including cadence, stride length, and more – right on the watch.

The Forerunner 745 also features advanced dynamics to help with cycling and swim training. While on a bike, it will track data such as left/right balance, time seated and standing, platform center offset and power phase1.

During a swim, the Forerunner 745 will track distance, stroke, pace, personal records and more. Based on the difficulty of a workout, the improved recovery time feature will let athletes know how long to rest before a hard training session. It also accounts for other factors that impact recovery including all-day stress, sleep and daily activities, and will adjust the recovery time on the watch, making it easier than ever for athletes to get the most out of their workouts.

Commenting on the launch of Forerunner 745, Mr. Ali Rizvi, Director, Garmin India said, “We at Garmin thrive to deliver the product which enhances our user’s experience with its data accuracy, quality, and world-class technology. The all-new Forerunner 745 is developed by Garmin’s R&D team understanding the actual need of all the athletes which keeps them away from all the distractions and supports with the detailed performance metrics. Along with its features, the smartwatch will also support the athletes with personalized run and cycling workout suggestions and guidance from Garmin coach which will further help in making improvements in their workout schedule and make their training more robust”

Runners and triathletes can take their training to the next level. The smartwatch lets users sync indoor and outdoor workouts automatically from Garmin Connect™ or other training apps, including TrainingPeaks® and TrainerRoad, right to the watch. What’s more, the Forerunner 745 is compatible with Garmin Coach, free training plans that adapt based on a runner’s goals and performance. Garmin users can train for a 5K, 10K or half-marathon with the help of three running coaches – Jeff Galloway, Greg McMillan and Amy Parkerson-Mitchell – to guide and motivate them.

Before heading out for a run or ride, athletes can plan and download routes using the course creator in Garmin Connect, which uses Trendline™ popularity routing to provide the best road, trail or mountain routes that are aggregated from those most traveled by fellow runners and cyclists. For athletes using platforms like Strava2 and Komoot, they can create courses that will seamlessly sync to the Forerunner 745.

The Forerunner 745 gives athletes the freedom to enjoy their favorite tunes on a run or during a workout without having to take a phone along. The watch stores up to 500 songs and lets users sync playlists from select preloaded music streaming services3 such as Spotify®, Amazon Music or transfer music from a computer.

Made to be worn all day, every day, the Forerunner 745 features tools to track an athlete’s well-being. A wrist-based Pulse Ox sensor4 will help provide a clearer picture of how athletes are sleeping and adjusting to altitude acclimation while the Body Battery™ energy monitor lets athletes track their energy levels to find the best times for activity and rest. Additionally, the menstrual cycle tracking feature helps women adjust their training to maximize improvement potential and plan for upcoming races based on where they are in their cycle.

Even while on the move, the Forerunner 745 lets athletes stay in touch. Directly from the wrist, users can receive text messages and view social media updates, emails and more. Whether working out alone or with friends, built-in safety and tracking features include incident detection, assistance and LiveTrack to let loved ones follow along on a run or ride5. Following a workout, the Forerunner 745 will automatically upload activities to Garmin Connect.

The Forerunner 745 features up to 1 week of battery life in smartwatch mode, up to 16 hours in GPS mode and up to 6 hours in GPS mode with music.

Price: The all new Forerunner 745 comes at an attractive price of Rs. 52,990 and is available in four quirky colours: Whitestone, Magma Red, Neo Tropic and Black.

Availability:

Online: Amazon.in, Paytm Mall, Tata CLiQ, Flipkart, Myntra, thegarminstore.in

Offline: All Garmin brand stores, Lifestyle, Kolozilla Sports, Wheels Sports, Matermind Bicycle, Bums of the saddle, Cyclofit, Pro Bikers.

Mindtree Limited, Nordex Group Partners a Bid to Drive Digital Transformation

Mindtree Limited, an Indian multinational information technology and outsourcing company has united with wind turbine manufacturer, The Nordex Group, in a five-year deal on 23 November to simplify, modernise and transform its complete IT landscape globally. This deal will see Mindtree as The Nordex Group’s partner, providing scalability to support the company's growth plan. Mindtree has been around since 1999 while The Nordex Group dates back even farther to 1985 and since its launch, it has installed wind power capacity of more than 30 GW in more than 40 markets.

“Demand for wind power will continue to grow globally and so will Nordex. Delivering to our expanding international customer base reliably and securely will require standardisation and simplification of our underlying systems. We will design a scalable digital architecture that enables us to deliver with speed and agility,” said Stefan Ewald, CIO Nordex Group.

To align the Nordex Group’s IT infrastructure with its strategic vision across the complete value chain, Mindtree will support the full stack transformation of its current IT operations and service delivery. “The scope includes the standardisation and roll out of new projects and operational processes, the consolidation of existing IT services, and the development of a future-ready cloud platform which maintains a robust cybersecurity posture,” said Venu Lambu, President, Global Markets, Mindtree.

India's IT and Business Services Market to Reach $13 Billion by December 2020: IDC

Research firm IDC (International Data Corporation) expects India's IT & Business Services market in India will grow by 5.4 percent annually to reach US $13 billion by December 2020. The IT & Business Services market grew by 5.3 percent year-on-year in 1H 2020 (January-June 2020) as compared to the 8.9 percent growth in 1H 2019. Reduced growth is the result of the pandemic. Of the IT & Business Services market, the IT Services market contributed 77.4 percent in 1H 2020 and grew by 5.9 percent YoY in 1H 2020 compared to the 9.3 percent growth in 1H2019.

Further, as reported by IDC, the IT Services market will begin picking up momentum gradually from 2021 onwards and is projected to grow at a CAGR (Compound Annual Growth Rate) of 7.2 percent between 2019-2024, to be valued at US $13.4 billion by the end of 2024.

"In 1H20, the role of IT Services vendors gained higher prominence, as organizations increasingly approached them to help ensure business continuity by putting in place various technologies, solutions, best practices and frameworks. During these difficult times, organizations were investing higher in collaboration applications, VPN licenses, endpoint devices, cybersecurity solutions, cloud, AI, and automation. Apart from just ensuring business continuity, the role of IT service providers have also been towards helping organizations to achieve a higher degree of tech resilience, adaptability, and DX maturity, to become future-ready." said Garima Goenka, Market Analyst, IT Services, IDC India.

"Additionally, most leading IT Service vendors have launched innovative AI-based applications to help the government and healthcare sectors to provide citizen services and answer COVID-19 related queries, and for organizations to ensure the safe and secure return of their employees to the workplace,” Goenka added.

"Enterprises strongly felt the need for advisory and support services to propel their digital journey amidst the pandemic. As a result, IT service providers witnessed a strong surge in demand for various services such as systems and network management, IT Consulting, hosting application management and hosting infrastructure services, among others. IT investments across all the major sectors such as BFSI, healthcare, telecom, IT/ITeS, government and manufacturing increased considerably to improve overall experience and maintain business continuity and resiliency," said Shweta Baidya, Senior Research Manager, Enterprise Software and ICT Services, IDC India.

"The government also relaxed some of the stringent guidelines that IT sector had to adhere to, prior to COVID-19 . The new rules provide increased flexibility with respect to work from home/ anywhere policies and has also modified some of the existing guidelines to augment the growth in the sector," added Baidya.

Jaguar Racing Unveils Jaguar I-Type 5 Race Car Ahead of New Formula E Campaign

 * Jaguar Racing reveal their new Jaguar I-TYPE 5 electric race car with state-of-the-art in-house powertrain

* Winning driver line-up of Sam Bird and Mitch Evans will push for points in season seven of the all-electric series

* Jaguar once again competes in an Official World Championship as the ABB FIA Formula E electric series will start season seven with its new status

* Leading materials science company, Dow, joins the Jaguar Racing team as an Official Partner

* The Jaguar Racing Formula E Team will be dressed in custom Polo Ralph Lauren packable quilted jackets created from recycled nylon and polyester fabrics

* Jaguar continues its Race to Innovate philosophy by testing an innovative new race seat made from TYPEFIBRE, a sustainably sourced collection of materials, developed in-house at Jaguar Land Rover

* Jaguar Racing will return to the streets of Santiago on the 16 January for the first of 14 races in 12 cities

Jaguar Racing have revealed their brand-new electric race car, the Jaguar I-TYPE 5, in a virtual launch 50 days before season seven of the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship.

The electric single-seater features a new powertrain developed in-house, which will run for the next two seasons. Jaguar Racing engineers have focussed on efficiency gains, reduced weight and lowered the centre of gravity of the I-TYPE 5’s powertrain. New suspension will provide greater adjustment from track to track and a more efficient invertor will improve switching speeds and performance. The state-of-the-art invertor also features 24 carat gold due to its highly conductive properties.

Sam Bird and Mitch Evans – one of the strongest pairings on the Formula E grid – will drive the new race car. Evans has been with Jaguar Racing since they joined the all-electric championship in 2016. Bird, who has won races in every Formula E season, joins the British team this season.

Jaguar Racing welcomes leading materials science company, Dow, for their first ABB FIA Formula E World Championship season with the team. Dow join as an Official Partner and with over 100 years of experience in automotive, Dow brings material expertise and a pioneering spirit to the Jaguar Racing team through its MobilityScienceTM platform and its polyolefin, polyurethanes acrylic, specialty chemical and silicone technologies.

Dow join Jaguar Racing’s leading partner line-up that includes GKN Automotive, Viessmann, Castrol and Official Suppliers Alpinestars and DR1VA.

In addition, Polo Ralph Lauren and Jaguar Racing have come together to celebrate the new Jaguar I-TYPE 5 and their shared values of cutting-edge innovation and sustainability. Kicking off the racing season in style, Jaguar’s Formula E Team will be dressed in custom designed Polo Ralph Lauren packable quilted jackets bearing the Jaguar Racing logo, created from recycled nylon and polyester fabrics, as well as recycled down-alternative insulation.

Jaguar Racing is also pleased to debut at the season seven launch the use of new sustainable materials called TYPEFIBRE. The I-TYPE 5 has a new prototype race seat made from sustainably sourced TYPEFIBRE. It will be tested at speed in different temperatures, loads and environments around the world as part of the team’s Race to Innovate mission – sharing the benefits of race technology with road cars and in turn Jaguar customers.

James Barclay, Jaguar Racing Team Director: “Season seven is a very exciting year for Jaguar Racing and for Formula E. It’s the first season Formula E boasts world championship status and is Jaguar Racing’s fifth season in the world’s fastest-growing global motorsport. The team have worked harder than ever to create the most efficient, state-of-the-art race car and it is fantastic to be able to unveil it to our customers, fans and partners. This season we also welcome Sam Bird into the Jaguar Racing family and he is already settling in very well. Both Sam and Mitch are hugely motivated along with the rest of the team for the season ahead. We’d like to extend a warm welcome to our new partner Dow. The countdown is now on until we’re back out on track in Santiago and we will be pushing for points, podiums and wins.”

Sam Bird, Jaguar Racing driver, #10: “Revealing the new Jaguar I-TYPE 5 to fans today makes it feel very real that I am part of Jaguar Racing and builds excitement to get season seven under way. I think the launch is the biggest milestone away from the track action as it highlights all the hard work the team at Jaguar Racing have been doing in the off-season. Now I can’t wait to take the I-TYPE 5 out on circuit and start my first season with such an iconic British brand.”

Mitch Evans, Jaguar Racing driver, #20: “Launch day is always a great landmark for the team as we show the world what we’ve been working on behind closed doors and set our intentions for the season. For me it’s a moment to set my own goals for the next season and start the year with positive momentum. This is my fifth season with the team and we are more determined than ever to make this the most successful year we’ve had together.”

Jim Fitterling, Dow Chairman and CEO: “Strong partnerships are based on shared visions and values. Our new relationship with Jaguar Racing is grounded in a common focus – delivering more sustainable solutions to the world through collaboration, innovation and inclusion. As a global materials science leader, we look forward to working together to advance vehicle electrification through our MobilityScience platform — making progress on our collective journey to a carbon neutral world.”

Jaguar Racing will return to the streets of Santiago on the 16 January for the first of 14 races in 12 cities.