Wednesday, December 9, 2020

Five-Star Euro NCAP Safety Rating For Award-Winning New Land Rover Defender 110


 ·   Top result: New Land Rover Defender achieves maximum five-star Euro NCAP safety rating

·    Safety first: Premium 4x4 scored 85 per cent for Child Occupant protection and 79 per cent for Safety Assist on its way to a five-star overall performance

·   Critical acclaim: Unstoppable New Defender has won 28 international awards and features Autonomous Emergency Braking technology capable of detecting pedestrians and cyclists

·   Defender family: Line-up includes the Defender 110 and Defender 90 available with an efficient P400e PHEV powertrain and the rugged Defender Hard Top commercial variants

·   Configure yours at: www.landrover.com/Defender  

The award-winning New Land Rover Defender has earned another five-star review – this time from the safety experts at Euro NCAP. Land Rover’s most capable and durable model ever has been awarded the maximum five-star rating in the latest round of test results.

The Defender family combines state-of-the-art safety features with an ultra-stiff aluminium-intensive body construction engineered to cope with rugged landscapes and provide excellent safety credentials. Clever technologies include Emergency Braking, Lane Keep Assist and Rear Collision Monitor.

Six airbags protect the driver and passengers, while up to three ISOFIX mounting points are available. New Defender scored 85 per cent for Adult and Child Occupant protection, 79 per cent for Safety Assist and achieved a 71 per cent score for Vulnerable Road Users on its way to a five-star overall rating.

Nick Rogers, Executive Director, Product Engineering, Jaguar Land Rover, said: “From the moment we started creating the New Defender, we were obsessed with functional safety and the protection of both the occupants and other road users. We set out to make a vehicle that is the most capable and durable Land Rover ever made, with safety features that truly enhance the driver’s experience. It’s an incredible honour to receive this recognition from Euro NCAP who have endorsed our New Defender with their five-star rating.”


Euro NCAP tested a New Defender 110, but the tough 4x4 family also includes the compact Defender 90 and a pair of practical Hard Top commercial derivatives, which feature a fixed bulkhead behind the front seats and provide 2 059 and 1 355 l of cargo space respectively.

Following its world premiere at the Frankfurt Motor Show in 2019, Land Rover has experienced unprecedented demand for the new 4x4. This has been matched with critical acclaim – New Defender has already won 28 international awards.

Since its debut, Land Rover has also introduced its efficient range of in-line six-cylinder Ingenium diesel engines with mild hybrid technology and its advanced P400e plug-in hybrid.This provides an all-electric range of up to 43 km and CO2 emissions of 74 g/km.

Land Rover has also introduced the X-Dynamic specification, available on both Defender 90 and 110. It provides a selection of exterior and interior design elements reflecting the 4x4’s immense capability and ensuring it stands out from the crowd. 

The comprehensive range of advanced driver assistance technologies available on Defender includes:

* Emergency Braking – Detects if a potential frontal collision with another vehicle may occur and displays a forward alert to warn the driver to brake. If the driver doesn't respond, the vehicle will deploy emergency braking to reduce the severity of the possible impact.

* Blind Spot Assist – A flashing icon in the appropriate wing mirror alerts the driver to obstacles in, or quickly approaching, your blind spot.

* 3D Surround Camera – Assists the driver during low-speed manoeuvres using advanced camera technology to provide a 3D view of Defender in its environment on the central Pivi Pro display.

* Clear Exit Monitor – Warns of a possible threat when preparing to open any door from the inside using sensors in the bumper to monitor approaching traffic.

* Adaptive Cruise Control – Maintains a safe distance from the vehicle in front. If the vehicle ahead stops, you will come to a smooth halt.

* Driver Condition Monitor – Senses driver fatigue by monitoring steering, brake and accelerator inputs to provide alerts when tiredness is detected.

* Lane Keep Assist – Detects unintentional lane drift and applies corrective counter-steering to maintain lane position.

* Rear Collision Monitor – If a vehicle approaching from behind is not slowing down, the vehicle will attempt to alert the approaching driver by automatically flashing the hazard lights.

* Rear Traffic Monitor – Warns of vehicles, pedestrians or other hazards approaching from either side – particularly useful when reversing out of a parking bay.

* Traffic Sign Recognition and Adaptive Speed Limiter – Informs the driver of the current speed limit and adjusts the vehicle speed when entering new speed limit zones automatically.

* Wade Sensing – Ultrasonic sensors in the door mirrors provide real-time information about the water depth when wading./

Year in Search: Coronavirus Takes the Second Spot as Indians Reflect their Love for Cricket


* Joe Biden and Arnab Goswami feature among the top trending personalities 

* Dil Bechara and Soorarai Pottru among top trending movies of 2020

* Money Heist and 1992: The Harshad Mehta Story among the top trending web series

Looking back at the moments that captured India’s attention in 2020, Google India announced the 'Year in Search' results today. From the global pandemic to the history-making US elections, the Year in Search continues to recapitulate the top search trends, offering a unique perspective to the questions internet users have asked on Google Search.

Trending search terms this year were dominated by the obvious concern around the global pandemic, with a surge in questions about Coronavirus. While the excitement around the Indian Premier League made it the top trending query, the US elections triggered significant search activity along with Bihar elections and Delhi elections. US President-elect Joe Biden emerged as one of the top trending personalities, along with TV journalist Arnab Goswami. Interestingly, the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM Kisan Scheme) that provides monetary support to farmers made it to the top trending chart, as netizens looked for latest news, information, and updates.

Following Joe Biden and Arnab Goswami, was Bollywood singer Kanika Kapoor, who made it to the most searched personalities this year. Bollywood megastar Amitabh Bacchan, actress Kangana Ranaut, Rhea Chakraborty, and Ankita Lokhande also featured in the trending personalities. Other international personalities that made it to the list include North Korean Leader Kim Jong-Un, Afghan cricketing sensation Rashid Khan and the India-origin US Vice President-elect, Kamala Harris.

Dil Bechara emerged as the top trending movie of 2020, followed by Tamil action-drama Soorarai Pottru. Bollywood biopics like Tanhaji, Shakuntala Devi, and Gunjan Saxena captured the top five spots. While Bollywood movies Laxmii, Baaghi 3, Gulabo Sitabo dominated the list, the only Hollywood movie to make it to the list was Extraction. Due in large part to the intermittent lockdowns, queries on Web Series surged this year with Money Heist topping the list, followed by Indian entries like Scam 1992: The Harshad Mehta Story, Bigg Boss 14 and Mirzapur 2.

Among the major news events, the Indian Premier League, Coronavirus and US elections triggered noteworthy search activity, as users looked for latest updates and election results. Other important news events included the frequent Lockdowns, and the Locust swarm attack. International news events like the Beirut explosion and Bushfires in Australia also made it to the list.

The most interesting Search terms were centered around 'How to' and 'What is' lists, reflecting society's move to work from home and dealing with the pandemic. 'How to make paneer?' and 'How to increase immunity?' topped the list, followed by the distinctive 'How to make dalgona coffee.' 'What is' queries included the baffling 'What is binod?', followed by many virus-related queries such as 'What is plasma therapy?' and 'What is hantavirus?'.

With the unprecedented lockdown, local searches surged with 'Near me' queries, which was dominated by 'Food shelters near me' followed by 'COVID test near me.' With the majority of the population remotely working, searches for 'Broadband connection near me' and 'Laptop shop near me' figured prominently this year.

View the complete 2020 India-specific lists and global trends in detail; and check out all the global top-ten lists across pop culture, sports, music, politics, news, from over 75 countries.  Also, do check out the annual Year in Search video.

Akshay Kumar & Rana Dagubatti to Launch SocialSwag - India's First Influencer Led Market Place


Actors Akshay Kumar and Rana Daggubati today announced that they are coming together to create India’s first influencer led online market place called- Socialswag. Poised to take over India’s digital world by storm, the app is set to be launched nationwide in February 2021.

Socialswag is a new age platform that will enable consumers to connect with - celebrities, influencers, bloggers and other inspirational individuals, through personal interactions and learning forums. By combining entertainment and learning, the app will enable interactions in multiple ways- masterclasses, live-chats, shout-outs, virtual selfies to name a few.

Talking about the app, superstar Akshay Kumar commented, “I have seen so many opportunities in the digital domain this year and I believe being able to connect with fans through this platform with some of our products like my Masterclass or a Virtual Selfie will give not only me, but all my peers an additional opportunity to closely connect with fans in these changing times.”

Commenting on this new venture Rana Daggubati added, “This is a very fast growing space and I’m super excited to be partnering with Akshay sir. We will bring the best of sport, entertainment and vocational opportunities to this platform and look to make it best in class.

Our launch with our first few products will be in the first quarter of next year and the team is working towards making the fan experience a unique one for the global Indian audience.”

Socialswag is designed to focus on two aspects - education and entertainment. While there have been many fan engagement apps successfully launching in the market over the last few months the coming together of these two superstars promises to deliver a unique experience to the consumer.

RB Invites the Next Generation of Indian Innovators to Showcase Targeted Hygiene Solutions


RB (Reckitt Benckiser), a leading global consumer health and hygiene company, today announced the launch of ‘The RB inGen challenge’ in partnership with TiE Delhi-NCR. RB with its initiative ‘inGen’ is looking to invite the next generation of Indian innovators to showcase their solutions for targeted hygiene needs. The shortlisted startups will get an opportunity for deep domain and business mentorship by experts from both RB & TiE.

Speaking about the initiative, Mr. Narasimhan Eswar, Senior Vice President, RB Hygiene, South Asia, said, “At RB, we fearlessly innovate and seek new opportunities in a relentless pursuit of a cleaner and healthier world. Indian minds have been stirring up a revolution by demonstrating the power of innovation and entrepreneurship across sectors, but we feel there is still immense untapped potential in the health and hygiene space. With RB’s ‘inGen Challenge’ we aim to nurture and usher the next generation of Indian innovators by giving them an opportunity to showcase their brilliant work and provide them with assistance through mentorship programs, monetary prizes and more.”

“Hygiene is the foundation of health! The global pandemic has reinforced the need for improved hygiene products, services, and education.  The RB ‘inGen Challenge’ seeks entries from Indian startups that will disrupt the current equilibrium in the areas of disinfection, cleaning and pest control as well as in cleaner air and water”, said Kaushik Roy, Regional Finance Director, RB Hygiene, South Asia.

Rajan Anandan, President of TiE Delhi-NCR, added, “The program is curated to provide startups opportunities to seek mentorship and benefit from the immense research, product and market knowledge as well as explore potential partnership opportunities with Reckitt Benckiser. The program is focussed on inviting innovative startups that are working towards making it easy for individuals, families, and communities to live in a cleaner and healthier world to take part in this unique Challenge.”

The shortlisted startups will also get an opportunity to win cash rewards of upto INR 5 Lakhs along with complimentary membership of TiE Delhi-NCR.

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.

IMDb is Top 10 Indian Web Series of 2020, Based on User Rating


IMDb (www.imdb.com), the world’s most popular and authoritative source for information on movies, TV shows and celebrities, today unveiled its Top 10 Indian Web Series year-end list, determined by IMDb user ratings. IMDb ratings are determined by users who rate films and TV shows on a 10-point scale. To rate a title, users can click the “Rate This” star on any film or TV show page on IMDb.

IMDb Top 10 Indian Web Series of 2020*

1.       Scam 1992: The Harshad Mehta Story

2.       Panchayat

3.       Special OPS

4.       Bandish Bandits

5.       Mirzapur

6.       Asur: Welcome to Your Dark Side

7.       Paatal Lok

8.       High

9.       Abhay

10.   Aarya

*Among the Indian web series streaming in 2020, these 10 shows had the highest IMDb user ratings, utilizing the same criteria as the popular IMDb Top Rated charts (as of December 1, 2020). IMDb ratings are determined by users who rank movies and TV shows on a 10-point scale. To rate a title, users can click the “Rate This” star on any movie or TV show title page on IMDb. IMDb users can add these and other titles to their IMDb Watchlist. 

“Worldwide interest in Indian streaming series hit an all-time high this year, and fans once again turned to IMDb to rate their favorites and help others discover these breakout shows,” said Col Needham, IMDb Founder and CEO. “In fact, our #1 user-rated Indian web series of this year, Scam 1992: The Harshad Mehta Story, has been so popular that it landed a top spot on the IMDb list of the Top 250 TV Series of all-time.”

To learn more about the Top 10 Indian streaming series of 2020 as determined by IMDb user ratings, watch the video here: https://www.imdb.com/video/vi4178201. Explore all of the IMDb worldwide Best of 2020 lists as well as retrospective photo galleries, trailers, original videos (including an upcoming In Memoriam video) and other year-end coverage at: https://www.imdb.com/best-of

Additional insight into trending movies, TV shows and celebrities, with rankings updated weekly, is available to IMDbPro members throughout the year on both the site (http://www.imdbpro.com) and apps for iPhone, iPad and Android. IMDbPro, a membership-based service offering a special rate for new members in India, includes comprehensive information and tools designed to help entertainment industry professionals achieve success throughout all stages of their career. IMDbPro offers members the following: detailed contact and representation information; more than 25,000 in-development film and TV titles not available on IMDb; tools to manage and showcase their IMDb profile, including selecting their primary images and the credits they are best “known for”; IMDbPro Track, with which members can receive personalized entertainment industry news and updates on the people and film and TV projects they want to follow; and a convenient tool that generates custom digital assets to promote their work on social media and other platforms. The recently launched IMDbPro Discover tool, now available in beta mode to all members for free on a limited-time basis, empowers members to find people based on a variety of key IMDb data including experience and expertise. The Discover tool is ideal for casting directors looking to cast a project as well as producers, directors, showrunners, department heads and others hiring a team or building lists of people. It also includes advanced features to customize, export and share lists. 

About IMDb 

IMDb is the world's most popular and authoritative source for information on movies, TV shows and celebrities. Products and services to help fans decide what to watch and where to watch it include: the IMDb website for desktop and mobile devices; apps for iOS and Android; and X-Ray on Prime Video. IMDb also offers a free streaming channel, IMDb TV, and produces IMDb original video series and podcasts. For entertainment industry professionals, IMDb provides IMDbPro and Box Office Mojo. IMDb licenses information from its vast and authoritative database to third-party businesses worldwide. 

BCT Digital Wins Rising Star Award from Chartis Research Report


BCT Digital, Bahwan CyberTek, with its risk management product suite rt360, recently won the  ‘Rising Star Award’. The rt360 product suite aims to drive digital transformation for banks and financial institutions by addressing the risk management space, that includes credit risk, capital allocation, pricing risk, liquidity risk, model risk and operational risk. This award was conferred upon by Chartis Research, in its recently published RiskTech100 2021 report. Now in its 15th year, the Chartis RiskTech100 report conducts the most comprehensive study of leading global companies in risk and compliance technology.

BCT Digital, a FinTech specialist in risk management products, has been helping banks and financial institutions through their pioneering product suite - rt360. BCT Digital’s offerings are hinged on its ability to identify the gaps in the banking and finance sector. In recent times, the Indian banking system has been found enmeshed in a complex web, with the alarming increase in the number of bad loans, non-performing assets and credit frauds. It has only worsened in the present-day context with the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. rt360 was developed with a view to reduce NPAs and has rapidly evolved into a product portfolio that addresses all types of risks a bank face. These products rely on disruptive technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning (ML), Predictive Analytics, Data Analytics, to name a few. The products are tailored to address both the niche challenges particular to the Indian context and also the geo specific regulatory compliance. Therefore, the product suite has found its acceptance in the global market place, specifically across the USA and The Middle East.

“Since its inception, BCT Digital has had the primary goal of empowering banks and financial institutions, and through our robust and cutting-edge technology and product ecosystem, enable them to become risk free. The rt360 product suite is a significant innovation towards developing home grown products to support the risk ridden BFSI sector in India. This endeavour, being recognised by a global platform like Chartis is indeed a matter of honour, and it inspires us to do more, do better, and spearhead the journey of India’s banking system into the next generation”, said Jaya Vaidhyanathan, CEO at BCT Digital.

“Every year in our rankings we identify vendors that are developing new ways to approach risk-management challenges such as digital transformation”, said Sid Dash, Research Director at Chartis. “In that context, BCT Digital’s (Bahwan CyberTek) broad coverage of risk-management technologies and industry sectors is reflected in its Rising Star award this year.” Chartis Research is the leading provider of research and analysis on the global market for risk technology.

About BCT Digital

BCT Digital is a FinTech specialist focusing on the risk management and regulatory needs of the banking and finance sector (BFSI), on a global scale. BCT Digital aims to drive digital transformation for banks and FIs through its risk management product suite rt360. The suite addresses risks related to credit risk, capital allocation, pricing risk, liquidity risk, model risk and operational risk. The core of BCT Digital’s offerings lies in the ability to identify gaps and build products that are both specifically suited to India and yet scalable to the global markets. 

Infogain Joins eGain EcoNet Partner Network to Fuel Rapid Growth and Customer Success


Infogain, a leading provider of technology solutions and an expert in software platform engineering, today announced a professional services partnership with eGain, an award-winning provider of customer engagement solutions. This strategic partnership will help drive joint customer acquisition and scale-up implementation services to make clients successful.

eGain selected Infogain for its depth of experience in enterprise Knowledge Management and digital customer engagement systems and its processes and frameworks that streamline implementation and enhance quality. Infogain will provide implementation, integration, and managed services for eGain products.

Welcoming the partnership, Infogain’s Chief Technology and Strategy Officer, Nishith Mathur, said, “We are excited to be eGain’s strategic partner for professional services. With our 20 years’ experience in Knowledge Management and leadership in Interactive Digital experience, we will help our mutual clients realize world-class agent and customer experiences.”

JC Rao, eGain’s VP of Professional Services and Support, agreed. “We welcome Infogain as a strategic partner.  They have a strong reputation for delivering framework-driven customer experience deployments that deliver quick value.”

About Infogain

Infogain is a Silicon Valley-based company with digital platform and software engineering expertise in the technology, healthcare, insurance, travel, and retail industries. We accelerate experience-led transformation and delivery of digital engagement systems and platforms. Infogain engineers business outcomes for Fortune 500 companies and digital natives using technologies such as cloud, microservices, robotic process automation, IoT, and artificial intelligence.

A ChrysCapital portfolio company and Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) Gold Partner and Azure Expert MSP, Infogain has offices in California, Washington, Texas, London, Poland, Dubai, India, and Singapore, with delivery centers in Seattle, Houston, Austin, Kraków, New Delhi, Bangalore, Pune, and Mumbai. To learn more, visit www.infogain.com.

About eGain

eGain customer engagement platform automates digital-first, omnichannel experiences across all touch points. Powered by AI, machine learning, knowledge and analytics, our top-rated software optimizes customer journeys with virtual assistance, messaging hub and desktop to serve customers, reduce cost and improve compliance. 

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