Vedantu Appoints Ranjan Sakalley as Head of Engg & Technology

Vedantu, a pioneer in Live online tutoring in India, today announced the appointment of Ranjan Sakalley as Head of Engineering & Technology. Based in Bengaluru, Ranjan will report to Vamsi Krishna, CEO and Co-founder, and will spearhead the expansion of Vedantu’s tech and engineering team to 200 members by end of this financial year.  The hires will happen at multiple levels including senior as well as supporting roles. The team will drive further innovation to increase accessibility, affordability, and predictability in LIVE online learning.

Welcoming Ranjan Sakalley on board, Vamsi Krishna, CEO & Co-Founder, Vedantu said, “I am elated to welcome Ranjan as our new Vedan, who joins us to lead the Technology and Engineering function. Ranjan is an industry veteran and engineering leader adept at solving complex and real-time business challenges. Owing to his eclectic experience he brings the best of both worlds with startup and enterprise-led thinking. As Ranjan partners in our journey to create Impact at Scale, we endeavour to create a service where a child feels loved, cared and inspired, and technology has always been central to creating that experience and impact.”

As one of the leader in K-12 EdTech space, Vedantu is building its technology prowess to ensure a seamless experience for students even in low-bandwidth conditions in tier III markets and beyond. In his new role, Ranjan will oversee all product engineering decisions, including design, delivery, and reliability of products.

On his appointment Ranjan Sakalley, Head of Engineering & Technology, Vedantu said, “I am stoked to be part of the organisation in its next phase of growth when EdTech is making waves and bringing LIVE online learning to every other Indian home. Vedantu is investing heavily on engineering to make LIVE online class seamless, highly interactive and engaging and my role will be to build predictable learning outcomes for millions of students who are learning on our platform.”

Ranjan is an engineering veteran with two decades of expertise in building and scaling teams at Gojek, GoPay, ThoughtWorks, Proteans and Everest Software Inc. amongst others. In his previous roles he has built products and custom software to solve tough distributed computing issues, complex real time business functions at scale as well as engineered exciting new products and features for end users. Ranjan holds a B.E. in Electronics and Communications Engineering from National Institute of Technology, Karnataka.

About Vedantu:

Vedantu is a LIVE interactive online learning platform for students. It offers individual and group classes delivered by experienced teachers in a LIVE real-time, virtual learning environment. Students also access content, take assessments and get their learning reports on the platform. 150,000 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 https://www.vedantu.com or download the Application on your Android or iOS device.

Brigade Announces the Launch of Third Mall–Orion Uptown on Old Madras Road Near Whitefield-Hoskote Crossing

The Brigade Group, announced the launch of its third mall in Bengaluru as part of its mixed-use development, Brigade Golden Triangle located on Old Madras Road at the Whitefield-Hoskote crossing. The Orion Uptown Mall is over 3 Lakh sqft and is the latest addition to the neighbourhood that also has a 7 lakh sqft commercial office space, a 140-key room Holiday-Inn Hotel and over 800 residential units.

The mall was envisioned to address the much required retail hub that is customer-centric and the perfect blend of a relevant retail mix and convenience shopping. Orion Uptown is well poised to cater to the immediate micro-market, primarily comprising young working professionals and double-income nuclear families with a burgeoning middle income. It is also close to the up-country market and will serve as a welcome pitstop for highway travelers.

Apart from the signature comforts and ambience, the mall features a good mix of fast fashion brands, hypermarket and utility formats such as consumer electronics, international chain of QSRs and entertainment.  The leading brands which are currently operating in the mall include PVR Cinemas with 5 screens, Reliance Digital, Health & Glow, Reliance Trends, Max Fashion, Pizza Hut, Flavours of Malabar, Go Colors, etc. And, brands such as Burger King, Taco Bell, KFC and ALL Market (Hypermarket) are opening soon.

“Our approach to Orion Uptown was conscientiously different right from the planning and conceptualization stage to all the way up to execution and launch of the Mall. Instead of leaving it as run of the mill neighborhood mall, we explored every avenue and curated a specific set of factors to offer a high utility immersive neighborhood retail experience of consumer relevance and convenience.  By meticulously analyzing the location and its populace, the proximities, road accessibility and nearby towns, we defined our own vision of what the mall should be. I think the real magnitude of our efforts will be evident to anyone who visits the mall. I believe Orion Uptown is so much more than just a neighbourhood mall.” opines Shashie Kumar, COO – Retail, Brigade Group.

Orion Mall has also launched a free Bus Shuttle Service for customers from Kolar and Malur to and from Orion Uptown Mall. We believe that this will make it more convenient for customers of these high potential towns to visit the newly launched mall.

Veranda Acquires Chennai Race for Online Education Transaction Valued at Rs. 100 Crores

The Kalpathi Group owned, Veranda Learning Solutions today announced the acquisition of Chennai Race, India’s leading coaching institute for Banking, SSC, and PSC exams. The transaction, valued at over INR 100 crores that includes stock and earn out, now leads to the launch of a new brand, called Veranda Race. Veranda Race will initially offer result oriented online training programs for Banking, Staff Selection Commission and TNPSC. The focus of Veranda Race remains firmly on ensuring rigour and discipline amongst enrolled students thereby giving them the best opportunity to get jobs once they appear for written examinations. By December 2021 Veranda Race is planning to launch course content in 11 Indian languages.  

During the financial year 2019-20, Chennai Race recorded sales of about INR 45 crores and has trained over 200,000 students so far backed across the states of Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, and Punjab. Beginning in Chennai, Race’s unique ‘6 level practice program’ which, helps students to improve their speed and accuracy in a short span of time, and their resulted oriented, strategic curriculum, developed for each type of competitive exams, has seen Chennai Race students filling up about 60 to 80 percent of Tamil Nadu’s vacancies in the past 4-5 years.

Suresh Kalpathi, CEO, Veranda Learning Solution said “In Race, we see an alignment with our philosophy of rigor and discipline in their education delivery, focus on outcomes and affordability to the real India. We expect Veranda Race to grow significantly in the coming months and years with addition of more products and languages. Race is a great brand to bring under our newly launched venture, as it opens new possibilities in the core areas of our business. The acquisition of Race will bolster our offerings and will further define our position in the sector”.

Talking at the launch of the program Bharath Seeman, Promotor of Chennai Race & Head of Veranda Race, said “the Veranda Race programs are set for rollout nationally, in the coming months, targeting a revenue of INR 50 crores in the first year. By the end of 2021, our content will be available in 11 Indian languages and we would be training around 50,000 to 60,000 students across the country. We have priced our courses around INR 7500/- which includes course materials and mentoring support”. 

“This partnership is an important opportunity for Race as a brand to grow big and take our ‘real result-oriented coaching’ approach to every part of the country. We launched ‘RACE’ in Dec -2012 and created a unique curriculum with focus on helping our students to land PSC and Banking jobs. At Veranda RACE the key metric to assess our success will be ‘number of students getting jobs’, which is the main goal of this venture.” Bharath added.

About Veranda Learning Solution

Veranda Learning Solution the new ed-tech venture from The Kalpathi Group, is India’s first comprehensive 360-degree online education platform. Veranda Learning Solution offers training programs in test preparation for all competitive exams in India and abroad, including IIT JEE, NEET, GRE/TOEFL/IELTS/GMAT, IAS, State PSC, Banking/Staff Selection/RRB, CA/ACS related exams, Medical, K-12, NTSE and Olympiads. Veranda will also offer courses in software development namely databases, languages, development tools, cloud/analytics/big data/AI/ML platform and at an affordable price point. 

Veranda is a unique online platform that combines the best of technology, processes, and methodologies that delivers high-quality content, seeking to be one of India’s first to offer a comprehensive 360-degree education. Focused on academic outcomes for its students, Veranda adopts a multi-modal delivery system backed by a rigorous and disciplined learning framework.

About Chennai Race

Chennai RACE Coaching Institute Pvt Limited is an ISO 9001:2008 certified coaching institution that provides unique training to its students with an aim of achieving 100% results. Race provides best Level coaching for all competitive Recruitment Examinations like Bank Probationary Officers, Clerks, Specialist Officers, Central Government Staff, Insurance Sectors, Railway Officers and TNPSC (State Commission) Exams.

Chennai Race the most awarded coaching institute in India, have filled 78% of the Public Sector Bank state vacancies in Tamil Nadu. Race students are constantly filling up about 60 to 80 % of Tamil Nadu’s vacancies in the past 4-5 years. Race is also the only Private Institute which is also a Govt Certified Exam Centre for various competitive Exams.

Vi CSR and Nokia Partner for SmartAgri Solution to Enhance Farming Practices and Livelihoods of 50,000 Farmers in India

 

* Vodafone Idea CSR has deployed Nokia’s Worldwide IoT Network Grid (WING) solution to equip farmers in India with precise and practical data to help them achieve better yields

* Deployment of the smart agriculture-as-a-service solution includes soil probes, weather stations, insect traps and crop cameras to help drive productivity of soy and cotton crops

* SmartAgri project aimed at improving the productivity of 50,000 farmers across 100 locations in the states of Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra in India

* Visit the Vi booth (Hall #3; Booth 3.B) at IMC 2020 from 8-10th December to know more about the program

Vodafone India Foundation, the CSR arm of Vi, in partnership with Nokia has deployed a Smart Agriculture solution that aims at improving the productivity of farmers in India. The pilot project being implemented across 100 locations in the states of Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra will be benefitting over 50,000 farmers in the region by enhancing their productivity and income.

The SmartAgri project aims to enhance the livelihoods of small farmers through sustainable farming approaches, deployment of IoT solutions and by improving their access to information, using technology. This socially relevant project is in line with the Government’s vision of inclusive growth. It has a huge potential for replication and scale up of this technology across the country.

To demonstrate the impact of technology in transforming agricultural practices in India, Vi CSR chose the agri-heartlands of Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra, and on-boarded Nokia as the IoT solutions provider, and Solidaridad for field implementation.

The unique CSR initiative will be showcased at Vi booth (Hall #3, Booth 3.B) at IMC 2020 from 8-10th December.

Talking about the program, P. Balaji, Chief Regulatory & Corporate Affairs Officer, Vodafone Idea Limited said, “Vi CSR is committed to leveraging technology strengths to create social impact through sustainable solutions. Smart crop management using Smart IoT and AI based solutions is transforming the prevalent agricultural practices into more ‘intelligent’ ones enabling farmers with smart decision making and helping them improve production and crop quality through better utilization of resources. Our SmartAgri project is unique as it brings an entire ecosystem of stakeholders such as Nokia for its innovative technology, Solidaridad for project management, and also green experts and researchers from University - all under one roof, to positively impact the lives of farmers in India.”

As part of this project, over 400 sensors have been deployed over 100,000 hectares of farmland to collect various data points which are then analyzed by a cloud-based and localized Smart Agriculture app. The app provides local language support as well as weather forecast and irrigation management information. The sensors generate insights that is helping to improve soy and cotton crop yields. Crop management through WING can include smart irrigation, smart pesticide control, and proactive information sharing frameworks on crops and weather, as well as a platform for commodity exchange. The use case can also employ Remotely Piloted Aircraft System (RPAS) technology or drones instead of traditional sensors for crop management.

Ankur Bhan, Head of Nokia WING Business, at Nokia, said: “Our mission for WING is to shape the future of agriculture and other industries, to create a smarter and more connected world. Together with Vi CSR, our managed service offering will help an initial 50,000 farmers and their families, with the aim of rolling out the solution across India.”

Smart Agriculture is a leading use case that India is exploring in the 5G era. The complete end-to-end solution from Nokia WING is supported by deep domain expertise and an agriculture partner eco-system.

Amrut Distilleries Celebrates 10 Years of its Iconic Single Malt - Fusion; Launches the Special Edition Fusion X

Amrut Distilleries, the pioneers of the Indian Single Malt revolution and makers of iconic brands such as the Fusion, Spectrum, Naarangi and Amalgam are celebrating the 10th anniversary of India’s flagship Single Malt Whisky - the Amrut Fusion. To commemorate this landmark day, the Bangalore based distillery is launching a special limited edition Single Malt whisky - the Fusion X (ten) across the world on the 25th of November, 2020.

This launch is also timed to celebrate the birthday of our beloved late. Chairman and MD, Shri. Neelaknta Rao Jagdale - the Father of Indian Single Malts.

Tracing our steps back to 2009, it was our late Chairman and Managing Director of N.R. Jagdale Group, Mr. Neelakanta Rao Jagdale, who in his conviction of offering the best possible product for discerning consumers set about creating a new Single Malt.The effort and the launch of the first Indian Single Malt, Amrut, in Scotland and thereafter in most parts of the globe were instrumental in his widespread recognition as the “father of Indian Single Malt Whiskies”. It was he who defined the final character of Amrut Fusion, as he sat in his summer residence in Nilgiris, 7000 feet above sea level.  As Neel kept at mixing peated and unpeated malts in various proportions, the magical formula that he finalized that day went on to become Amrut Fusion Indian Single Malt Whisky, a much appreciated, feted and richly awarded single malt wherever it was launched across the globe.  Clearly, as the architect of Amrut Fusion, Neel well and truly gave a new direction not just to his company but to the Indian Liquor industry itself.

Coming back to the present, we have a reason to celebrate, acknowledge and remember.  Amrut Fusion X is an ode to our past and our vision for the future. The Fusion X whisky is created after further maturing our Amrut Fusion for a period of 4 years in Px-Sherry casks, adding a dimension to the whisky unlike ever before. This limited edition also deserves a special bottling, and hence this exquisite liquid is presented in a collectible porcelain bottle, adorned with a beautiful print and a sketch of Neel, crafted by one of the foremost names in ceramics - Wade, England. The cork too, has been handpicked and shipped from Portugal, while the bottle will be presented in a jacket made of lush velvet.

The Fusion X, also for the first time in India comes with an integrated NFC chip in partnership with Vlinder, which adds a great level of safety to your collectible bottle. Buyers can tap the NFC on the bottle to be indicated on their smartphones if the bottle has ever been opened, and also access a vast array of information about the whisky on a website.

Amrut Fusion X is a very limited bottling with only 1010 bottles worldwide. In India, this rare symphony will be released in Bengaluru (limited to 60 bottles) at a price of around INR 15000 per bottle and will be made available in select retail outlets.

Quote from Rakshit N Jagdale, Managing Director, Amrut Distilleries

“It’s a matter of great pride to us when people call Amrut Fusion the flag-bearer of Indian Single Malts.   Our late CMD and my father Shri Neelakanta Rao Jagdale was in fact the architect of this pathbreaking product and it gives me immense satisfaction to make this special release of Fusion X on his birthday as both a celebration of 10 years of love by consumers around the world and a tribute to his life and legacy.”

Tasting notes:

Prepared by Ashok Chokalingam, Head Distiller - Amrut Distilleries

Colour: Golden Syrup

Nose: An exciting and inviting nose with an array of  tropical fruits and salted caramel transforming into toffee fudge. Then here you go; a wave of vanilla cream followed by almond paste. The phenols are a mere teaser and shy; exhibiting maturity beyond its age.

Taste: A sweet orange note transforming into loads of tropical fruits. Enormously complex on the palate showcasing the notes of dried fruits, vanilla cream, toffee fudge and an inviting oak note.The middle ground is velvety and silky and the phenols are just mesmerising and are lovely.

Finish: Sweet, spicy and phenolic!

About Amrut:

Founded in 1948 by the late Shri. Radhakrishna Jagdale, the history of Amrut Distilleries is as old as independent India itself. The journey started under the name and style of ‘Amrut Laboratories’. In the early years, Amrut was a leading manufacturer  and supplier of Rums, Brandy and Whisky for domestic consumption.

Amrut Single Malts were a consequential product of our organisation’s founding principles: Uncompromising Innovation, Unflinching R&D and the Undeterred Courage to always offer exceptional products to our customers. The initial chapters of this journey started when Rakshit was completing his dissertation in the UK; and as part of this project he conducted a market survey to check the acceptance of Amrut Indian Single Malt. The response was very encouraging to say the least - everyone who tried the malt were impressed that fortified our confidence leading to the launch of the brand.

Amrut Indian Single Malt launched in 2004 in Glasgow, Scotland, UK the heart of Scottish whiskies, creating history as the first Indian Single Malt to ever be launched outside India.

The journey was extremely tough and challenging as India’s image producing quality whisky was very bad. We also had to undergo many struggles as our Indian identity did not always lead to favourable conditions in the developed world. However, we were absolutely confident about the quality we had to offer and we continued to strive and pursue endlessly our goal of bringing the Indian Single Malt to the world.

Trend Micro Strengthens Data Sovereignty by Launching Regional XDR Data Lake in India

Trend Micro Incorporated (TYO: 4704), the leader in cloud security, today announced the launch of its regional data lake for XDR in India for its customers, after similar launches in Sydney and Singapore. The company also provides Cloud App Security (for Office 365 environments) and Apex One SaaS (Software as a Service) with local sandbox capability made available out of its data center in India, to address the growing concerns around data localisation and sovereignty issues. This announcement comes at the back of Trend Micro launching its local managed XDR data center service in India last year. 

Trend Micro XDR is the first in the cybersecurity industry that offers the most extensive correlated detection going beyond endpoint detection and response (EDR). It collects and analyses activity data from emails, endpoints, servers, cloud workloads, and networks, enabling security operations center (SOC) teams to detect, investigate, and respond to advanced threats. Powered by cloud data lake, Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning, XDR reduces alert fatigue and addresses the challenges faced by SOC analysts. 

Speaking on the announcement, Nilesh Jain, Vice President, Southeast Asia and India, Trend Micro said, “When we launched our Managed XDR service in India last year, it was seen as an industry gamechanger. For customers who had detection and response tools but didn’t have the required resources or skillsets to maximize them, it was of great service. To further augment our offering, we have launched our local XDR data lake, Cloud App Security and Apex One SaaS along with sandbox, hosted out of India data center to serve our vast clientele. This is the need of the hour, as data sovereignty and data protection are of utmost importance to our customers and us alike. We at Trend Micro believe that this important step will go a long way in providing peace of mind to enterprises, particularly those who are operating in realm of critical infrastructure, like banking, telecom, government, petroleum and manufacturing organisations.” 

“In India, cloud and endpoint security are the biggest growth drivers seen in the last two years. Customers are looking for a comprehensive endpoint security with advanced protection capabilities that defend and respond to unknown and stealthier threats. With Trend Micro Apex One SaaS, security gaps across any user activity and endpoint can be effectively eliminated using AI based detection, as it provides both EDR and EPP together in a single console. Also, as a majority of attacks like ransomware, phishing, BEC etc. originate from email gateway, our new and enhanced Cloud App Security solution is uniquely positioned to provide email security for our customers in India with local sandboxing,” he further added. 

Trend Micro Cloud App Security sandbox integrates directly with Office 365, Google G Suite and other services using application programming interfaces (APIs) and enforces compliance on cloud file-sharing and collaboration tools, including Box, Dropbox, Google Drive, Microsoft OneDrive for business, Microsoft Teams among others. The Virtual Analyzer cloud sandbox works in conjunction with Trend Micro’s global threat intelligence network, to identify potentially malicious characteristics. It is setup in partnership with Microsoft Azure and helps companies to observe file behaviour in an environment that simulates endpoints on the organisation’s network without any risk of compromising the network. 

“In an ever-evolving technology landscape, it is important to look at security that goes beyond traditional antivirus. Apex One SaaS leverages a blend of cross-generational threat techniques to provide the broadest protection against all types of threats. It redefines endpoint security with its breadth of capabilities and gives centralised visibility and control across all functions. This offers actionable insights that maximize security for customers,” said Frank Kuo, Vice President, Product Management, Trend Micro. 

With EDR being an important building block for XDR, Trend Micro Apex One delivered as SaaS serves as an added advantage for Indian customers. This solution is an all-in-one streamlined agent that provides automated detection and response with effective and modern technology, including machine learning, behavioural analysis and more, to block the latest threats with the added benefit of the industry’s most timely virtual patching. The endpoint sensor rapidly assesses attacks across email, endpoint, and server by investigating, recording and reporting the system-level activities.  

About Trend Micro 

Trend Micro, a global leader in cybersecurity, helps make the world safe for exchanging digital information. Leveraging over 30 years of security expertise, global threat research, and continuous innovation, Trend Micro enables resilience for businesses, governments, and consumers with connected solutions across cloud workloads, endpoints, email, IIoT, and networks. Our XGen™ security strategy powers our solutions with a cross-generational blend of threat-defense techniques that are optimized for key environments and leverage shared threat intelligence for better, faster protection. With over 6,700 employees in 65 countries, and the world's most advanced global threat research and intelligence, Trend Micro enables organizations to secure their connected world. 

Teradata Named a Leader in the 2020 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Cloud Database Management Systems

* Teradata Vantage Also Ranked Highest in Three Out of Four Use Cases in the 2020 Gartner Critical Capabilities for Cloud Database Management Systems for Analytical Use Cases

Teradata (NYSE: TDC), the cloud data analytics platform company, today announced it has been recognized as a Leader in the 2020 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Cloud Database Management Systems, issued November 23, 2020 by analysts Donald Feinberg, Merv Adrian, Rick Greenwald, Adam Ronthal and Henry Cook. Gartner evaluates vendors placed in the Magic Quadrant for Cloud Database Management Systems on completeness of vision and ability to execute following detailed research.

In tandem, Teradata Vantage – the company’s hybrid multi-cloud data analytics software platform –  was also recognized with the highest scores in three out of four use cases in the 2020 Gartner Critical Capabilities for Cloud Database Management Systems for Analytical Use Cases, issued November 24, 2020 by analysts Henry Cook, Donald Feinberg, Merv Adrian, Rick Greenwald, and Adam Ronthal. Among the 16 vendors evaluated, Teradata ranked highest in three out of four analytical uses cases – Traditional Data Warehouse, Logical Data Warehouse, and Data Science Exploration/Deep Learning – and ranked second in Operational Intelligence.

"Teradata is committed to providing the best enterprise data analytics in the cloud – period. This means offering our customers a modern data analytics platform that can handle the large and complex workloads that Teradata is known for, and flexible deployment options that don't limit choice or lock them in,” said Steve McMillan, CEO, Teradata. “We're the only data warehouse and analytics provider with hybrid multi-cloud offerings across the top three public cloud vendors, providing the same software, features, and experience regardless of environment. This recognition from Gartner validates the strength of our cloud position and further underscores the commitment to our customers to meet them wherever they are on their cloud journey."

Teradata’s unique hybrid and multi-cloud offerings have become critical differentiators in the Cloud Database Management Systems market. According to Gartner, “The capability to work across intercloud, multicloud and hybrid is increasingly important. This will likely become a prerequisite for these systems.”

Gartner defines the Cloud Database Management Systems (DBMS) as a fully provider-managed public or private cloud software system that manages data in cloud storage. These management systems include specific optimization strategies designed for supporting traditional transactions and/or analytical processing covering one or more of the following seven use cases: Traditional and Augmented Transaction Processing; Traditional and Logical Data Warehouse; Data Science Exploration/Deep Learning; Operational Intelligence; and Stream/Event Processing. Data is stored in a cloud storage tier (e.g., cloud object store, HDFS or other proprietary cloud storage infrastructure), and may use multiple data models — relational, non-relational (document, key-value, wide-column, graph), geospatial, timeseries and others.

Teradata Vantage is the leading hybrid multi-cloud data analytics software platform that enables ecosystem simplification by unifying analytics, data lakes and data warehouses. With Vantage, enterprise-scale companies can eliminate silos and cost-effectively query all their data, all the time, regardless of where the data resides – in the cloud, on multiple clouds, on-premises or any combination thereof – to get a complete view of their business. And now, Teradata is the only data warehouse and analytics provider with hybrid multi-cloud offerings across the top three public cloud vendors, offering maximum flexibility and choice to its enterprise customers.